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> a quite decent improvement from the era when Or the era of "Linux is a cancer" http://www.theregister.co.uk/2001/06/02/ballmer_linux_is_a_cancer/ http://www
by rmc 10y ago
> a quite decent improvement from the era when
Or the era of "Linux is a cancer"
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2001/06/02/ballmer_linux_is_a_cancer/ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2001/06/02/ballmer_linux_is_a_c...
- bad_user 10y agoYeah, now they're just engaging in racketeering against Linux and Android using their patents.
- baldfat 10y agoThis isn't 2001. Most Microsoft shops in my area are now at least 25% Linux these days on Azure.
- golfer 10y agoThe "Scroogled" era wasn't that long ago either. Unbelievably embarrassing. Nor the stealing of Google's search results. I'm not ready to bless Microsoft yet.
- wmccullough 10y agoHow long do they have to pay for their past mistakes before they've done enough to placate people?
- patrickaljord 10y agoThis is not a past mistake, racketeering against Linux and Android using their patents is still ongoing today.
- sqeaky 10y agoLong enough to earn trust. I still don't trust Sony after the RootKit fiasco, and it might be another decade before I do. Or Sprint after the IQ agent keylogger. There are simply too many other companies with similar products to ms, sony or sprint that have no public dishonesty on their record. I can just use someone else's product until they have been good corporate citizens long enough that I have forgotten.
- JustUhThought 10y agoHonest question, if not Sprint, then who? Verizon is the worst. So, TMobile?
- aries1980 10y agoHave they ever paid for their past mistakes?
- throwawaykf05 10y agoOr, asserting their legal right to protect their investment in R&D that latecomers like Linux and Android simply ripped off. Just a matter of perspective, really. Is just that given open source is the dominant religion around these parts, that perspective is in the minority.
- danblick 10y agoHonest question, what do you think was ripped off from Microsoft? I wouldn't think Linux or Android took much from them, really. (When I think of innovation at MS I think of developer tools, research on programming languages and distributed systems, and stuff like Photosync.)
- tracker1 10y agoIIRC, the only areas that have been specifically mentioned have been surrounding filesystem access and structure, which MS has done a lot with, most of it outside patent protection now though. Not sure what else, as most articles can't/won't say as part of the non-disclosed parts of these contracts.
- bad_user 10y agoOne of their most potent patent that they're using a lot is the FAT patent. Basically there are filesystems out there that are superior to FAT and not encumbered by patents, but device makers are forced to use FAT because of interoperability reasons. This goes to show that the innovation argument is bullshit.
- aries1980 10y agoIsn't FAT that was ripped off from CP/M?
- tracker1 10y agoFAT is out of patent protection, I believe FAT32 is now too... exFAT is newer, but imho undeserving of an extension patent. Not sure where NTFS is, but with larger external storage, that's my preferred format these days, even using the devices with mac/linux. The BS with the commercialization of ntfs drivers on osx is kind of weird as well... I usually use the macfuse/free/oss driver.
- ocdtrekkie 10y agoAre they presently making any legal moves against Linux? Or just Android?
- daveguy 10y agoWell, to be fair, he was trying to refer to the fact that GPL is viral (turning other licenses into its own). That is a valid critique of GPL (it reduces developer freedom) and that is why it has been in steady decline compared to more liberal licenses (as a percent of FOSS licenses).
- sillysaurus3 10y agoThe GPL reduces developer freedom Does it?
- daveguy 10y agoYes, it restricts you from integrating with proprietary software (and some others). Here is a breakdown of license compatibility: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/License_compatibility https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/License_compatibility Note that more permissive licenses (MIT/BSD) allow more freedom for the developer.
- JustUhThought 10y agoThe GPL doesn't restrict integration with proprietary code. It requires any code you choose to integrate it with to be similarly licensed. That is the same choice you have every time you create code.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- daveguy 10y agoSo, it doesn't restrict, it just requires you to choose GPL? That is a double plus good interpretation of the facts.
- josteink 10y ago> The GPL reduces developer freedom. Does it? The GPL increases the user's freedom by forcing developers to contribute back, ie limiting the developer's freedom (to close code down). Likewise, BSD and MIT type licences increase developer freedom at the cost of end users. You have got to keep these two roles clearly separated when thinking about licences, even though in lots of cases the actual users will be developers (but of other products). If you do, there's nothing controversial about that statement.