It's a trap...again.
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| tjhanson9 Nov 01, 2011 5:21 AM EDT |
Nothing we've seen from the Microsoft proprietary lock-in machine convinces me that anyone over there has changed his/her stripes. I'm suspicious that the push to UEFI has been perverted to promote computers that will run the current version of Windows and nothing else. This has been standard operating procedure for Microsoft since before the Great Flood will continue to the Rapture, in my opinion. They are being clever by doing some blame-shifting to the OEMs for failing to make Linux easily installable, but any open source or free software advocate knows the result: another hoop to jump through for anyone wanting to use other than Windows on his or her platform of choice; another barrier to entry for the next innovator who doesn't want to pass through Redmond. You can bet there is, if the past is any kind of prologue, a behind the scenes arm twisting effort to make the OEMs take away all user booting options. This kind of orchestration is what Microsoft does, has always done, and will continue to do in the future. It is the same old monopoly maintenence. Bank on it. If Google depended on a Microsoft platform (hardware and server software) to execute its business plan, Google would be out of business, as have virtually all companies that have attempted to compete with Microsoft while depending on something it controls. That is true for the operating system, office software or, as in this case, the hardware. Linux people need to finally make the break, Mozilla style. What's needed is for a business to create Linux hardware: blades,desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones, free from the control of Microsoft, or Google, or Apple, or anyone else. A manufacturer may not sell enough units to compete with HP or Dell any time soon, but with the support of Canonical, Red Hat, the Linux Foundation and others, I believe the mind share exists to keep them in business. Growth, especially outside the United States, will come in time. The day may be ending when one can pick up a laptop at Best Buy, take it home, wipe the hard drive, and load Debian. We should prepare for the day when we can order an Ubuntu computer, or one without an OS so we can load the distro of choice, over the Internet with a minimum of hassle. If we want to keep Linux from slowly dying out as so many competing technologies have done, we need to pull the dependency plug once and for all. |
| JaseP Nov 01, 2011 8:49 AM EDT |
There are other, more sinister, things we can do as well... We can buy those "Tivo-ized" computers, and return them when they don't run Linux. Just make sure to get them from places that don't charge return fees. Eventually, the returns will burden the retail channel enough that the OEMs will rebel against M$. |
| r_a_trip Nov 01, 2011 9:45 AM EDT |
Just make sure to get them from places that don't charge return fees. 3 2 1... Steep return fees are now universal and our dark, little scheme doesn't work without sufficient funds anymore. In a skewed market, where we don't generate the total revenue going in to a vendor, we will always lose against MS' ad rebates. Maybe the EU can be triggered, because this new scheme will cause significant amounts of additional E-junk. |
| JaseP Nov 01, 2011 9:58 AM EDT |
You underestimate the negative aspects of high numbers of returns on a vendor's bottom line. |
| BernardSwiss Nov 01, 2011 12:47 PM EDT |
Quoting: You can bet there is, if the past is any kind of prologue, a behind the scenes arm twisting effort to make the OEMs take away all user booting options. This kind of orchestration is what Microsoft does, has always done, and will continue to do in the future. The really sad thing is how many people still consider this line of argument to be "conspiracy theory". (And it's not just shills and fan-bois.) |
| JaseP Nov 01, 2011 12:53 PM EDT |
Public knowledge that they used underhanded tactics with Barnes & Noble, when negotiating Android extortion money... B&N even went as far as to list M$'s activity in pleadings... So, yes, I agree there is no "tinfoil hat" stuff going on with regards to expected M$ "marketing" activity. I'm just surprised they were dumb enough to disclose it prior to launch. |
| tjhanson9 Nov 01, 2011 1:20 PM EDT |
>> We can buy those "Tivo-ized" computers, and return them when they don't run Linux. If one's only interest is revenge, this might be a good plan. Good luck getting enough other people doing this to actually cause one of the major manufacturers to rethink its strategy. The strategy I suggested could actually break Microsoft's hold on us. Consider the Google example again. A while back Ballmer swore, with profanity and bluster, that he and his company would make crushing Google his top priority, by golly. Had Google run its server farms on Windows, Mr. Ballmer would have had ample tools, consisting of musical licenses and fees, withheld APIs, endless BSA audits, etc., etc., to do just that. But Google is a 100% Linux shop, and Google is 100% healthy today. The only way to make fear of Microsoft a thing of the past is to cease reliance on its ecosystem completely. Ballmer's revenge? Well, Bing, absolutely the most popular search engine of Microsoft employees everywhere, and absolutely ignored by everyone else. Now, Ballmer looks toothless. This is what we need to do. |
| JaseP Nov 01, 2011 2:28 PM EDT |
Your strategy ignores one important aspect of the OEM game. That aspect being M$'s use of an aggressive patent litigation strategy to strong-arm small (and even some bigger) OEMs into selling Windoze only machines, or to go out of business entirely. What small OEM can stand up to a litigious bully with a $2B litigation budget (as I heard they have)??? |
| tjhanson9 Nov 01, 2011 6:06 PM EDT |
>> use of an aggressive patent litigation strategy to strong-arm small (and even some bigger) OEMs into selling Windoze only machines, or to go out of business entirely I wasn't aware thry were using their patents to attack BIOS. Where can I educate myself? |
| JaseP Nov 01, 2011 11:18 PM EDT |
Google; Foxconn Linux & AMI,... you'll be awakened ... |
| mbaehrlxer Nov 03, 2011 10:40 AM EDT |
Quoting:Linux people need to finally make the break, Mozilla styleMozilla style???? you mean like, with with bing? (sorry, couldn't resist that one :-) mozilla may be running on linux, but it still is most of all a windows product. greetings, eMBee. |
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