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
- Too Hard for IBM to Keep Everybody Silent About How the Company Has Gone South
- IBM is busy trying to keep disgruntled or ex workers silent using NDAs
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- SLAPP Censorship - Part 34 Out of 200: The Necessity of Transparency, Illuminating Garrett's and Graveley's 'Tag-Team' Act, Misusing the British Docket (From Far Away in America) in Efforts to Hide Bad Behaviour
- Transparency is paramount
- Red Tape at Red Hat (IBM)
- Now the guiding principles are the whims and moods of people who peddle buzzwords to manipulate IBM's share prices
- The So-called 'AI' (Slop) Companies Will Have the Plug Pulled
- It can vastly accelerate this bubble's implosion
- Dr. Andy Farnell on a "Technology Plan B"
- based around Free software
- Windows Lows Across the Mediterranean
- Judging by this month's data from statCounter
- The Future of the Net is 'in Space'
- Gemini Protocol is growing and GemText remains the same, so it's made to endure
- Linux Foundation Profits From Scams, Fraud, and Grifting
- Don't be misled by the name "Linux Foundation"
- Microsoft Transmits Malware and Back Doors to GNU/Linux Servers, Media Points the Finger at Everyone But Microsoft's Servers
- Is Microsoft too poor to vet and check what it hosts and transmits?
- Gemini Links 04/04/2026: "Fuzz Guy", "Reusing Old Computers with Arch Linux and DWM", and Bubble v10.0 Released
- Links for the day
- Links 04/04/2026: eBay Scam, "Music Publishers’ X Copyright Lawsuit Officially on Pause"
- Links for the day
- Links 04/04/2026: Social Control Media Verdict and Bans, Whistleblower (Axel Rietschin) Explains How "Microsoft Vaporized a Trillion Dollars"
- Links for the day
- Reaching the End/Event Horizon of LLM Slop
- Are we moving towards a post-LLMs world?
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Friday, April 03, 2026
- IRC logs for Friday, April 03, 2026
- Gemini Links 04/04/2026: STXGE and Computer Relationships
- Links for the day
- SLAPP Censorship - Part 33 Out of 200: Garrett Sued by My Wife and I, Then His Microsoft Acquaintance Files Another Lawsuit and Our Webhost Receives Legal Threats Too
- Today we also show how our solicitor Mark Lewis responded to it
- Good Friday, Leaving IBM for Good
- Even on holidays
- Links 03/04/2026: Rejection of More Software Patents and Social Control Media in Several Continents
- Links for the day
- Malware in Proprietary Software - Latest Additions by Rob Musial
- Original published yesterday in gnu.org
- Visual Evidence/Documentation of IBM Dying Like the Dinosaurs
- IBM has many of these giant white elephants lying around, with some getting demolished
- Links 03/04/2026: USPTO’s Latest Greenwashing and Internet Blackouts Impact Journalists in War Zones
- Links for the day
- SLAPP Censorship - Part 32 Out of 200: Garrett Made Spurious Requests (Later Withdrawn) the Same Week Someone He Later Spoke to by E-mail Sent Threats to Our Webhost
- The "plot thickens" because there's a multi-party tag-team act, as confirmed by Garrett after he had sworn on the Bible
- IBM is a Dying Company, Nowadays It Kills Red Hat With Slop
- when your last day is a national holiday in IBM's country
- "Independence Drives" and Community-Run Sites
- Independence in reporting is a much-valued trait
- When Charlatans Are Only Good at Losing Money and Storytelling (e.g. About Investment in Them)
- Wait till a a barrel of oil costs $300
- What Apple Fans Are Missing
- Apple is a bad company
- The "Pale Blue Dot" Moment Had Returned
- To many people, the "bitter-sweet" observation of how small we are
- Saudi Arabia Does Not Rely Much on Microsoft/Windows
- Putting aside politics, this is good for Free software
- Almost 12 Years of Exposing Corruption in Europe's Second-Largest Institution
- The "unready" President is now an abandoned President
- Easter Moon Mission and Its Reminder of IBM's Demise
- A lot of NASA operations now rely on GNU/Linux
- When Power is Scarce and GNU/Linux Has Power
- In Cuba, GNU/Linux has long enjoyed high adoption rates
- Don't Totally Dismiss the 'Survivalists'
- 'Survivalists' or similar terms are used to describe a particular mindset of people who prepare for some really awful scenarios
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Thursday, April 02, 2026
- IRC logs for Thursday, April 02, 2026
- A Much Better Use of Fuel Than Slop
- Something positive for a change
- Hoping for Peace
- There are still many things to be enjoyed, including nature and kind people
- Gemini Links 03/04/2026: "Slide Rule Triple Multiplication" and End of "Picture Pages"
- Links for the day
- Rumours of Microsoft Layoffs This Season
- Just how much trouble is Microsoft in at this point?
- GNU/Linux Measured at All-Time High in Sweden
- Can 'influencers' have played a role
- SLAPP Censorship - Part 31 Out of 200: Speaking About 20+ Years of Alleged Harassment/Defamation and High-Profile 'Targets' of Garrett
- attempts were made to settle (in effect end the case) by the person who started the case almost half a dozen times along the way
- In Asia, Windows is in Its Teens (Below 20%)
- On a global scale, Windows is down to about 26%
- GNU/Linux Becoming More Universal
- It seems likely the end of Vista 10 coinciding with a sharp rise in memory prices (and now energy prices) will benefit GNU/Linux and therefore give us more to write about
- Low Morale at IBM and Perception of Destructive Management
- IBM is going nowhere, fast
- Gemini Links 02/04/2026: Super Mario Galaxy Movie and New Antenna Instance
- Links for the day
- It Seems Like Google News Cracked Down on (Omitted, Delisted) a Lot of Slopfarms
- There's no justification/point in spending so much energy just to plagiarise things poorly
- Can Economies Like the American One Hang On?
- The coming weeks will be "interesting" unless wars end
- Steam Survey for Last Month Says 5.33% Use GNU/Linux
- big leap for GNU/Linux
- Links 02/04/2026: Science News, Energy Scarcity, Oil Sold in Yuan
- Links for the day
- Links 02/04/2026: Apple Turns 50, Efforts To Ban VPNs
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 02/04/2026: Kubernetes With FreeBSD, OFFLFIRSOCH, and Great Circle Distance
- Links for the day
- Dr. Andy Farnell on Microsoft Silencing or Deplatforming Opposition in the UK and Elsewhere
- Microsoft as a king or a kind of "religion" one cannot question
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, April 01, 2026
- IRC logs for Wednesday, April 01, 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.