" That said, I do wish Microsoft luck in releasing anything soon, and I certainly hope that whatever they release doesn't permit the continued plague of flaws and vulnerabilities that the general population of the world has become familiar with. "
This opinion of course ignores the fact that that there are more vulnerabilities in Linux/Unix than in Windows. "The US Government has reported that fewer vulnerabilities were found in Windows than in Linux/Unix operating systems in 2005." http://news.zdnet.co.uk/0,39020330,39245873,00.htm Opinions need to be supported to have any value. When you set personal bias aside, facts are a simple google away. Mike Michael F. Pitsch [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Taran Rampersad Sent: Monday, May 22, 2006 2:26 PM To: The Digital Divide Network discussion group Subject: Re: [DDN] Microsoft: Open source 'not reliable or dependable' Fouad Riaz Bajwa wrote: > Microsoft: Open source 'not reliable or dependable' > View the complete story at: > http://news.com.com/Microsoft+Open+source+not+reliable+or+dependable/2 > 100-73 > 44_3-6074237.html?tag=nefd.pulse > > A senior Microsoft executive told a BBC documentary that people should > use commercial software if they're looking for stability. Yeah, it's the same game... it's a game of influence, of marketing, and it works fairly well. But what the Microsoft executive needs to figure out is the difference between commercial and non-commercial software, which is a major faux-pas from an esteemed member of the software marketing community. I say marketing because it's an executive, and not an engineer who actually has something to do with the code. There are many commercial open source/[free software] applications out there. Linux, Apache, BSD... the difference between commercial and non-commercial is about *selling*, not about software licenses. Therefore I stand on a pretty strong foundation when I say that the Microsoft Executive in question is either willfully misleading or incompetent or ignorant, or a synergistic combination of all three. Now, had he said that FOSS isn't stable he would be expressing an opinion. What he has done is made a stronger case for FOSS commercial products, for the people out there who know the difference between commercial and non-commercial. I believe that this includes everyone on this list. That said, I do wish Microsoft luck in releasing anything soon, and I certainly hope that whatever they release doesn't permit the continued plague of flaws and vulnerabilities that the general population of the world has become familiar with. And here's where I cross the line and express an unsubstantiated opinion: Perhaps they should use the Blue Screen of Death as a marketing ploy, since it seems that the more some people see it, the more often they reinstall Windows. :-) -- Taran Rampersad Presently in: San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago [EMAIL PROTECTED] Looking for contracts/work! http://www.knowprose.com/node/9786 New!: http://www.OpenDepth.com http://www.knowprose.com http://www.digitaldivide.net/profile/Taran Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/knowprose/ "Criticize by creating." - Michelangelo _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
