The Deadly Microsoft Embrace(tehelka.com) |
The Deadly Microsoft Embrace(tehelka.com) |
Microsoft might have made a lot of money off of this confusion, but in the process they've become the antithesis of "it just works" in a lot of people's eyes. They've made some of the most basic functions of computing an expensive pain in the ass for most of the PC era.
it doesn't seem to let me export my revision history, for example.
also, does it actually offer a download format such that:
"google docs" -> "download as" -> "upload to google docs"
returns you to exactly the same document?
This is not completely true since Ubuntu does provide (various software) updates and upgrades.
"... The proximity of the Clintons and the Gates is well known to the world and needs no explanation. ... And the revelations of WikiLeaks only show how the US has been forcing governments across the world to buy expensive Microsoft licenses."
Really? That statement seems a little outrageous.
Ultimately, as the article highlights, why are states "...moving back to laptops for poor rural students preloaded with Microsoft Windows."?
Does a computer preloaded with Microsoft Windows provide a significant advantage over a Linux distribution? For example, what is the goal of providing computer to poor rural students? Is it to make them computer proficient or Microsoft Office proficient?
(Also, presumably, these low-cost computers (provided to poor rural students) are not capable to run Windows 7 or Windows 8 - what version of Microsoft Windows is preloaded?)
Edit: Updated styling.
*Really? That statement seems a little outrageous.
Not outrageous at all:
http://c4sif.org/2011/08/wikileaks-cable-shows-us-twisting-a...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Tunisia_Scandal
http://homembit.com/2011/09/microsofts-attack-on-brazilian-n...
.. and so on.
As for your argument, "computer proficient" versus "microsoft office proficient" .. there is a lot more you can do with a computer besides word-process documents, in spite of what Microsoft want you to think^Wbuy^Wconsume ..
The Bosnian cable mentioned only licensed software, not specifically software under Microsoft's licenses. I'd be willing to wager people within the gov't are allowed to use GPL software right along propietary. A key clue as to why this was the case may be in the line "ction to ban pirated and unlicensed software from ministry offices". More than likely, the Bosnia gov't was pirated copies of Windows on the belief that they had no legal obligation to buy the software.
The second article about the Tunisia gov't seems infested with ideological speculation and not actual facts.
The third article is with regards to the fact that Brazilian gov't adopted a pro free software stance, and that Microsoft felt that was unfair to their business efforts. The US gov't did not intervene or arm twist, but an ambassador did offer suggestions on how to create a more fair standard that would allow for both OpenXML and ODF. By the way, as a friend of mine pointed out, both of those are standards controlled by various standards body (ISO and ECMA).
Also, Ubuntu's support cycle is also much shorter (18-36 months v Windows 60-120 months) making standardization and support more difficult.
And what is the goal, well in the short term it is surely to make them more employable and the jobs requiring say Excel outnumber those requiring C++ 100:1.
I am no Microsoft supporter, but you have asked an important question here: If the long-term goal is to teach them Office, so that they can do administrative tasks etc. at their future workplaces (which are probably running Office2k on WinXP, based on my [anecdotal] observations), then Windows+Office training might actually be useful to them. Not everyone is being trained to become a programmer.
Why do you assume using Linux means you are training to be a programmer?
Personally, I have installed Ubuntu Linux on friends' "old" laptops that have gotten "too slow" for Windows upgrades. Instead of being thrown out, these machines are still being used for common tasks such as internet browsing and e-mailing.
Ideally, a non-profit - if there isn't one already - could install a Linux distribution on an "older" machine and give those to low-income students in the States. (How often do government agencies cycle through machines? What happens to those old machines?)
They probably meant that a major upgrade won't be needed to be paid for.
Anyway this is Tehelka, one of the big 'rags' in India, so don't expect any kind of objectivity or even truth from them. They will print anything if it drives interest.
Also, I can't see any good reason at all to put Windows on any PC, but that's another story ;).
At least in Brazil the government has adopted a pro-FOSS policy.
Just so you know, I work for Microsoft, but not on Windows. I have no inside knowledge of Windows OEM pricing, but I'd be very surprised if Starter cost an OEM more than $5-$10.
A bad defense of free and open-source software is not always better than no defense.
Two cables, one originating in the embassy at Hanoi and the other at the embassy in Tunis, throw enough light on the scale and nature of the government-corporation nexus in the United States and its influence on world governments.
According to one of the cables, the US government ‘intervened’ to force Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dzung to sign an agreement with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer that would require Hanoi to pay Microsoft $20 million for 3 lakh licences. This even though the Vietnamese PM wanted to hold the Microsoft deal as a deliverable till he met the US president later that year.
Now put that deal in an Indian context where 68 lakh licences would be required under Jayalalithaa’s ambitious free laptop scheme and the business of diplomacy becomes clear. The Microsoft deal of 3 lakh licences was dubbed in the cable as ‘the most significant agreement Vietnam has ever signed with a US business’.
The wikileak in question is pretty damning - http://www.cablegatesearch.net/cable.php?id=04HANOI966
"Microsoft representatives also highlighted their concerns about recent GVN comments that it plans to switch to open source software (like Linux) to "fix" its IPR problems. While acknowledging that the decision on what type of software the GVN wants to use is up to the Government... Switching to open source does not insulate the GVN from the responsibility of ensuring that all software used by the GVN is legitimately licensed, Microsoft asserted"
It sounds like they know how to throw their weight around in the developing world.
http://wikileaks.org/cable/2007/12/07SAOPAULO1001.html
Neither is Boeing:
Unlike Windows 7. It would be so nice if Microsoft installed Visual Basic Express on all Windows as a matter of course.
(Of course, this carries with it the presumption that creation is better than consumption, and to really use a computer, you need to be able to program it).
The second requirement was "In its new tender, ELCOT asked bidders to provide only Microsoft Windows and removed Linux from the list."
And a key point made from someone from ELCOT: " “We will retain dual boot laptops to ensure uniformity in the supply of laptops by different vendors,"
Windows was always going to be on the laptops. More than likely, the vendors charge more for setting up dual boot systems.
EDIT: Although, I don't completely buy the argument about upgrades. I still have laptops running Windows XP that work great.
More likely than not. It's not hard to confuse people when different UI's are involved.
I'll vouch for this. My wife uses Xubuntu, and she's an accountant. There was a period of learning for her, but then again, part of that was due to the fact that one can automate just about anything via cron. (:
They were one of the few publications who were extremely pro-IIPM when investigative bloggers were pointing out that IIPM was a degree mill. It turned out later that the IIPM family was a big contributer to Tehelka.
There probably is some truth in this story, but take it with a healthy dose of skepticism, because you're not going see objectivity here.
Anyway for readers who don't know India: Tehelka is an independent newsmagazine that specializes in investigative journalism. I also hold them in very high regard.
Just my two cents.