01.04.08
Posted in Deception, ECMA, Europe, Formats, Microsoft, Novell, Open XML at 5:43 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Predictions, prediction…
From NoOOXML:
They predict that Microsoft will manage to have their broken standard adopted by ISO on the 1st of April 2008, after heavy lobbying and control of the discussions of the Ballot Resolution Meeting in Geneva.
This predication also says that half the table will be controlled by Microsoft (to vote on an issue related only to Microsoft). That’s how you buy an election and that, my friends, is crime in daytime. The lies, the briberies, the sacking of people who do not agree with Microsoft…
Maybe Novell, spearheaded by de Icaza et al, will come to do a superb dance and celebrate with Microsoft in Geneva. That’s just what they want, don’t they? What's good for Microsoft is good for Novell now. And it’s all about the big money. █
Permalink
Send this to a friend
Posted in ISO, Microsoft, Office Suites, Open XML at 1:35 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Deprecated Microsoft
”OOXML is already (mis)used as a tool that creates the problems it purports to have solved.“The hyperlink above leads to a previous very recent writeup on this topic. Even amid heated discussions in ISO, Microsoft was not too shy to reveal just why OOXML must be shot down. OOXML is already (mis)used as a tool that creates the problems it purports to have solved.
The scoop came from Slashdot, but other articles have since then appeared, including in C|net. It is worth mentioning that Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft, owns C|Net. This explains the bias and the endless flow of Microsoft lobbyists that come from C|Net. Here are just a couple of examples. It’s not just Bill Gates’ so-called 'charity' that buys media companies (and invests in predatory oil companies).
Anyway, here is Groklaw’s response to this new discovery:
First, although Microsoft claims the blocked file formats are “insecure”, I don’t believe it. Read Rob Weir’s Legacy Format FUD on that. If you read the Microsoft how to work around this, you find out it involves changing some things in your registry. But what is interesting is, among the file formats blocked are things like Word 97 for Windows and Word 2001 for the Mac. A lot of people have documents in those formats. I do myself. So here’s what I think might work: open your document in OpenOffice.org, the latest version. It can open those types of documents and many, many more. Then save your document in a format that will work with Office 2003. Then ask yourself two questions: do we need ODF to ensure that we can open documents in the future without such difficulties? I’d answer yes, we do. And the second question I’d be asking is: why am I still using Microsoft products when they are nothing but troubles? And finally, if Microsoft ever again has the nerve to tell us that we need another standard document format to ensure backward compatibility for all those old documents, I think I will laugh. That is clearly not at the top of Microsoft’s list of to do items.
Here is another response:
It makes an interesting comparison between OOXML (Microsoft’s new proposed office document standard) and the much older RTF standard. It argues that Microsoft will use OOXML to further lock in their customers, and to continually make it difficult for any competitor to produce OOXML compatibility, while officially being able to claim ‘standard compliance’, just like they have done in the past with RTF. And since Microsoft has shown its strategy with RTF in the past, why – the article asks – should we assume anything else from Microsoft today?
[...]
Why should we believe for a second that Microsoft’s intent is not exactly the same with OOXML as it was with RTF?
Here is what Sam Hiser has to say:
Trouble is these changes to the format will never make it into the Office 2007 software products — which are shipping as we speak. And Microsoft has never intended for the new XML formats (with file extensions .docx, .xlsx, .pptx) implemented in Office 2007|8 to fully reflect the OOXML specification.
Along with disabling the legacy document formats in Office 2003 through service pack 3, these measures together represent on their face Microsoft’s “Customer Pull-Up” strategy designed to coerce customers to move into the company’s next-generation lock-in tank. The Pull-Up is insidious because customers, under what appears to them to be their own free will, purchase new Microsoft software fearing that to be without access to Microsoft’s newest document formats they will not be able to do work.
Here is another serious complaint about this forced upgrade stunt, followed by some suggestions.
The solution is simple: open standards.
1. Begin thinking about how you can use open source software, which doesn’t cost any money at all, to replace closed source alternatives that will only lock you into proprietary formats. For example, use OpenOffice instead of Microsoft Office. It’s just as good as Microsoft Office for most tasks, and best of all, it’s free!
2. Save your files in ODT (OpenDocument) format, a popular open-source document format that any programmer can implement for free, so that there will always be software to open your old documents. That’s what many US states and other national governments are beginning to do.
3. Always, always keep good backups and migrate those backups to new mediums promptly so that you don’t have 5.25″ floppy disks hanging around anymore. Right now, your files should be stored on CDs and hard drives, not 3.5″ floppies, 5.25 floppies, ZIP disks, LS120 disks, etc.
Remember that with Microsoft formats, your own precious information, some of which can be vital and have sentimental value, will be accessible only as long as Microsoft permits it. █
Permalink
Send this to a friend
Posted in GNOME, GNU/Linux, Microsoft, Mono, Novell, Open XML, Patents at 1:13 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Throw a dime in the tip jar and call that “support”
A promotional new article from Microsoft’s press makes it clear that GNU/Linux is left out of the Silverlight/Popfly universe, which is all about the Microsoft Web (see links at the bottom). On the other hand, Microsoft continues to use Novell as an excuse and semi-fdounded ‘proof’ that the FOSS world accepts Silverlight. If this seems familiar, it ought to.
Novell supports OOXML, along with other technologies that help Microsoft maginalise GNU/Linux. Why does Novell do this? Because it’s in Microsoft’s contract (see SEC filing) with Novell. Microsoft holds Novell down by the thumb, owing to the cash infusion Novell so desperately craved. And it shows.
Linux Left Out
The animations are equal to those of Flash in terms of quality. However, Popfly does have one flaw, which is no Linux support. Novell Inc. is developing a Linux version of Silverlight called “Moonlight.”
Take-home message: Novell is merely serving Microsoft agenda here. It simply must because it is too reliant on Microsoft. As we have found in OOXML, Novell employees are pushing for adoption of OOXML in Free software. The same goes for Silverlight. █
Related reading (internal):
Related reading (external):
Update: Already comes the push and the shove:
Microsoft to Push Silverlight via Redesigned Website
Microsoft isn’t new to the whole “virtual” monopoly business (where a single company holds the entire market thanks to “superior technology” and “better business sense”) – it’s just not too often that they’re on the wrong side of this particular proverbial fence.
When Silverlight was first announced and PopFly, Microsoft’s social network built to demonstrate and hopefully kickoff Silverlight, were simultaneously launched; we were quick to appreciate the technical aspects of .NET and WPF taken online, but were careful to make it clear that we didn’t think it stood much of a chance.
But things might be on the verge of a big change. Large portions Microsoft’s website are in the middle of a redesign that will feature a fully Silverlight-powered interface – doing away with HTML and everything else.
Permalink
Send this to a friend
Posted in America, IBM, Law, Patents at 12:53 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Overburdening: whose fault is it?
Acacia was last mentioned only half a day ago. It has been been keeping very, very busy.
A subsidiary of Acacia Research Corp. and Sprint Nextel Corp. have settled a lawsuit alleging that Sprint Nextel had infringed on patents for technology used to display mobile vehicle information on maps.
Patent trolls like Acacia aside, patents in general appear to have grown too prolific. It is a matter of quantity nowadays, never mind the quality of so-called ‘inventions’ like the “JPEG on a Web page“. IBM is adding to that big pile. It is making the patent maze even more complex.
Patently busy: IBM filing 10 patents/day in technology
A recent article in Spectrum, the online magazine of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), rated companies in nine categories (Aerospace and Defense, Computer Peripherals and Storage, Computer Systems and Software, Electronics, Medical Equipment, Semiconductor Equipment Manufacturing, Semiconductor Manufacturing, Telecom Equipment, and Telecom Services) by the number and strength of patents that they received over the last year for which there was complete data, 2006.
It is worth asking ourselves how much those 10 patents/day actually contribute to science and technology. Patents have their share of harms because they prevent good products from being built without serious complications. IBM, how about helping the establishment of a reform rather than fighting fire with fire? █
Related article:
When Patents Threaten Science
Patents should not be used to protect laws of nature, products of nature, or mathematical formulas.
Permalink
Send this to a friend
Posted in GNU/Linux, Microsoft, Novell, OpenSUSE, SLES/SLED, Windows, Xandros at 12:39 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Novell’s gold standard is Windows?
And oh my god! I don’t know if the following screenshot is fake, but it doesn’t seem so.
Windows Explorer in Opensuse Installer
Seems Novell and Microsoft are working VERY closely together.
Look at the explorer window in Opensuse’ installation. Doesn’t it look familiar?
Follow the link and watch this. I’d jokingly link back to our Microsoft Linux posts (about a dozen of them, including this one), but it barely seems necessary. Even Xandros in the Eee PC uses Windows XP-like GUI. What is the imitation all about? We’ve inquired to find out if the SUSE screenshot is fake. The Web site is no parody site and there’s no sign of humour. █
Permalink
Send this to a friend
Posted in Deception, Finance, GNU/Linux, Marketing, Microsoft, Novell at 12:29 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Novell wants you to know that Microsoft deals are good
Humorously enough — albeit with an element of truth — it has been argued for a while that Novell is Microsoft’s Linux division in the sense that it builds, designs, and distributes GNU/Linux in a way that is most convenient to Microsoft. It also ‘extends’ GNU/Linux distributions using technologies like Silverlight and OOXML, but that’s another story about ways in which Novell serves and promotes Microsoft agenda.
”At the moment, for instance, Novell characterises Microsoft not only as benign, but also generous, according to the headline of one report from the British press.“What has become more worrisome is Novell’s relentless attempts to glorify not only Novell-type deals with Microsoft, but Microsoft’s behavior as well. At the moment, for instance, Novell characterises Microsoft not only as benign, but also generous, according to the headline of one report from the British press.
There is no generosity here. Microsoft established a system where it can tax Linux per sale. Novell pays Microsoft based on how much SUSE it sells while the company crumbles. Essentially, Microsoft reinvents the Linux sales model with Novell’s help. Do remember that Ron Hovsepian openly complained about Microsoft’s dirty tricks just shortly before the big deal was announced. Why the sudden 180-degrees turn?
It would probably be foolish to quote articles which merely echo Novell executives. The Register’s take is a better one.
Novell congratulates itself for snogging Microsoft
Novell wants you to know that selling its soul to Steve Ballmer was a really good idea.
On the last day of 2007, two separate Novell execs tossed up blog posts congratulating themselves for agreeing to that “interoperability partnership” with Microsoft, a year-old deal intent on forcing an unholy relationship between Linux and Windows.
How about the following? Mind the image which says “Microvell” in a Web site as reputable as NetworkWorld.com. Our little game with trademarks isn’t so wild after all, is it?
Novell Wasn’t Profitable Even After Sugar From Microsoft
Even with that “sugar” from Microsoft, Novell didn’t end up profitable for the year. I don’t know how much of the $355.6m payment was recognized as 07 revenue but Novell still ended fiscal 07 with a $44.5 million loss.
That sounds just about right. Novell has admitted cooking the books. The SEC, unsurprisingly, decided to take a closer look because of the Microsoft deal. It is still Microsoft which is toying with Novell, not the other around. █
Permalink
Send this to a friend
Content is available under CC-BY-SA