Europe as a Microsoft colony

[Skybird]

Yesterday there was docu on German tsate bnTV, first channel ARD, named "Das Microsoft Dilemma". It showed amongst other detauls how stupid and cluelessly - and ruthlessly - politicians push nation and EU into the abusive hands of Microsoft, bending and violating existing national and internaitonal laws, and how Microsoft wins profist ranging in the mutlip,e hunbdreds of millions per year with licenses that get negoatiated time and again by said incompetent clueless polticians, and abusive lobbyists. It also hinted and the dependecny created here, voluntarily and needlessly, becasue there are altenrtives, and they arew richer in variety and numbers than many people know. Or does anyone think Google, Apple, Facebook are so stupid like the EU or the German govenrment to share their most vital secrets with a company that serves as the accomplice of the American data gathering services and business spies ...? OF COURSE they either run their own Os instead, of open source: Linux, and Android. They wozuld be stupid to use Microsoft malware and spyware and paying a yearly fortune for this "service". Finally, the authors also hinted at the critical security crisis the wide distribution of Microsoft code has caused, and how it corrupts state's security interests.

I knw most of what they said, and still - when you get it presneted in such a compact format, you cannot helpt but again get very angry about politicians. And consumers.

Here is a 5 minute trailer in English.


Here is the German original full docu (45 minutes), you can switch on English bot-translation.


Stiop thinkling Micorsoft is good, or essential for your digitla life. It is not. Its bad, its abusive, and expensive. Its low quality. Its spyware and malware. And it is not without alternatives (plural).

[mapuc]

Will it be a rerun ?

I have ARD and this "Das Microsoft Dilemma" sound very interesting.

Markus

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by mapuc

Will it be a rerun ?

I have ARD and this "Das Microsoft Dilemma" sound very interesting.

Markus

For 8 days you can see it in their Mediathek:

http://www.ardmediathek.de/tv/Report...entId=50159194

Plus the version I linked to at youtube.

Cable channel One Plus is associated with ARD, too, so it is possible they will broadcast it in the near future, too.

[mapuc]

Thank you for the link to ARD's mediathek.

It was scary to see that Microsoft got such a monopoly in Germany and Europe.

I can't say for sure when it comes to the government in Denmark and Sweden, if they only got Microsoft.

In 2012 or thereabouts several Danish municipalities was using this Open Office program. Don't know if they still do.

Markus

[Skybird]

Voters behave like cattle, and so I do not object anymore to them getting slaughtered, this way or any other. Who is servile and submissive, shall get his just reward. Karma is not about mercy. Its about causal justice, causal responsibility. Every mercy shown to the guilty, is a crime towards the innocent.

Our law codes do not reflect nor understand this anymore. And what wonder is that when they are made by those who seek escape from being held responsible for their political doings and ideological wishes. The loss of reality connection and absence of any moral sense of responsibility shown by some of the politicians in that film, was revealing.

Lesson of it all: mapuc speaks German. I did not know that.

[mapuc]

Somewhere in the program I suddenly remember what I once saw and heard in an episode of US history.

It was about some very rich American who had almost monopoly in oil industry and the government forced them to break up into smaller companies
(can't remember year and what type of companies they owned and so on.) I remember the host saying no companies shall gain such a monopoly as these rich person had.

With this in mind I thought-What about Microsoft ? why could they become such a power/have almost monopoly in USA and Europe, without any restriction from the Government in USA and in Europe.

Have the been any government issue forcing Microsoft to split into smaller companies thereby removing Microsoft monopoly and it's powerful position.


Off topic.

I understand about 90-95 % af spoken German
(unless it's juridical laws or advanced politics).
I understand about 70-80 % of what I read
(unless it's juridical laws or advanced politics)
I'm worthless when it comes to pronouncing German words.
When reading I hear the word inside my brain, if I try to say the word, it sounds terrible or people around would say

was hast du gerade gesagt ?

Markus

[vienna]

A good question about US monopolies. At various times, the US government has stepped in to breakup actual or virtual monopolies; the last major one I can recall was the breakup of the original AT&T, who controlled virtually all of the telecommunication in the US. The result was a number of smaller, regional phone and communication companies; however, over time, Texas-based Southern Bell Co. went after acquiring some of the other regionals and reformed itself as...AT&T. The new AT&T does have some competition (Verizon, Sprint, etc.), but it now controls a huge percentage of the telecom market...

As fa as Microsoft goes, there have been rumblings in the past on the subject of breaking up MS into smaller entities; MS, itself, had, at times mulled over splitting off some its operations, but nothing has come of any of the musings. MS actually does have a good amount of viable competition in the various markets in which it trades, so a government ordered breakup is also not likely anytime soon...

I recall about 25 or so years ago there was an article in a business publication debating the idea of breaking up MS; one of the experts cited in the article made an observation based on the then notoriously cutthroat and aggressive marketing strategies of MS; he asked if breaking up MS wouldn't be tantamount to breaking up a vicious giant killer whale into swarms of killer piranhas...










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[mapuc]

It's not only this monopoly or the strength MS have gain.

It is the way.

As mentioned in the program.
Their "quell code" is kept very tight looked up

In this program they told us what this source code was and how it was translated into a machine code the computer could read
This Machine code is available which of course no one can read(that what they said in the program.

When it comes to these open office and similar, like the Linux, the source code is fully available.

From what I understand. Ms is no way interested in releasing these codes.

Maybe they fear they will lose their powerful position.

Markus

[vienna]

It is not at all uncommon for source codes to be kept under wraps; it is akin to having a secret recipe and not divulging the ingredients, proportions, and means to make the meal; without secret recipes, KFC would be out of business. Basically, what is at stake is intellectual property and the ability to defend it; if you notice, the most complaining in the industry itself comes from the competitors of MS, but that is how it always is, no matter what the business or industry; the best response is to make a better product than the one they complain about, or as it is otherwise known, "build a better mouse trap"; I am sure of one thing: if an MS competitor did devise a superior OS for profit, they would be just as zealous about protecting their source code...











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