The Windows XP flame war must end!

[lucidguy]

<< But, these goofballs that talk about hacking him to &quot;silence the infadel&quot; you people are scaring me... >>



This is the very same Nazi / fascist attitude that the Good Pastor speaks of in his moving poem, which I quoted above.

Reread the threats made to me in this light, and reconsider who is in the right, and who is in the wrong.

 

[CocaCola5]

<< The reason why I am targeting Microsoft is because they are pursuing a vicious campaign to de-legitimize the GPL which is mean and unfair. >>


Why is that &quot;mean and unfair&quot;??? They should be allowed to try and protect their intrests. If you think that Red Hat or some other Linux distribution company wouldn't do everything could to protect their intrests, you're extremely niave.


Microsoft is a giant, the GPL is a small non-profit org, the situation would be different if it was a Red Hat. This is categorized with &quot;kicking a puppy&quot; its not proper behavior, this was my point. Of course, I freakin know all lobbying is quit mean and unfair.


edit:

 

[Psychoholic]

<< If you disagree with lucidguy, then fine disagree or ignore him.
But, these goofballs that talk about hacking him to &quot;silence the infadel&quot; you people are scaring me... >>


I do disagree with him.

You know what really scares me though??? People who think the government should prevent lobbying Congress. Government run without the consent or opinion of the public and it's businesses.

 

[Psychoholic]

<< Reread the threats made to me in this light, and reconsider who is in the right, and who is in the wrong. >>


True threats are not proper, the ones that have been made here are just in jest, or are you too much of a mama's boy to figure that out??? In case you didn't notice you're not Ghandi, so drop the charade.



<< Microsoft is a giant, the GPL is a small non-profit org, the situation would be different if it was a Red Hat. >>


Oh, I get it. The big corporations should get no voice while the little ones get all they want. Thanks for proving my point about that being a one-way street.

 

[BreakApart]

Psychoholic my friend, again it seems you have an &quot;answer&quot; for everything. Those answers are MS propaganda. That's fine believe EVERYTHING MS says, they won't lie to you...

They won't say something like: &quot;Our browser cannot be removed from the OS&quot;

Hmmm, seems to me this is the crap they were shoveling not long ago... It got them into a bit of trouble didn't it.

Also, if MS is your friend why did/do they EVEN consider disabling MP3s? Got an MS propaganda answer?

The FACT remains: If they simply made a superior OS people would buy it. Why all this &quot;activation&quot;, mp3 disabling, information collection crap... There IS NO WAY this will boost sales!


Well this was fun, hopefully my *stirring the pot* posts have opened an eye or two.

 

[Electrode]

Lucid, I'm thinking that if you ever actually TRIED Windows XP, you'd have to commit ritual suicide, after realizing how much of a troll you've been all this time. I'm using WinXP 2481 right now and I can tell you that you are DEAD WRONG.

*hands lucidguy a winxp cd, a dagger and a shot of sake*

 

[fivepesos]

my two cents on raw sockets and GPL. that Register article was interesting but i think its flawed. and i think GPL is good for reasons i will discuss.

raw sockets are bad if XP is targeted at home consumers. i think many of us would agree that the majority of computer users (anandtech forumers are a much more informed minority) are very computer ignorant. they will and often do horribly stupid things in regard to security. and i believe that Gibson is right (even though he sounds absurd at times), that raw sockets on a consumer OS will lead to more efficient DDoS. first, lets assume that a few home users will do something stupid to leave their computers exploitable. but the difference between Winodws 9X and WinXP Home Edition is the efficiency that these exploited boxes can be used. win9x cannot generate raw packets, winxp can. so now we have more exploited boxes with more power. its pretty simple concept if we agree 1) that home users will do something stupid, and 2) raw sockets is more effective for DoS.

now to protect my sacred GPL. i personally think its wrong that a large company will devote its marketing muscle to stomp a non-profit movement/concept by attempting to do-legitimatize it. if you dont see this as clear abuse or power (aka bullying) then i dont think i can change your mind. granted most corporations abuse their power, but lets think idealy and not programatically for a second. SHOULD microsoft use its power against a non-profit idea? i see it pretty clearly, hell no.

as far as BSD vs GPL, i couldnt take sides because i dont know much of the legality of each. all i know is GPL promises that if u take from the open source community, you give back to it. and im all for that.

 

[fivepesos]

as far as some 2 cents specifically on XP, i dont think its very revolutionary (based on the promised features and the two betas ive used). stability is comparable to win2k, gui is kinda ugly IMO, and none of the other features interest me.

as far as Electrode's defense of XP, i think the &quot;if you use it, youll love it&quot; argument is very subjective. i tried it and i didnt think it added anything over windows 2k. you may think differently, and thats ok. we are each entitled to our own opinion.

as far as the direction msoft is taking (all the integrated messenger, media player, browser), i think its anticompetitive, but users demand convenience. i just dont think those alone warrant a new purchase or even a new burnt cd for the pirates among us.

 

[RedBeard0531]

Lucid and all others that as bashing MS: Did you even read that link

Also, Lucid, learn to take a joke.

 

[gunf1ghter]

Actually Lucidguy did not just state his opinion. He posted completely incorrect information about the Windows XP activation scheme, software compatibility and media enhancements (claiming your mp3's would be re-encoded, etc).

This would qualify as trolling in my book.

 

[HansXP]

<< Also, if MS is your friend why did/do they EVEN consider disabling MP3s? Got an MS propaganda answer?

The FACT remains: If they simply made a superior OS people would buy it. Why all this &quot;activation&quot;, mp3 disabling, information collection crap... There IS NO WAY this will boost sales! >>



BreakApart: You're listening to LucidGuy's propaganda.

They NEVER considered disabling MP3s. The entire thing came about because MS first said it would add an MP3 ENCODER to Windows XP, and then decided it would cost them too much money to pay for a license. Not ONCE was it even considered that they remove MP3-playing from XP.

MS also is not requiring any information collection. They do NOT require you to register - you never have to give them ANY information about you. All you have to do is give them a product code which is basically generated randomly.

This is not MS propaganda. This is the truth.

 

[Electrode]

Before I go into lurk mode for fear of making the flame war worse, I want to clarify the meaning of my posts. I wasn't really saying &quot;if you try it, you'll love it.&quot;, but rather &quot;if you try it, you'll see that all these horrible things you talk about are just groundless rumors!&quot;

<lurk>

 

[RedBeard0531]

<< MS also is not requiring any information collection. They do NOT require you to register - you never have to give them ANY information about you. All you have to do is give them a product code which is basically generated randomly. >>



It's not quite random. it will take things like your MAC address or your vid card's serial# to create a hash (&quot;I got my hashpipe&quot; :coolcode. They still have no way of telling what yoiu have, only if you change stuff. Also according to then they will only interfire (SP??) if the see the same PID used with hundreds or thousands of completely differant hash code.

 

[Jaraxal]

I have been coming to Anandtech for amost 2 years now. And the behavior I've seen in this thread is completely apalling. I am truely disgusted. The internet is about sharing ideas and information ... and in this thread there are people telling other people to shut-up and get lost.

These boards are going to crap. You may not like what someone has to say. If the information is incorrect, then correct it. If you can't find hard facts, then agree to disagree. But to get rid of the opposing side because you don't like it ... well what's the point of discussing the material?

While I don't completely agree with the extremes that lucidguy is talking about, I personally do not like the activation. His arguement is similar to those posed by the &quot;right to carry arms&quot; group. My thinking is &quot;yeah right, like the government is going to take over ...&quot; but it IS their right. You may not be paranoid, but don't take away someone elses' right to be. ;-)

Again, I can't believe some of the attitudes I've seen on this thread ...

/me walks away disgusted.

 

[Jaraxal]

Oh, and I'm all for abolishing lobby groups. =)

 

[fivepesos]

<moderate voice>the basic fact is, we dont know how microsoft generates their authentication hash. maybe they take your nic's MAC address (unique and trackable) and combine that with your videocard memory amount or whatever. but somewhere along the lines they have to use a piece of information that is UNIQUE to your computer. does anyone know a system in which they use all generic information that is non-unique? so in defense of the extremists like lucidguy, with enough effort it is foreseeable that someone could decrypt that hash and track you. far-fetched? hell yeah it is. it comes down to a basic question. do you trust microsoft to make a big effort to protect your privacy? i dont think they will. not because they are big brother, but because it is time consuming to develope a system to protect our privacy, and they want to save money.</moderate voice>

electrode, sorry if i misunderstood you. after trying both of the XP/whistler betas, i agree with you. they are not the evil spyware some people think. but i dont think XP is so great, the new features dont add anything to MY computer experience.

ohh, in case you guys think im extreme. im from texas, voted for bush for president, voted for bush for governor, have a Concealed Handgun License, and actively practice my right to bear arms. and i dont THINK the government is going to take over anytime soon. but bearing arms helps all of us ENSURE that they dont. oh wait by some of your definitions i am extreme.

 

[AnandTech Moderator]

There is much good information and discussion in this thread. It is sad that it has been buried beneath the mud of flames. I'm locking it.

lucidguy,

You are free to express your opinion. I even believe some of it to be valid. I have read about a dozen of the threads in which you have posted, and I find the way in which you express this opinion unacceptable.

You will stop your name-calling and attacks leveled at other members simply because they happen to support a product and/or company that you don't like.

Is that clear?

AnandTech Moderator