Linux-Advocacy Digest #571, Volume #33 Fri, 13 Apr 01 03:13:04 EDT
Contents:
Re: Big Brother Billy does it again! (Dave Martel)
Re: More Microsoft security concerns: Wall Street Journal (GreyCloud)
Re: Blame it all on Microsoft (Ed Allen)
Re: Has Linux anything to offer ? (GreyCloud)
Re: Blame it all on Microsoft (Thaddeus L Olczyk)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Dave Martel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Big Brother Billy does it again!
Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2001 00:44:04 -0600
On Fri, 13 Apr 2001 00:46:00 GMT, Charles Lyttle
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>Mig wrote:
>>
>> Dave Martel wrote:
>>
>> > Here we go again, folks! From the Wall Street Journal:
>> >
>> > <http://www.canoe.ca/MoneyWSJ/wsj2-dow.html>
>>
>> [cut]
>>
>> > There's much more of interest in the article, including MS's claim
>> > that the reason they're doing this is to avoid paying a license fee
>> > for a higher-quality MP3 encoder. Yeah, sure.
>>
>> Dont get histeric - its just their software that wont recortd MP3's. Guess
>> what - it does not do it today and people still use MP3
>>
>Read the article. It won't play MP3 properly either. Deliberately
>degrades the quality so MS stuff sounds better.
Exactly the way I feel. If they left out MP3 support entirely, that's
OK because third-party applications can supply it. If they included
high-quality MP3 support then that's OK, too. But to include such
badly *crippled* MP3 support can only be interpreted as a deliberate
attempt to mislead new users about the capabilities of MP3.
------------------------------
From: GreyCloud <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: More Microsoft security concerns: Wall Street Journal
Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2001 23:55:46 -0700
Jan Johanson wrote:
>
> "Aaron R. Kulkis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
> news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> > Jan Johanson wrote:
> > >
> > > "Aaron R. Kulkis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
> > > news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> > > > Jon Johanson wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > "Chad Everett" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
> > > > > news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> > > > > > On 2 Apr 2001 18:43:06 -0500, Jon Johanson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >"Aaron R. Kulkis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
> > > > > > >news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> > > > > > >> "Stephen S. Edwards II" wrote:
> > > > > > >> > Really now. I would also ask how in the hell
> > > > > > >> > you've determined that Microsoft has merely
> > > > > > >> > implemented some 4.4BSD code in order to
> > > > > > >> > get Windows2000. Do you have access to the
> > > > > > >> > WindowsNT v4.0 and v5.0 source trees?
> > > > > > >>
> > > > > > >> the "strings" command finds embedded strings in ANY file,
> including
> > > > > > >> compiled executables and dll files.
> > > > > > >>
> > > > > > >> "Copyright (C), Regents of the University of California"
> strings
> > > have
> > > > > > >> been found in Mafia$oft's DLL files.
> > > > > > >>
> > > > > > >> Hope that helps.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >I don't believe you. How about showing us one?
> > > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Hey Everybody! It's Jon! Hi Jon!
> > > > > >
> > > > > > You asked, so here ya go:
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Here are some files from a Windows 2000 Professional system along
> with
> > > > > > the copyright strings that are contained in them:
> > > > > >
> > > > > > C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\finger.exe
> > > > > > @(#) Copyright (c) 1980 The Regents of the University of
> California.
> > > > > > C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\nslookup.exe
> > > > > > @(#) Copyright (c) 1985,1989 Regents of the University of
> California.
> > > > > > C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\rcp.exe
> > > > > > @(#) Copyright (c) 1983 The Regents of the University of
> California.
> > > > > > C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\rsh.exe
> > > > > > @(#) Copyright (c) 1983 The Regents of the University of
> California.
> > > > > > C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\FTP.EXE
> > > > > > @(#) Copyright (c) 1983 The Regents of the University of
> California.
> > > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > Yer right - look at that. Proof from a linvocate - sorry, that
> caught me
> > > off
> > > > > guard.
> > > > >
> > > > > big deal - you don't really consider those commands significant to
> the
> > > rest
> > > > > of W2K do you?
> > > >
> > > > FTP isn't significant?
> > > >
> > > > Clue for the clueless--that's the protocol used for pushing all
> > > > the files every time you browse a web page.
> > >
> > > Ummmm, CLUE for the truely clueless - ftp is NOT the protocol used to
> browse
> > > the web. HELLO?! It's HTTP. AND, we're talking about the W2K FTP.EXE
> > > program, not FTP in general. I use a GUI FTP client, not the command
> line
> > > utility.
> > >
> > > >
> > > > rcp... remote copy. similar needs
> > >
> > > never needed it, I use other mechanisms
> > >
> > > >
> > > > rsh... remote command execution... foundation-level tool used in web
> > > interactions.
> > >
> > > Completely untrue. I use RCP and other mechanisms.
> > >
> > > >
> > > > nslookup... very important..that's how you translate symbolic
> hostnames
> > > > (like www.google.com) into numeric IP addresses
> > >
> > > Dude, you are seriously confused... why the hell would I need nslookup
> for
> > > that, gee, how about ping to get the translation? Besides, I use
> something
> > > better than the command line version.
> >
> > Here, Genius...remove rcp, rsh, ftp, and nslookup from your machine
> > and tell us how useful it is.
> >
> > come on...I dare ya!
>
> OK - gone.
>
> Ho hum... still browsing, still using FTP, still resolving dns, still can
> remotely copy files and execute commands... ho hum...
Ho humming still to a lot of reboots and BSODS???
--
V
------------------------------
Crossposted-To: comp.theory,comp.arch,comp.object
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: Blame it all on Microsoft
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Ed Allen)
Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2001 07:01:03 GMT
In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Brent R <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>I haven't worked at all with AIX so I suppose I will accept that it's
>more of a malevolent commercial UNIX than a benevolent one. But... I
>have heard that Linux will run on S/390 as a VM in a dynamic memory
>partition only, and underneath it's really just S/390 anyway. So why not
>just run S/390 (I work on an IBM ES/9000 system at work by the way)?
>
Because OS/390 is not Unix. It is even more at odds with "The Unix Way"
than AIX is. At least AIX looks like Unix if you remain in user space.
Other reasons...
Because IBM customers want Linux so they can scale up to loads that
Intel hardware and even Alphas cannot get to ?
Because most of the world uses ASCII instead of EBCDIC ?
Because Samba works better with Linux or any other Unix ? Although it
does work really well with AIX.
Because you want to replace an Exchange server with something that can
handle hundreds of mails a second without going bonkers and corrupting
half of them ?
http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2001-04-12-013-20-PR
======
Linux can run as a 'guest' under VM but it can also run in an LPAR (Logical
Partition) on equal footing with other OSs, like OS/390 and VM. It even
has its own little brother to VM called VIF.
It can also run as the only OS. Right on the bare iron.
Obviously you do not know much about Linux. I cannot judge your
knowledge of IBM hardware but your software expertise is lacking.
--
Linux -- The Unix defragmentation tool.
------------------------------
From: GreyCloud <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Has Linux anything to offer ?
Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2001 00:06:07 -0700
Osugi Sakae wrote:
>
> In article <Kh7B6.4251$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "Doug
> Patterson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> > I just picked up RedHat7 and am trying my best to like it. I really want
> > it to work, but a lot of these armuments are true....
>
> [snip]
>
> >> > Let take some examples:
> >> >
> >> > 1. Using IE 6.0 beta, If I am on a web page, and do 'save', IE is
> >> > smart enough not only to save the HTML page itself, but also to
> >> > create a subdirectory with all the gif files on that page. This means
> >> > when one views the locally saved HTML page later on, it comes up with
> >> > all the images intact on it. There is nothing like this on Linux.
> > Let's talk about browsers. NetScape 4.7X renders text terribly on my
> > setup. Opera renders much better, but doesn't support Java, which
> > NetScape does. I haven't found a good browser for Linux that supports
> > Java. If there is one, somebody please let me know!
>
> 6.0 beta is very new, right? So this is a bleeding edge feature, one that
> isn't in 5.0 or 5.5? And you count it against Linux browsers cause they
> don't have it? (Talking about saving the pics). But you are wrong when
> you say there is nothing like it on Linux. Wget and several others like
> it are capable of that and a whole lot more. They aren't browsers, but
> they accomplish the same thing.
>
> I don't know about java support, but speaking for myself, i haven't found
> a site / page that used java in any way that was important for me.
>
> >> > 2. On windows, I can drag an image from my Visio document to my word
> >> > document and have it show up there. There is nothing like this on
> >> > linux.
> >> >
> > Amen.
>
> None of the windows users i know has ever used this or any other drag n
> drop feature. Every single windows user i know has experienced crashes,
> bsods, and general unpredictable behavior. Just recently, my win98j
> machine at work lost about half its fonts for no reason. A coworker's
> machine crashed when he tried to print from Word (never mind he prints
> every day and usually it doesn't crash). But sure, dragging an image from
> one document to another might be important to some people. Me, I prefer
> stability and predictability.
>
> >> > 3. On Windows, when one starts a CD writes, the writes software
> >> > automatically scans scsi and ide devices and locates the CD-W device.
> >> > On linux, one must compile the kernel and do other hacks to get this
> >> > to work.
> >> >
> >>
> >> Not anymore. Modules allows one to add changes to the kernel without
> >> rebooting. CD-RW is now part of the more popular distros. The kernel
> >> hacking is never needed with these devices... it was something done a
> >> few years ago. Time changes things.
>
> For the record, Mandrake 7.1 and 7.2 set set my burner up just fine. I
> have burned about 70 to 100 discs or so without a single failure.
>
> >> > 4. On linux, each distro has it own way interface and methods of how
> >> > to configure and update the system. On widnows there is one way.
>
> >> > 5. On linux, it is still very hard to get a system working using
> >> > anti-aliased fonts, without more user hacks and configurations. On
> >> > windows, it comes build in and the user has to do nothing more.
> > I still can't figure out how to install any fonts beyond what was
> > installed with the OS. When I tried, the font name showed up in the app
> > (StarOffice, for example), but displayed only a some system font I
> > couldn't even resize. I found conflicting sets of instructions on how to
> > install fonts, all of them very complex. With Windows I can drag TTF
> > files into the font folder and everything works.
>
> Like I said, my win98j system is suddenly and for no obvious reason
> missing about half the fonts, including most of the TT fonts. Nothing has
> worked. No one can even explain why or how they went missing. So great,
> you can easily add fonts. What do you do when your system loses them?
>
You're not the only that has complained about the loss of fonts unders
windows.
Saw this all too often in microsoft news groups. And most of the MSCEs
don't know what to make of it either.
> And DrakeFont in Mandrake adds fonts just fine thank you.
>
> >> > 6. Printing on Linux is broke. On widnows, setting up a printer
> >> > requires no hacks as on linux. It just works.
> >>
> >> Printing is easy. I find that my Epson printer works better under
> >> linux than it ever has under windows. Why did Epson replace windows'
> >> print manager with their own? Because the windows print manager does
> >> not respond quickly or none at all. Try like 5 to 10 minutes to stop a
> >> print job. (Win9x series)
> >>
> > RedHat doesn't even come with a driver for my Panasonic KXP-1123 dot
> > matrix! Good grief. How basic can you get? It sook some experimentation
> > to find a
> > "close enough" driver for my HP DJ810c (works well), but NOTHING works
> > with the Panasonic. An still, no USB printing!
>
> I've had no problems with printing. At work though, ha!, printer problems
> at about one a week. The other day, the printer stopped printing a large
> pdf file half way through. For no reason. Then, trying to kill it from
> the print manager (after waiting 10 minutes in hopes it would continue)
> did nothing. Anyhow, my $200 Brother laser printer at home (on linux)
> prints (at a guess) about 5 times faster than the really expensive laser
> printer at work (using Windows). Apples and oranges prolly, but still
> always surprises me.
>
> >> > 7. On Linux, there are many different desktop environments, each work
> >> > differently. Applications written for one, might not work as expected
> >> > on another. On windows, there is one way to do it, making developer
> >> > life much simpler and users are familiar with how GUI applications
> >> > are
> > expected
> >> > to behave.
> >> >
> >>
> >> I've never had a problem with different window managers. I'm using
> >> Motif
> >> 1.4 and have easily compiled games from other Linux distros without any
> >> problems. The underlying core are the X-libs.
> >>
> > Pick one and stick with it. Gnome is pretty good, if it isn't crashing.
> > KDE is worthless; how can an average user figure out the ppp
> > configuration porgram? Who the heck knows what PAP is? The help system
> > is totally worthless...unless you are experienced with Linux. For a
> > newbie like me there is no mercy.
>
> KDE is far from worthless and Gnome is quite stable (or so i hear).
> Still, just about any window manager is better than the pathetic gui that
> is windows. where are the multiple desktops? How can I customize the
> right click menu? Or the middle button menu (there ain't one right?)
> Where are the usuable dock apps ala Window Maker? Those tiny icons
> chained to the Windows system tray are almost worthless.
>
> >> > >Some people like it because they like having the power and stability
> >> > >of a UNIX system.
> >> >
> >> > win2k is VERY stable. The stability claim is getting too old now.
> >> > need to find a new one.
> >> >
> >> >
> >>
> >> Tell that to the space crew up above. NT crashed quite often. Only
> >> the Russians know what their laptop is running and it didn't crash.
> >
> > I hardly ever have problems with Win98SE or NT4Sp6. RedHat has been a
> > true pain. Gnome locked up so tight that Linux refused to shut down. I
> > had to pull the plug. Other times I have had to shutdown and restart X
> > because it begins to slow like an overloaded Windows98 system. Also,
> > programs load slower than in Windows, and if I'm downloading anything
> > the whole system runs in slow motion.
>
> What are your system specs? How could gnome possible have affected your
> computers power switch? What programs load more slowly than on Windows?
> Sounds like you are trying to do too much with too little.
>
> BTW, my current uptime is a little over 18 days - been running seti@home
> the whole time, played the occassional game, burned a few cds, left
> gnutella running for close to 2 whole days, turned netscape, mozilla,
> pan, and licq on and off too many times to count, and have been listening
> to mp3s most of the time that i have been home. Oh and installed and
> tried to get a few games working with wine. All in the last 18 days and
> all without a single system crash (and only one or two crashed programs),
> reboot, or even slowdown. YMMV, but don't expect me to believe that this
> would be possible on a win9x machine. Maybe on w2k, but why pay for that
> barebones os when i can get everything i want and need plus a whole lot
> more for free?
>
> >> If you don't want to run games, get a 64-bit Sun Blade 100 for $950
> >> with Solaris 8. If you want to run games there is the PCI card for $400
> >> to plug in to run windows.
> >
> > I have one more to add: software installation. I downloaded WordPerfect
> > 8, unzipped it, un"tar"ed it, and it refused to install. Oh, well.
> > Downloaded a small GNU-license word processor to upgrade the early
> > version that came with RedHat. It said I needed to update several
> > libraries and gave their cryptic names. Now what? How much time will it
> > take to hunt these down? To some of you guys who lived with Unix since
> > your college days this may be fine, but to a small business user who
> > wasn't born with Unix in his genes and who needs his tools to work, this
> > way of operating is unacceptable. Windows apps just install any needed
> > DLL updates (though that has it's own share of problems, but at least
> > you can use the app).
>
> Actually, compared to add / remove programs on win98, rpm and kpackage
> are great. sure, you sometimes (rarely) need a new lib or something, but
> they are not that hard to find (www.rpmfind.net). But these days, this
> really isn't an issue unless you live on the bleeding edge. And do you
> think your small business user is going anywhere near the bleedin'
> bleeding edge? They get everything they need from the standard install.
> Updates they can get from their distro company, the same place they get
> their support.
>
> > I think it was Winston Churchill who said, "Democracy is the worst form
> > of government, except for all the others." I think you could change the
> > first clause of this to "Windows is the worst PC OS,..."
>
> Yes, iirc it was WC. The worst os depends on who wants what from their
> computers. Typical users don't know anything about their computers and
> want everything to be 'easy' and familiar. The only os they have ever
> used is windows, which everyone claims is the 'easiest'. What can they
> compare their experiences against? Many have never used a mac, much less
> a linux gui. At best, maybe they can compare w2k to win3.1 and think
> "this is much better."
>
> Me, I try to use windows (have to at work) but keep running into
> problems - where is perl, why isn't it already installed? Why do i have
> to go and get something as basic as winzip--where is windows zip support?
> Why does word keep pestering me about saving in text format? I know it
> is text, i set it up that way in the options. Where is the screen capture
> tool? The md5sum exe? The shred exe? Where are the themes? The extra
> desktops? The network monitoring dockapps? why isn't tex already
> installed? (you are a f**king idiot if you think word printouts look
> anywhere near as good as tex printouts.) For that matter, where is
> postscript support on windows?
>
> All these things and more make me want to run home to my linux
> box.
>
> --
> Osugi Sakae
>
> -----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
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--
V
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Thaddeus L Olczyk)
Crossposted-To: comp.theory,comp.arch,comp.object
Subject: Re: Blame it all on Microsoft
Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2001 07:08:16 GMT
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
On Thu, 12 Apr 2001 19:54:43 -0400, "Aaron R. Kulkis"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>I don't know, I was working. However, even the pro-Microsoft press
>admitted that EVERY MICROSOFT OFFICER who appeared on the witness
>stand was caught in at least one lie.
>
>Allen testified, and he's a Microsoft officer.
>
>Do the math.
Allen did not testify. Nor was he deposed. He has been out of
management of Microsoft for a very long time.
The only input he had into the case was to write the judge a letter
asking that the judge modify a part of the remedy.
Furthermore, there were only twenty Microsoft witnesses several of
whom were not Microsoft officers. There are more than twenty Microsoft
Officers.
What is true is that every Microsoft witness at one point or another,
had to admit ( on cross ) that he mispoke during direct.
------------------------------
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