Re: [DDN] Missing the point .....

2006-06-19 Thread [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Id like to drag this back to the original topic (now I have some time to deal with it)... Hi Tom, Firstly may I voice agreement with yourself and Andy. This subject has just about run its course so I’ll make my answer to your questions my last on this thread - > What was their "motive" fo

Re: [DDN] Missing the point .....

2006-06-18 Thread Tom Brough
Don Cameron wrote: No, at risk of repetition my point was to highlight how monetary reasons are not the sole reasons for proprietary developments. This was in direct response to points raised previously in this thread. Understanding (in the context of discussion) really involves relating the com

Re: [DDN] Missing the point .....

2006-06-18 Thread Jacqueline Morris
On 6/14/06, Dave A. Chakrabarti <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Hi I've read that a large part of this attitude is the risk of lawsuits in the US. That's one of the reasons (I read) that people won't stop to help someone in distress (heart attack etc) - they try to help and then get sued. Medical pers

Re: [DDN] Missing the point .....

2006-06-18 Thread Taran Rampersad
Don Cameron wrote: Hi again Taran, Being very aware this is becoming a "one-to-one"; as such potentially inappropriate for a discussion list - may I nonetheless request our moderators continued tolerance and understanding. Hopefully this is of some interest to other readers and some may choose t

RE: [DDN] Missing the point .....

2006-06-17 Thread Don Cameron
Hi again Taran, Being very aware this is becoming a "one-to-one"; as such potentially inappropriate for a discussion list - may I nonetheless request our moderators continued tolerance and understanding. Hopefully this is of some interest to other readers and some may choose to contribute. >> Yo

Re: [DDN] Missing the point .....

2006-06-17 Thread Taran Rampersad
Hi Dave, A lot of what I think I already wrote in response to Don, but there are some things that I'd like to answer here... Dave A. Chakrabarti wrote: Taran, Thinking about Don's comments in disaster management (a field I know *nothing* about, so feel free to shoot me down on this) I'm incl

Re: [DDN] Missing the point .....

2006-06-16 Thread Taran Rampersad
Don Cameron wrote: Taran Rampersad notes: Secret formulas like this bother me because they are secret. Hi again Taran, Something of an exaggeration to call something unpublicised "secret", however yes, proponents of full disclosure will argue that anything unknown should be knowable

Re: [DDN] Missing the point .....

2006-06-16 Thread Dave A. Chakrabarti
Ken, Unfortunately, I think you are contradicting yourself. You say that you "disagree with the opportunism that Microsoft uses to pry into my computer under the guise of giving me a critical update" ...however, there is nothing illegal in what Microsoft is doing. It was all there in an license ag

Re: [DDN] Missing the point .....

2006-06-16 Thread Dave A. Chakrabarti
Taran, Thinking about Don's comments in disaster management (a field I know *nothing* about, so feel free to shoot me down on this) I'm inclined to think that public image / press / etc becomes an important factor. If this is a closed process, it is open to criticism only in being a closed process

RE: [DDN] Missing the point .....

2006-06-16 Thread Jesse Sinaiko
Ken - If we didn't have to prove over and over again that we have the right to use our version of Windows (or whatever) I would have such a beef. Plus, it is difficult to respect Microsoft's intellectual property when MS itself runs roughshod over other entities property and does it's best to sti

RE: [DDN] Missing the point .....

2006-06-16 Thread Don Cameron
Taran Rampersad notes: > Secret formulas like this bother me because they are secret. Hi again Taran, Something of an exaggeration to call something unpublicised "secret", however yes, proponents of full disclosure will argue that anything unknown should be knowable by anyone - presumably it is

Re: [DDN] Missing the point .....

2006-06-14 Thread Taran Rampersad
Don Cameron wrote: Taran Rampersad asks: Perhaps you could tell us who insisted that some of your code be proprietary? Hi Taran, Great to hear from you again and I hope you are well - May I focus on your query separately to the main thread because the question is legitimate however

RE: [DDN] Missing the point .....

2006-06-14 Thread Ken Callaghan
While I disagree with the opportunisism that Microsoft utilises to pry into my computer under the guise of giving me a critical update, I really don't have a problem with Microsoft jealously guarding their software. Why shouldn't it be proper to prove you own the software before you re-install it?

RE: [DDN] Missing the point .....

2006-06-14 Thread Jesse Sinaiko
Right now there is a huge stink around the MS anti-piracy software, euphemistically called Windows Genuine Advantage. Turns out that they've been using their "critical update" feature to download and test new versions of this DRM/validation software. The thing phones home, effectively making it s

RE: [DDN] Missing the point .....

2006-06-14 Thread Don Cameron
> Don, Do you feel that this is mostly a one-way flow, i.e. that > open source generally benefits from the proprietary world? Hi Dave, Not from my perspective, IMO it's both ways - although in fairness we probably should acknowledge timelines and quantities - that OSS being newer really hasn't

RE: [DDN] Missing the point .....

2006-06-14 Thread Don Cameron
Taran Rampersad asks: > Perhaps you could tell us who insisted that some of your code be proprietary? Hi Taran, Great to hear from you again and I hope you are well - May I focus on your query separately to the main thread because the question is legitimate however I think something of a tangen

RE: [DDN] Missing the point .....

2006-06-14 Thread Don Cameron
Tom Brough writes: > I know I cant change your mindset on this (but I have to try). > What troubles me is not necessarily proprietary software itself, > but the business practices of companies like Microsoft & SCO. Hi again Tom, Once again thanks for the thoughtful reply - I do understand, a

Re: [DDN] Missing the point .....

2006-06-12 Thread Taran Rampersad
Hopping in. Don Cameron wrote: The term "Open Source Evangelist" (Wikipedia ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_evangelist) has common use however my apologies if you find the term misleading; activist if you prefer. I think quite a few people find such labels misleading. I've never h

Re: [DDN] Missing the point .....

2006-06-12 Thread Dave A. Chakrabarti
Don, Do you feel that this is mostly a one-way flow, i.e. that open source generally benefits from the proprietary world? While I see similarities, I'm not sure I consider most of them improvements. Matching Open Office's layout to MS applications may have been a marketing decision that has paid

RE: [DDN] Missing the point .....

2006-06-12 Thread Jesse Sinaiko
Thanks Taran - Yeah, IMO, if Windows was just an OS, Microsoft would have either gone out of business or been forced to actually, really innovate, instead of just being an octopus; taking other applications and adding them to Windows, thus impinging (not that there's a law against it) on other sof

Re: [DDN] Missing the point .....

2006-06-12 Thread Tom Brough
Don Cameron wrote: Yes I agree OSS offers enormous benefits to society... No I do not agree that OSS is a "mouse" in any context other than in the games of OSS marketers. To be objective is to acknowledge that benefits and pitfalls exist in all development methodologies. Cheers, Don I th

RE: [DDN] Missing the point .....

2006-06-11 Thread Don Cameron
Tom thanks for your considered reply to some of these points. In recognition that discussion on software methodologies can degrade to flames, in continuing may I acknowledge your views and beliefs. The topic can be discussed without flames when we keep this intelligence within the discussion. The

Re: [DDN] Missing the point .....

2006-06-10 Thread Taran Rampersad
Tom Brough wrote: Certification is a double edged sword. On the one hand it gives employers an indication that you have the skills they need, and on the other its courses are usually provided by vendors of the software, which encourages lock-in culture (either by accident or design). However

Re: [DDN] Missing the point .....

2006-06-10 Thread Tom Brough
Don Cameron wrote: Tom Brough writes: Fact 1: Proprietary software is written by companies with the primary goal to satisfy shareholders aspirations by increasing market share. Another way of saying they have a profit motive. As a software developer I must comment on this stated "fa

Re: [DDN] Missing the point .....

2006-06-10 Thread Taran Rampersad
Jesse Sinaiko wrote: Making the OS an application-heavy bit of one size-fits-all software actually limits choice and stifles innovation, in spite of Steve Ballmer's assertion that the only innovative operation on the planet is MS. In this sense, the last real OS put out by MS was Windows 2000

RE: [DDN] Missing the point .....

2006-06-08 Thread Jesse Sinaiko
"Linus Torvalds is actually on record for saying something similar to this... that the user *shouldn't* have to care what OS they are using, they should be focusing on the applications they use." This point - made by Torvalds and brought here by Taran brings up a point about what an OS actually is

RE: [DDN] Missing the point .....

2006-06-08 Thread Don Cameron
Tom Brough writes: > Fact 1: Proprietary software is written by companies with the > primary goal to satisfy shareholders aspirations by increasing > market share. Another way of saying they have a profit motive. As a software developer I must comment on this stated "fact" of proprietary softwa

Re: [DDN] Missing the point .....

2006-06-08 Thread Tom Brough
Taran Rampersad wrote: That employers look *specifically* for people with Microsoft Office experience is a real issue and cannot be ignored either - but if you can use OpenOffice.org, as Dave points out, you can use Microsoft Office - and vice versa. One of these packages can be used on all m

Re: [DDN] Missing the point .....

2006-06-06 Thread Taran Rampersad
Great post, Tom. Some additions. Tom Brough wrote: Much that I hate to open old wounds, but I am compelled by my convictions to write on the subject of proprietary vs free software. I think the arguments put forward before have missed some key points. Firstly Im not interested in my os is bet

Re: [DDN] Missing the point .....

2006-06-06 Thread Dave A. Chakrabarti
Tom, A very well articulated post...thanks. While there is an ideological basis for preferring open source software over proprietary software, the problem I encounter in these discussions is that people will generally concede every point you've made, and then say "but, I need something that's ind