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WARNING! WARNING! FUD LEVELS APPROACHING HAZARDOUS LEVELS!

OK, first off, I am pleasantly suprised by the lack of Vista issues so far in it's lifespan.

That being said, this report is a load of horse puckey.

You can't make comparisons like this. Comparing security vulnerabilities is not a simple apples-to-apples comparison. Comparing "Oh, someone can crash your solitare session in Ubuntu by misforming a configuration file" to "Oh, someone can execute code if you look at an image file" is just plain stupid. Both are security issues, yes, but the severity of the two bugs is like night and day.

There is also the problem of "undisclosed" bugs. IIRC, Microsoft will not give you "credit" for finding a security hole if you disclose the bug before they patch it. This means there could be a bunch of holes in the pipeline that haven't been disclosed to the public yet (but could still be exploited by less scrupulous people). I think there is some company someplace which has a list of security issues disclosed to microsoft and how long they've been sitting on them. However, I forget who.

There is a great debate to be had over who is "more secure." Sadly, this report does nothing but spread FUD.

Harlequin wrote:




Plus with the free wireless you get at conferences it's cool to chat with the wife on and off, then you don't have to phone

The Boston Convention Center doesn't have free wireless

I'm hesitant to get a tablet PC for myself because I'm afraid the novelty will wear off and I'll have paid extra for a feature I never use. Plus, pen and paper just have a certain "feel" to them. *shrug*

Plus, I have no clue how well Linux supports tablets. (I'm sure there is support, I've just never investigated)

eagle wrote:



I've seen about twenty laptops running Vista in the past few weeks, yesterday on the PATH train I sat next to a guy watching a movie on his watch!

I was on the MBTA commuter rail a few months ago standing over a woman watching "Oh Brother Where Art Thou" on her Nokia phone. It was a very "whoa" momment, as it was something that I'd previously seen done by the more "hard core" technoweenies I know.

But, more power to her!

Me? I just usually fiddle on the Interwebs with my MDA.

Honestly, unless it's to check e-mail or the talk is a real snoozer, I keep my laptop in my bag during conferences. Nothing beats pen and paper for note taking.

And FYI, I used Linux exclusively at the VS2005 (Boston) launch event. I just wanted to make people looking over my shoulder to do a double take.

Of course, I hardly label myself a troll.

Back on-topic: I'll admit, I bought into the FUD spread by the pundits when they were saying Vista was on life support. That, and my own anecdotal experience of seeing only one laptop on the commuter rail running Vista since the release.

But, the little voice in the back of my head always was screaming that this essentially mirrored the XP release and we'll start seeing Vista replace the XP and 2K machines in the office slowly but surely. Looks like he was right again.

Ray6 wrote:


Under Linux, fanboys is pretty much all you've got. That's why you can post any anti-MS comment you like on Channel9 and it will stay here for all to see, but posting an anti-FSF comment on Stallman's propoganda site, will be removed. And that's what you call 'freedom'?

Please, don't associate FSF crazies with "Linux users" there are plenty of Linux users who aren't insane.

Stallman != Linux
FSF != Linux
Linux == Linux

This topic has morphed since I last read it, and we're talking about splitting up MSFT. I've steering us back a bit.

Getting back to GPL rocks/sucks debate, the problem that I don't see a lot of people stating is that there are two seperate freedoms in software, the freedom of the developer to do whatever he wants with his code, and the freedom of the user to rip apart the program he has. For the most part, these are two are pretty mutually exclusive.

As a developer (Both on Windows and Linux) I usually try and release my code with the BSD license. I believe that my code should be allowed to be put wherever the end-user wants.

• Want to release my code as part of your GPL project? Fine. Just give me credit.
• Want to release my code as part as your closed source project? Fine as well. Just give me credit.

The user doesn't have a "right" to see my code. I release my code solely because if I were in that position, I'd want it too. Once the user has my code, the decision is up to them. I hope they do the same thing I do and share, but I feel I have no right to force my viewpoints on them.

<flame>Also, Stallman is a prima donna and delibrately attempts to force his view on others. For this, I have a hard time supporting most of his efforts. Don't believe me? Read "Hackers" by Steven Levy.</flame>

Just to toss a 3rd party in here

The fables of Jesse/Jessie MacBeth

I'm sure some people here will dismiss the story as the source is right leaning, but open your mind.

While, for an end user, it would cost you money to set up a land line to your house, there are a LOT of services (in the US) that allow free inbound numbers, because when you are a phone company, when another phone company connects to one of your numbers, they have to pay you.

IPKall is one of such these services, their profitability is derived from termination fees from other telephone companies.

blatzcoder wrote:



BenZilla wrote:Oh well guys! Year of the Linux desktop for sure!!!

Hopefully it will be when I'm done with it.

blatz coding the Linux desktop?

I'm scared.

If this is followed up by MSFT announcing that vistawillship is becoming the head of marketing, I'm building a bunker because the apocalypse is at hand.

blatzcoder wrote:

Innovation takes talent.

Agreed. I just got back from Linuxworld this week, and I saw tons of cool Linux based closed source projects. Sad that they aren't free, but still nifty.

What did I see with all the community projects like Gentoo and the lot?

"Hey, look at us supporting XGL! You can make your X desktop look like OS X with cartoony windows!"

Wow. Porting a feature that Mac has had for 5 years over to Linux. Wonderful. Blatz, where is the innovation in that?

Seriously, at times like this I want to just move over to OpenBSD.