HAHAHA! Thanks Mr. Gates! I needed a laugh!

[XZeroII]

Originally posted by: manly

Originally posted by: dwell

Microsoft are not stupid. They are not going to do anything to jeopardize their position in the software industry to appease some Hollywood/RIAA big shots. If enough people fight Pd they are going to eventually give up on trying to force it on people.

ROFL I totally disagree.

Look, MS got a slap on the wrist going up against the most formidable opponent, the U.S. government with its virtually unlimited resources (matched by Microsoft's same). Of course it was the Bush administration selling us out, and not the original DoJ team but the bottom line is they got off scott-free. Do you really think they care what a few geek advocates think? Based on their track record, a resounding NO. Like I said, they more or less "persuaded" Intel to build the freakin' hardware. When it comes to Palladium, they are helping to lead the march, not merely following the entertainment industry.

As an example also referenced in this thread, MS didn't seriously care about security even though it affected most users and was widely reported to have caused billions of dollars in costs to businesses due to systemic vulnerabilities in Outlook, IIS, Exchange and friends. But as soon as Gartner and other analysts surprisingly reversed course, they unleashed a massive PR campaign to right the ship. MS doesn't really care what you or I want. They care about revenue and profit margin, and a whole squadron of geeks isn't going to challenge that.

in reference to your last point... of course. Do you think that GM or Ford would care about defects on their cars or trucks if industry big shots didn't shove them in their face? There will always be bugs and security holes no matter what happens. Even the godsend Linux has tons of bugs and security holes. It has nothing to do with money or what anyone thinks. Programming is hard work (maybe you should try it sometime and show me your million lines of code that has no bugs or security holes in it) and I think they deserve whatever praise they get and people who criticize them should be beaten with a large trout (sorry for stealing that bit ). It's all publicity and words. Gartner knows that perfect software is impossible, yet he continues to hammer on Microsoft for all their bugs. This is fine because Microsoft will then fix them. Microsoft will always respond with something positive like the problem is under control or something like that. It's the way the world works and I have no problem with it. It's people like some of you in here who complain about the programmers and call Bill Gates the devil when there is nothing they can do about it anyway that really bug me. It's a giant Blind leading the Blind campaign.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: XZeroII

in reference to your last point... of course. Do you think that GM or Ford would care about defects on their cars or trucks if industry big shots didn't shove them in their face? There will always be bugs and security holes no matter what happens. Even the godsend Linux has tons of bugs and security holes.

No one says linux does not have problems. Hell, even I willl admit OpenBSD has bugs!

It has nothing to do with money or what anyone thinks. Programming is hard work (maybe you should try it sometime and show me your million lines of code that has no bugs or security holes in it) and I think they deserve whatever praise they get and people who criticize them should be beaten with a large trout (sorry for stealing that bit ).

When they admit their code sucks, they can be as criticized as much as anyone feels the need. When their sloppy programming (no matter who "their" is!) costs me time, money, and sweat, I can criticize them.

It's all publicity and words. Gartner knows that perfect software is impossible, yet he continues to hammer on Microsoft for all their bugs. This is fine because Microsoft will then fix them.

Microsoft will only fix them because big name players get on their backs about it. How long did they know about the XP help center bug? Why are there still bugs listed on the unpatched IE page?

Microsoft will always respond with something positive like the problem is under control or something like that.

And people will believe them.

It's the way the world works and I have no problem with it. It's people like some of you in here who complain about the programmers and call Bill Gates the devil when there is nothing they can do about it anyway that really bug me. It's a giant Blind leading the Blind campaign.

I never said Bill Gates was the devil. I have a lot of respect for Bill G. He is a great commedian.