Bonum Certa Men Certa

IRC: #boycottnovell @ FreeNode: July 25th, 2008



*RogerBacon (i=RogerBac@bas3-sherbrooke40-1279576176.dsl.bell.ca) has joined #boycottnovellJul 25 01:47
*RogerBacon has quit (Read error: 104 (Connection reset by peer))Jul 25 01:51
schestowitz*LMAO* @ http://www.schneier.com/blog/archiv...Jul 25 07:19
PetoKrausschestowitz: what theJul 25 07:28
PetoKraushow can sunscreen be dangerous?Jul 25 07:29
schestowitzThis one also: http://news.cnet.com/8301-179... (just sent it to my dad)Jul 25 07:29
schestowitz" He suggests that people try to avoid constantly carrying their cell phones on their bodies and also try not to keep the devices nearby at night under the pillow or on a nightstand. He even warns against using cell phones in public places like buses because it exposes others to the phone's electromagnetic fields. "Jul 25 07:29
PetoKrausi still don't get how can be sunscreen dangerous :PJul 25 07:32
PetoKrausah. seems to me they're gonna ban toothpaste as well :PJul 25 07:34
schestowitzHave you seen the war on shampoo?Jul 25 07:34
schestowitzhttp://www.schneier.com/blog/archi...Jul 25 07:35
schestowitzThey should ban bladder too because they may contain liquid. :-)Jul 25 07:35
PetoKrausaha ahaJul 25 07:36
PetoKrausyou mean, the external one, how's it calledJul 25 07:36
PetoKrauswhich the people with kidney diseases have to use... and the guards should smell the contents as wellJul 25 07:37
schestowitzIt's like the war on so-called 'piracy'. A civil society doesn't need to chase liquids; it needs to adapt; no lawsuits against single mothers, you know?Jul 25 07:39
PetoKrausbut... but that would require us to change, not only them :PJul 25 07:39
schestowitzHaha. Just found: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-9999... DRM Collapse!Jul 25 07:40
schestowitzA DRM apocalypse... begging for a riot.Jul 25 07:40
PetoKrausheheJul 25 07:46
schestowitzI never touched anything DRM. I read about it though.Jul 25 07:48
*PetoKraus has quit (Read error: 113 (No route to host))Jul 25 08:47
*kentma (n=user@host86-156-216-2.range86-156.btcentralplus.com) has joined #boycottnovellJul 25 08:59
*PetoKraus (n=Peter@host-77-247-224-25.isper.sk) has joined #boycottnovellJul 25 09:02
*PetoKraus has quit (Read error: 113 (No route to host))Jul 25 09:24
schestowitzMicrosoft has just bought some Linux. http://www.networkworld.com/communi... "Perhaps the most interesting is that DATAllegro [...] It was built on Ingres and Linux."Jul 25 10:28
*baijum (n=baiju@122.166.39.10) has joined #boycottnovellJul 25 10:35
*moparx has quit ("leaving")Jul 25 10:50
*baijum has quit ("Ex-Chat")Jul 25 10:56
*baijum (n=baiju@122.166.39.10) has joined #boycottnovellJul 25 13:17
*baijum has quit ("Ex-Chat")Jul 25 14:57
kentmaIt would seem that Microsoft are accepting that the naughties will be the decade of the appliance & mobility.Jul 25 15:12
schestowitzYes, found this a minute ago.Jul 25 15:13
schestowitzhttp://money.cnn.com/news/newsfee...Jul 25 15:13
schestowitzMainly about clouds really, but Linux is mention in the Dow Jones for a change.Jul 25 15:13
schestowitz*mentionedJul 25 15:13
kentmaInteresting... I was just looking at your practical-tech article - 60% of admins with no intention of adopting Vista.  The door is absolutely wide-open for alternatives now.  If only we can get some standards established and put an end to the nearly 3 decades of Microsfot lock-in.Jul 25 15:14
kentmaMmm. cloud computing...  I'm not sure how that will play out, myself.Jul 25 15:15
schestowitzODF.Jul 25 15:15
schestowitzWell, marbux sent me this some hours ago: http://boycottnovell.com/2008/07...Jul 25 15:15
kentmawow - did you see the losses for live-search in that article?Jul 25 15:15
kentma$488mio for 4Q08 cf $210mio for 4Q07Jul 25 15:16
schestowitzClouds are more of a danger to applications like Office, which make the most money for Microsoft. Google Apps is seen as sufficient for most people. Formats matter less because you pass people URLs, not files.Jul 25 15:16
schestowitzThat's an underestimate.Jul 25 15:17
schestowitzConsider the fact that Microsoft made acquisitions as big as $6bn for this divisions. Not fruitful so far, and it runs Linux as far as I know.Jul 25 15:17
kentmaAlso the note about "live mesh" is interesting - Microsoft appear to be trying to innovate schedule-world - they seem to be, finally, accepting mobility.Jul 25 15:18
schestowitzMicrosoft tries to destroy not Google. It's trying to destroy 'the Internet' like it fought Netscape and then froze development with IE. Now it decides that killing the Web is like suing Frees software (suing the sky), so it tries to become part of it.Jul 25 15:19
schestowitzI've watched Microsoft feeds for years and recently there has been little output from them (other than patents). I say this because today there is a stunning lack of news. Just the departure of Johnson...Jul 25 15:20
kentmaMicrosoft have been at war with everyone, including their own customers, for a very long time.  This is at the root of their cultural problems.  Interestingly, the BPI/RIAA appear to have achieved the same thing.Jul 25 15:20
kentmaAh, just looking at the O'Reilly remarks about "reduced vendor lock-in".  Until I started walking around the world and talking about this stuff, nobody was even mentioning it - now everyone uses these phrases, along with "exit-barrier" and "exit-cost".  It's great!Jul 25 15:22
schestowitzPaul Graham was right two years ago when he said "Microsoft is Dead". Google is the one the beat... but not the only one.Jul 25 15:22
kentmaAgreed.  Also, the desktop is dead, too...Jul 25 15:22
schestowitzThis dirty trick from Microsoft (spotted a while ago) reminded me of Google's brain draining: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...
schestowitzMicrosoft: "Gathering intelligence on enemy activities is critical to the success of the Slog." Article: "Head hunters may like to call this intelligence gathering."Jul 25 15:24
*kentma looksJul 25 15:24
kentmaah  -  industrial espionage.Jul 25 15:24
schestowitzGoogle does this too, I think. It got accused.Jul 25 15:25
schestowitzBut it makes it no fairer than otherwise. Didn't Microsoft do the same to Borland when I was a young lad?Jul 25 15:25
kentmaBorland's compilers and assemblers were so much better than MS's it was embarrassing.  They even had special modes to emulate the Microsoft bugs called "quirks" mode!Jul 25 15:26
schestowitzI think I once read about Microsoft trying to steal (make defect) their employees.Jul 25 15:27
schestowitzMicrosoft was milking Yahoo! for its workforce in this way around March. For a fact.Jul 25 15:27
kentmaWhen things go wrong, they /really/ go wrong, don't they?  Microsoft are not going to help themselves by grabbing employees from elsewhere.  That's really not where their problems are.Jul 25 15:28
schestowitzThey snatched a few. The press didn't really cover such things. Well, I found this out not in the 'Big Papers'.Jul 25 15:30
kentmaUnfortunately, this kind of thing is also normal movement of employees, so it's hard to drill into anything deeper, even if there is something there.Jul 25 15:35
schestowitzThe invitations were there for all to see.It's a two-way thing: Microsoft needs to seed influence /inside/ (plamt) rivals and also steal their valuable people.Jul 25 15:37
schestowitz"In private a government delegate compared Microsoft’s public affairs methods with the scientology cult." ( http://www.noooxml.org/forum/t-54... )Jul 25 15:39
kentmaWow - even more on breaking free from vendor lock-in...Jul 25 15:41
schestowitzWhere?Jul 25 15:44
kentmain the article you linked to.Jul 25 15:53
schestowitzNovell makes lock-in with SUSE.Jul 25 15:56
*PetoKraus (n=Peter@host-77-247-224-25.isper.sk) has joined #boycottnovellJul 25 16:42
schestowitzBT Calls on Open Source ( http://www.computerworlduk.com/toolbo... )Jul 25 17:21
*PetoKraus has quit (Read error: 104 (Connection reset by peer))Jul 25 17:26
*moparx (n=moparx@pdpc/supporter/base/moparx) has joined #boycottnovellJul 25 19:27
kentmahehe - we're finally getting some traction!Jul 25 20:23
schestowitzI saw another one.Jul 25 20:23
schestowitzI think it was from Dana Blankenhorn. It's good publicity, for sure.Jul 25 20:23
schestowitzJust got a bunch of nasty comments here: Jul 25 20:24
schestowitzhttp://boycottnovell.com/2008/07...Jul 25 20:24
kentmado you know who is leaving the abusive remarks at all?Jul 25 20:27
schestowitzI think it's someone from Germany.Jul 25 20:27
kentmaconsistent IP at all?Jul 25 20:41
kentmaI/we need the publicity so badly - changing the culture and direction of a company which employs 120,000 people scattered all around the planet is bl**dy difficult.  At least I'm not on my own any more.Jul 25 20:42
schestowitzThe IP is consistent, IIRC. The DNS gives "telekom" something. I'd have to recheck.Jul 25 20:47
*kentma has quit ("Leaving.")Jul 25 22:32

Recent Techrights' Posts

The Brand 'Watsonx' is a Terrible Name for IBM 'Hey Hi' (Chatbots) Because Watson Agreed With Adolf Hitler
Almost a century has passed and IBM still believes that selling "intelligence", chatbots in particular, should be done under the name "Watson"
Digg's Latest Incarnation Already Failed, It's Infested With LLM Slop
Many submissions go to slopfarms and some get summarised by slop
Microsoft-Controlled Media With Embargo and Press Operatives
This won't be the last example of media manipulation for narrative control or face-saving "damage control"
EPO "Cocaine Communication Manager" - Part III - It's in His Eyes
Workers are free to draw their own conclusions
Former Debian Project Leader Branden Robinson Cautions Against Cover-up and Censorship in Debian
Debian drama. Again.
 
GNU/Linux Grew a Lot in Nicaragua
We've not noticed until today
Techrights Has Over 1,000 Good Articles 'in the Tank'
Drafts, notes, and lengthy documents
New Article Challenges Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) for Choosing the Wrong SLAPP Cases to Investigate
The one point we can agree on is that SRA does not know how to correctly select the worst culprits/offenders
Why IBM is Still Scary and Dangerous
Keep a distance from "Big Blue" Bully
Measuring the Growth of Our Mission and Community
Something between experiment and prototype
Richard Stallman in the United States - Part III - Georgia Tech Did a Fine Job Upholding Free Speech Principles
The real problem was social control media (toxic)
Debian's Master is Deleting Criticism of SystemD and Other Things (On-Topic and Published by Debian Developers), Resorts to the Excuse Messages Are "Too Long"
Censorship serves nobody except the masters that control this censorship
Gemini Links 21/02/2026: Veganism and DeskPi RackMate T0
Links for the day
On The Web, XBox Already a Dying Breed
Down to about 0.05% on large machines, based on statCounter [...] Microsoft will never publicly admit or say how many billions it lost on the XBox
2026 a Year of 'Top-Down' Microsoft Layoffs (Management First)
Stay tuned for what comes next
Your "Likes" Aren't Yours and They're Mostly "Worthless Clicks"
Social hermits are not popular, irrespective of how many "Facebook friends" or "likes" they get
Waggener Edstrom/Frank Shaw Lied, There Are Definitely Microsoft Layoffs
Microsoft never issued a formal statement, it made allusions by proxy
Slop Hype Makes Our Core Technology Less Reliable and Far Less Resilient (We Pay for the Catastrophe That Follows)
Only slop-free projects can be trusted
Going for 1,000 (Days of Uptime)
universal records are vastly better
Firefox is No-Go in China, Not Even 1% "Market Share" Anymore
Given Mozilla's utterly rubbish marketing these days (politics over technical aspects), set aside the cheerleading for slop, there's hardly a chance of Mozilla Firefox reaching or exceeding 10% again
Links 21/02/2026: Tensions Over Iran and Illegal Cheeto Tariffs, Presidential Approval Sags
Links for the day
Links 21/02/2026: "Moving Away From Cloudflare", Many Layoffs or Shutdowns in Games (Including XBox/Microsoft)
Links for the day
GNU Linux-libre is a Grown-Up Today
"before that, every distro that wanted to respect its users' freedom had to remove itself all of the binary blobs that were distributed as part of the kernel Linux's so-called sources"
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, February 20, 2026
IRC logs for Friday, February 20, 2026
Gemini Links 21/02/2026: "The Evil of Action" and Slop Bots Causing Great Harm Online (Not Just the Web)
Links for the day
Like a Shell
Overreactions can backfire
Not Only Leaders of XBox Got Sacked (Layoffs)
Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond got laid off
9PM on a Friday Night: Microsoft Says the Layoffs Are Not Layoffs
We've said for a long time that XBox is doomed this year
Gemini Links 20/02/2026: Misfin Server and Magic in Programming
Links for the day
analytics.usa.gov Reckons Windows "Market Share" Fell to Just 38%, Vista 11 Not Even a Third of Windows Users
This coming summer Vista 11 turns 5
The New Digg.com is Slop
Slop "summaries" and Serial Sloppers are drowning out the site with fake 'articles' (plagiarism)
Linus Torvalds: Bill Epsteingate Good Enough for Me to Wine and Dine With
Torvalds is more connected to Jeffrey Epstein than Richard Stallman ever was
Our Uptimes Are Always Better Than Any Site That Uses Clownflare
Clownflare as a company operates like a cult
GNU/Linux Apparently Rose to 6% in Uzbekistan
If accurate, this represents a new problem for Microsoft and a big win for Software Freedom
Sponsored Videos and 'Articles' in The Register MS, Stenography as a Service/Product
They should more accurately label these actors
It's Friday Again and Many People Leave IBM for Good (IBM Should be Reported for Illegal NDAs That Hide Layoffs)
we very seldom see anyone deviating a lot from the "template-like" narrative, let alone mentioning "layoffs" or "RA" or some other term that implies non-consensual departure
The Little Clique of Sloppers/Spammers About "Linux" Got Even Smaller
Thankfully there are still genuine and legit GNU/Linux sites out there
Links 20/02/2026: Microsoft Intentionally Kills Older Hardware, "The Story of XBox" Shows How Defective Microsoft Hardware Really Was
Links for the day
Turkmenistan One of Many Countries Where Microsoft Fell to Distant Third in Search
We expect many layoffs in Bing some time soon
Don't Wait for "Red Hat Layoffs" Because After Bluewashing They're IBM RAs and Don't Wait for "IBM Layoffs" Because They're Perpetual
IBM layoffs are silent and "forever" (small trickle that never ends and is widespread - after all IBM is a very global and ubiquitous firm)
Links 20/02/2026: Standards, Science, and Politics
Links for the day
What Do People Ever Buy From Microsoft Anyway (Not PCs)?
Microsoft sells two things these days: 1) vapourware/promises. 2) its stock.
Gemini Links 20/02/2026: "Mainstream Unix, Underground Unix", Slop Staging DDoS Attacks Against Small Sites
Links for the day
IBM Inclusivity: Red Hat Summit is for Rich Sponsors Like Microsoft and Rich Guests Who Pay $500 a Day
Nothing signals societal tolerance more than paying a large military contractor
GNU/Linux Adoption is Higher in Richer Countries
Is it because freedom is actually expensive - something that only privileged people can pursue?
Links 20/02/2026: Windows TCO Versus Deutsche Bahn, Europe Seeks More Independent Digital Future
Links for the day
IBM, Red Hat and Fedora: Don't Say "Master", It Offends People. Also IBM, Red Hat and Fedora: "Master Podman".
The hypocrisy at Red Hat and Fedora shows no boundaries
IBM Layoffs Aren't Just in IBM 'Proper'
Who is still using Lotus after the HCL move?
The Register MS Gets Paid by Gartner to Promote a Ponzi Scheme for Gartner, Microsoft, and Others
The credibility of that site will suffer because it tries to sell a major scam to its audience
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, February 19, 2026
IRC logs for Thursday, February 19, 2026
Gemini Links 19/02/2026: "Towards a Gemini Famicom Resource" and Dumping Microsoft
Links for the day
IBM Behaves Like a Company Looking for Loose Change Between Sofa Cushions
Chasing laid-off workers for dollars and even pennies, making excuses and devising loopholes (such as PIPs) to flout severance obligations
Microsoft Found Another Bailout Opportunity: Killing People
Good thing that Nadella is not racist!
No "Smart Mobs" (Social Control Media) in BRIC?
It looks like the "Social" "Media" sites tracked by statCounter see little from (or of) BRIC, and moreover it is declining fast
The Few Slopfarms We Saw Today
The sentiment has changed a lot
Links 19/02/2026: Protecting Framework Laptop 13, Hardware Drive Shortages
Links for the day
In Africa's Second-Largest Nation, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Opera 10 Times Bigger Than Firefox (and GNU/Linux Now at 5%)
This will become an accessibility problem
Links 19/02/2026: "A.I.pocalypse" Inevitable and "Butlers to LLMs"
Links for the day
An Inherently Royal (Monarchs') Legal System Where Size Matters (Big Capital Eats the Small)
This reinforces the notion that justice is only for those who can afford it
These Statistics Should Keep Microsoft Shareholders Awake at Night
Windows is, in general (all versions collectively), declining over time
Economic Failure and Other Harsh Realities Have Nothing to Do With Slop 'Innovation'
Advanced propaganda, not advanced 'AI' [...] They attack workers while insulting their intelligence
Spaniards Shutting Down MElon's Digital Weapon of "Smart Mobs"
Are the Spanish people already acting based on gut feeling and shunning/shutting out the provocation vector?
Bitcoin: government engagement contradictions
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Richard Stallman in the United States - Part II - "Haters Gonna Hate"
we shall carry on with this series at the right pace
Typical! Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Tells Victims of Fraud to Wait 10 Weeks
justice delayed is justice denied
EPO Union Leaders in Rijswijk Explain Where EPO Strikes Stand and How to Prepare for Next Week's
We have some revelations to share in a few days
statCounter: Only One in 350 Iranians Would Use Microsoft for Web Search
Microsoft is trying to fake "demand"
Slides Shown a Week Ago by the EPO's Staff Committee Ahead of the Second Very Large Strike
This coming weekend we'll drop a 'bombshell' of sorts
EPO "Cocaine Communication Manager" - Part II - Illegal Drug Addicts Mobbing the Wrong People, This Will Definitely Backfire
This year may well be the last year of Team Campinos. Nobody will hire them after that.
Mass Layoffs (But Silent Layoffs) Still Happening in IBM, You Need Only Look Closely (There Are NDAs, PIPs, 'Early Retirement' Sweeteners and IBM - Like Microsoft - Skirts the WARN Act)
the layoffs are definitely happening
Microsoft's "AI CEO" (Slop Propagandist) is Projecting, Many Microsoft "Jobs to be Replaced With All-Indian Low-Paid Staff in 12 Months"
Windows is perishing
Very Little Slop
We are not finding much slop anymore
Links 19/02/2026: Illegal Kangaroo Court for Patents Attracts Aggressive Firms, Public Domain Review Grows
Links for the day
Gemini Links 19/02/2026: Taxing the Rich, Raspberry Pi 4 Tinkering
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, February 18, 2026
IRC logs for Wednesday, February 18, 2026