I have a bunch of gmail invites to give away, so if you want one, post a comment with your name and your email address in the email address field (don’t worry, it won’t be displayed on the web) and I will give some invites away.
Just in case you are living under a rock and this is the only website you ever visit, the Updater for ColdFusion MX 6.1 is out.
Here I am at work trying to check some of my favorite linux websites and I come across this error message. Apparently Linux has been deemed unacceptable for government businesses.
I just love these automated web proxy filters that sys admins try to use to block websites.
(Click on the image for a better view.)
Actually, this is not about SCO, it is just about one idiot who has decided to stand up in support of SCO. This person would be none other then Rob Enderle. Personally, I never really realized that people this completely clueless actually existed on the planet. Apparently they do.To be honest, until last wednesday, I had never heard of him. This changed when I listened to the Linux Show and his name came up in during the show. More precisely, what was mentioned was an open letter that Joe Barr wrote to Rob Enderle in response to the keynote address he gave at the SCO Forum. In this keynote address, Rob attacks Gkroklaw and almost all Linux users alike. The main point of his address, aside from repeatedly mentioning how many threats he has received for supporting SCO, was that if companies decide to use Linux and free software it will eventually result in the total destruction of the American economy.
Personally, I think Rob must suffer from some sort of paranoia complex as he continuely focuses on how many threats, and death threats, he has received since standing up to support SCO.
To say that Rob just doesn’t get it when it comes to open source software like saying that the sun is yellow or water is wet. All you need to do is read his keynote address and the inconsistencies become glaringly obvious. However, I am not going to offer up a review or analysis of his address as one has already been done. In this analysis, the author, point by point, shows the logical flaws that are all to pervasive through out the entire address. In fact, Rob’s strongest point is based on theory called the Broken Window fallacy:
Since Mr. Enderle mentions Economics, now would be a good time to mention the Broken Window fallacy that he implicitly uses. The Broken Window fallacy states that it is good for the economy when a kid hits a baseball through a window, as that homeowner spends money to replace the window. The fallacy exists because that scenario assumes that the money the homeowner would have spent on the replacement window would not otherwise have been spent. (Perhaps the homeowner would have set fire to a small stack of twenty dollar bills instead.)
Even if (and that’s a significant “if”) Linux and Free Software were indeed always free as in gratis, tax revenues would not necessary decline. The money normally spent on software licenses would not instead be burned during a Board of Directors meeting. Rather, that money would be spent on software services, or more hardware, or perhaps distributed as cash (or equivalent) to employees and / or owners. The end result is that the money would be spent, just not on software licenses. (Neil, 2004, pg 2)
The thing that blows my mind is that these people exist at all. I don’t understand. If I have a business (or a non-profit, or a government) and I need to install software onto my computers I have two choices: (1) I can either spend thousands of dollars on proprietary software or (2) I can download OpenOffice.org and install that for free. Rob Enderle would have me waste the money — cause if I don’t spend the money then the government is going to crumble.
AAAaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! I think that just about sums it up for me. I think there are people out there who simply can not handle the idea of free. They can not handle the idea that people would be willing to make available the source code to something that they spend time creating. The whole idea of patents and copyright and capitalism and money is so entrenched in these people that the idea of making something available freely is completely beyond their comprehension.
Anyway, I am not sure if this post makes any sense and I am not sure if I am going to take the time to make it make sense, so you will have to forgive me for rambling, but definitely have a read through some of the links and make up your own mind on this topic.
References
Wehneman, Neil. Misc. Writing - Logical Critique of Rob Enderle’s “Free Software and the Idiots Who Buy It”, Aug 11, 2004, http://fallinggrace.com/article.php?story=20040811015739829
Exactly how vulnerable is a computer running Windows XP that is sitting unprotected on the internet? Apparently, very vulnerable. Twenty minutes is all it takes for such a computer to be infected. This article takes a look at the problems faced by the common user when they gety that new computer home and hook it up to the internet for the very first time.
It is actually a rather scary read when you consider the implications.
A while back there was a thread going on the List about how to protect a computer from the time you first install the OS to when you can download all the security patches from Microsoft. What prompted this was several people who had to reinstall Windows onto their computer and by the time they could get the required patches had already been infected with Code Red or the Blaster worm (or one of the other nasty worms/virus’ crawling around on the web).
Personally, my suggestion is just switch to Linux.
For the last 4 days I have been testing out my new gmail account. Okay, I realize that everyone and their brother now has a gmail account, but I didn’t until this past monday.
I love it!!!!
I have two high volume mailing lists that I am on — the List from evolt.org and CF-TALK from House of Fusion. The later list can generate more than 100 emails per day. Gmail makes tracking these very simple.
The way that gmail tracks conversations is brilliant and it makes reading and following threaded emails incredibly simple. When you click on an email, it takes all emails in the thread and places them together on the page. Any email you have not read are expanded while the ones that you have read only show the author and the time they were received along with the first few lines of the subject.
There are a few things that take time to adjust to though. If you reply to an email, gmail retains your reply in the conversation. At first, I wasn’t sure if my emails were being sent or not. However, after a few hours, when people started to reply to my posts, it was quite clear that the emails had in fact been sent. This is very different from normal email behaviour were the email is sent and you have to wait to receive a reply or wait to receive your email back from the mailing list.
Overall, I am quite impressed with the technology that google has put into their gmail service.
So far I have heard very little that is actually good about SP2. Oh sure, I have heard that it introduces a tighter security model into Windows XP — a model that may break the way many web apps work — and it will have a real firewall installed — a firewall that will block everything to begin with and force users to unblock apps through dialog boxes causing users to simply click allow and putting themselves back into the same security threat they were in before SP2 — and it includes several other addition as well. However, each and every addition is always followed by a catch of some sort. Due to this, I am personally waiting until I update my computers. I think I will wait for some reviews and experiences to come out first.
I have collected a few links thought that should help people with the transition.
Upcoming Changes in Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2
Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) Support Center
Changes to Functionality in Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2
Windows XP Service Pack 2 - Resources for IT Professionals
Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Developers
Fine-Tune Your Web Site for Windows XP Service Pack 2
Some of the links above are for end users, some are for techies, and some are for web developers. Enjoy.
