Published by Robert Pogson November 18th, 2011
in technology.
Steve Ballmer & Co. are correct, using M$’s software without a licence is a competitive advantage to many. Of course those businesses could have the same advantage quite legally by using FLOSS. They would have a larger advantage, too: no legal liability, better performance and greater flexibility in how software is used. In my experience with XP versus GNU/Linux, GNU/Linux saves much more than the cost of licences: lower maintenance, longer-lived PCs, fewer re-re-reboots and much less malware. If illegally copying that other OS saves $2.9 billion, imagine tens of $billions gained by using FLOSS.
It’s interesting that the countries where M$ finds the most illegal copying, there is also the most use of FLOSS, too, Brazil, Russia, India and China. The benefits to the local economy by local entrepreneurs installing and supporting FLOSS is probably much larger than the licensing fees that M$ worries about. Let’s hope that M$ pushes hard to extort more money from the emerging markets of IT. That will only promote GNU/Linux, a better way to do IT. I recommend Debian GNU/Linux because for the same or lower effort than using that other OS or other distros of GNU/Linux, a business will have a much larger repository of FLOSS software, which permits accomplishing anything. A large competitive advantage comes from sharing the work of 1000 Debian developers organizing and building the repository so that the software works together and can easily be installed on almost any hardware.
There are lots of examples of businesses saving huge amounts on licensing going to FLOSS:
- Robert Pogson
Published by Robert Pogson November 18th, 2011
in technology.
M$ has sued Barnes and Noble over software patents. B&N’s search for prior art to discredit these so-called inventions is voluminous, 45 pages just to list them.
The reason B&N can do that so easily is that there is rarely anything new in software. The machines limit the possible steps to what will fit in storage. Anything is possible and if you know how to do X and Y, you automatically know how to do X+Y. It’s obvious and so unpatentable. It’s so hilarious. At one point, B&N even lists IE 1.0 as prior art preventing an invention being patentable. It’s true. M$ filed a patent application for something it had already inflicted on the public. Patents may only be issued for something novel. No matter how many hundreds of patents M$ claims Linux violates, Linux violates nothing because it’s all been done before M$ even existed and patents if any from the good old days have long since expired.
Good for B&N. When they win, M$ will be a toothless old dog with a bark much worse than its bite. I do not expect M$ to be able to buy off B&N to hide things in Non-Disclosure Agreements. That’s why B&N fought while others paid up. B&N does not make its living primarily from software and can survive without M$’s stuff or Google’s stuff. M$ is not a threat to B&N, just an annoyance. Further, a big win by B&N will call into doubt all software patents. I expect M$ will drag this issue all the way up the food-chain to SCOTUS and lose there once and for all, freeing GNU/Linux from a ton of FUD. M$ can bluff many times but the first time their bluff is called publicly the whole house of cards that is software patents will fall.
- Robert Pogson
Published by Robert Pogson November 18th, 2011
in Uncategorized.
I took another trip to the old workshop to move stuff to the new workshop yesterday. I had run out of steel for my shelving project. What a difference a day makes. I had been using a 10 inch hacksaw blade and I found a 12 inch blade in new condition in the old shop. With it I can cut almost twice as fast, 20%+ for the adding length of stroke, and more for using a sharp blade. I am actually losing a bit of weight by sawing the steel…
I also fetched two vises so I don’t need to be so skillful positioning and holding steel for welding. I’ve done pretty well so far but it is a much slower process positioning things by hand-eye and then holding them for a few seconds in the dark… On top of that the wind has been annoying lately. Combined with the low temperatures, I really want to clamp, weld and be done with it. I am more than half-way done the shelving. It will be a thing of beauty, strong and functional.
It will be a blessing to be able to walk around my workshop in straight lines after the shelves get stocked. Of course I could have bought shelving for a few $K but these will be custom-made for my shop with the spacing I need and the strength I want. The design also minimizes the cost of material, maximizes accessibilty, and I am retired so time is not a problem. I love welding, making things strong and functional that will last a lifetime. Stuff in my old shop is as good as new and it has been there 20 years.
Welding is like software. There is a perception that it is useful and finished but in reality, good software can be around and useful long after it’s creator has died or lost interest. This is a big advantage for FLOSS. There is no commercial motive to kill something off just because a new model has come along and the old model can be improved for less effort sometimes. Linux has been going a long time and never rewritten from scratch. It’s not getting older. It’s getting better. I am definitely getting older, not better, but at least I am still useful.
Further welding projects: boot scrapers so the little woman does not have to nag me about the mud tracked in, picnic tables and seating for the joyous time next year when we will actually have a lawn and gardens, some signage/lighting, and a harrow to help prepare the lawn next year.
- Robert Pogson
Published by Robert Pogson November 18th, 2011
in technology.
Ubuntu has been the favourite distro for years when it comes to usability. I decided that was a myth years ago when I deployed it in a large school setting. Ubuntu made extra work for me to retain usability. Now, with the Unity development others are being pushed to change from using Ubuntu.
Here is a review of usability between Ubuntu and Fedora. The conclusion? Fedora is surprisingly usable. In my experience, so is Debian. Here is an article listing the main differences between Debian GNU/Linux and Ubuntu. It was written before Unity… Now the usability table has definitely tilted away from Ubuntu. It is about time competition has returned to distros of GNU/Linux. Distrowatch will be getting more hits.
I recommend Debian GNU/Linux for its usability, flexibility and performance. I trust Debian.
- Robert Pogson
Published by Robert Pogson November 18th, 2011
in technology.
“If you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen” is a wise saying. Apple should heed that. It started a total war against Samsung trying to eliminate competition in the market for smart thingies and now is complaining that Samsung is fighting back. They don’t want to pay a “fair and reasonable” licensing fee for Samsung’s inventions related to smart phones.
Chuckle.
- Robert Pogson
Published by Robert Pogson November 18th, 2011
in technology.
Some of our commentators hold that FLOSS is second-rate software and only exists because “commercial”/non-FLOSS ISVs make a great product and FLOSS copies it.
Well, Hadoop is an imitation of Google’s MapReduce but it is a FLOSS product nevertheless. M$ recently chose Hadoop rather than it’s own development, Dryad, or Google’s MapReduce. What does that say about FLOSS when the icon of non-FREE software chose FLOSS?
see Microsoft Kills Dryad
If Dryad was also an imitation of MapReduce, does this not show that M$ acknowledges that FLOSS makes a better imitation?
- Robert Pogson
Published by Robert Pogson November 18th, 2011
in technology.
“This is going to take a lot longer than people are assuming, until the end of 2012 at least,” he says. “And by then, demand will have gone up.”
“He” is CEO of Seagate. While this will affect the price of PCs it will also affect the total number shipped and M$ will see a decline in licences sold for the first time in a big way. On top of this some regions are concerned with economic declines. Small cheap computers running Android/Linux on ARM will be unaffected so the race to ARMed personal computers continues. Emerging markets are very sensitive to prices so small cheap computers will be seen as relatively cheaper still. Also, this problem may well accelerate the move to thin clients because fewer hard drives on servers can replace a lot of hard drives that used to run thick clients.
- Robert Pogson
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