Links 19/05/2008: Important Windows Refund Precedence, Unbundling Near?
- Dr. Roy Schestowitz
- 2008-05-19 14:23:27 UTC
- Modified: 2008-05-19 14:23:27 UTC
GNU/Linux
- French court orders Windows refund [Not the first time]
In France, it is illegal to bundle software and to refuse to reimburse the customer for unwanted licences, under Article L.122-1 of the French Consumer Code. The Tribunal de Grande Instance ruled that offering an expensive refund option was tantamount to offering no refund option at all, hence finding for the consumer and requiring that Asus stump up.
- Uxi, a Cuban magazine dedicated to Free Software and Open Codes by the University of Information Sciences
- University of Havana Finally Switches to Free Software
- Avnet Electronics Marketing launches complete MicroBlaze Processor Linux Design Solution
- LM_Sensors 3.0.2 Released
- I swear, this is not another Unixfication post
Is Sun talking with Linus about moving ZFS to GPLv2, with the objective of fast tracking ZFS into a native Linux kernel implementation of the file system driver? Or is Linus considering moving the kernel to GPLv3, with Sun doing the same for OpenSolaris? Is Linux and Solaris DNA going to swap much quicker than previously thought?
- AMD FireGL V8600 On Linux
If we would have looked at the FireGL performance under Windows and Linux a year ago, the results would have been vastly different -- Linux would have lagged far behind the Windows driver. With the new OpenGL driver, however, these results are rather pleasing. In 3DS Max and UGS NX tests from SPECViewPerf, the Windows driver had a small performance lead over the Linux driver. However, in the CATIA, Maya, and Pro/Engineer tests, the Linux driver wound up on top.
- Mandriva 2008.1 KDE hits a sweet spot
Ubuntu
- Hate Ubuntu? It's normal!
The fact that many people dislike the top distribution is not really a problem. The problem is that many of these folks are extremely vocal on the Internet to express their opinions. While no intelligent reader will ever take them seriously, they do give the Linux community a bad name and discourage potential Linux users from joining us.
- [Ubuntu] Weekly Newsletter #91
F/OSS
User Security vs. Vendor 'Security'
- Microsoft confirms Windows adheres to broadcast flag
News that the world's largest software maker has voluntarily agreed to help broadcasters control the recording of their shows is bound to outrage enthusiasts of digital video recorders, as it represents the biggest threat to the practice known as time shifting since the FCC's attempt to require flag adherence.
- Microsoft Stockholder? Take Stock in This...
While we are passing along the subject of anti-virus and spyware, let me ask you this. While MS does offer a somewhat crippled product to protect Windows, they push me toward a subscription purchase to get the full monty. Why am I being cornered into purchasing a "fix" for a problem Microsoft created? Shouldn't the full application be offered as part of Windows? Let me ask you this as well. Why should I purchase and use a product that necessitates I purchase and use another product in order for the first product to work the way it is supposed to?
- Hackers compromise Red Cross earthquake relief site
- Spain arrests 'prolific' hackers
Law and Crime
Leftovers
Recent Techrights' Posts
- Before the OSI Was Bribed and Hijacked by Microsoft via GitHub and Compromised Management...
- The OSI isn't even remotely "woke"
- The OSI Has Been Silent for Over 3 Weeks, It Has a Severe Trust Issue After Promoting Microsoft and Proprietary GitHub
- OSI took a lot of money from Microsoft to become a Microsoft lobbyist
- Bribery is OK If You Work for Microsoft (No Punishment Expected)
- It's very troubling and a symptom of a broken society/system when particular laws or rules are applied and enforced against some people but not against others
- Someone Should Remind Microsoft Lunduke That Microsoft Hires Many Sexual Criminals and Pedophiles as Well
- Microsoft Lunduke on an "expedition" to find one or more perverts, then generalise to everyone in the "community"
- Cash Machines (ATMs) Make Mistakes and They're Proprietary Software
- Correcting mistakes is a colossal challenge
- Yes, Microsoft is the Problem
- "I am no MS shill."
- Another Failed Use Case for Chatbots (LLM): Legal Advice and Analysis
- They're just some self-discrediting toy that costs way too much to operate
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- Microsoft Rapidly Shrinking (No, It's Not About Efficiency, It's About Unbearable Debt)
- We'll soon see how much debt grew in the past quarter
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, July 29, 2025
- IRC logs for Tuesday, July 29, 2025
- Corruption is the Standard Operating Procedure at the European Patent Office (EPO)
- The EPO is a dictatorship that stains Europe
- Local Staff Committee Munich (LSCMN) at the European Patent Office (EPO) Requests an Urgent Meeting to Avoid Abolishing the Office
- This is dictatorship led by the most corrupt
- Slopwatch: Fake 'Linux' 'Articles' and Spamfarms/Slopfarms
- at least 5 fake articles in one day
- Gemini Links 29/07/2025: Wayland Unfit for Use and LLM Slop Faking One's Language Skills With Robot Communications
- Links for the day
- Nailing the "Hey Hi" (AI) Hype Bubble
- So-called "hey hi" as they define it now is all about large companies or regimes remotely controlling the processes running on your machine and even your very own behaviour on your machine, which is in effect no longer your machine but some remotely controlled apparatus
- "Four decades; Four freedoms; For all users" Now as a T-shirt
- That's shown along the sidebar
- Links 29/07/2025: Bad Climate and "Fair Software Licensing" Blasts Microsoft
- Links for the day
- Links 29/07/2025: Data Brokers Gone Wrong/Rogue and "Copyright Thicket"
- Links for the day
- Slopwatch: Linuxconfig.org, Linuxsecurity.com, Fagioli, The Register
- Today's "Slopwatch" isn't the first article about LLM slop
- We Cover Topics Other Sites Are Too Afraid to Cover (Even When They Know the Facts)
- It's not that they doubt the truth, they just realise there may be consequences for talking about it
- They Try to Tell Us the Free Software Foundation Inc is Dying, But Its Revenue Doubled Since the Dot-Com Bubble Burst
- Being in "Activism" is never easy; but it does positive things for society
- It's About the Cost of Workers, Not the Fictional Skills Shortage (That Does Not Exist, the Media Spreads False and Sometimes Self-Fulfilling Narratives)
- This issue isn't limited to computing, some dub it "globalism"
- Links 29/07/2025: More Pushbacks Against Slop and More Praises of Tom Lehrer
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 29/07/2025: Purple Yarrow and Understanding Op Amps
- Links for the day
- This Monday WebProNews Absolutely Flooded the Web With Fake (LLM Slop) 'Articles' About "Linux", Google News Promoted Them as Legitimate
- All of the following are fake articles attributed to pseudonyms or authors that don't exist; the images are also slop. Why does Google promote these?
- Linuxiac is Not a Slopfarm, But at Least Some of Its Articles Are Machine-Generated Fakes
- what we said about it was correct
- Expect More Microsoft Layoffs
- "Are more job cuts coming?"
- Microsoft Behaving Like It's Running Out of Money to Pay Salaries
- Does that seem like the behaviour expected from a company which claims it is "worth" trillions?
- LWN Downtime Due to Linode, Not LLM Bots
- "I’ve received an email letting me know that there is a potential for data loss."
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Monday, July 28, 2025
- IRC logs for Monday, July 28, 2025
- Nonfree Software in My Bank, by Richard Stallman
- Updated 8 hours ago
- Links 28/07/2025: Science, Health, and Conflicts
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 28/07/2025: Healthy Self-Image With Autism and a "New Life"
- Links for the day
- Links 28/07/2025: COVID-19 Sped up Brain Aging, "Circumvention is More Popular Than Compliance"
- Links for the day
- Richard Stallman is Usually Right Because He Thinks "Outside the Box"
- he is able to observe society (mores and norms) as somewhat of an outsider
- LWN Has Been Down for a Long Time, Another Casualty of LLM Bots?
- Time will tell. How much time though?
- Slopfarms Versus 'Linux' (and Against People Who Write Real Articles About GNU/Linux)
- LLM slop in slopfarms by Brian Fagioli and Redazione RHC
- Gemini Links 28/07/2025: Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray and Running pkgsrc in a FreeBSD Jail
- Links for the day
- Microsoft Turns News Sites Into Spamfarms
- Is the site The Register MS the next IDG?
- The Register MS/The Register US
- On Saturday I contacted them for a comment (before issuing criticism)
- Hacking revelations at Vatican Jubilee of Digital Missionaries
- Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Sunday, July 27, 2025
- IRC logs for Sunday, July 27, 2025
Comments
fruit of the loon
2008-05-19 23:02:34
Roy Schestowitz
2008-05-19 23:09:41
So Fia lore Inn
2008-05-19 23:19:25
It should be argued, at least for PC gaming, they have a monopoly on the desktop with gaming, as most people need to use DirectX properly in order for the games to work. Sure Wine, Cedega, and other projects are making some progress and some games may work, and believe me I try every few weeks to see how it is coming along, but again Microsoft still continues its dirty deeds. They lie about Linux and Windows interoperability, "They said it couldn't be done!" Novell agreement bullshit just like the Corel agreement in 2000 or 2001, where Corel Linux was promptly spun off and money/support from Corel to Wine apparantly dried up. Time and time again they come in and either buy out or pollute the environment with thier proprietary crap, and we read another dismal Microsoft article after article every few weeks or more.
If Microsoft is so devoted to bringing Linux and Windows together, I don't see anything on their vast labrynth of shit at Microsoft.com indicating this. Where is the repository of interoperability Linux and Windows software on Microsoft.com? Oh, but you can still get their bullshit "Facts" on Windows and Linux, and that's about it. At least Google has a repository you can add to your Linux install for software from them. In my opinion, don't think Moonlight ("Ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight? I ask that of all my friends") will last much longer or work well for Linux users should Silverblight (Silverlight) suddenly become popular through payoffs and slight of hand corporate tricks.
If you ever want to have Microsoft come clean, no, I don't believe it would ever happen unless the DOJ finally came down hard and raided their offices, took their hardware and software and forced them to release the code and all of the various undiscovered backdoors waiting to be found, it just won't happen. IMO, Microsoft has demonstrated time and time again it will fight tooth and nail against any punishment against them.
We will all be cleansed if true justice were ever to prevail, but in the "United States of Advertising", most of the people in power are paid off, with big pharma and other corporate overlords always padding the handshakes and votes. It is a lost cause, you know it, I know it, but you'll still piss away your vote to one of the two parties who bend over for big pharma to slide in the money and the overpriced medications pop out the other end as we all struggle under the yoke of this dismal fucking world.
Come clean? Microsoft? The whole system is mired in filth.
Good luck.
We now return you to your normal life, ostrich head in the sand, millions of tokers/beer drinkers who raise their fist while watching Fight Club and return to their soap opera pitiful lives of slavery as the credits roll.
Vote for Wesley Snipes for President in 2008, neither one of the big parties will get anything done, they are a part of the problem.