Linux-Advocacy Digest #429, Volume #28 Wed, 16 Aug 00 00:13:03 EDT
Contents:
Re: Would a M$ Voluntary Split Save It? ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
Re: AMD's Sledgehammer (Brett Ryan)
Re: MCSE != Engineer (Was: Microsoft MCSE (A transfinite number of monkeys)
Re: MCSE != Engineer (Was: Microsoft MCSE (Perry Pip)
Re: Why my company will NOT use Linux
Re: OS advertising in the movies... (was Re: Microsoft MCSE)
The dusty Linux shelves at CompUSA ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
Re: Big Brother and the Holding Company ("Mike Byrns")
Re: The dusty Linux shelves at CompUSA (lilo)
ANN: LinuxWorld Webcasts ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
Re: Windows stability: Alternate shells? (tom)
Re: OS advertising in the movies... (was Re: Microsoft MCSE) ("Aaron R. Kulkis")
Re: MCSE != Engineer (Was: Microsoft MCSE (David M. Cook)
Re: The dusty Linux shelves at CompUSA
Re: MCSE != Engineer (Was: Microsoft MCSE ("Aaron R. Kulkis")
Re: Big Brother and the Holding Company ("JS/PL")
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Crossposted-To:
comp.os.os2.advocacy,comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy,comp.sys.mac.advocacy
Subject: Re: Would a M$ Voluntary Split Save It?
Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2000 23:59:25 GMT
In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
Chris Wenham <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >>>>> "cbass2112" == cbass2112 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>
> >> but the first time they wish to install some software their
> >> friend has.. they'll probably be mightly pissed.
>
> > So? Assuming you're correct, we must stop and reflect that this
> > is a two way street. Their hypothetical Windows-running friend
> > may be equally pissed to discover that he cannot install GNOME
> > or GIMP, both of which his friend can download for free, and
> > *upgrade* for free.
>
> GIMP is available for Windows. The trend may extend to more. After
> all, the source is freely available.
>
> Indeed, someone may even port "Everblue" to Windows.
(Strike GIMP and replace with more suitable example. Try not to lose
focus on point I was trying to make.)
PhotoPaint is now avaliable on Linux. The trend may extend to more (it
will definitely extend to more Corel apps, as their entire graphics
suite is being ported).
Nevertheless, I am sure that there are things available on Linux that
aren't available on Windows, and the above-mentioned street is still a
two-way one.
Curtis
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
------------------------------
From: Brett Ryan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: AMD's Sledgehammer
Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2000 19:28:36 -0500
Craig Kelley wrote:
> "Bobby D. Bryant" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>
> > http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/1/12584.html
> >
> > "AMD's Sledgehammer chip looks like it has hit the ground running. Only
> > five days after publishing the instruction set for the new 64bit
> > processor, SuSE has announced that it has the GNU gcc compiler and some
> > basic parts of the toolchain ready for x86-64, and similar announcements
> > are expected from the other Linux distros at LinuxWorld this week."
>
> Of course any Windows advocate will tell you that the as-yet-unseen-
> cure-for-everything Windows 2000 Datacenter Professional Server
> Bloatware Edition already supports it. :)
>
>
But it does! But it does! I know, I've seen a story about it in the "Weekly
World News" at the checkout stand. The same article claimed that
Bill Gates was a space alien orphan abandoned on this planet, teased
and treated poorly as a child in school, and is now attempting to takeover
humanities information systems as a form of revenge.
With MS FUD and Vaporware I would rather believe what is printed on
a weekly grocery store tabloid. Those tabloids have more credibality
than most MS FUDster's.
Brett
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (A transfinite number of monkeys)
Subject: Re: MCSE != Engineer (Was: Microsoft MCSE
Date: Wed, 16 Aug 2000 00:40:05 GMT
On 15 Aug 2000 22:17:32 GMT, Perry Pip <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
: Why sadly?? The only people affected by the incompetence of MCSE's are
: the idiots who hire them. In contrast, if Sanitary Engineers were so
: incompetent, that would *really* stink:-)
True, true.. After all, MCSE ==
Must
Consult
Someone
Experienced
or MCSE+I ==
Must
Consult
Someone
Experienced
Immediately
--
Jason Costomiris <>< | Technologist, geek, human.
jcostom {at} jasons {dot} org | http://www.jasons.org/
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Perry Pip)
Subject: Re: MCSE != Engineer (Was: Microsoft MCSE
Date: 16 Aug 2000 01:48:16 GMT
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
On Wed, 16 Aug 2000 00:40:05 GMT,
A transfinite number of monkeys <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>On 15 Aug 2000 22:17:32 GMT, Perry Pip <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>: Why sadly?? The only people affected by the incompetence of MCSE's are
>: the idiots who hire them. In contrast, if Sanitary Engineers were so
>: incompetent, that would *really* stink:-)
>
>True, true.. After all, MCSE ==
>
>Must
>Consult
>Someone
>Experienced
>
>or MCSE+I ==
>
>Must
>Consult
>Someone
>Experienced
>Immediately
>
No...no...no....
MCSE ==
Must
Commit
Suicide
Expediently
------------------------------
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Why my company will NOT use Linux
Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2000 18:53:23 -0700
Reply-To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Roberto Alsina <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] escribi�:
> > Do you know for a fact, that Nathaniel has not done things to improve
Linux?
>
> No, I don't. Of course it's easy, just say "oh, I did this", and I will
> shut
> up about it.
Didn't he already say that?
------------------------------
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy,comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy
Subject: Re: OS advertising in the movies... (was Re: Microsoft MCSE)
Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2000 18:50:05 -0700
Reply-To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Stephen S. Edwards II <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:8nclgs$99g$[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Tim Smith) wrote in
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:
>
> >On 13 Aug 2000 05:06:46 GMT, Stephen S. Edwards II
> ><[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >>"This is a UNIX system... I know this!"
> >>
> >>Oh Gawd. That has to have been the _STUPIDEST_ line in a movie
> >>I ever heard. I cannot begin to tell you how I was pining to
> >
> >Why is it a stupid line? It was a Unix system.
>
> The line was stupid, because it munged the aesthetics
> of the dialogue. Had she said "I think I can do something
> with this!", or something similar, the dialogue would
> have been more acceptable. Actually, it's more likely
> that she would have just sat down and started using it,
> in a situation as dire as theirs.
In the movie E.T. it was Reeses Pieces that Elliot used to bait ET out of
hiding. ET then pointed to Elliot with a glowing finger. But, in the book
E.T. it was M&M's not Reeses Pieces and instead of pointing to Elliot, E.T.
and drew M&M with his finger. The book made a deal of the fact that,
encountering his first M&M he examined it and noted the M&M marking, after
eating it he determined that M&M was the earth glyph for nurishment.
Instead of amazing Elliot with a glowing finger, according to the book he
was asking for more nurishment. I don't know if Hersey was willing to pay
more for product placement or if there was some problem between Amblin and
M&M Mars but for some reason the candy was switched gutting the meaning of
that scene.
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: The dusty Linux shelves at CompUSA
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Wed, 16 Aug 2000 02:25:36 GMT
A couple of weeks ago I did a little experiment at one of the NYC
CompUSA stores, I counted the Linux boxes on the shelves and marked
each one with a fluorescent high lighter to track them.
In 4.5 weeks a grand total of 3 Linux boxes have been sold. This
includes, RH, SuSE, Corel, Mandrake and the associated "Power Packs".
Pretty dismal if you ask me.....
Three boxes in 4.5 weeks?
I'll bet they sell 200 times that of PowderPuff Girls (a kids game for
Windows).... I saw 3 people on line buying that game the day I was
there.
I know all the LinoNuts will say everyone is spending hours ftp'ing
the CD or buying the stripped $1.99 Cheapgarbage version. Or buying
one CD and sharing it amongst 200 friends (do Linux users even have
friends?)
I don't believe it...
What I DO believe is that Linux is a dismal failure in the eyes of the
desktop user. It is dying a slow and miserable death....
Server yes. Geek backroom? Yes.
Desktop?
Forget it...In fact it already HAS been forgotten before it has even
started.
Windows is / has steam rolled Linsux right into the trash can where it
belongs.
Windows 98ME will slam the lid on Linsux once and for all.
Cakewalk (a digital audio/MIDI recording software company) as well as
the other players in that field are working with Microsoft on the next
version of Direct-X as well as mp3 technology and several other things
I can't mention here.
Suffice to say Linux will be put out of it's misery (thank God) very
soon...
Quick....Name 10 friends that are not programmers / Geeks that you
know that are running Linux on their desktop....
I can't name 2...
BTW this CompUSA store has got to be the highest traffic store they
have... Right in the middle of NYC.... The "Times Square" of computer
stores if you will....
Linux "The OS that needs CPR right out of the box"
Claire
"Linux SUcks....Try it for yourself www.cheapbytes.com and see"
------------------------------
From: "Mike Byrns" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To:
comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy,comp.sys.mac.advocacy,comp.os.os2.advocacy
Subject: Re: Big Brother and the Holding Company
Date: Wed, 16 Aug 2000 02:31:04 GMT
"tinman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> > > Actually, he went further. In the same interview, he claimed that
> > > Windows does not have bugs.
> >
> > Post the article to backup your claim. I doubt it says anything of the
> > sort.
> >
> >
>
> From the URL cited earlier in the thread
> (<http://www.cantrip.org/nobugs.html>):
>
> FOCUS:
> But there are bugs an any version which people would really like to have
> fixed.
> Gates:
> No! There are no significant bugs in our released software that any
> significant number of users want fixed.
>
> FOCUS:
> Oh, my God. I always get mad at my computer if MS Word swallows the page
> numbers of a document which I printed a couple of times with page
> numbers. If I complain to anybody they say "Well, upgrade from version
> 5.11 to 6.0".
> Gates:
> No! If you really think there's a bug you should report a bug. Maybe
> you're not using it properly. Have you ever considered that?
Thanks!
You prove my point. You claimed Gates said that "...Windows does not have
bugs.". He did not. He said that there are no significant bugs in
Microsoft's released software that any significant number of users want
fixed. That's well worded to defend his position but not at all incorrect.
Read the language. It concerns *significant* bugs and *significant numbers*
of users. You can use logical decomposition to arrive at the following:
1) There may be any number of bugs in Microsoft's released software that
Gates or Microsoft consider insignificant and a significant number of users
that want these same bugs fixed.
In this worst-case scenario, the users have spoken and Microsoft disagrees.
Microsoft thinks the bugs are not-so-nasty and leaves them in no matter how
many times they are reported. In my experience with Microsoft, as long as
you contact them and make your case intelligently, they will neither charge
you fo support costs nor will they ignore you. Of the 50 or so odd bugs
I've reported in the last decade as a Windows engineer, they've only failed
to fix one because they claimed that they were never able to reproduce it.
It didn't happen overnight but most of the time when the next service pack
rolled my bug went away.
2) There may be any number of bugs in Microsoft's released software that
Gates or Microsoft consider significant but an insignificant number of users
have asked to have them fixed.
In this case, testing found some nasty bugs but they were in such remote
nether-regions of the product that they were deemed acceptable. A tiny
number of users have reported them too. It costs Microsoft more to fix the
bugs than it loses in PR and future sales to the users that reported them.
This doesn't happen much either. They generally fix these kind by designing
them out in the next revision. Unfortunately these bugs can be the most
damaging to specific users when they are come across in the course of a days
work. These are the kind that bite.
3) There may be any number of bugs in Microsoft's released software that
Gates or Microsoft consider insignificant and an insignificant number of
users that want these same bugs fixed.
In this case again they knew about the bugs and they were deemed
not-so-nasty and the most everyone either fails to notice, report or care
about them.
4) There may be any number of bugs in Microsoft's released software that
they know nothing about.
Plausible Deniability. These bugs are the worst. It means you failed in
development *and* QA. Contrary to popular belief, Microsoft's development
methods and quality assurance practices are both modern and effective.
There a lots of bugs in Windows that Microsoft knows about but doesn't fix.
Most are "TRIVIAL". The same goes for MacOS, linux and every commercial or
shareware product out there. Software has bugs. QA finds bugs. Management
decides whether or not it's cost effective to fix them all. As Borland's
Phillipe Khan once said, "Shipping is a feature!"
So to summarize, Gates did not lie. Nor was he completely frank. He's
doing his job well. There aren't probably aren't (m)any bugs in Microsoft's
released software that Microsoft officially considers significant *AND* a
significant number of users want fixed. Matter of fact, that's how you know
you're ready to come out of beta -- beta testers haven't reported any new
bugs that you consider significant fo a full cycle. That how it works in
commercial shrinkwrap software a the way from Microsoft all the way down to
the little guys and open sourcers.
------------------------------
From: lilo <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: The dusty Linux shelves at CompUSA
Date: Wed, 16 Aug 2000 02:31:47 GMT
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> Pretty dismal if you ask me.....
He who knows not, and knows he knows not is a wise man
He who knows not and knows not he knows not is a fool
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: ANN: LinuxWorld Webcasts
Date: Wed, 16 Aug 2000 02:46:36 GMT
Now Playing on Dr. Dobb's TechNetCast:
http://www.technetcast.com
LinuxWorld Webcasts
LINUX GEEK BOWL Nerds vs Geeks
Hosted by Nick Petreley, Contributing Editor, LinuxWorld and InfoWorld
Magazines. With Jeremy Allison, Samba, Larry Augustin, CEO, VA Linux,
Bodo Bauer, Head Developer, Turbo Linux, Miguel de Icaza, GNOME, Scott
Draeker, President, Loki Games, Jon 'maddog' Hall, Exec Director, Linux
International, Robert LeBlanc, VP, IBM Software Strategy, Ransom Love,
President and CEO, Caldera Systems, Bruce Perens, Co-Founder, Open
Source Initiative, Eric Raymond, Co-Founder, Open Source Initiative,
Jay Sulzberger, Bob Young, Chairman, Red Hat. PLAY
OPENING KEYNOTE Speaker: Michael Dell, Chairman of the Board and CEO,
Dell Computer Corporation. PLAY
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
------------------------------
From: tom <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Windows stability: Alternate shells?
Date: Wed, 16 Aug 2000 02:51:38 GMT
In article <8ncejs$4ip$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> mark <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
> news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
>
> > NT running Air Traffic Control? Where's my parachute...
>
> There is pressure from some local politicians in this area to do just
that.
>
You mean if a 747 loses an engine, they want to just start shoving 300
people out the door? :)
Tom
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
------------------------------
From: "Aaron R. Kulkis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy,comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy
Subject: Re: OS advertising in the movies... (was Re: Microsoft MCSE)
Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2000 23:03:46 -0400
Nathaniel Jay Lee wrote:
>
> "Stephen S. Edwards II" wrote:
> >
> > [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Nathaniel Jay Lee) wrote in
> > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:
> >
> > >"Stephen S. Edwards II" wrote:
> > >> >Real wrestling has its place, just realize that TV wrestling (WWF,
> > >> >WCW, ECW, etc) has nothing to do with real wrestling. It makes the
> > >> >watching much more enjoyable. And I should know. My wife started me
> > >> >watching wrestling when we started dating. Once you get past the
> > >> >lack of 'sport' in wrestling, it really is quite entertaining.
> > >>
> > >> Well, not to me. I suppose I just don't get it.
> > >
> > >You'd be suprised what can seem 'entertaining' when your wife tells you
> > >it is.
> > >:-)
> >
> > LOL!@# :-)
> >
> > My fiancee' did get me kinda hooked on Ally McBeal. We
> > both hate Calista Flockhart vehemently, but Peter McNichol
> > makes for a hilarious character.
>
> I couldn't ever get into Ally McBeal. Waaaaaay too many sexual
> references (what is it, like one every 10 seconds?). My parents also
> watch it religiously (I guess I'm still rebelling huh?).
>
Your parent's are baby-boomers, right?
Juvenile TV shows for juvenile minds
(how many babyboomers do you know who are troubled by the fact that
society is beginning to expect them to at least behave like adults
(even though they still don't have the thought processes down very
well)?)
> --
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Nathaniel Jay Lee
--
Aaron R. Kulkis
Unix Systems Engineer
ICQ # 3056642
I: "Having found not one single carbon monoxide leak on the entire
premises, it is my belief, and Willard concurs, that the reason
you folks feel listless and disoriented is simply because
you are lazy, stupid people"
J: Loren Petrich's 2-week stubborn refusal to respond to the
challenge to describe even one philosophical difference
between himself and the communists demonstrates that, in fact,
Loren Petrich is a COMMUNIST ***hole
A: The wise man is mocked by fools.
B: "Jeem" Dutton is a fool of the pathological liar sort.
C: Jet plays the fool and spews out nonsense as a method of
sidetracking discussions which are headed in a direction
that she doesn't like.
D: Jet claims to have killfiled me.
E: Jet now follows me from newgroup to newsgroup
...despite (D) above.
F: Neither Jeem nor Jet are worthy of the time to compose a
response until their behavior improves.
G: Unit_4's "Kook hunt" reminds me of "Jimmy Baker's" harangues against
adultery while concurrently committing adultery with Tammy Hahn.
H: Knackos...you're a retard.
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (David M. Cook)
Subject: Re: MCSE != Engineer (Was: Microsoft MCSE
Date: 16 Aug 2000 03:27:32 GMT
On Mon, 14 Aug 2000 15:05:10 GMT, Perry Pip <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>And it has even less to do with Engineering.
This seems to be a common mis-appellation in the industry. My own job title
is "technical engineer" (I do Linux phone support). I don't have an
engineering degree (nor do any of my fellow "engineers" AFAIK.)
Dave Cook
------------------------------
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: The dusty Linux shelves at CompUSA
Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2000 20:30:55 -0700
Reply-To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Hello deadpenguin/steve/simon/etc,
You still have not posted and apology and retration of your dishonet and
malicious assult on my credibility. Until you have, your credibility is
zero.
------------------------------
From: "Aaron R. Kulkis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: MCSE != Engineer (Was: Microsoft MCSE
Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2000 23:44:32 -0400
"David M. Cook" wrote:
>
> On Mon, 14 Aug 2000 15:05:10 GMT, Perry Pip <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> >And it has even less to do with Engineering.
>
> This seems to be a common mis-appellation in the industry. My own job title
> is "technical engineer" (I do Linux phone support). I don't have an
> engineering degree (nor do any of my fellow "engineers" AFAIK.)
>
> Dave Cook
That's sad. I think you would find Engineering school very rewarding.
--
Aaron R. Kulkis
Unix Systems Engineer
ICQ # 3056642
I: "Having found not one single carbon monoxide leak on the entire
premises, it is my belief, and Willard concurs, that the reason
you folks feel listless and disoriented is simply because
you are lazy, stupid people"
J: Loren Petrich's 2-week stubborn refusal to respond to the
challenge to describe even one philosophical difference
between himself and the communists demonstrates that, in fact,
Loren Petrich is a COMMUNIST ***hole
A: The wise man is mocked by fools.
B: "Jeem" Dutton is a fool of the pathological liar sort.
C: Jet plays the fool and spews out nonsense as a method of
sidetracking discussions which are headed in a direction
that she doesn't like.
D: Jet claims to have killfiled me.
E: Jet now follows me from newgroup to newsgroup
...despite (D) above.
F: Neither Jeem nor Jet are worthy of the time to compose a
response until their behavior improves.
G: Unit_4's "Kook hunt" reminds me of "Jimmy Baker's" harangues against
adultery while concurrently committing adultery with Tammy Hahn.
H: Knackos...you're a retard.
------------------------------
From: "JS/PL" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To:
comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy,comp.sys.mac.advocacy,comp.os.os2.advocacy
Subject: Re: Big Brother and the Holding Company
Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2000 23:53:25 -0400
Reply-To: "JS/PL" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
"Mike Byrns" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:I1nm5.1234$[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> "tinman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
> news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> > > > Actually, he went further. In the same interview, he claimed that
> > > > Windows does not have bugs.
> > >
> > > Post the article to backup your claim. I doubt it says anything of
the
> > > sort.
> > >
> > >
> >
> > From the URL cited earlier in the thread
> > (<http://www.cantrip.org/nobugs.html>):
> >
> > FOCUS:
> > But there are bugs an any version which people would really like to have
> > fixed.
> > Gates:
> > No! There are no significant bugs in our released software that any
> > significant number of users want fixed.
> >
> > FOCUS:
> > Oh, my God. I always get mad at my computer if MS Word swallows the page
> > numbers of a document which I printed a couple of times with page
> > numbers. If I complain to anybody they say "Well, upgrade from version
> > 5.11 to 6.0".
> > Gates:
> > No! If you really think there's a bug you should report a bug. Maybe
> > you're not using it properly. Have you ever considered that?
>
> Thanks!
>
> You prove my point. You claimed Gates said that "...Windows does not have
> bugs.". He did not. He said that there are no significant bugs in
> Microsoft's released software that any significant number of users want
> fixed. That's well worded to defend his position but not at all
incorrect.
> Read the language. It concerns *significant* bugs and *significant
numbers*
> of users. You can use logical decomposition to arrive at the following:
>
> 1) There may be any number of bugs in Microsoft's released software that
> Gates or Microsoft consider insignificant and a significant number of
users
> that want these same bugs fixed.
> In this worst-case scenario, the users have spoken and Microsoft
disagrees.
> Microsoft thinks the bugs are not-so-nasty and leaves them in no matter
how
> many times they are reported. In my experience with Microsoft, as long as
> you contact them and make your case intelligently, they will neither
charge
> you fo support costs nor will they ignore you. Of the 50 or so odd bugs
> I've reported in the last decade as a Windows engineer, they've only
failed
> to fix one because they claimed that they were never able to reproduce it.
> It didn't happen overnight but most of the time when the next service pack
> rolled my bug went away.
>
> 2) There may be any number of bugs in Microsoft's released software that
> Gates or Microsoft consider significant but an insignificant number of
users
> have asked to have them fixed.
> In this case, testing found some nasty bugs but they were in such remote
> nether-regions of the product that they were deemed acceptable. A tiny
> number of users have reported them too. It costs Microsoft more to fix
the
> bugs than it loses in PR and future sales to the users that reported them.
> This doesn't happen much either. They generally fix these kind by
designing
> them out in the next revision. Unfortunately these bugs can be the most
> damaging to specific users when they are come across in the course of a
days
> work. These are the kind that bite.
>
> 3) There may be any number of bugs in Microsoft's released software that
> Gates or Microsoft consider insignificant and an insignificant number of
> users that want these same bugs fixed.
> In this case again they knew about the bugs and they were deemed
> not-so-nasty and the most everyone either fails to notice, report or care
> about them.
>
> 4) There may be any number of bugs in Microsoft's released software that
> they know nothing about.
> Plausible Deniability. These bugs are the worst. It means you failed in
> development *and* QA. Contrary to popular belief, Microsoft's development
> methods and quality assurance practices are both modern and effective.
> There a lots of bugs in Windows that Microsoft knows about but doesn't
fix.
> Most are "TRIVIAL". The same goes for MacOS, linux and every commercial
or
> shareware product out there. Software has bugs. QA finds bugs.
Management
> decides whether or not it's cost effective to fix them all. As Borland's
> Phillipe Khan once said, "Shipping is a feature!"
>
> So to summarize, Gates did not lie. Nor was he completely frank. He's
> doing his job well. There aren't probably aren't (m)any bugs in
Microsoft's
> released software that Microsoft officially considers significant *AND* a
> significant number of users want fixed. Matter of fact, that's how you
know
> you're ready to come out of beta -- beta testers haven't reported any new
> bugs that you consider significant fo a full cycle. That how it works in
> commercial shrinkwrap software a the way from Microsoft all the way down
to
> the little guys and open sourcers.
The date on this article put's it at about Windows 3.11 if I'm not mistaken.
I also don't recall having many (if any) problems with Win 3.11 except for
extremely slow computing on my 33mhz w/ 2mb RAM machine at the time, now
Win95a is another story completely.
I also noticed that the end of the article was conspicuously absent so I'll
quote it now:
Gates:
Guess how much we spend on phone calls every year.
FOCUS:
Hm, a couple of million dollars?
Gates:
500 million dollars a year. We take every one of these phone calls and
classify them. That's the input we use to do the next version. So it's like
the worlds biggest feedback loop. People call in - we decide what to do on
it. Do you want to know what percentage of those phonecalls relates to bugs
in the software? Less than one percent.
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