03.18.13
Posted in Europe, Free/Libre Software, Microsoft at 12:28 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: British government says it will back FOSS, but this policy is assured to get opposition from Microsoft and its UK partners, as usual
So, government policy in the UK is again announced as being FOSS-friendly. We heard this before, but is this time different? The MSBBC seems not to cover it and Microsoft partners ganging up against Free/open source software support suppliers is how it typically ends up. Here is the one report we see cited widely regarding the policy:
The government has, for the first time, mandated a preference for using open source software for future developments.
The new Government Service Design Manual, released as a beta version on 14 March and effective from April, lays out the standards that must be used for all new digital public services developed across Whitehall.
Iophk asks: “Is it real or just a bid to get better prices on the next M$ contract?”
“It’s just cynicism,” he clarifies. “Part of it comes from M$ reaction teams swooping in, part of it comes from otherwise good people knuckling under to M$ when the reactions teams swoop in.”
Here is what Robert Pogson wrote about it: “That’s the official position of the government of the UK and that’s very similar to what I recommended to the government of Canada a while back. It makes no sense to prefer or to accept lock-in, EULAs and restrictions on IT and pay for that rather than making FLOSS the default choice.”
Here is the original message.
Iophk writes: “The part about avoiding lock-in through open standards is very important. The catch there is that while M$ often has support for standards on paper, in practice they are usually broken in such a way as to prevent interoperability.”
The source says “take care to mitigate the risk of lock-in to a single supplier by ensuring open standards are available…”
iophk concludes with: “Yet another risk is that the manual is only in beta. M$ could change it, if there is corruption before the release in April.”
Here is the latest report on this from JoinUp. Let’s keep our eyes open because Microsoft et al. must already be lobbying. █
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Posted in Microsoft at 12:22 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: When the FTC receives reports about rogue activity which it claims to be tackling it either ignores or sends out non-personalised responses saying it would take no action
Sometimes it seems like the institution known as the FTC is about saving face, not about regulation. Of course its purpose was real and sincere, but over the years we wrote a lot about the FTC’s incompetence. When I filed a complaint (to the FTC) about Microsoft AstroTurfing I received this response as a PDF (by E-mail). It reveals no action being taken even though the FTC publicly claims to crack down on AstroTurfing, which is why I submit letters almost every year. Here is the latest FTC PR:
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Earlier this month the FTC updated its online advertising disclosure rules. They’re intended to protect the public from online promotions that may be “deceptive or unfair” in the absence of clear disclosures that they’re compensated advertising.
Advertising and promotional messaging on social and mobile media are at least partly responsible for the update of the guidelines, which is the first such update since they were originally issued in 2000.
The problem is, they don’t seem to enforce their policy. █
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Posted in GNU/Linux, Microsoft, Vista 8, Windows at 12:18 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Hardware lock-in and penalties of getting around it
The UEFI fiasco continues as Michael Larabel reports that:
disabling #SecureBoot from UEFI on this #ASUS #Ultrabook causes the CPU fan to run at full-speed constantly… weird.
In other news, tells us Will Hill, hardware is being tied to Vista 8:
GNU/Linux laptop maker closing down. Says they can’t find hardware without an OS since Windows 8.
Here is the original:
We have to announce that we, the team of Hettes, can no longer deliver laptops with Ubuntu Linux or another Linux distribution. This is not because we want to or because of time or resources, but it’s because we can’t buy computers (anymore) without operating system.
We started our webshop a few years ago with a lot of ambition and fun, continued developing it, and helped lots of customers with satisfaction. Since the beginning of our passion and ambition for the webshop with laptops and desktops with pre-installed Ubuntu Linux we’ve had problems with buying systems without operating system, or simply said without Windows.
We have tried to continue our work in different ways and we have had small successes. However with Windows 8 all doors are being closed permanently and we see no way to open these.
Considering the fact that OEMs and companies like Samsung complain about Vista 8, saying that this is what the market wants would not work.
Notice that there is an ongoing attempt to bash Samsung with the “women’s rights” stick; this is done as means of suppressing Galaxy S4 launch publicity that’s positive. We saw this distraction strategy before. █
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Posted in Microsoft, Vista 8, Windows at 12:05 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Graphics by Will
Summary: Even Microsoft-paid allies are refusing to say a good word about Vista 8, which is an abysmal failure in the market (much worse than Vista)
Samsung recently complained about Vista 8, which has also disappointed the world's top OEMs. Samsung is so vast a company that two people now speak on its behalf and one of them rants about Vista 8 sales. To quote the British press:
Samsung’s new co-CEO: ‘Windows isn’t selling very well’
Samsung says it will continue to produce Android phones even as it puts its weight behind the competing Tizen OS, but there’s one software partner the South Korean mobile maker isn’t so bullish on: Microsoft.
“Smartphones and tablets based on Microsoft’s Windows operating system aren’t selling very well,” Samsung mobile chief J.K. Shin said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Thursday. “There is a preference in the market for Android. In Europe, we’re also seeing lackluster demand for Windows-based products.”
Now we learn, based on some new figures, that only about 0.05% of computers are Microsoft Surface. The company dies fast as an OS giant, with this hardware project doing little more than alienating partners like Samsung. Here are some numbers not of sales to people but probably to stores. As the IDG report puts it:
Microsoft’s Surface RT and Surface Pro haven’t made much of a dent in the tablet market, according to unofficial sales estimates.
The VAR Guy, who has mostly been polite to Microsoft, writes about those figures that Microsoft has got nothing but fake hype.
Still, Microsoft’s grand ambition — partying like it’s 1995 — has involved flawed reasoning from the start.
Even the Microsoft-funded CNET does not have much good to say about Vista 8 for tablets. CBS/CNET is still heavily Microsoft funded (not just Paul Allen). See the background image in articles all over CNET this month. It is a multi-product Microsoft endorsement bought by Microsoft. Here is another report of interest. Pogson remarks on the CNET article as follows:
That’s an understatement. Every version of that other OS I have ever used has been awkward with unreliable performance, malware, mindless restrictions on performance via EULA and re-re-reboots. There’s no way to get an elegant performance out of M$. All M$ wants is money, not happy end-users. The plan is not working. MSFT was at a yearly low shortly after “8″ was released.
Here is more from Pogson. Windows is clearly on the decline. █
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Posted in Microsoft at 11:51 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Yet more confirmations that Skype does not offer privacy to its users
A direct node-to-node chat framework is coming to Web browsers pretty soon, obviating the need for spyware like Skype or Google’s alternatives. SIP is fine, but network effect is an issue and some networks seem to be impeding SIP, especially for mobile. I have experimented a lot with SIP clients because secret services are reportedly eavesdropping on more and more calls, with voice recognition too. I put many links about it in this Web site but I rarely write full articles on the matter because it’s not my focus. Anyway, there is this new report which confirms warrantless wiretapping of Skype calls by secret services:
Russian intelligence agencies can not only listen to your conversations, but also determine your location.
[...]
“Special services have been capable for several years not only to wiretap but also to locate a Skype user. That’s why, for instance, employees of our company are forbidden to discuss business-related topics on Skype,” General Director of Group-IB, Ilya Sachkov,” says to Vedomosti.
“After Microsoft acquired Skype in May 2011, it updated the software with technology allowing legitimate wiretapping,” says Maksim Emm, Director of Peak Systems.
So it is Microsoft’s fault too. It is not shocking, just worth noting because many people are in denial and self delusion over it. █
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