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
- What I Learned in London
- some ministers still help us in our fight for press freedom in the UK
- At IBM, Workers 'Expire' Early ("Next Step" is 'Voluntary' Layoffs Decades Before Retirement Age)
- It seems like the "new normal" is layoffs not existing or barely existing because companies hide them
- Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on Gym Equipment Can Endanger Several Parties
- Joy oh joy! Give us more "smart" things
- Microsoft Silent Layoffs This Month (PIPs and More "Buyouts", Driving Out the Workforce), According to Insiders
- They know it's happening because they see it and fellow workers talk about it, even if the media keeps mum
- Omarchy is Already Dying
- Same as the life cycle of slopfarms
- A Vortex of Beacons (or "Bluetooth Everywhere" Vision)
- If someone (or someones) calls you paranoid for taking about "beacon"-like functionality, there will be no lack of authoritative citations (e.g. Web links) they can be provided to prove them wrong
-
- SLAPP Censorship - Part 151 Out of 200: Dealing With Sleazy People and Companies That Steal (While Employing These Sleazy People)
- we offer a quick summary and we're reflecting
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Saturday, August 15, 2026
- IRC logs for Saturday, August 15, 2026
- Gemini Links 16/08/2026: Sterrenkijker Releases, Solar Gemini Server
- Links for the day
- EPO "Cocaine Communication Manager" - Part XVI - The German State Does Not Enforce the Law Against European Patent Office Officials
- It's not acceptable that Europe's second-largest institution can get away with crime time and time again
- Germany's National Broadcaster (DW English) to Air Julian Assange Film This Coming Week
- It seems rather sad that we live in a world where rich thugs can get away with so many horrible things
- WordPress is Bloatware and Bloated Software Guarantees Security Incidents
- This site turns 20 in about 11 or 12 weeks from now and it was never cracked, not even when it ran WordPress
- Too Many Chiefs (or Chefs) at IBM, They Don't Know How to Run a Company (With a 100+ Year or Century-Old Brand Recognition Advantage)
- It seems like a consensus opinion; some line managers or middle managers are too selfish or self-deceiving
- Clacton's Election Was a 'Show Election'
- At least some people squeezed out some "free press" out of this charade [...] That the media kept boosting parodies as the alternative/s to the bigot is a topic we wrote about a great deal over the past 3 weeks
- Windows is Burning
- Windows is the "burning platform" of the year
- Gemini Links 15/08/2026: Stress, Jetlag, and GPU Hype (Waste of Energy for Amusement, Fake 'Currencies', and Now for Mass Plagiarism)
- Links for the day
- Links 15/08/2026: XBox Rotting Further, "France’s Top Court Strikes Down Ban on Social Media for Children"
- Links for the day
- SLAPP Censorship - Part 150 Out of 200: Always Independently Verify What People Claim to Be (or Find Yourself in a Jason Arday-Type Moment/Dilemma)
- I'm not a cardiologist and Garrett was never a security expert
- Links 15/08/2026: "There Is No A.I." (Slop Plagiarism Isn't Intelligence) and Its "Impact on the Environment Is Absolutely Horrifying"
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 15/08/2026: Gratitudes, "Microflier" Drones, and Literate Programming
- Links for the day
- IBM's PIPs and RAs (Layoffs) Going on, Interns as 'Scabs'
- It seems like a consensus (also in Reddit, we took a quick look)
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Friday, August 14, 2026
- IRC logs for Friday, August 14, 2026
- Gemini Links 14/08/2026: Slower Internet, Logging Off Made Easy, and Human Code
- Links for the day
- Links 14/08/2026: "Mystery of Dark Oxygen", People Despise Slop, and Backlash Grows Against Fake Currencies (Energy-Wasting Scam Like Slop)
- Links for the day
- Free Publicity
- They say there's no such thing as "bad press" or that every publicity is good publicity, sometimes free publicity
- Farage's fears, media hijacked by-election, what really happened in Clacton
- Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
- It's Friday. A Ton of People Departing From IBM and Red Hat.
- A mere subset of people who announce this in public at Microsoft's LinkedIn
- GNU/Linux and ChromeOS Beyond 11%
- Combined with ChromeOS, it's already past and beyond 11%
- Chatbots/LLMs Are the Next "Clown Computing", Pure Hype, a Serious Mistake
- Programs that scan text and emit something similar (but full of errors)
- Links 14/08/2026: Slop 'Music' Causing Problems, Slop Data Centre Contractor Unpaid (Massive Debt), and The Cyber Show Says We're "Colonised By Wankers"
- Links for the day
- Fake Growth of Social Control Media is Misleading
- nowadays people look for alternatives - ones not controlled by MElon, CPC, and Kapo-Berg
- statCounter: Windows Down to All-Time Low of 25%, Android Leads the Pack, GNU/Linux About to Leapfrog Apple, Overtaking MacOS
- The situation was very different in past years
- Microsoft's Mass Layoffs (Including 'Voluntary' Secret Layoffs) Take Their Toll on Seattle
- How much longer can they hide their crises?
- Planet Fedora ("Fedora People") is Just IBM Staff, Former IBM Staff, and LLM Slop
- this is what Fedora boils down to now
- Explanation of What Will Happen to Red Hat (and Other Acquired Companies) After August
- In short, a lot will be scuttled; history shows it happens over and over again
- SLAPP Censorship - Part 149 Out of 200: It Took a Long Time to Show What Jason Arday (at Cambridge) and Harvey Weinstein (in Hollywood) Really Were
- Really bad when society endures abuse because the abusers silence their exposers
- Gemini Links 14/08/2026: 32-bit RISC-V and BlackBerry
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Thursday, August 13, 2026
- IRC logs for Thursday, August 13, 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.