A Man and his Penguin

I think we’re maybe being a bit too hasty in our assumptions that Microsoft is attempting to kill Linux through this unspecified patents thing. If I wanted to be a bit impolite, I’d say that we’re too wrapped up in our illusionary self-importance.

"The pawn is the most important piece of the chess board - to a pawn."

The truth is, Microsoft is just using unspecified Linux patent threats in order to get access to valuable patents held by other companies. You hadn’t noticed that Fuji Xerox, Samsung and LG have signed agreements with Microsoft that allow it access to these companies’ patents?

http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=199101753

"The two companies on Wednesday said the deal would cover patents
related to Samsung’s existing and future product lines, such as computer products, set-top boxes, digital media players, camcorders,
televisions, printers, and home appliances. Microsoft, on the other
hand, would get access to Samsung intellectual property related to
digital media and computers."

So, Samsung gets nothing that it hasn’t already had; and Microsoft gets unrestricted access to Samsung’s technology. Remember, Samsung do more than make LCD screens - they also make flash memory, hybrid hard disks, and all sorts of other things!

More worrying is Fuji Xerox. There’s an awful lot of patents and IP that Fuji Xerox holds that could be built into Windows, in an attempt to kill the Macintosh for graphics and typesetting work. Such an attempt would succeed, as Apple hasn’t been paying attention to this section of the market.

If TiVo goes into negotiations with Microsoft, then you know that what I’m saying is true. Microsoft, obviously, wants to tie up the Media Centre market, and TiVo is the logical choice for doing that (and the first step). Not to mention Samsung and LG, who are also makers of DVRs.

So, keep hacking away as usual, but pay attention to what Microsoft is doing. We’re sorta the indirect target, but our livelihood could be threatened by Microsoft’s actions. I guess I’m trying to say "Be alert, be alarmed, but the sky isn’t falling yet".

I think we’re maybe being a bit too hasty in our assumptions that Microsoft is attempting to kill Linux through this unspecified patents thing. If I wanted to be a bit impolite, I’d say that we’re too wrapped up in our illusionary self-importance.

"The pawn is the most important piece of the chess board - to a pawn."

The truth is, Microsoft is just using unspecified Linux patent threats in order to get access to valuable patents held by other companies. You hadn’t noticed that Fuji Xerox, Samsung and LG have signed agreements with Microsoft that allow it access to these companies’ patents?

http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=199101753

"The two companies on Wednesday said the deal would cover patents
related to Samsung’s existing and future product lines, such as computer products, set-top boxes, digital media players, camcorders,
televisions, printers, and home appliances. Microsoft, on the other
hand, would get access to Samsung intellectual property related to
digital media and computers."

So, Samsung gets nothing that it hasn’t already had; and Microsoft gets unrestricted access to Samsung’s technology. Remember, Samsung do more than make LCD screens - they also make flash memory, hybrid hard disks, and all sorts of other things!

More worrying is Fuji Xerox. There’s an awful lot of patents and IP that Fuji Xerox holds that could be built into Windows, in an attempt to kill the Macintosh for graphics and typesetting work. Such an attempt would succeed, as Apple hasn’t been paying attention to this section of the market.

If TiVo goes into negotiations with Microsoft, then you know that what I’m saying is true. Microsoft, obviously, wants to tie up the Media Centre market, and TiVo is the logical choice for doing that (and the first step). Not to mention Samsung and LG, who are also makers of DVRs.

So, keep hacking away as usual, but pay attention to what Microsoft is doing. We’re sorta the indirect target, but our livelihood could be threatened by Microsoft’s actions. I guess I’m trying to say "Be alert, be alarmed, but the sky isn’t falling yet".

I think we’re maybe being a bit too hasty in our assumptions that Microsoft is attempting to kill Linux through this unspecified patents thing. If I wanted to be a bit impolite, I’d say that we’re too wrapped up in our illusionary self-importance.

"The pawn is the most important piece of the chess board - to a pawn."

The truth is, Microsoft is just using unspecified Linux patent threats in order to get access to valuable patents held by other companies. You hadn’t noticed that Fuji Xerox, Samsung and LG have signed agreements with Microsoft that allow it access to these companies’ patents?

http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=199101753

"The two companies on Wednesday said the deal would cover patents
related to Samsung’s existing and future product lines, such as computer products, set-top boxes, digital media players, camcorders,
televisions, printers, and home appliances. Microsoft, on the other
hand, would get access to Samsung intellectual property related to
digital media and computers."

So, Samsung gets nothing that it hasn’t already had; and Microsoft gets unrestricted access to Samsung’s technology. Remember, Samsung do more than make LCD screens - they also make flash memory, hybrid hard disks, and all sorts of other things!

More worrying is Fuji Xerox. There’s an awful lot of patents and IP that Fuji Xerox holds that could be built into Windows, in an attempt to kill the Macintosh for graphics and typesetting work. Such an attempt would succeed, as Apple hasn’t been paying attention to this section of the market.

If TiVo goes into negotiations with Microsoft, then you know that what I’m saying is true. Microsoft, obviously, wants to tie up the Media Centre market, and TiVo is the logical choice for doing that (and the first step). Not to mention Samsung and LG, who are also makers of DVRs.

So, keep hacking away as usual, but pay attention to what Microsoft is doing. We’re sorta the indirect target, but our livelihood could be threatened by Microsoft’s actions. I guess I’m trying to say "Be alert, be alarmed, but the sky isn’t falling yet".

I think we’re maybe being a bit too hasty in our assumptions that Microsoft is attempting to kill Linux through this unspecified patents thing. If I wanted to be a bit impolite, I’d say that we’re too wrapped up in our illusionary self-importance.

"The pawn is the most important piece of the chess board - to a pawn."

The truth is, Microsoft is just using unspecified Linux patent threats in order to get access to valuable patents held by other companies. You hadn’t noticed that Fuji Xerox, Samsung and LG have signed agreements with Microsoft that allow it access to these companies’ patents?

http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=199101753

"The two companies on Wednesday said the deal would cover patents
related to Samsung’s existing and future product lines, such as computer products, set-top boxes, digital media players, camcorders,
televisions, printers, and home appliances. Microsoft, on the other
hand, would get access to Samsung intellectual property related to
digital media and computers."

So, Samsung gets nothing that it hasn’t already had; and Microsoft gets unrestricted access to Samsung’s technology. Remember, Samsung do more than make LCD screens - they also make flash memory, hybrid hard disks, and all sorts of other things!

More worrying is Fuji Xerox. There’s an awful lot of patents and IP that Fuji Xerox holds that could be built into Windows, in an attempt to kill the Macintosh for graphics and typesetting work. Such an attempt would succeed, as Apple hasn’t been paying attention to this section of the market.

If TiVo goes into negotiations with Microsoft, then you know that what I’m saying is true. Microsoft, obviously, wants to tie up the Media Centre market, and TiVo is the logical choice for doing that (and the first step). Not to mention Samsung and LG, who are also makers of DVRs.

So, keep hacking away as usual, but pay attention to what Microsoft is doing. We’re sorta the indirect target, but our livelihood could be threatened by Microsoft’s actions. I guess I’m trying to say "Be alert, be alarmed, but the sky isn’t falling yet".

Novell.

Xandros.

Linspire.

Mandriva?

Novell.

Xandros.

Linspire.

Mandriva?

Novell.

Xandros.

Linspire.

Mandriva?

Novell.

Xandros.

Linspire.

Mandriva?

While looking through the Shift+Backspace blog today, I noticed an entry called "Wine Library TV"; a video podcast. Naturally, since I’m a Linux user, I assumed that it was a show about what DLLs to move from your Windows partition to your home directory in order to get certain Windows programs to run

The podcast with Aaron Seigo is half up. I say "Half" because I’ve only uploaded the Ogg one so far. I’ve got a cool idea - the Devubuntu server that hosts the Ogg files is a Linux computer. So it would be great if we could upload the Ogg, then SSH into the server, and run lame on the server so we don’t need to upload two files! I don’t think Melissa would activate SSH support on the server though - and if she already had, then we might get in trouble for using her processing power

Not much unrelated stuff to talk about. I bought a CD of Hawaiian music, which is nice, and I’ve now been roped into pirating DVDs for a workmate’s mother. Admittedly, one of the DVDs is putting up a fair struggle so I don’t blame her for failing to copy it, but it’s a testiment to the power of Linux that I can.

EDIT: I installed the Aurora theme engine yesterday. It is absolutely awesome. I’ll put up a screenshot some time. The only drawback is that it’s hitting the processor fairly hard; there’s a tiny bit of slowdown which becomes more apparent when the system is under load.

While looking through the Shift+Backspace blog today, I noticed an entry called "Wine Library TV"; a video podcast. Naturally, since I’m a Linux user, I assumed that it was a show about what DLLs to move from your Windows partition to your home directory in order to get certain Windows programs to run

The podcast with Aaron Seigo is half up. I say "Half" because I’ve only uploaded the Ogg one so far. I’ve got a cool idea - the Devubuntu server that hosts the Ogg files is a Linux computer. So it would be great if we could upload the Ogg, then SSH into the server, and run lame on the server so we don’t need to upload two files! I don’t think Melissa would activate SSH support on the server though - and if she already had, then we might get in trouble for using her processing power

Not much unrelated stuff to talk about. I bought a CD of Hawaiian music, which is nice, and I’ve now been roped into pirating DVDs for a workmate’s mother. Admittedly, one of the DVDs is putting up a fair struggle so I don’t blame her for failing to copy it, but it’s a testiment to the power of Linux that I can.

EDIT: I installed the Aurora theme engine yesterday. It is absolutely awesome. I’ll put up a screenshot some time. The only drawback is that it’s hitting the processor fairly hard; there’s a tiny bit of slowdown which becomes more apparent when the system is under load.