Linux-Advocacy Digest #901, Volume #29 Sat, 28 Oct 00 19:13:02 EDT
Contents:
Re: Can Linux "cut and paste" ? ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
Re: MS Hacked? ("Aaron R. Kulkis")
Re: [OT] Bush v. Gore on taxes ("Aaron R. Kulkis")
Re: 2.4 Kernel Delays. (R.E.Ballard ( Rex Ballard ))
Re: [OT] Bush v. Gore on taxes ("Aaron R. Kulkis")
Re: [OT] Bush v. Gore on taxes ("Aaron R. Kulkis")
Re: Why is MS copying Sun??? ("Weevil")
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: Can Linux "cut and paste" ?
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2000 22:20:25 GMT
No good. I should have mentioned I had already tried that (middle
button I know about). Cut and paste works fine if I go between 2
copies of editors say, but not between an editor and webpage input
box. I can't even copy a URL from netscape location box to the
location box on KFM.
And why is paste not highlighted on the other application after I do a
copy?
Any other ideas?
claire
On Sat, 28 Oct 2000 23:55:42 +0200, Mig <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
>> I write a text article using kedit and I want to cut and paste it
>> into a web page currently displayed by Netscape. I highlight the text,
>> select copy or cut and then put my mouse over the box displayed by
>> Netscape where I want to paste the text. Only problem is the Paste
>> selection in the menu is greyed out.
>[cut}
> > What am I doing wrong here?
>
>Nothing, you're just not to bright.
>Use the middle button of your mouse! Dont have one? Have a scroll-mouse?
>Click on the scroll button. Dont have one? Click right and left at the same
>time.
>
>Greetings to all lemmings
------------------------------
From: "Aaron R. Kulkis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: MS Hacked?
Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2000 18:17:40 -0400
lyttlec wrote:
>
> "Aaron R. Kulkis" wrote:
> >
> > Stuart Fox wrote:
> > >
> > > Could the source code get out somehow, or is this just a hoax?
> > >
> > > http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/business/newsid_993000/993933.stm
> > >
> >
> > I expect the Russian FSB (successor to the KBG) to make lots of loud,
> > "we're-investigating-night-and-day" noises, and then, once out of
> > camera-and-microphone range, to laugh among themselves and then
> > retire to Xali-Gali, Candyman, or some other local nightspot and
> > have fun with the girls. Tomorrow, they will start helping the
> > perpetrators by introducing as much obfuscation as possible.
> >
> > Why? Because they don't give a fuck about Bill Gates, no matter
> > how much he whines....and that is their way of dealing with
> > self-righteous crooks like Gates who don't cut them in for a
> > share of the action.
> >
>
> Sorta like US Congressmen, but more honest. Investigate until the
> donations start to roll in.
There is one thing I *really* admire about the pre-Communist Russian
bureacracy.....most of the clerks, etc, recieved little or no pay,
because they were *EXPECTED* to live off of bribes. [The legal
system, of course, recieved respectable salaries in an effort
to keep them honest]
In that vain, our system is kind of the worst....we extravagantly
pay for a bunch of bureacrats who, like bureacrats everywhere, are
constantly on the take.
>
> > > Stu
> > >
> > > Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
> > > Before you buy.
> >
> > --
> > Aaron R. Kulkis
> > Unix Systems Engineer
> > ICQ # 3056642
> >
> >>SNIP<<
--
Aaron R. Kulkis
Unix Systems Engineer
ICQ # 3056642
http://directedfire.com/greatgungiveaway/directedfire.referrer.fcgi?2632
H: "Having found not one single carbon monoxide leak on the entire
premises, it is my belief, and Willard concurs, that the reason
you folks feel listless and disoriented is simply because
you are lazy, stupid people"
I: Loren Petrich's 2-week stubborn refusal to respond to the
challenge to describe even one philosophical difference
between himself and the communists demonstrates that, in fact,
Loren Petrich is a COMMUNIST ***hole
J: Other knee_jerk reactionaries: billh, david casey, redc1c4,
The retarded sisters: Raunchy (rauni) and Anencephielle (Enielle),
also known as old hags who've hit the wall....
A: The wise man is mocked by fools.
B: Jet Silverman plays the fool and spews out nonsense as a
method of sidetracking discussions which are headed in a
direction that she doesn't like.
C: Jet Silverman claims to have killfiled me.
D: Jet Silverman now follows me from newgroup to newsgroup
...despite (C) above.
E: Jet is not worthy of the time to compose a response until
her behavior improves.
F: Unit_4's "Kook hunt" reminds me of "Jimmy Baker's" harangues against
adultery while concurrently committing adultery with Tammy Hahn.
G: Knackos...you're a retard.
------------------------------
From: "Aaron R. Kulkis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To:
comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy,comp.os.os2.advocacy,comp.sys.mac.advocacy,soc.singles
Subject: Re: [OT] Bush v. Gore on taxes
Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2000 18:25:42 -0400
Rick wrote:
>
> "Aaron R. Kulkis" wrote:
> >
> > WickedDyno wrote:
> > >
> > > In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "Aaron R. Kulkis"
> > > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > >
> > > > Loren Petrich wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Aaron R. Kulkis
> > > > > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > > You leftists are ALWAYS using "laudable goals" to excuse DESTRUCTIVE
> > > > > > RESULTS.
> > > > >
> > > > > While you right-wingers are proud of being Evil People?
> > > >
> > > > I'm a Libertarian.
> > > >
> > > > Right-wingers are socialist assholes, just like you left-wingers.
> > > >
> > > > Libertarianism is ANTITHETICAL to socialism in any form, fatass
> > > > shit-for-brains.
> > >
> > > IME, it's also antithetical to reality in any form.
> > >
> > > I know libertarians who claim that the U.S. Govt. should sell all
> > > National parks to private companies because whoever bought them would be
> > > in possession of such a beautiful place, they would never harm it.
> >
> > Why are all of the out-of-control forest fires on FEDERAL lands?
> >
>
> ... becasue the Federal lands are larger?
Bzzzzzzzt! Wrong... try again.
Because the LUMBER COMPANIES manage *THEIR* forests much better.
1. They do "controlled burns" periodically to clear out underbrush
(which is responsible for the fires that get REALLY out of
control).
2. They cut "fire breaks" in their forests, so that when a fire
breaks out, it can only go so far before running out of
trees to burn. This limits the extent of the fire.
>
> > Laset time I checked, the Fed Gov's forest management practices have
> > been absolutely atrocious compared to those of timber companies.
> >
>
> ... and of course, you are an expert in land management.
I never claimed to be. I'm just looking at who protects their forests,
AND surrounding property, and who's fucking up, and allowing neighboring
homes to go up in flames...because they can't contain their fires.
>
> > >
> > > They also claim that people will be safer if we disband the police and
> > > have everyone carry concealed handguns.
> >
> > You are confusing libertarianism with Anarchy.
> >
> > Don't be such a shit-head.
> >
> > >
> > > And that Big Business really wants to protect the environment, workers'
> > > rights, consumer rights, etc. -- government regulations are just
> > > confusing the issue.
> >
> > In case you haven't noticed, every time some politician starts jabbering
> > about how government should pass a law to make sure that workers have
> > this benefit or that benefit....you will notice that "Big Business"
> > is ALREADY giving those benefits to it's employees.
> >
>
> Where have you gotten this idea? 40 hr workweeks didnt come from big
> business. Neither did overtime. Benefits are often forced on big
> business.
>
> > You see, fool, such laws are actually to AID Big Business....so
> > burden their smaller competitors with employee-benefit costs which
> > the smaller businesses are not as able to handle.
> >
> > Public schools -- originated as a benefit for employees of 'big business'
>
> Once again, you show your ignorance of the school system. Public schools
> were created at teh beginnign of the Repulic, by statesman like
> Jefferson. The idea took hold and moved with the people. Ever hear of
> the little one-room school house?
Wrong. They predate Jefferson. The original public schools were set
up in England, at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution...
and they were set up BY THE FACTORY OWNERS!
>
> > Health Insurance -- " " " " " " " " "
>
> Whats your source?
History
>
> > Maternity Leave -- " " " " " " " " "
>
> Whats your source?
History
>
> > etc., etc.
> >
> > Every time you hear about some new employee benefit being contemplated
> > by politicians, you will discover that such benefits are already being
> > offered to employees of most Fortune 500 companies already.
> >
> > Now..what *I*, as an employee, really fucking resent is the government
> > MANDATING that I must be given benefits that I have no interest in.
> >
>
> YOU are not the only person on the planet, or in your company... unless
> you are the owner of a 1 person company.
Precisely. So why the fuck should *I* be forced to take a loss in pay
to get an employment benefit that I don't want...just because *YOU* think
everybody should have it.
>
> Hmmmm, and you might also be the only person in your own little world
> too.
Actually, YOU are the one insisting that all employees have the same
needs as yourself. *I* am advocating that each employee should be free
to negotiate their own combination of pay + benefits.
>
> > Think about it....benefits only come at a cost....that cost being
> > a REDUCTION IN MY PAYCHECK. Fuck the government and their goddamned
> > stupid benefit mandatess...LET MY EMPLOYER GIVE ME $$$$$$$$$$$$, and
> > then let me do with it as I please
> > (i.e. no fucking not-really-"free lunches" from the government, to the
> > tune of 40% of my pay, either).
> >
>
> There are ways to do just that. You dont HAE to participate in Social
> Security. You can probably talk to your employer about getting paid for
> sick/vacation days... etc.
Oh, really.
Please document for us how you get out of the Social Security system.
If I knew of such a way, I would renounce my SS number immediately.
>
> Space hogging, badwidth wasting signature snipped.
Keeps the trolls away.
>
> --
> Rick
> * To email me remove NOSPAM from my address *
--
Aaron R. Kulkis
Unix Systems Engineer
ICQ # 3056642
http://directedfire.com/greatgungiveaway/directedfire.referrer.fcgi?2632
H: "Having found not one single carbon monoxide leak on the entire
premises, it is my belief, and Willard concurs, that the reason
you folks feel listless and disoriented is simply because
you are lazy, stupid people"
I: Loren Petrich's 2-week stubborn refusal to respond to the
challenge to describe even one philosophical difference
between himself and the communists demonstrates that, in fact,
Loren Petrich is a COMMUNIST ***hole
J: Other knee_jerk reactionaries: billh, david casey, redc1c4,
The retarded sisters: Raunchy (rauni) and Anencephielle (Enielle),
also known as old hags who've hit the wall....
A: The wise man is mocked by fools.
B: Jet Silverman plays the fool and spews out nonsense as a
method of sidetracking discussions which are headed in a
direction that she doesn't like.
C: Jet Silverman claims to have killfiled me.
D: Jet Silverman now follows me from newgroup to newsgroup
...despite (C) above.
E: Jet is not worthy of the time to compose a response until
her behavior improves.
F: Unit_4's "Kook hunt" reminds me of "Jimmy Baker's" harangues against
adultery while concurrently committing adultery with Tammy Hahn.
G: Knackos...you're a retard.
------------------------------
From: R.E.Ballard ( Rex Ballard ) <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy,comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy
Subject: Re: 2.4 Kernel Delays.
Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2000 22:20:49 GMT
In article <SXEK5.12086$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
"Les Mikesell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> "R.E.Ballard ( Rex Ballard )" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
> news:8tdjgk$to2$[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
>
> > > For that matter, just ship 2.4-pre-something and call it good.
> >
> > Corporations get REALLY nervous about betas shipped as production.
> >
> > This makes mutual fund managers and market analysts very nervous.
> > It's considered an irresponsible risk. This was valid for Windows,
> > where betas were rarely stable. It's less valid for Linux,
> > but policies are policies. Like it or not, Linux is in
> > the "big league"
> > complete with NYSE corporate backing.
> >
> > Meanwhile, IT managers who have been holding out for Linux servers
> > powered by 2.4 are sweating bullets right now.
>
> How long can the situation continue before someone puts together
> a funded consortium to manage kernel development in a more
> predictable way and forks the code base?
The challenge here is that any sort of funded organization, such
as a corporation or consortium would create the same kind of structure
that led to UNIX forks. No one wants to create another Microsoft.
Actually, it appears that more and more, companies are simply
encouraging their own paid employees to participate as contributors.
These contributors include employees working for OEMs and ISVs but
also Customer corporations and consulting practices.
Most of the innovations are driven by "battlefield conditions", often
consultants and corporate customers who need to make their Linux
> And how much pain is involved in the switch from 2.2 -> 2.4 after
> shipping?
Many people have been using the 2.4 kernel. There are very few
backward compatibility problems. 2.2 applications will run on the
2.4 kernel.
Forward compatibiliy is a problem. You can't run large databases,
seeks on large files, or large streaming files until you've upgraded
to the 2.4 kernel. This especially limits databases, and video
editing. Uncompressed HTDV video consumes about 8 megabytes/second.
A 2 hour movie can require around 60 gigabytes. NTSC requires 1/2
that.
Most of the changes have impacts on drivers, SMP performance, and
stability.
Unfortunately, the really good systems cannot be released until
Linux 2.4 kernel is officially released. It doesn't have to be
perfect, but it has to be reliable enough that fallback back to
2.2 is not necessary.
> Do all programs that need large file support have to
> be recompiled to get it?
If you need large files, you need 2.4 libraries and kernel.
> How much will break when you start
> using large files with programs that
> were compiled without support for them?
Actually, you won't be able to seek on large files unless you
are using the long file seek calls. Streams could be handled
using external pipelines.
> Les Mikesell
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>
--
Rex Ballard - VP I/T Architecture
Linux Advocate, Internet Pioneer
http://www.open4success.com
Linux - 60 million satisfied users worldwide
and growing at over 9%/month! (recalibrated 10/23/00)
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
------------------------------
From: "Aaron R. Kulkis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To:
comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy,comp.os.os2.advocacy,comp.sys.mac.advocacy
Subject: Re: [OT] Bush v. Gore on taxes
Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2000 18:26:29 -0400
Rick wrote:
>
> Static66 wrote:
> >
> > On Sat, 28 Oct 2000 05:15:46 -0400, "Aaron R. Kulkis"
> > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >
> > >Anonymous Remailer wrote:
> > >>
> > >> aaron wrote:
> > >> > Loren Petrich wrote:
> > >> > >
> > >> > > In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Aaron R. Kulkis
> > >> > > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > >> > >
> > >> > > > You leftists are ALWAYS using "laudable goals" to excuse DESTRUCTIVE
>RESULTS.
> > >> > >
> > >> > > While you right-wingers are proud of being Evil People?
> > >> >
> > >> > I'm a Libertarian.
> > >>
> > >> who supports the government's jihad against microsoft...
> > >
> > >Government has it's place.
> > >
> > >Protecting free markets is one of them. The list of actions which Microsoft
> > >has committed to DENY all competitors anything even resembling a free market
> > >is appalling.
> > >
> > >If you were buying, say, a Ford, and decided that you wanted to upgrade the
> > >Firestone tires to Goodyear, would you consider it right that you would have
> > >to pay Ford for *both* the Firestone tires that were not being install on
> > >your car IN ADDITION to the Goodyear upgrade?
> > >
> > >This little shenanigan was such a slam-dunk case, that even after stalling
> > >the original party (Digital Research) for years, until they essentially went
> > >bankrupt and was purchased by a 2nd companny (Caldera), and they STILL
> > >settled with Caldera for a substantial sum.
> > >
> > >> jackie 'anakin' tokeman
> > >>
> > >> STOP THE TROLLOCAUST
> > >>
> > >> NEVER AGAIN!
> > >>
> > >> men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth - more than ruin, more
> > >> even than death
> > >> - bertrand russell
> >
> > I actually disagree with you on this one. I don't think MS has hurt
> > the consumer. I think alot of the charges are bogus. Especially the IE
> > issue. I don't think they did anything that ever other mega company in
> > this country does. I think they have been unjustly vilified.
> >
> > Now the power and phone companies in this country, there is some
> > collusion there no doubt about it.
>
> Ask Go Computing, VOBIS, Digital Research, or any other company M$ has
> injured. M$ OS prices are artificially high, and they have apparently
> violated their consent decree. I think you might want to do some more
> research on Micro$oft.
"Apparently" is an understatement.
Not even IBM was ever so arrogant.
> --
> Rick
> * To email me remove NOSPAM from my address *
--
Aaron R. Kulkis
Unix Systems Engineer
ICQ # 3056642
http://directedfire.com/greatgungiveaway/directedfire.referrer.fcgi?2632
H: "Having found not one single carbon monoxide leak on the entire
premises, it is my belief, and Willard concurs, that the reason
you folks feel listless and disoriented is simply because
you are lazy, stupid people"
I: Loren Petrich's 2-week stubborn refusal to respond to the
challenge to describe even one philosophical difference
between himself and the communists demonstrates that, in fact,
Loren Petrich is a COMMUNIST ***hole
J: Other knee_jerk reactionaries: billh, david casey, redc1c4,
The retarded sisters: Raunchy (rauni) and Anencephielle (Enielle),
also known as old hags who've hit the wall....
A: The wise man is mocked by fools.
B: Jet Silverman plays the fool and spews out nonsense as a
method of sidetracking discussions which are headed in a
direction that she doesn't like.
C: Jet Silverman claims to have killfiled me.
D: Jet Silverman now follows me from newgroup to newsgroup
...despite (C) above.
E: Jet is not worthy of the time to compose a response until
her behavior improves.
F: Unit_4's "Kook hunt" reminds me of "Jimmy Baker's" harangues against
adultery while concurrently committing adultery with Tammy Hahn.
G: Knackos...you're a retard.
------------------------------
From: "Aaron R. Kulkis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To:
comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy,comp.os.os2.advocacy,comp.sys.mac.advocacy
Subject: Re: [OT] Bush v. Gore on taxes
Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2000 18:29:42 -0400
Static66 wrote:
>
> On Sat, 28 Oct 2000 11:26:22 -0400, Rick <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> wrote:
>
> >Static66 wrote:
> >>
> >> On Sat, 28 Oct 2000 05:15:46 -0400, "Aaron R. Kulkis"
> >> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >>
> >> >Anonymous Remailer wrote:
> >> >>
> >> >> aaron wrote:
> >> >> > Loren Petrich wrote:
> >> >> > >
> >> >> > > In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Aaron R. Kulkis
> >> >> > > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >> >> > >
> >> >> > > > You leftists are ALWAYS using "laudable goals" to excuse DESTRUCTIVE
>RESULTS.
> >> >> > >
> >> >> > > While you right-wingers are proud of being Evil People?
> >> >> >
> >> >> > I'm a Libertarian.
> >> >>
> >> >> who supports the government's jihad against microsoft...
> >> >
> >> >Government has it's place.
> >> >
> >> >Protecting free markets is one of them. The list of actions which Microsoft
> >> >has committed to DENY all competitors anything even resembling a free market
> >> >is appalling.
> >> >
> >> >If you were buying, say, a Ford, and decided that you wanted to upgrade the
> >> >Firestone tires to Goodyear, would you consider it right that you would have
> >> >to pay Ford for *both* the Firestone tires that were not being install on
> >> >your car IN ADDITION to the Goodyear upgrade?
> >> >
> >> >This little shenanigan was such a slam-dunk case, that even after stalling
> >> >the original party (Digital Research) for years, until they essentially went
> >> >bankrupt and was purchased by a 2nd companny (Caldera), and they STILL
> >> >settled with Caldera for a substantial sum.
> >> >
> >> >> jackie 'anakin' tokeman
> >> >>
> >> >> STOP THE TROLLOCAUST
> >> >>
> >> >> NEVER AGAIN!
> >> >>
> >> >> men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth - more than ruin, more
> >> >> even than death
> >> >> - bertrand russell
> >>
> >> I actually disagree with you on this one. I don't think MS has hurt
> >> the consumer. I think alot of the charges are bogus. Especially the IE
> >> issue. I don't think they did anything that ever other mega company in
> >> this country does. I think they have been unjustly vilified.
> >>
> >> Now the power and phone companies in this country, there is some
> >> collusion there no doubt about it.
> >
> >Ask Go Computing, VOBIS, Digital Research, or any other company M$ has
> >injured. M$ OS prices are artificially high, and they have apparently
> >violated their consent decree. I think you might want to do some more
> >research on Micro$oft.
>
> How can the price be "artificially high".
Simple. When one PREVENTS competitors with lower-priced, higher-quality
products (Like Digital Research) from being sold at their cost, then the
entire concept of a free market has been DESTROYED.
Microsoft, with their "per-CPU" licensing scheme, made it such that if
a customer wanted DR-DOS (a far superior product), the OEM was forced to
pay Microsoft the $95 for MS-DOS (which was *NOT* installed*), and thus
to charge the customer for it, IN ADDITION to the legitimately-sold DR-DOS.
What part of "making people pay for products that they aren't even recieving"
do you not fucking understand?
> wtf does that mean. This is
> simple economics. They charge the price they feel is correct based on
> their costs incurred developing/producing the product. Obviously the
> market accepts it since it is the most purchased! right? No-one is
> forced to buy it.
--
Aaron R. Kulkis
Unix Systems Engineer
ICQ # 3056642
http://directedfire.com/greatgungiveaway/directedfire.referrer.fcgi?2632
H: "Having found not one single carbon monoxide leak on the entire
premises, it is my belief, and Willard concurs, that the reason
you folks feel listless and disoriented is simply because
you are lazy, stupid people"
I: Loren Petrich's 2-week stubborn refusal to respond to the
challenge to describe even one philosophical difference
between himself and the communists demonstrates that, in fact,
Loren Petrich is a COMMUNIST ***hole
J: Other knee_jerk reactionaries: billh, david casey, redc1c4,
The retarded sisters: Raunchy (rauni) and Anencephielle (Enielle),
also known as old hags who've hit the wall....
A: The wise man is mocked by fools.
B: Jet Silverman plays the fool and spews out nonsense as a
method of sidetracking discussions which are headed in a
direction that she doesn't like.
C: Jet Silverman claims to have killfiled me.
D: Jet Silverman now follows me from newgroup to newsgroup
...despite (C) above.
E: Jet is not worthy of the time to compose a response until
her behavior improves.
F: Unit_4's "Kook hunt" reminds me of "Jimmy Baker's" harangues against
adultery while concurrently committing adultery with Tammy Hahn.
G: Knackos...you're a retard.
------------------------------
From: "Weevil" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy,comp.lang.java.advocacy
Subject: Re: Why is MS copying Sun???
Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2000 17:43:06 -0500
T. Max Devlin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> Said Weevil in comp.os.linux.advocacy;
> >T. Max Devlin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
> [...]
> >my proposal is to have bambi refuse to run on this alien OS. comments?
> >
> >The approach we will take is to detect dr 6 and refuse to load. The error
> >message should be something like 'Invalid device driver interface.'
> >
> >mike, tom, mack -- do you have a reliable dr6 detection mechanism?
>
> And again. This was not done. I'm not trying to give MS any credit for
> being honest or having any integrity; I'm quite sure they never went
> beyond FUD and minor glitches simply because it would have destroyed so
> much credibility that even the pre-load lock-in couldn't have maintained
> the monopoly. They did, in the end, utilize the 'reliable dr6 detection
> mechanism', but they did not refuse to load, and they did not say
> "invalid device driver interface" in the error.
You overestimate Microsoft's integrity. Either that, or you underestimate
their arrogance.
"At least one version of SmartDrive was sent to beta sites containing code
that explicitly checked for DR DOS (via INT 21h function 4452h -- a
hexadecimal code that stands for "DR"). See supra 252. With the detection
code in place, SmartDrive displayed a "fatal error" message: "Invalid device
interface. Unable to load." Importantly, this version of SmartDrive would
have worked with DR DOS but for Microsoft's decision to "detect" DR DOS 6.0
and "refuse to load." "
In at least that one instance, they DID say "Invalid device interface", and
they DID refuse to load. At least, they refused to allow SmartDrive to
load. IIRC, Windows was able to function without SmartDrive, but it was so
dog slow it was unbearable, and most users, especially users as technically
competent as most beta testers were, considered SmartDrive an indispensable
component of Windows. For that matter, a disk caching utility was
indispensable to DOS by that time.
> [...]
> >But you're right. I don't think any MS executive will ever serve time.
>
> I'm actually not as convinced of that as you are. You forget, even
> attempted monopolization is a crime. Barrett (if I read correctly that
> he was the author of the above comments) could certainly be convicted
> and thrown in the pen based simply on the email above; it is conclusive
> and incontrovertible evidence, at least IMHO, of monopolization. I
> doubt he'd get the maximum three year sentence, but who knows how many
> other emails were also incidents of criminal behavior.
>
> It seems almost assured, though, that Gates, and probably Balmer, would
> never be sentenced. And it seems a trifle unfair to send lower
> executives and managers to jail, just for buying into the "monopolizing
> is competing" fallacy which those two men obviously dictated.
>
> >I
> >am of the sad belief that they have become powerful enough to avoid that.
> >The sadness is caused not by the fact that they'll remain free, but by
the
> >implications of the fact that they are powerful enough to do so.
>
> If push came to shove, they aren't. But they are powerful enough not to
> be shoved unless something should happen to bring it decisively to light
> that they have, indeed, stifled competition and defrauded their
> customers for more than a decade.
Push has already come to shove, in the DR DOS case, and they walked. Their
settlement out of court with Caldera should have had no bearing on their
being brought to justice for anti-trust violations they committed in the
same case. All it cost them was money, and their supply of money is pretty
much unlimited. No allowable fine can hurt them in the least.
Again, I don't really care that they walked -- I do care about what it says
about our Justice-For-Hire System.
jwb
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