Links 15/07/2008: No More Solaris for Salesforce.com, New Migrations to GNU/Linux
- Dr. Roy Schestowitz
- 2008-07-15 10:40:41 UTC
- Modified: 2008-07-15 10:40:41 UTC
GNU/Linux
Qt/KDE
- Chinese educational handhelds get Qt
- KDE Commit Digest: Issue 114
Global keyboard shortcuts for applets, and an Amarok and "python expression" runner in Plasma. A Java test applet and various interaction improvements in Plasma. Simple network and CPU monitors in the system-monitor Plasmoid. Initial import of PeachyDock, a Plasma-based alternative panel.
F/OSS
OpenOffice.org
SaaS
Abuse of Rights
Recent Techrights' Posts
- The "Davos Effect": Tarnishing the Reputation of Places Not by Overtourism But by Oligarch Infestation
- The last Venice needs is an affiliation with Venetian oligarchs
- Microsoft XBox Layoffs: Almost 2,000 Layoffs Became "Over 2,000"? (Over 20% of the Staff)
- over 20% of staff will be let go, not counting staff that leaves voluntarily
- Summer Plans in Techrights and Elsewhere
- massive layoffs at Microsoft
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- People Who Disagree With You on Technical Matters May or May Not Agree With You on Political Things (But Usually They Do)
- What bothers me a great deal is seeing left-leaning people accusing other left-leaning people of being "nazis"
- "Too Much Choice" and "Too Many Programming Languages"
- What IBM and its apologists aim for was attempted in the 1930s and it failed
- Microsoft Lost 400,000,000 Windows Users, According to Microsoft
- more people adopt smaller computers and many people replace Windows with GNU/Linux, as they don't really need a new computer
- Half a Year Gone, What's to Come Next
- In the second half of 2025 we expect to be done with the Microsoft SLAPPs
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Monday, June 30, 2025
- IRC logs for Monday, June 30, 2025
- People at the Very Top of Microsoft Know How Bad Things Really Are
- There's no product that can replace the former profitability of Windows licensing and stuff that went on top of Windows
- Gemini Links 01/07/2025: Mid Year and a Tour of Old Languages
- Links for the day
- EPO Presentation Bemoans Misuse of Slop in Decision-Making on Patents and in Classification (Which is Likely Illegal Too)
- We habitually mention failed use cases of LLMs on the Web
- Mass Layoffs at Microsoft Confirmed, "XBox Hardware Is Dead"
- It's possible that over 20% of the staff will be laid off
- Links 30/06/2025: Kyrgyzstan vs Media Freedom, Dalai Lama Succession
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 30/06/2025: Backend Programs in Gemini and Dynamic Content Without The Scripting
- Links for the day
- Links 30/06/2025: Zuckerberg’s Tax-Evading Scheme Harms Kids, US Copyright Office Lacks Leadership
- Links for the day
- Microsoft Isn't Laying Off Tens of Thousands to 'Invest' in Slop ('Hey Hi'), It's Laying Off Tens of Thousands Because It's Running Out of Money (and Willing Lenders)
- the layoffs are a sign of the business failing, not "hey hi" (whatever that is) replacing staff
- Intel Lays Off 20% of Its Workforce, Microsoft is Doing the Same This Year
- Like a yoyo, whatever goes up will come back down
- GNU/Linux Rises to New Highs in Angola, Africa in General is Abandoning Windows
- Western media barely covers Microsoft layoffs in Africa, but in recent years Microsoft culled the workforce and even shut down entire operations
- Destination Geminispace (in the Age of LLM Slop and Slop Images That Infest the Web and Social Control Media)
- Geminispace isn't vast, but at least it is - on average - a lot "cleaner"
- GNU/Linux Growing in Sierra Leone This Year
- Based on what statCounter is seeing, this year there are more and more people there who adopt GNU/Linux
- Serial Sloppers Gonna Slop
- More sites out there ought to call out the cheaters
- Quartz (qz.com) is Spam and a Slopfarm
- It used to be OK. Then they fired the staff.
- Links 30/06/2025: US Economic Woes, Extreme Heat
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Sunday, June 29, 2025
- IRC logs for Sunday, June 29, 2025
- Gemini Links 30/06/2025: "The AI Hype" and New AuraGem Ask
- Links for the day
- Our Desktops Are Not Your Experiments, X is Not an Experiment
- Breaking what already worked
- Microsoft's Big Lies Regarding This Week's Mass Layoffs Have Already Begun (and They're Already Being Spread by Slopfarms)
- Microsoft is the "market leader" in slop
- Explaining the Full Story of SLAPPs From Microsoft Staff
- For every action there is a reaction, for every attack there will be proportionate consequences
- The Openwashing Shills Initiative (OSI) - Part III: IRS and Status of OSI
- "They lied to the US IRS and there’s a paper trail"
- IBM Red Hat's Dogmatic Fanaticism Under a Thin Veil of "Modernism"
- IBM now has the audacity to paint people who don't agree as "nazis"
- Microsoft's Share in Guatemala Fell From 97% to 14%
- Eventually Microsoft will get stuck in a loop of layoffs, layoffs, and more layoffs
- They Made Technology Scary and Taught Us That It's Innocent, Friendly, Even "Social"
- Rejection of all this "apps" and "gadgets" and "Smart" (whatever that means!) status quo isn't a rejection of society
- The Media is Under Attacks Partly Because There's Little Other (Remaining) Press to Speak in Its Defence
- The biggest danger here is that when there's very little press or no "opposition media" left it becomes even easier to crush critics because there aren't many people left to speak about the matter
- If Your Web Site is Run by Bots, Eventually Nobody Will 'Read' It Except Bots (People Don't Want to Read Slop)
- Eventually people learn from mistakes
- Links 29/06/2025: Microsoft Releases False/Fake Benchmarks, "Google Wants You to Watch Ads or Take Surveys to Read Articles"
- Links for the day
- Links 29/06/2025: Data Breaches and Online Censorship
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 29/06/2025: "The Price Of Eggs" and Gemini 3D Tic Tac Toe
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Saturday, June 28, 2025
- IRC logs for Saturday, June 28, 2025
Comments
RyanT
2008-07-15 13:38:45
http://somethingmild.blogspot.com/2008/07/how-to-make-software-agreeable.html
Was wandering what you thought about it, and if it is right/good enough, maybe you could include it in a future links section.
Roy Schestowitz
2008-07-15 19:41:51
I've just included a link to this. It's also up for discussion in USENET and in http://digg.com/linux_unix/How_To_Make_Software_Agreeable http://tech.propeller.com/story/2008/07/15/how-to-make-software-agreeable/
Saul Goode
2008-07-15 20:20:59
I haven't read your piece in detail yet (I will do so this evening), but it seems well-written and addresses a growing concern with regard to licensing of copyrighted works.
I tend to disagree with the presumption that the existence of a licensing agreement excludes the concept "sale/purchasing". While the courts have occasionally been inconsistent, for the most part they (U.S. courts, anyway) recognize a one-time payment in exchange for use of the software as being a "sale", regardless of any verbiage included in an EULA or other license. A recent court case supporting this "quacks like duck" interpretation is the one involving Ebay sales of Autodesk software [1]. To summarize the decision, a EULA can not trump the laws of copyright in the case of a "sale" of a copyrighted work.
Another recent case which might be interpreted as supporting your position (assuming my basic understanding of your position is correct) would be the Blizzard World Of Warcraft lawsuit against the "Glider" bot [2]. However, I think the distinguishing characteristic of this case is that -- and correct me if I'm wrong -- WoW is a subscription service (not a one-time fee) and as such is more of an ongoing lease arrangement. At least I hope that this distinction was critical to the otherwise worrisome decision.
I hope that as further litigation is resolved, the courts will continue to interpret the "first sale doctrine" as valid and that if a company wishes to have their EULAs recognized as lease agreements then it must not employ "sales" of their software. Those parts of EULAs which would grant the copyright holder more prerogative than the exclusive rights delineated in copyright law should be considered invalid.
I look forward to perusing your article in depth and apologize if I have misinterpreted your position on the issue. It is certainly an issue which warrants further scrutiny and discussion.
[1]http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080523-court-smacks-autodesk-affirms-right-to-sell-used-software.html
[2]http://www.davis.ca/en/blog/Video-Game-Law/2007/02/26/WoW-LAWSUIT-OVER-BOT-SOFTWARE
RyanT
2008-07-15 23:42:51
If anyone wants to discuss further, I'll put my email here:
theamazingjanet@hotmail.co.uk
Not my main account, as this is public, but still. I look forward to the in-depth responses, and yes, Saul it seems you've gotten my position correct.
I might elaborate in future, which will most likely go down the path of the likes of the GPL and propriatary models purely becoming applicable to development, and only being extended in fringe cases, and the standard model of ownership being the common/middle ground. Even if not agreed upon by some, it would certainly be more agreeable than the licensed proprietary model (I hope).
RyanT
2008-07-15 23:44:34
Roy Schestowitz
2008-07-16 17:27:51