Windows 7 to be Open Source....
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l a u r e n wrote:
but the desktop is becoming less important
Maybe for individuals, but for actually doing business, the desktop is still the best place to get real work done. Nobody wants to squint at a 3-inch screen all day (or even a 9-inch screen). While Windows remains dominant on the desktop, the micro devices like phones, PDAs and netbooks must remain compatible (to a certain degree) in order to transfer/sync data with desktop machines. In my case, I don't have a need for (and don't even want) 95% of the functionality a modern cell phone offers, I don't have a blackberry, and see no use for the latest craze called netbooks. In fact, the older I get, the further I want to get away from technology. I am NOT a gadget guy - I haven't turned on my iPod (my only gadget, and it was given to me as a gift) in over two months.
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
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"...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:
Nobody wants to squint at a 3-inch screen all day
Tell that to my 14 year old who never looks up from her cellphone screen. :rolleyes: It makes me wonder what that generation will prefer. However, I'm not a gadget guy either and prefer 1200x800 or greater on a reasonable sized screen.
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John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:
Nobody wants to squint at a 3-inch screen all day
Tell that to my 14 year old who never looks up from her cellphone screen. :rolleyes: It makes me wonder what that generation will prefer. However, I'm not a gadget guy either and prefer 1200x800 or greater on a reasonable sized screen.
bob16972 wrote:
It makes me wonder what that generation will prefer.
a wrist watch with 1600x1200 display. ;P
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l a u r e n wrote:
martin i think that last sentence of yours shows a lack of understanding of the open source community generally ... one of the most fundamental ideas is that no one company can dictate the direction or own the software ... it is genuinely owned by the community
You see, young Lauren, I have a different view :) One of the mistakes people make about Open Source: the community owns it and everyone has a say. The reality is that all Open Source projects, individually, are controlled by an elite group who manage the direction of the project. The fact that I can download the source and tinker with it is irrelevant - if my tinkering is not "accepted" by the elite, then it's worthless unless I then redistribute my tinkerings, which I might not have the time or resource to do. Then there's also the argument that the majority of users are incapable of modifying the source, even if they wanted to. Take your mum, your gran, your sister, your brother, your idiot cousin who went to "art" school - are any of them actually able to modify software to suit themselves? Nope. I think MS understand this and in order to ensure future success, particularly in emerging platforms, will do almost anything to ensure sales of Office, SQL Server, Exchange, Sharepoint and all of their other big money apps :)
My Bookmarks I clicked the link. In an instant I was transported 15 years back in time.
martin_hughes wrote:
your idiot cousin who went to "art" school
It must be hard to have a cousin like that... :rolleyes:
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l a u r e n wrote:
martin i think that last sentence of yours shows a lack of understanding of the open source community generally ... one of the most fundamental ideas is that no one company can dictate the direction or own the software ... it is genuinely owned by the community
You see, young Lauren, I have a different view :) One of the mistakes people make about Open Source: the community owns it and everyone has a say. The reality is that all Open Source projects, individually, are controlled by an elite group who manage the direction of the project. The fact that I can download the source and tinker with it is irrelevant - if my tinkering is not "accepted" by the elite, then it's worthless unless I then redistribute my tinkerings, which I might not have the time or resource to do. Then there's also the argument that the majority of users are incapable of modifying the source, even if they wanted to. Take your mum, your gran, your sister, your brother, your idiot cousin who went to "art" school - are any of them actually able to modify software to suit themselves? Nope. I think MS understand this and in order to ensure future success, particularly in emerging platforms, will do almost anything to ensure sales of Office, SQL Server, Exchange, Sharepoint and all of their other big money apps :)
My Bookmarks I clicked the link. In an instant I was transported 15 years back in time.
well martin i respect your view but would say that market trends point to you being mistaken ... time will (as always) tell ;)
"mostly watching the human race is like watching dogs watch tv ... they see the pictures move but the meaning escapes them"
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martin_hughes wrote:
If I were a betting man I'd bet that in five-ten years time Linux will be very much on the decline in favour of Open Source Windows.
I don't think so. Linux is great in the server arena, where machines tend to be fairly homogenous and small in number, but it lacks in the desktop world. One of the problems Linux suffers from in the corporate IT world is administration over large numbers of machines. Sysadmins like knowing that, regardless of the machine's provenance, the Windows environment has a certain set of basic behaviors that they can rely upon. They also like being able to push changes to their 1,000's of machines all at once, and to know that they got there. It's my impression that Linux has a hard time with these. There's just too much local tinkering you have to do. "Get this version of the kernel, but not this option, update this driver, downgrade this one, yadda, yadda. Oh, by the way, it only works from the command line for distros A, B, and Q. For distribution K, you've got to run this GUI thing. Don't forget that the GUI thing was written by 133tPimpleBoy in his basement, and he's grounded from the Internet 'cause his mom found his pr0n, so you won't get any support on that for a while."
Software Zen:
delete this;
Fold With Us![^]but if all machines are the same hardware and run the same distro (essentially how corporates work now with windows) then it would work the same way
"mostly watching the human race is like watching dogs watch tv ... they see the pictures move but the meaning escapes them"
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martin_hughes wrote:
Given Microsoft's significant infrastructure and financial resource there's nothing to stop it from benefiting from the work of a vast number of developers the world
That is a myth. Even Linux (except for the drivers) is maintained by a very small group of developers, most of them employed by RedHat and IBM. I have a small open source project[^] that gets 200+ downloads a month, but all I received from the "community" was one patch for Solaris and I didn't even use that one. A real case for open sourcing Windows and Office would be that some governments are mandating the use of open source software.
with all due respect your project isnt exactly an end user high profile project is it? the big end user focused projects get a lot of people throwing patches in etc etc :)
"mostly watching the human race is like watching dogs watch tv ... they see the pictures move but the meaning escapes them"
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but if all machines are the same hardware and run the same distro (essentially how corporates work now with windows) then it would work the same way
"mostly watching the human race is like watching dogs watch tv ... they see the pictures move but the meaning escapes them"
l a u r e n wrote:
essentially how corporates work now with windows
Not in any sizable IT organization I know of. Usually the bigger the organization, the more variety you find. I work at one with about a thousand machines at a single site. We have a mix of Windows 2000, XP, 2003 Server, and a few Vista boxes. Most organizations can't afford to spend the money on new hardware for everyone every three years just so that they can stick with a 'standard'. The other issue is machine 'churn'. PC's fail and get replaced. The standard hardware doesn't sit still over time, and you end up with a variety whether you like it or not. The only types of businesses I know of that can stick to a common, standard machine are call centers and similar types of service bureaus. These are the types of places where you have the endless cubicle farms of gray, bored drones running the same machines.
Software Zen:
delete this;
Fold With Us![^] -
l a u r e n wrote:
essentially how corporates work now with windows
Not in any sizable IT organization I know of. Usually the bigger the organization, the more variety you find. I work at one with about a thousand machines at a single site. We have a mix of Windows 2000, XP, 2003 Server, and a few Vista boxes. Most organizations can't afford to spend the money on new hardware for everyone every three years just so that they can stick with a 'standard'. The other issue is machine 'churn'. PC's fail and get replaced. The standard hardware doesn't sit still over time, and you end up with a variety whether you like it or not. The only types of businesses I know of that can stick to a common, standard machine are call centers and similar types of service bureaus. These are the types of places where you have the endless cubicle farms of gray, bored drones running the same machines.
Software Zen:
delete this;
Fold With Us![^]right of course but if you standardize on certain video / network cards then there would not be an issue either ... at least i've never come across one like you describe
"mostly watching the human race is like watching dogs watch tv ... they see the pictures move but the meaning escapes them"
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well martin i respect your view but would say that market trends point to you being mistaken ... time will (as always) tell ;)
"mostly watching the human race is like watching dogs watch tv ... they see the pictures move but the meaning escapes them"
Ok, tell you what. If in ten year's time Microsoft haven't made Windows Open Source I will fly you and your significant other to any city of your choosing, world wide, and provide $10,000 of spending money. If, on the other hand, Microsoft do make Windows Open Source, you will, at your own expense, become New York's Lady Godiva. Deal?
My Bookmarks I clicked the link. In an instant I was transported 15 years back in time.
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Ok, tell you what. If in ten year's time Microsoft haven't made Windows Open Source I will fly you and your significant other to any city of your choosing, world wide, and provide $10,000 of spending money. If, on the other hand, Microsoft do make Windows Open Source, you will, at your own expense, become New York's Lady Godiva. Deal?
My Bookmarks I clicked the link. In an instant I was transported 15 years back in time.
ok lets make it so altho i would say my gf would be far more pleasurable to the eyes imo but nevertheless you have a deal ;)
"mostly watching the human race is like watching dogs watch tv ... they see the pictures move but the meaning escapes them"
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martin_hughes wrote:
your idiot cousin who went to "art" school
It must be hard to have a cousin like that... :rolleyes:
it's harder to have a sister like that, along with a second sister and a brother in music school. :((
Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall
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Who in MS would lead this? AFAIK Ozzie hadn't done any open source projects before he came to MS. And why 10 years? Would they be doing it from a position of strength or a position of desperation?
cheers, Paul M. Watson.
Paul Watson wrote:
Who in MS would lead this?
DevDiv, the same folks who have open sourced more an more lately, as well as using open source components and shipping them as part of a MS product.
Tech, life, family, faith: Give me a visit. The apostle Paul, modernly speaking: Epistles of Paul Judah Himango
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it's harder to have a sister like that, along with a second sister and a brother in music school. :((
Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall
AAAARrrrgh!!!! don't do that... please... don't...
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AAAARrrrgh!!!! don't do that... please... don't...
*sigh* If you know a way to pick who your (blood) family is I'd be interested to hear it.
Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall
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*sigh* If you know a way to pick who your (blood) family is I'd be interested to hear it.
Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall
dan neely wrote:
If you know a way to pick who your (blood) family is I'd be interested to hear it.
Hey Dan, Look at the icon, of course I was joking... My family is like all the families in the world... something that you can't choose... we have good and bad moments...