[geeks] Re: Windows XP?

[Lionel Peterson]

--- Kurt Huhn <kurt at k-huhn.com> wrote:
>  - Win2k won't decide to stop working if you add or remove hardware
>  - Win2k doesn't have an "activate me or I won't work" feature
> 
> That last two points really burn me up.  I mean, fuck them.  Really. 
> Activate indeed.

The first one is a dumb thing, it is because the x86 folks REFUSED to
add a unique CPU serial number to allow software vendors to node-lock
their software... MS has a right to control the use of the software you
buy a license to use. You have the right not to buy their software.
Really, you do. That you don't like the other choices is not MS fault.

That last one, are youserious? I have lots of software that requires an
activation/registration process... Besides, the OS/applications that
microsoft ships allow something like 30-50 starts before it "disables"
the software you have choosen not to activate/register.

> <Rant>
> Since when does MS get to decide what the fuck I can do with my
> system?  So

You put them in that position when you installed their software as your
OS. The OS defines/limits what you can do, you put yourself in jail,
and now you are made at the folks that built the jail???

> I add RAM, add a DVD drive, and remove the older CD drive in favor of
> a faster CDRW - suddenly Windows decides that it must be on another
> computer and needs to be reactivated?!?!  Not kidding, this actually
> happened to someoen I worked with.

Yeah, and they were able to reactivate, weren't they? The problem is???

> Furthermore, why should I trust an OS that MS says tries to keep
> record of all the software that gets installed on it,

Sounds like package management to me - those bastards!

> as well as digital media and other content?

MS is the great white of class action lawyers, and avoiding the wrath
of content owners lawyers is a reasonable goal for a responsible
organization.

> What to prevent that 'license manager' from breaking and
> fucking up my media, my software, and my data?

What prevents any MS OS fgrom doing exactly the same?

> Yes I know it can be cracked, but why should I spend my time trying
> to find a way around MS's b0rken software?

WHy would you install their broken software?

> Greedy motherfuckers....

Uh, duh! ;^)

Kurt, I hope you realize I was in full Dave McGuire mode while writing
this, that and I jsut finished reading Rebel Code (a decent read, but
don't pay full price for the book - it was worth the $8 I paid, but not
the $27.95 the publisher tried to get when it first came out...)...

Complaining about the choices you made, well, reflect badly on you. I
know, you choose not to install XP, and that reflects well, but your
rant was a bit misplaced, IMHO.

=====
Lionel

"Nothing would please me more than being able to hire ten
programmers and deluge the hobby market with good software"
Bill Gates, in "An OpenLetter to Hobbyists" dated February 3, 1976
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