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
- Slop-Posting is a New Form of S---posting
- We recently caught several more "linux" sites (with "linux" in their domain name) turning to slop
- Losses From Slop Are "Investment", Hundreds of Billions in Debt Are "Growth Opportunity", Layoffs Are "Great to See", and Loss of Business Means "We Need a Slowdown" (for "Safety")
- Microsoft is removing staff, as investment is apparently the act of shrtinking
- Brigading Against Women - Part XII - Toxic Masculinity, Hunting Women, Will Code for Sex
- Who says things like these?
- The Microsoft Lunduke Slop Problem
- Microsoft Lunduke does not support Software Freedom; he serves to discredit many ideas championed by Free software or ideals articulated which are apolitical for the most part
- CDMAG Covers Free Software, New Magazine From Decent People
- If enough people accessed their site, they would not rely on social control media (third parties, censorship platforms)
- Brigading Against Women - Part XI - An Abject Lack of Social Skills (and Not Knowing How to Handle Women)
- GGG enjoy - if that's the right term - very bizarre or esoteric sex life
-
- Gemini Links 30/09/2026: Fish Leather, Slop Formation, and ROOPHLOCH
- Links for the day
- In a Lot of Europe (or EU) Android (With Linux) is Bigger Than Windows
- For example in Greece
- EPO Cocainegate: Lots of Money (Over a Million Euros) for Cocaine Addicts, Not for Children With Special Needs
- Next month we'll bring out some more Campinos scandals
- High Court victory: Nigel Farage is 'the Company's own candidate'
- Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
- It Took GNOME's Code of Conduct Committee (CoCC) Over 8 Months to Realise CoC Reports Went Into /dev/null/
- It would be ironic if the blunder's culprits were punished for it, would it not?
- Links 30/09/2026: Microsoft "OpenAI Ignored Employees’ Warnings About Safely" and "Pentagon Personnel Agency Data Breach Impacts 3 Million People"
- Links for the day
- The Register MS "Events" As Paid Spam That Promotes and Keeps Afloat Hype About Slop
- This dreary sort of media reads like a soup of words, i.e. like the thing it is advertising
- Digital Independence in the UK and in Western Europe
- We have the technical capacity and skilled personnel to achieve this
- IBM's Anderon as a Mass Layoffs Ritual With a Bailout (From US Taxpayers to IBM) and Other Perks
- Like those empty promises in the first term of the Cheeto dictator
- Gemini Links 30/09/2026: David Bowie, Web Rendering Proxy, Ink and Letters, Gemlog Nostalgia
- Links for the day
- EPO Annual General Meeting (AGM) Will Speak of Financial State of the EPO's Union
- Their work is needed because the EPO breaks the law
- Rust Causes Upgrade Issues in Ubuntu
- They could just keep GNU coreutils in place (nothing was broken about it) and avoid Microsoft's back doors and TPMs
- Links 30/09/2026: "Understanding the LLM Bubble" and "Florida Senate Threatened Legal Action Against Newspapers"
- Links for the day
- It Looks Like Mass Layoffs at "Nordcloud, an IBM Company" Today (a Day Ahead of Red Hat)
- Expect the same from Red Hat next
- British Prime Minister Recognises Social Control Media as National Cohesion Problem
- one has to wonder if addiction to social control media is not compatible with peace
- The Future Isn't Social Control Media (Nothing Will be Left of It, Not Even Archives)
- "Error code: 502 Bad Gateway"
- GNU/Linux Usage in China is Increasing
- China is leaving Microsoft and Windows behind
- 43 Years of GNU and GAFAM's (Especially Microsoft's) Attacks On It
- GNU is very widely used (when people say "Linux commands" they typically mean "GNU programs"), hence it's being attacked a lot
- Gemini Links 30/09/2026: Accelerationism, "The Billionaire is Wrong", Rant About LLM-generated Support E-mails
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, September 29, 2026
- IRC logs for Tuesday, September 29, 2026
- Black Brit on "Pictures Comparing Me to a Monkey" Because of Brett Wilson LLP Client
- "Like Firm, Like Clients..."
- President of the EPO Should be Kicked Out, Not Have His Term Terminated in 2028
- The President is facing more scandals soon
- David Gordon at The Register MS Keeps Feeding the Pyramid Scheme With Fake Articles That Say "AI" Dozens of Times
- How can such a publisher still be taken seriously?
- The Local Staff Committee The Hague (LSCTH) at the EPO Explains the Working Conditions and Crisis of Plunder (Less for Workers, a Lot More for Dictators Who Refuse to Leave Leadership Roles)
- Next week will be epic
- EPO Will Stop Working for 10 Days to Protest Against 'Cocaine King' and His Assault on Democracy, Lawfulness, Transfer of Power at EPO
- Strikes, work stoppage, all rolled onto one
- IBM Brings Avalanche to Red Hat October 1st 2026 (Thursday)
- IBM is turning up the heat on staff
- Links 29/09/2026: Mass Layoffs at Microsoft and Backlash Over Data Center Policy of Microsoft
- Links for the day
- Techrights is International
- There are many sites that focus on local communities or nations. We're not one of those sites.
- 5 Years Ago (September 29, 2021) Richard Stallman's Talk in Ukraine Noted
- Let's hope the war will end soon
- Links 29/09/2026: Acceleration, Morale, and ROOPHLOCH 2026
- Links for the day
- Links 29/09/2026: "Scam Altman Is Driving Drunk" and Anthropic Lies About Slop Usage
- Links for the day
- Brigading Against Women - Part X - When Actions of American Men Are Not Judged by Other American Men
- "There is not the slightest suggestion that either Dr or Mrs Schestowitz did anything to invite or deserve it. They are both clearly and justifiably angered, dismayed, distressed and hurt by it."
- European Patent Office (EPO) Series: A Source of Pride for Portugal?
- In this part our focus returns to the main theme of this series, namely the current reappointment campaign of the EPO President, as we consider whether Campinos can still expect to enjoy the same level of support from the Portuguese political establishment as he did during the earlier stages of his career
- Computers Freeze Because of UEFI Restricted Boot
- damage is also done to computers running Windows
- It is Very Expensive to Slow Down Techrights
- Garrett's expensive hearing (costing the British taxpayers about 120,000 pounds; he doesn't live here and does not pay tax here) slowed us down for a few days, but we've picked up the pace since
- Linux Has Conquered Mobile, But Desktops and Laptops Matter More
- When people say the desktop "doesn't matter" they seem to be missing the point that workplaces use desktops (or laptops) and a lot of the work gets done not on skinnerboxes but "workstations" or terminals
- Brigading Against Women - Part IX - "What Are You, a Racist?"
- Because behind every strong man is a strong opinion?
- Gemini Links 29/09/2026: "Digital Sabbath", Starting a GemCapsule, and Sterrenkijker 1.1.0
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Monday, September 28, 2026
- IRC logs for Monday, September 28, 2026
- Brigading Against Women - Part VIII - Misogyny Embedded; Like Firm, Like Clients
- It's about back doors
- Chaos Imminent at Red Hat (This Week)
- IBM is 'finishing the job' an ex-IBMer (Ron Hovsepian) did at Novell.
- Microsoft Can PIP Workers (Silent Layoffs) Until Almost Nobody is Left
- Microsoft is gradually vanishing
- The Cyber Show Says Truth Always Requires a Fight, a Struggle
- "Truth-tellers always face struggle and run risk"
- Maladministration at the EPO as a Crisis for the EU and for Portugal's Image in Europe
- Some time soon we'll publish a long article about what EPO leadership means to Portugal
- 3 Years of UK Hosting
- We commend the webhost for standing firm in the face of misogyny
- Tech Labeled "Smart" Does Not Make People Smart
- People who insist on making everything digital are not advancing progress
- Gemini Links 28/09/2026: Truncated Sleep, Plain Text, and Slop Problem Kept Out of Geminispace
- Links for the day
- Links 28/09/2026: "A Growing North Korea Problem" and Independent Journalism as a Lifeline
- Links for the day
- Links 28/09/2026: Microsoft Chatbot "Giving Extremely Specific Advice to a School Shooter on How to Maximize Casualties", ‘Suicidal Empathy’
- Links for the day
- Microsoft's Attacks on Courts in the Netherlands Result in GNU/Linux Growing to About 10% There
- One core issue that justified this and led to this outcome is Microsoft's interference with the administration of justice
- They Create the Conditions for People to Leave, This Way They Don't Call it "Layoffs"
- We keep seeing many stories like these
- Gemini Links 28/09/2026: Wildfire, DOS, and Backups
- Links for the day
- Brigading Against Women - Part VII - 'Trolling' Courts and Legal Systems in America and in the UK (Europe) Costs a Lot to Taxpayers
- They only attend hearings after being arrested
- European Patent Office (EPO) Series: The Portuguese Talent For Bureaucratic Empire Building
- Portugal’s success in securing senior executive appointments at the EUIPO and the EPO is a notable example of how countries seek to strengthen their influence within European intergovernmental institutions
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Sunday, September 27, 2026
- IRC logs for Sunday, September 27, 2026
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.