Celebrate, Teach, Remember.
Vengeance is mine
I usually stay away from two topics on this blog – Religion and Politics. That might be the cowardly approach mainly because these are two contentious topics but in my case it is more so that I consider these topics very personal. That being said, in one of my recent Bible readings I delved into the book of 1st Samuel, and was deeply disturbed by something. Now many of us already know this story, but what got me thinking specifically was 1 Samuel Chapter 15. In this chapter Samuel instructs Saul to wage war and destroy the Amalakites because they ambushed Israel during the Exodus from Egypt. Indeed in Exodus 17, after Joshua defeated the Amalek armies, the Lord said to Moses that he would utterly “blot out” the memory of Amalek from Heaven.
The Old Testament is replete with stories of war and killing, and much has been discussed about the differences/contradictions with the New Testament teachings of Jesus – of forgiveness and loving your enemies. But this contradiction of a Vengeful God and a Loving God is one of the hardest things for me to reconcile.
We all have asked the question – why do innocent people have to suffer? and we see innocent people die in wars every day. But this was NOT a case of God letting people die in the crossfire. That is something I can learn to accept, because we as humans choose to wage war. In this chapter, Samuel specifically instructs Saul to kill every living thing of and related to the Amalakites – men, women, children, suckling babies, cattle, and sheep – Everything. This was a vengeful God ordering the utter annihilation of an entire tribe of people. And this “revenge killing” was to take place 500 years (?) after the initial crime was committed by the Amalakites of the time. To put it in perspective, this would be the equivalent of an American General dropping a dozen hydrogen bombs on Berlin tomorrow and wiping it off the map in retaliation for what happened during the holocaust. The absurdity of it just astounds me, and would probably not fly with anyone you meet on the street today. And we are only 65 years removed from the slaughter of the Jews in WW2, not 500 years.
Saul of course lost his right to the kingdom because he disobeyed God and kept the “spoils” of war. And I know the lesson in this chapter is about obeying God instead of trying to please him with offerings. It would have been interesting to see what would have happened if Saul disobeyed because he didn’t think(as I do) that the women and children of the Amalakites – a hundred generations removed from the ones that attacked the Jews leaving Egypt – deserved the punishment being meted out to them.
The chapter ends with Agag the captured Amalak king saying to Samuel “Surely the bitterness of death is past”. But Samuel hacks him to pieces before the Lord, proving that the blood lust still hadn’t been satisfied.
Now some people I know when reading this would come back with what I call the “that’s old testament – Jesus freed us from all that” excuse. But that to me is a cop-out. Jesus clearly states in Matt 5:17 that he didn’t come to destroy the law or the prophets but to fulfill it. I find this example of God seeking revenge on people “unrelated to the event” (I don’t want to fall into the argumentative trap of calling them “innocent”) very disturbing. And when I compare it to the life of Jesus, or even the common terms of Justice, I find this very hard to reconcile.
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Ubuntu won’t join the FUD wagon
The blogosphere was abuzz recently with rumors about the next Microsoft Patent FUD collaborator/victim. All eyes were on Ubuntu which has gained immense popularity in the past year as a Linux Distro.
Mark Shuttleworth CEO of Canonical slammed the door on that rumor in his blog posting recently. In addition, Mark didn’t mince any words or softpedal on his take regarding the recent Novell/ Xandros /Linspire type deals.
We have declined to discuss any agreement with Microsoft under the threat of unspecified patent infringements.
Allegations of “infringement of unspecified patents” carry no weight whatsoever. We don’t think they have any legal merit, and they are no incentive for us to work with Microsoft on any of the wonderful things we could do together. A promise by Microsoft not to sue for infringement of unspecified patents has no value at all and is not worth paying for. It does not protect users from the real risk of a patent suit from a pure-IP-holder (Microsoft itself is regularly found to violate such patents and regularly settles such suits). People who pay protection money for that promise are likely living in a false sense of security.
I couldn’t have said it any better. Thank you Mr. Shuttleworth for having some cojones in calling a spade a spade.
LG joins the FUD brigade
Microsoft has now signed up LG for a “Patent Swap” agreement and of course they just HAD to mention that it included use of “patented Microsoft technology” in its products, including Linux-based devices.
As in the Novell deal Microsoft ends up actually paying a net sum in the swap but that will soon be lost in the propaganda blitz. And to no ones surprise
Microsoft did not detail just what patents LG was licensing, and LG did not say if its Linux-based devices violated any Microsoft patents.
I hate to advocate a new software “cold war”, but I am so tempted to wish for someone like Red Hat or the OIN to start signing up Microsoft customers for a “patent pact”. Fight FUD with FUD. Make vague unsubstantiated claims about how Windows and other Microsoft software violates OIN patents (which they probably do) but refuse to detail which ones. The FOSS community can make the same claims as MS that is not interested in litigation, just wanting to “build bridges”.
Divide and Conquer
And another one has caved. Microsoft has signed a Novell like deal with Xandros. Part of the deal – the usual FUD line of “Patent Protection”. Another opportunity for Ballmer et. al. to go screaming out to the world saying “See! we told you Linux was violating our precious IP patents”.
Xandros went for the quick buck. They were floundering as a distro and as most ethically challenged companies do, they decided to sell out. Biting the hand that feeds you is NEVER profitable in the long run. But CEOs and shareholders don’t care about that.
Of course this is just another simple “divide and conquer” ploy by Microsoft. When developers ditch Xandros, Microsoft is not going to come to their rescue. Just ask SCO. But it is one more “failed” Linux company that Bill Hilf can point to in their next “get the facts/FUD” campaign.
I said this about Novell before. Make a deal with the devil and you will surely pay. The only way to stop this nonsense is for FOSS developers to quit working with Microsoft. If you keep believing their lies about “building bridges”, the only one you are hurting is yourselves, and the FOSS community that has made you what you are.
Memorial Day – A Time to Remember
They sacrifice every day so we may live to be free.
No matter what your views are about the current “war” in Iraq, please take some time to remember our fallen soldiers this weekend.
In Flanders Fields
– John McCrae, May 1915
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead.
Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved,
and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep,though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
To those that I have never met but I owe my life and freedom to, I can’t say anything more than Thank You.
And I promise, I will never forget.
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The FUD is back
OK, who didn’t see this coming?
Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith and licensing chief Horacio Gutierrez sat down with Fortune recently to map out their strategy for getting FOSS users to pay royalties. Revealing the precise figure for the first time, they state that FOSS infringes on no fewer than 235 Microsoft patents.
The SCO lawsuit didn’t go anywhere so the FUDmeisters are back again with a frontal assault. This should surprise no one especially after the Microsoft-Novell deal. All that Port25 interoperability crap was just to buy time till the other shoe dropped. Now here it is.
Gutierrez refuses to identify specific patents or explain how they’re being infringed, lest FOSS advocates start filing challenges to them.
But he does break down the total number allegedly violated – 235 – into categories. He says that the Linux kernel – the deepest layer of the free operating system, which interacts most directly with the computer hardware – violates 42 Microsoft patents. The Linux graphical user interfaces – essentially, the way design elements like menus and toolbars are set up – run afoul of another 65, he claims. The Open Office suite of programs, which is analogous to Microsoft Office, infringes 45 more. E-mail programs infringe 15, while other assorted FOSS programs allegedly transgress 68.
I have said this before. This is a disgusting, despicable, morally and ethically bankrupt monopoly. They will not “put up or shut up”. They will continue spreading this FUD and CIOs and CEOs will cave, scared of the giant Microsoft legal machine. The US DOJ was powerless to stop this monstrosity and I doubt if any corporation out there has the stomach for this fight. I had stated in this blog that Novell had made a “deal with the devil” and this proves it. So did every FOSS developer that got taken in by the “we have turned over a new leaf” Microsoft. I hope this opens the eyes of every developer out there. This is just an variation of the Embrace/Extend/Extinguish theme with a “Patent” twist. The independent developer is the last line of defence against Microsoft owning everything. It is time to stand up and be counted.
Sickening.
Just when you think
Just when I think my life is too tough …
I saw this on Scoble’s blog and I HAD to link to it. As he said, you will cry when you see this.
Renée C. Byer – Pulitzer Prize 2007
Start at the first picture and read through the captions. Heartbreaking.
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Only WE can have a Monopoly
Keeping with the Hypocrisy theme from the last post….
Microsoft is up in arms about Google’s $3.1 billion acquisition of Double Click. Keep in mind that Microsoft was also vying to buy them. So now they are whining to the SEC about the deal. Here’s the quote from Brad Smith, MS General Counsel.
“This proposed acquisition raises serious competition and privacy concerns in that it gives the Google DoubleClick combination unprecedented control in the delivery of online advertising, and access to a huge amount of consumer information by tracking what customers do online. We think this merger deserves close scrutiny from regulatory authorities to ensure a competitive online advertising market.”
They are SO concerned about Google’s so called monopoly of the online ad market because they will now supposedly control 85% of it. Obviously, the same concerns don’t apply to the Desktop PC market? Remember when Ballmer said “I don’t know monopoly, I only know marketshare” or some such nonsense? Note the sly “fear mongering” part about “tracking what customers do online”. As Nate Anderson from Ars Technica wrote in his blog, this will not end here. You can expect “independent reports” to be comissioned, politicians to be lobbyed(read BRIBED), grassroots campaigns (of the astroturf variety) to be launched etc., to derail this deal.
To those that equate this to Microsoft’s DOJ trial, as far as I know Google hasn’t set up any barriers to entry in this space. And they certainly aren’t threatening anyone with retaliation if you don’t use Google.
Holier than thou
A month ago when the Apple Wifi flack again rose to the surface Stephen Tolouse in his usual “Holier than Thou” stance made yet another comment and I quote:
This is NOT the way a vendor should handle a vuln disclosure.
Stephen has made it a habit of lecturing Apple on its responses to security situations. And yet, when Microsoft does the same or worse, all you hear is the deafening silence.
The animated cursor flaw was reported to Microsoft in October 2004! Cesar Cerrudo, the hacker who found it, got tired of waiting for a fix from Microsoft and published details during the MoKB (Month of Kernel Bugs) project last November. And till the exploit got released Microsoft did NOTHING. And to top it off they REFUSED to credit the researcher because, in Microsoft’s eye, he crossed the “responsible disclosure/full disclosure” line.
“Microsoft’s point is really clear. Once someone puts customers at risk, we can’t credit them. We never have and we don’t intend to change that policy.”
What a crock! And people like Stepto continue to lecture Apple about their response to a third party Wifi driver attack which later morphed into a OSX driver vulnerability and has YET to be proven to do anything more than crash the system. So Microsoft has a “policy” regarding not crediting researchers that put customers at risk and somehow Apple is evil for not crediting researchers on a disputed claim?
Hypocrisy, thy name is Microsoft.