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Re: [News] [SOT] Germany Fights Right for Privacy on the Web, Requires Back Doors

In comp.os.linux.advocacy, Roy Schestowitz
<newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
 wrote
on Fri, 21 Sep 2007 18:20:30 +0100
<2780144.lN5u9Zn5g1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
> ____/ The Ghost In The Machine on Friday 21 September 2007 17:55 : \____
>
>> In comp.os.linux.advocacy, Mark Kent
>> <mark.kent@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>>  wrote
>> on Fri, 21 Sep 2007 15:52:04 +0100
>> <kd2ds4-5hu.ln1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
>>> Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
>>>> ____/ [H]omer on Monday 17 September 2007 01:36 : \____
>>>> 
>>>>> Verily I say unto thee, that Roy Schestowitz spake thusly:
>>>>> 
>>>>>> Tor Anonymity Server Admin Arrested
>>>>> 
>>>>> In what way is this democracy?
>>>>> 
>>>>> They'll be rebuilding the Berlin wall next.
>>>> 
>>>> They want control.
>>>> 
>>>> They want to control every individual PC.
>>>> 
>>>> Linux doesn't work well for them. Neither does anonymity...
>>>> 
>>>> It's becoming a struggle between the Orwellian vision and Free software
>>>> Creative Commons|Charitable work like OLPC.
>>>> 
>>>
>>> Unfortunately, much of the paranioa about network security is really due
>>> to the appalling state of security of Microsoft Windows.  Had there not
>>> been millions of zombie Windows machines out there being used for DOS
>>> attacks, spam relaying, and so on, then the current level of paranioa
>>> would never have come to be.
>>>
>>> Of course, Microsoft don't care about that, they just want the cash.
>>>
>> 
>> It gets worse.  Wanna bet that Linux might be actively, if
>> quietly, resisted by all of the antimalware providers? :-)
>> 
>> Windows: where everyone wins.  (Except the end consumer.)
>
> The OEMs do not win either. Paper-thin margins...

This is true.  Of course, if they spend $50 for a license
and up the computer cost for $55, they win $5 (minus
income tax).  But I'd have to research the issue, and for
them it's effectively a "Microsoft tax", which they will
happily pass on to us in a sufficiently robust market
(and not so happily eat in a weak one).

I'm still wondering if Microsoft is trying to preinstall
Windows on *disk drives*...that was a rumor some years back.

>
> OEMs would be better off with Linux because the cost of
> PCs can drop... not because of hardware constraints, but also
> because software is no longer an expense (the OEMs never
> earned money from it anyway). As for the forced
> upgrade/Broken Window economy aspect, that might actually
> harm OEMs, but not the environment.
>

Hard to say.  The PC market has a lot of issues, since there's
actually multiple markets.

- High-end gamer.  This guy has plenty of money and wants
  to have the ultimate in graphics, either to impress his
  friends, to have a beautifully gorgeous game view, or to
  frag his opponents with the highest framerate available.
  Won't quibble on the small stuff.

- Business consumer.  The purchasing agent is going to
  want quality machines at a low price.  IT will insist
  on the quality, but the PA will want the low price. ;-)

- Home guy.  Good general purposes unit, which does the
  job; in many cases that will probably be similar to the
  office worker's or business consumer's.  Not guaranteed
  to be all that tech-savvy.

- Mister Engineer.  Not quite as demanding as the high
  end gamer, perhaps, but he will want a machine with some
  oomph -- and maybe some graphics CAD/CAM/CAE software
  with lots of tools to produce quality software for his
  corporation, or his consultancy.

- Office Worker.  Something that works, simple to use,
  doesn't get in the way, handles the data formats s/he
  is likely to encounter in the job.

- POS operator.  You want fries with that? ;-)  Also
  needs to handle sales agent login, promotion of the day,
  coupons, and other such, in a simple way.  Might
  need to be spill-resistant in some contexts.

- Jetsetter.  A laptop that has good battery life and can
  interface to the network via wifi.

- Schoolkid.  A rugged laptop that just works, and
  allows the child to access and work on lessons from the
  teacher, without being distracting (e.g., with BSODs,
  hangs, panics, and other such).  Might include some
  parental controls to disallow such things as pornography,
  copying from someone else's laptop (or vice versa), and
  screwing itself up if the kid drags the wrong thing to
  the bit bucket.

- Server/Robot.  A fair number of buyers will want a PC
  that just sits there, servicing other equipment.
  Not clear how "personal" that is, but a lot of servers
  are x86-based.  Uses include traditional web servers,
  industrial controls, PBXes, and building environmental.

- Mobile.  The general idea is a phonelike unit that can
  do some laptop things, as opposed to a laptop that can do
  some phone things.  However, it's becoming increasingly
  difficult to tell the difference, apart from the form
  factor (a laptop would be a little hard to hold up to
  one's ear).  Blackberries in particular would be examples
  of mobiles, but so are Green phones, Orange phones, and
  Chocolate phones.

Presumably, the business consumer and the engineer would benefit
most from Linux (the former because of cost, the latter because
many high-end tools are offered for Unix and Unix-compatible
platforms).  The high-end gamer may prefer Windows.  The rest
might not care, as long as the unit works reliably.

-- 
#191, ewill3@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
/dev/brain: Permission denied

-- 
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