10.16.09
Posted in GNU/Linux, Mail, Microsoft, Mono, Novell, Samba at 10:20 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: More people have their eyes opened now that Mono enlightenment spreads; .NET and Hotmail failures revisited
AS EXPECTED, Jeremy Allison’s article about Mono has brought a lot of feedback and although there are many comments, there is clear absence of opposition to Allison’s remarks; it is almost too hard to refute or to disparage the character.
Simon Phipps from Sun Microsystems adds the following:
Monomania
Jeremy Allison argues that Mono is dangerous to free software distributions and should be relegated to the “restricted” repositories along with other software with unsafe licensing and/or patent contexts. He makes rational arguments, avoids emotion and thus when he is inevitably dismissed with a hand-wave by the Monomaniacs like the rest of us it will be especially telling.
To be fair, Phipps has little or no reason to like Mono. Phipps promotes Java for obvious reasons.
Others too have been moved by the column from Allison:
Mono a mano – Many of us are wrestling with this, I suspect
[...]
Allison’s contention is that while he can understand original Mono creator Miguel de Icaza’s reasons for wanting to code GUI apps in C# rather than C or C++, Allison would rather that the open-source community turned to Java instead in its quest to build out the graphical environment. There is some talk about, at the time Mono was started, Java not being available under a free license, but Allison contends that it has more to do with potential or real rivalries among developers wishing to use Java or Mono/C++, as well as control over their respective projects.
[...]
On the other hand, seeing Mono as the “Miguel de Icaza-who-works-for-Novell Show,” keeping in mind that I know little about him and have never met him, doesn’t give me a good feeling about how GNOME is tipping every more closely into becoming a Mono-powered world.
Over at ECT we find this new article about the massive loss of .NET (and perhaps of Mono, by inference):
Android on the Rise, While .Net Takes a Blow
[...]
Back in July, reports surfaced that the London Stock Exchange had decided to abandon its Windows-based TradElect system after suffering a debilitating software crash the previous fall.
TradElect is a custom set of C# and .Net programs created by Microsoft and Accenture.
Instead, news came out last week that the LSE will switch to the GNU/Linux-based MillenniumIT system, even going so far as to purchase its developer in the process!
We wrote about this before. Other parts of the UK public sector are currently being hurt by Microsoft software. Now it’s the national health system, again:
Microsoft’s Hotmail ‘blacklists’ NHS email – again
NHS staff can finally send emails to Hotmail accounts again, seven days after some healthcare workers complained to Microsoft that their messages were being blocked.
It’s not the first time the NHS has been shunned by Microsoft’s Hotmail. In May this year all addresses in the nhs.uk namespace were reportedly being blocked following a complaint about email originating from one of its IP addresses.
We wrote about the previous incident right here. NHS connections with Microsoft UK [1, 2, 3] are leaving lives are at stake (yes, British patients sometimes die as a result) and there is never a defensible reason to use Hotmail. █
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Posted in Law, Marketing, Microsoft, Vista 7, Windows at 9:38 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Automated accounts serve a function as Windows pushers; FTC under attack from companies that produce AstroTurf contracts; Microsoft-sponsored sites and former employees engineer a fanfare for Vista 7
SOME weeks ago we produced evidence to show that Microsoft bribes people who mention Vista 7 in Twitter (and elsewhere). It seems like a violation of the new rules from the FTC, but on it carries in addition to previous examples, such as:
- More Microsoft AstroTurfing (aka ‘Technical Evangelism’) in Twitter
- User “Microsoft Incentives” Wants to be Your Friend, Too
- Microsoft’s Twitter AstroTurf Continues
- Who is Pumping MSFT and Pimping Microsoft in Twitter?
- Microsoft Hires Federated Media for Twitter AstroTurfing
- Does Microsoft Still Create Twitter Accounts for Guerilla Marketing?
- Microsoft’s AstroTurfing, Twitter, Waggener Edstrom, and Jonathan Zuck
Someone suspects that Microsoft operates bots in Twitter — ones whose purpose is marketing alone.
Today we are going to look at the Twitter account HashWindows who, presumably is a bot which RT’s posts containing keywords relevant to the topic it RT’s…no surprises here…Windows!
Before we look at how robotic or automated this account really is, let me just say that I have not yet established if Hashwindows is an official Microsoft account (one of many) and nobody seems to know. It lists its location as Pearl, but has no contact details or means of tracing its origins, sounds like one of the MS Faithful so far eh?
I first noticed Hashwindows a few months ago in my replies section of Twitter, I thought it was quite funny how it would RT my comments (some of which hardly made favorable reading) As time went on I lost interest in what I considered was a Twitter spam bot and dismissed it as a badly coded piece of work that blinded spouted RT’s of Windows related subjects (a little like the MS faithful do Steve Ballmers comments)
Microsoft should be careful here, regardless of who is responsible for this bot. The FTC ought to be watching this as meanwhile we find that companies which employ AstroTurfers see it as their constitutional right to deceive the public in exactly this way.
An interesting development has occurred in the story of the controversial FTC guidelines for sponsored blogging/social media. The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has called upon the FTC to rescind the blogger rules, and has questioned the constitutionality of them. As you may know, there have been a lot people calling them an infringement on free speech.
The IAB says the rules unfairly and unconstitutionally impose penalties on online media for practices in which offline media have engaged for decades. In an open letter to FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz, Randall Rothenberg, the President and CEO of the IAB, called the FTC’s distinction between offline media and online media, “constitutionally dubious.”
How can such people even justify what they do? Microsoft too employs such unethical agencies which help hide the truth about Vista 7. True voices are not pleased with this operating system and margins become an issue for Windows.
A Microsoft-sponsored Seattle blog claims “positive reviews for Windows 7″ (how many of them from Windows enthusiasts, MSDN folks, and bribed authors/bloggers who got a preview?), but it also exposes a known issue.
Despite positive reviews for Windows 7, the upgrade process for the millions of people still using the older Windows XP won’t be simple. Unlike the shift from the newer Windows Vista, the move from Windows XP to Windows 7 requires a clean installation — which means backing up data before installing Windows 7, then restoring data and reinstalling applications after the new OS is on the machine.
The same blog has also just published a “fluff piece” that includes quotes from familiar Microsoft shill (and former Microsoft employee/evangelist) Gartnenberg. It’s more advertising for Vista 7 disguised as an article. There will be a lot more of it as Microsoft’s bad financial results are approaching (to be immediately eclipsed by the Vista 7 marketing blitz). █
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Posted in America, Australia, Europe, Free/Libre Software, Microsoft, Patents at 9:38 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Free software beats Microsoft to it, as usual (just without patenting); Nobel Prize winners do not like patents and other such artificial monopolies
SOFTWARE PATENTS are an instrument of control, which is exploited both by the large and the small. The large is the monopolist (oligarch) and the small is the patent troll; other than those two classes, few ever benefit from their patent systems, which grant exclusivity rights (trade secret may often be an effective enough mechanism). Failed companies may pass over their patents to large companies, or in the case of Linus Torvalds’ old employer — to Microsoft's own patent troll.
There are some signs of optimism in Europe (EPO) now that Free software defeats Microsoft at its own malicious game:
You and your readers may be interested in six oppositions currently pending at the EPO. The opposed patents are those subject to the appeal decision T424/03 cited by the president in the referral. The patents in question are EP0717354, EP1028372, EP1028373, EP1028374, EP1028376 and EP1028377 (“Expanded Clipboard Formats”) granted to Microsoft Corporation.
The principal ground for opposition is novelty and, interestingly, the prior art is open source software. These oppositions may also be of interest to the open source community who may make observations to the EPO under Article 115 EPC”.
The FFII hopefully pays attention to it.
Nobel Laureates Versus Intellectual Monopolies
A couple of days ago we wrote about Elinor Ostrom, an advocate of the Commons who has just received a Nobel prize. Ostrom turns out to be just one in a series of Nobel laureates in her field (namely economics) who feel similarly. We gave Maskin and Stiglitz as examples, but TechDirt has more:
Three Economic Nobel Laureates In A Row Recognizing Power Of Infinite Goods
With the Nobel Prize in Economics being awarded to Elinor Ostrom (as well as Oliver Williamson) this year, plenty of people are noting that Ostrom’s seminal work has to do with how the concept of “the tragedy of the commons” isn’t really true in many cases, and how that “commons” can often self-regulate itself. And, Ostrom definitely recognizes how this applies to the “commons” that is the public domain. I didn’t want to comment right away on this. While I’ve read Ostrom’s work in the past, I wanted to revisit some of it, to refresh myself on it.
Under the title “Elinor Ostrom and the Future of Economics,” a blog from Harvard speaks of her views that tend agree with Free software philosophy.
But Ostrom is a radical — and awesome — choice. Not just because of the “what” of her work, but, more deeply, because of the “how” of it. Ostrom’s work is concerned, fundamentally, with challenging Garret Hardin’s famous Tragedy of the Commons, itself a living expression of neoclassical thinking. Ostrom suggests that far from a tragedy, the commons can be managed from the bottom-up for a shared prosperity — given the right institutions. That conclusion challenges orthodox economics from both left and right leaning perspectives; it suggests that, yes, markets can organize production and consumption efficiently — but only when supported and nurtured by networks and communities.
The Against Monopoly Web site has just posted another bit of opposition to software patents.
In closing I would like to point out that if you affirm software/technical processes as patentable a firestorm of litigation will ensue, resulting in a massive and unjust transfer of resources. The resulting effect on innovation in the US would lead to the inevitable question: Why would we expose our company to the risk of crushing litigation in the United States when our markets are just as accessible through the Internet?
Development Versus Litigation or Litigation Versus Development?
3Com is a company that like TiVo and Akamai has been using GNU/Linux extensively (see [1-13] below), but all these companies are also aggressors with patents. We gave examples of this before [1, 2, 3]. Here is 3Com working its ‘charm’. [via TechDirt, which chose the headline: "Can't Innovate? Litigate! 3Com Goes Patent Lawsuit Ballistic"]
Some big names in the computer industry were sued this week by a company claiming that they have infringed on Ethernet-related patents developed by 3Com.
The company is called U.S. Ethernet Innovations, which owns the patents spun off from 3Com for the sole purpose of launching these sorts of lawsuits. Named in the suit are Acer, Apple, Asus, Dell, Fujitsu, Gateway, HP, Sony, and Toshiba.
A reader of ours from Australia has also told us about the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) shaming itself with more lawsuits.
A patent battle between Australia’s CSIRO and 14 of the world’s largest technology companies has today been revealed to have already gained the research organisation $200 million from out of court settlements.
For some background, CSIRO is suing a lot these days [1, 2, 3] following the patent-in-a-standard scam [1, 2, 3]. CSIRO’s ‘business’ antics are something to be ashamed of, not proud of. █
_________
[1] Bain, Huawei to Resubmit $2.2B Bid For 3Com: Report
Within the next several weeks, Bain Capital and China’s Huawei plan to reapply for U.S. approval for a planned buyout of 3Com, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
The $2.2 billion transaction would still leave Huawei with 16.5 percent of the company and Bain holding the rest, said the Journal citing people familiar with the matter.
[2] 3Com Acquisition Under Investigation
The U.S. Department of Defense uses 3Com intrusion detection products, and Chinese hackers have targeted the agency, McCotter said. “Given this and other instances of communist China’s persistent cyber warfare against us, approving this sale would be an abject abdication of CIFUS’ duty to protect America’s vital defense technologies from enemy acquisition,” he said.
[3] 3Com’s CEO sees company as a US-Asia trendsetter
Q: Has your Linux strategy helped against competitors?
ER [Edgar Masri]: We have an open strategy, which is open source based on Linux. Many networking companies are starting to do that, but I believe we have an 18-month head start. We recognize customers want open architecture and source, mainly in small and medium businesses. We also have the Open Services Networking architecture. One very large customer wanted better network monitoring and had made a clear choice about the application it wanted to use, and said we were doing it better than other providers.
[4] 3Com Brings Enterprise-Caliber IP Telephony to SMBs
As part of 3Com’s commitment to providing the platform and support for clients to implement best-of-breed Open Source solutions, the company also is launching the 3Com Asterisk Appliance, an Open Source voice-over-IP (VoIP) system based on Digium’s Asterisk Appliance.
[5] 3Com ‘reenters’ RP, bets on open source
Orcun Tezel, technical director of 3Com South Asia, explained that although 3Com routers and switches now come with pre-integrated open-source applications, its Open Services Networking (OSN) further allows “best-ofbreed” applications to run on the Linux-based platform.
[6] 3Com chooses an open strategy
The OSN infrastructure runs on Linux.
[7] 3Com, IBM extend VOIP/messaging interoperability
The VCX/Sametime interoperability also extends to 3Com and IBM software running on stand-alone servers. (3Com ships VCX systems on a Linux-based appliance, and IBM’s Sametime runs on a variety of operating systems and server hardware).
[8] 3Com: Turnaround Depends on IBM Deal
And that open source voice over IP system, called Asterisk, has reached its tipping point. But instead of ignoring such threats, 3Com appears ready to embrace them. In fact, I hear that 3Com plans to address the Asterisk market within the next few months.
[9] 3Com Evaluating Askerisk Strategy
The manager politely danced around the question, then indicated that 3Com planned to address Asterisk without necessarily competing with the open source system. Sounds like 3Com is piecing together a strategy to embrace Asterisk. Could there be a partnership or acquisition around the corner?
[...]
Supporting Asterisk would propel 3Com?s open platform strategy forward.
[10] 3Com touts open source
3Com’s OSN module is a Linux-based server blade that fits into the company’s 6000 series routers. It is designed to run applications that benefit from being close to the network layer, the company says.
[11] 3Com introduces first ‘open services’ product
Launched at the end of last year, OSN is basically an effort to bring some server capabilities into network appliances by using a Linux-based server blade, as well as to allow users to plug open-source modules into the appliance.
[...]
Interestingly, there is a twist in 3Com’s adoption of open source: Its founder, Metcalfe, was once known to be anti-open source. Fortunately, Metcalfe has since become a convert in line with the OSN.
[12] Networks finally learning to work together
A more technically interesting solution that 3Com has just rolled out is a Linux blade running in its high end switches.
“Imagine a switch or router with a little bit of extra hardware running Linux. We are inviting our partners to put their stuff on there, essentially a Linux PC on a blade. It’s not about replacing servers, it’s about putting an app into the network, like WAN optimization, packet analysis, netflow, security, things like this,” he said.
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Posted in GNU/Linux, Google, Microsoft, Search at 8:07 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Bing failed to make a difference for Microsoft; Lloyds TSB requires Microsoft Windows for Web access
FOR the great investment and deception that has gone into Bing, Microsoft has received almost nothing. It all goes badly as soon as the marketing offensive exceeds its shelf life expectancy and even in the US it shows almost no gains (before and after the renaming/rebranding of Microsoft search). Available numbers and charts may seem meaningful (people trust pictures), but as usual, reporters are sticking to US-only data, which gives the illusion that Microsoft has more than a few percent in market share (globally). Mary Jo Foley uses these biased numbers to project optimism.
While some other reports have claimed that Microsoft lost a point — or in some cases, substantially more — of the U.S. search it has been slowly but steadily gaining, comScore is claiming Bing actually grew a bit.
Nothing is being said about the comScore-Microsoft business relationship [1, 2, 3]. For a company like comScore it would too simply to change a few parameters or data samples to fit a predetermined, desired outcome.
To clarify, it’s not that Google is benevolent, innocent, or benign, but to allow Microsoft to gain at Google’s expense is to promote an additional peril to Free software.
A few days ago we explained why it's important to keep Microsoft off the Internet. Microsoft excludes GNU/Linux from the Internet (example from a few days ago) and Lloyds TSB plays along, based on the following new report.
Many Lloyds TSB business customers who use Firefox as their default browser are currently unable to access their online banking accounts.
We previously showed the same thing happening at Microsoft's partner, Citibank. Banks that do not understand the dangers of banking with Windows do not deserve business. The collective financial damage caused by account compromises is to be paid for by all customers somehow (interest rates, commission, service quality, and so on). █
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