Software vendors urge limits on open source

CNET News.com ^ | 28 November 2002 | CNET

[chilepepper]

The Initiative for Software Choice, which counts Microsoft, Cisco Systems and Intel among its backers, said in comments filed Tuesday that the department should "avoid crafting needless and potentially detrimental IT policy to promote the use" of open-source software. "Open source" means every software developer can view the source code for software, modify it, and use it for free.

The initiative, which launched in May and is chaired by a group called CompTIA, an organization that has close ties to Microsoft, is worried about a recent report that concluded the Defense Department relies on open-source software and recommended its further adoption.

[Bush2000]

Damn that Ford for thinking that Hitler and his thugs were great people!

That's pretty funny coming from you ... Che, Jr.

[chilepepper]

then why is Microsoft so afraid to go with Suns' proposed XML document format as an INDUSTRY STANDARD? if M$ features are so great, they'll keep the business. or is it only the proprietary format that keeps them on the reservation??

[Bush2000]

bought a new game which needed an upgrade of directX. downloaded (from microsoft) and installed the new version of directx. guess what. no support for the first version of the M$ sidewinder joystick

I wouldn't worry about it. I'm sure that somebody in the Linux community will be glad to provide you with a device driver so that you can play games under Linux. /SARCASM

[Bush2000]

then why is Microsoft so afraid to go with Suns' proposed XML document format as an INDUSTRY STANDARD? if M$ features are so great, they'll keep the business. or is it only the proprietary format that keeps them on the reservation??

Because it's redundant. It doesn't provide any more functionality than RTF and DOC. It's merely XML. Whoopie sh*t.

[Bush2000]

Eli Whitney did building rifles to fight the British....

Has anybody got a free Ebonics translator/reader?

[chilepepper]

There is plenty of demand in fixing the security incidents caused from Microsoft products. The other machines are quite
secure and stable....

[Bush2000]

There is plenty of demand in fixing the security incidents caused from Microsoft products. The other machines are quite secure and stable....

No, I'm talking about a job replacing the Microsoft products with Linux, Solaris, etc. Why don't you quit and provide those solutions, instead?

[dheretic]

I was being serious :)

Last state election, voted LP for Lt. Gov and AG and voted Republican for Governor. Voted against the education and park service bonds as well.

[chilepepper]

Surely you know who Eli Whitney was, don't you? invented the cotton gin and invented mass production...a.k.a as "interchangeable parts" during the War of 1812.

His inventions allowed the fledging U.S. to gain true economic independence from that Microsoft-like monopoly, the British Empire...

[beavus]

Orwellian depths to which Microsoft will go in order to destroy its true rivals

Good one! And _1984_ was a horrific tale about a company trying to peruade people not to buy its competitor's products. Chilling.

[chilepepper]

We do. We insist that the laptops that arrive with Windows pre-installed (with the price built into the original cost) be converted either pure Linux or to dual-boot. we install OpenOffice on them all, and have reduced the number of Windows boxes from about 50% of our machines to about 30%.

We are evaluating Lindows and Ximian's new Evolution, along with Xandros. The pure Windows group is accounting which have gagged at License 6 and are *very* interested in switching over to Linux as soon as possible...

[chilepepper]

Try MySQL under Linux. *very* nice for WWW applications and very well integrated w/ Apache and PHP

[TheEngineer]

OpenOffice at $0 per copy looks a lot nicer than MSOffice at $450-$550 a license for most small businesses.

My point is that, if OpenOffice charged $450-$550 per license, nobody would buy it.... because it's a lesser-quality product than Microsoft Office. The only OSS/free products that would survive as commercial products are the ones that aren't crappy. Apache and Perl come to mind as examples that would thrive, but I'm sure there would be others.

[chilepepper]

Its not redundant if you want to build and integrated document processing system (.NET anyone) since it makes things so easy to pass back & forth...

of course, a number of OpenSource packages already use XML to represent things (the printer machinery for example). i was under the impression (mistakenly, it seems) that Microsoft was a enthusiastic early proponent of XML??

[chilepepper]

_1984_ was about a tyranical institution stomping on people who question the status quo...

[beavus]

_1984_ was about a tyranical institution stomping on people who question the status quo...

You slay me! The "institution" of Big Brother. Or how about, the "institution" of Josef Stalin. Or the "institution" of Mao, confessed murderer of 20 million Chinese. Big Brother, like Microsoft, would strap rat cages to people's faces.

Hillarious. Should be a movie... "You were stunned at Hilter. Stalin gave you nightmares. Mao left you petrified. Now there emerges a monster, a bloodthirsty totalitarian who will rip your soul to shreds. Meet.....B i l l G a t e s.........ahhhhhhhhhh."

I like your satire. You know how to illustrate the idiocy of those lefties who don't know the difference between the power of persuasion and the power of driving over someone with a tank.

[amigatec]

I mean, Ford invented the auto,

More lies Ford DID NOT invent the car, nor did they have a patent on it. Samuel B. Selden had a patent on the car, dated (I think)1887.

GM was paying royalities to Selden to be able to build car. Ford refused to pay Selden and was taken to court. Finally the SCOTUS (1912) rules that the patent was valid but not be volated. The Selden patent coverd the Braden engine and nobody used the Braden engine.

At least look up the facts before making these claims.

[amigatec]

And now, Chevrolet is making some of their own parts! Instead of letting the car-users buy their own seatbelts and audio equipment from 3rd party commercial vendors, they are illegally bundling them into the Car FREE OF CHARGE!

To begin with Chevolet is a CAR manufactorer, they build there OWN product. Not one time has Chevy ever forced Ford, Dodge, or any other car company to use there parts. Chevy has also sold JUST there motor to other car companies without ANY of the "deals" MS has used on there customers. Ever look under the hood of a Checker Cab? Or under the hood of Grumond Step Vans. Hummm I seem to remember seeing Grumond Vans powered by Dodge 440's!!! Next time you look at the van that delivers the bread or the milk to the store you may just surprized to see what powers it.