IBM dumps OS/2, touts Linux
p2pnet.net News:- IBM says it’s OS/2 is on the way out but, so as not to leave users in the lurch, it’s making recommendations for transitions to other systems.
Guess who isn’t on the list?
But, “IBM suggests that OS/2 customers consider Linux as an alternative operating system for OS/2 client and server environments,” it says unequivocally.
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See:-
on the way out – Bell tolls for IBM OS/2, p2pnet, July 18, 2005
IBM – OS/2 Warp, July 11, 2005
July 20th, 2005 at 12:17 pm
You wouldn’t want IBM to advertize moving for OS/2 to windoze, OS/2 is still better than XPlode and Linux is better than M$ shit all the way even in a million years
July 20th, 2005 at 1:41 pm
So what did the people at Microsoft think? Did they honestly believe that they could just steamroller over competing companies as they please and just walk away? Look at what happened with Novell (Now the owner of SuSE Linux), IBM (A major Linux contributor), and Netscape (Now has a very popular open source browser that is based on their product). All of these companies felt the bullying of Microsoft.
When playing on a nonlevel playing field with rules put in place to cause someone to lose, the best thing for that someone to do is find another field. Microsoft has now got to play on that new field if it wants to stay in business. Once more people find out about this field, they will leave Microsoft’s ballpark.
Microsoft is now trying to muscle in on the media industry, and it will succeed for a while until people tire of DRM and realize that there is an alternative. Those that produce independent media with decent content will find that people will like their product because people will be able to use independent media as they see fit. I for one will not buy a video or music CD if I were not able to view it or copy it as I see fit. Microsoft is like a sexual predator in the fact that it looks for companies where it can slip in and eventually take over. Yes, they offer the candy (in this case, a false “solution” to prevent copying) and once the company bites, they become hooked.
Fortunately for customers, this candy will most likely turn very bitter as independent media grows in quality. Independent artists bring their touch to the industry and in many cases cater to people with specific interests. The cartels on the other hand usually tries to grab the attention of the entire audiance with their junk. It seems that Hollywood has run out of original ideas. Maybe it is time for the dinosaurs to die off and let a new generation take over.
July 21st, 2005 at 1:56 pm
I am at the Ottawa Linux Symposium this week http://www.linuxsymposium.org/ . While I am hosting a BOF (Birds of a Feather, where like-minded people show up to chat) on digital copyright issues and GOSLING (Getting Open Source Logic INto Governments http://goslingcommunity.org )
http://www.linuxsymposium.org/2005/view_abstract.php?content_key=197
http://www.linuxsymposium.org/2005/view_bio.php?id=68
One of the various IBM presenters is there talking about their Trusted Computing http://www.againsttcpa.com/tcpa-faq-en.html additions to Linux http://tpmdd.sourceforge.net/ .
http://www.linuxsymposium.org/2005/view_abstract.php?content_key=50
http://www.linuxsymposium.org/2005/view_bio.php?id=921
Software patents are even more controversial in the computer software field than the extensions of copyright. When Canada extended patent practices recently there were two groups that convinced the Canadian Intellectual Property Office to do this: patent lawyers and IBM. Asking a patent lawyer if more things should be patentable is like asking a used car salesman if more people should buy cars, so can be ignored as an obvious special interest group. The promotion by IBM of software patents is a worldwide effort, with many believing that this extremely controversial type of government granted monopoly would not even exist if it were not for IBM’s promotion.
Access to Information Request documenting IBM’s promotion of Software Patents in Canada http://www.flora.ca/A-2004-00246/
While it is true that FLOSS (Free/Libre and Open Source Software http://flora.ca/floss.shtml ) like Linux is entirely open and accountable (and modifiable), allowing the user to be in control, the TPM (Trusted Platform Module) is like having a separate computer inside of your computer that you can not be in control of. It separates the “operator” of a computer (us) from the “owner” of the computer, where since IBM is a manufacturer of the chips and installs the software are effectively the “owner”.
So, IBM can exert software patents on pretty much any software project as they have so many of them, effectively owning all software (Yes, including Microsoft if they ever wanted to go to court and try to assert all their software patents in that way), and they make/promote the TPM chips (along with Intel/etc) that will keep control of computers away from the owners..
Who exactly is the largest long-term threat? While switching software vendors away from Microsoft (and any other “software manufacturing” vendors) will help, longer term we need to get government policy changed if we are to avoid replacing one harmful monopoly with yet another.