MICROSOFT OR GOOGLE? THE OPEN SOURCE BATTLE

On Aug. 10, Redmond submitted the Microsoft Permissive License to the Open Source Initiative (OSI). Should the license be approved, Microsoft would receive the "open source" seal of approval that only the OSI – by self-proclamation – can okay

Many open source watchers have applauded Microsoft's OSI approach. You'll remember that Microsoft has dubbed some open source software the work of cancer-ridden communists. So, seeking "open source" approval shows the software maker has come a long way.Of course, one could argue that Microsoft – once blessed with the open source label – will only abuse its status.

I think it would be near impossible for an outside observer not to take Microsoft's side here.

For one, Microsoft has done all the OSI asks by submitting its license in the proper fashion for review. If the license meets the OSI's open source definition, does it really matter who submitted it? Is this Russia? This isn't Russia, Danny.

Beyond that, Google hardly stands as a model open source company – a point noted by Hilf. Google has become the poster child for the software as a service (SaaS) abuse of open source software. The ad broker uses copious amounts of open code but gets around returning changes to "the community" by claiming it does not redistribute the code. Instead, Google simply places the software on servers and ships a service to consumers.

The Free Software Foundation avoided closing the SaaS hole – a problem caused by an archaic notion of distribution as being tied to a diskette or CD – with GPL v3. Google couldn't care less about that though, since it will avoid any problematic license

"We have enough engineering resources that, if the license has obligations we are not interested in, we can just not use it," DiBona said, at the recent OSCON conference.

Google's secretive nature leaves us in the dark as to how much code it has turned back to "the community." The best statement I've seen thus far has a Google official claiming to have put back 1 million lines of code.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s Office

I dont know how true this is...just couldnt resist myself from writing this down! See it yourself:

hmm...so is that really Steve Ballmer?

Alright...first thoughts...Dont you think the CEO of Microsoft deserves a more lavish and magnificent place to dwell? Or is it that Ballmer has done enough to deserve this (:D).

If this is true, then it does show one thing, these guys don’t care about money or fame, all they want is to kill off their enemies, and I quote Genghis Khan, the mongolian king that ruled the world’s biggest empire ever -

“It is not enought that I win, all others must lose!”

Ofcourse, The Mongol empire was superceded and defeated and It is where it is today because of that ;) (pun intended!)

How To Prevent Windows XP Users From Writing To USB Drives

USB drives are extremely handy tools, but in some instances it might not be a good idea to allow users to write onto these devices from their PCs.

This is especially true when working with highly confidential data or intellectual property at work.

Users of Windows XP with service pack 2 installed can disable writing to USB devices.

To do this:

Open the Registry Editor click on the Start button on your taskbar, then click on Run and type "regedit" and click on OK to start the regedit utility.

Expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control.

From there right click and create a new key and name it "StorageDevicePolicies".

In the window on the right then create a new DWORD value and label it WriteProtect, give it a value of "1" and users can no longer write to USB drives.

To re-enable this option change the value to 0 and users are again allowed to write.

The modifications you made will be in effect after you reboot your PC.

Have Fun!

PS: Ofcourse, If someone has played this trick on you, you know how to get around now, dont you? ;)

Ubuntu stays defiant of Microsoft Threat

There will be no deal concerning possible patent infringements with Microsoft, according to Ubuntu founder and Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth. His announcement follows agreements three open source vendors have signed with Microsoft in exchange for the software giant's promise not to pursue litigation against those firms.

Ubuntu will not be joining the list of open source OS and productivity suits recently linked to MS through interoperability deals.

"We have declined to discuss any agreement with Microsoft under the threat of unspecified patent infringements," says Ubuntu founder & CEO, Mark Shuttleworth.

A Little background in the story so far:

Agreements Linspire, Novell and Xandros signed with Microsoft included the software giant's assurance that it would not pursue patent infringement litigation against those firms.

In all three deals, the companies agreed to work together to make their software packages more compatible. However, Microsoft recently asserted that open source operating system Linux infringes on patents held by Microsoft and that open source companies should make agreements with Microsoft to continue to use it.

...And some closing words from Ubuntu:

"In the Ubuntu community, we believe that the freedom in free software is what's powerful, not the openness of the code," Shuttleworth stated. Still, he says of the agreements recently inked, "All the deals announced so far strike me as 'trinkets in exchange for air kisses.' Mua mua. No thanks."

Read more >>

Microsoft Surface - The Future is here (SarcasticGamer.com productions!)

A REAL MUST SEE!

(A sarcastic gamer.com productions but really neat nevertheselss)

One day, your computer will be a kickass table, with other pictures and videos and superb applications all over it in a neat technology by Microsoft - Ms Surface.

(In case you're reading it in an RSS feed, you'll have to come to the blog see the video).

The new table computer! the future is here! watch the video: