-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On Saturday 18 Apr 2009, Harish Pillay wrote: > > Even simpler solution for the G**gle-challenged: if it's from > > A****le, don't buy it because they go out of their way to prevent > > FOSS from interoperating with their products. > > Curious: how do they do that?
Some examples: Circa 2004: A****le threatens sarovar.org (the Indian sourceforge.net equivalent) with legal action if they do not remove playfair, an open source iT*nes recording program from their web site. Sarovar capitulated and playfair was removed, despite public opinion that they should not bow to arm-twisting tactics over laws that have little or no provenance in India. A****le had earlier forced Sourceforge to remove playfair. Circa 2007: A****le modifies the new iP*d to prevent FOSS programs from synching the playlist. Even though the encryption/hash used was reverse engineered pretty quick by the community, it was still a deliberate move by A****le to prevent any software except iT*nes and any OS except Cr*pOS and Winduhs from accessing the device. To quote: ``The new hardware limits the number of potential customers for A****le's products, adding engineering cost to a device in order to reduce its functionality. It's hard to understand why A****le would do this...''. Circa 2008, continuing: The iPh*ne will not permit any III-party FOSS applications to be installed without voiding the warranty. Specifically, you cannot compile your own version of an existing FOSS application that runs on the iPh*ne (do any?) and install it on your phone without voiding the warranty. <rhetoric> In general I find A****le's mania for controlling their users unsettling at best, and menacing at worst. This is probably far at variance with current thinking, which seems to advocate the best product for a problem regardless of the provenance of that product. Yes, A****le make great computers; similarly, everyone in the erstwhile Soviet Union had a home to live in too. However if the choice is between having a home with Big Brother watching my every move, deciding where I live and limiting what I can do on the one hand, and being homeless and free to do what I want and stay wherever I desire on the other... well, just be sure to drop a one-rupee coin in the bowl when you see me at the Nehru Place crossing :) </rhetoric> Regards, - -- Raju - -- Raj Mathur r...@kandalaya.org http://kandalaya.org/ GPG: 78D4 FC67 367F 40E2 0DD5 0FEF C968 D0EF CC68 D17F PsyTrance & Chill: http://schizoid.in/ || It is the mind that moves -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (GNU/Linux) iEYEARECAAYFAknpjRgACgkQyWjQ78xo0X91jACeOSyF3BwHDUD2BEJrIU67vpTa rZgAn3Kif6eE6X8OFd+SzH/awGopzReX =aW75 -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- _______________________________________________ ilugd mailinglist -- ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd Archives at: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.linux.delhi http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org/
