[Gllug] Open Source lobbying meeting - UKUUG London Thurs 19th

[Christopher Hunter]

On Sunday 15 Oct 2006 13:39, Alain Williams wrote:

> FL?OSS needs decent Sage & Quicken alternatives. Don't talk to me about
> GnuCash.

I can recall (vaguely) someone working on a "Sage" clone - I can't remember 
where I saw it, though.

> > "Vista" might be the first "earth-shaking" event - it needs much higher
> > spec hardware than the average desktop machine - particularly in terms of
> > memory - 1 Gb is the realistic minimum, despite MS' claims.  The "eye
> > candy" gimmicks
>
> Which is why all the high street PC vendors will be touting it as the real
> must have. MS understands that it needs foot soldiers, people who will sing
> their praises; the local PC shop will see MS Vista as a way of selling more
> hardware.

This is always the way - the PC Worlds and the like will do their damnedest to 
shift as many "Vista" boxes as possible, and the slack-jawed masses will buy 
them.  The fools will also buy "anti-virus", "extended warranty" and lots of 
other "Vista" must-haves.

> > also require an above-average video card.  It breaks compatibility with
> > older Windows software - even Office XP doesn't work properly.  It has
> > the same old
>
> If that is true that would be a mistake by MS. It isn't just old versions
> of MS Office, but the other stuff.

Most legacy software doesn't run without a lot of tedious messing about - the 
average slack-jaw will just assume (s)he HAS to buy the "updated" version.  
This is obviously deliberate - MS are desperate to maintain as many revenue 
streams as possible.  

> > anything new).  Last of all, it is very expensive, and has all sorts of
> > usage restrictions that will make it almost impossible to run "within the
> > rules" -
>
> Yes - can't run under a VM :-(

It can - that's just a minor hack away!  However, there are ridiculous 
hardware restrictions - you can register the same serial number three times, 
then you have to buy another licence:  

Gullible PC World customer buys more memory, because he's been told that it 
will "speed up" his computer.  He has to re-register Windows.   

He buys a DVD writer because he wants to copy his rentals from Blockbuster.  
He has to re-register Windows.  He finds that the Windows DRM restrictions 
won't even let him PLAY a DVD, let alone copy it!  

He moves his broadband provider, and is given a different USB modem.  He has 
to re-register Windows.  

Windows then becomes so virus-ridden that he has to re-install - he tries to 
re-register, but now has to buy another licence......

> > I can guarantee that most copies will be hacked to avoid the "Windows
> > Genuine Advantage" validation, and will never be properly patched.
>
> Companies won't like that. I suspect that with MS Vista's release MS will
> push FAST into a higher gear.

Possibly, though probably not!  There are already "validation" and 
"registration" hacks published on the 'net, and the first "Vista"-specific 
viruses appeared recently.  Most of the old XP problems still exist, and 
stability is a joke!

If we're somewhat lucky, get our collective acts together, get some 
simple-to-install, reliable distros and sort out our advocacy skills, "Vista" 
should prove to be a major FOSS promotion tool!

Chris

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