May 30, 2008
by sjvn01
1 Comment
Wouldn’t it be nice if just for one day that the top brass of the technology companies would actually tell us the truth? Can you imagine what it would be like?
Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer: “Hey, I’m just a sales guy who’s in over my head. I know I deserve to be fired, but I’m a great number two. Want to buy a copy of Vista with a free upgrade coupon for Windows Seven?
May 30, 2008
by sjvn01
10 Comments
According to sources close to Dell, the Austin, Texas computer giant will be pre-installing Ubuntu 8.04 on its laptops and desktops starting in late June.
Dell, the first of the major OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) to support the consumer Linux desktop, is determined to keep its lead in full-featured PCs with pre-installed Linux. So, Dell will be releasing the Hardy Heron on all four of its current Ubuntu-powered models and quite possibly on its mysterious, un-released UMPC (Ultra-mobile PC) as well.
May 28, 2008
by sjvn01
17 Comments
Over the years, I’ve grown quite fond of KDE for my Linux desktops. To me, it offered the right combination of ease of use and access to Linux’s power-user resources. Now, though, one of the forthcoming changes in KDE 5.1 is already annoying me and it’s barely in beta.
Aaron Seigo, a major KDE developer, has decided that KDE will no longer use desktop icons.. Pardon me? One of the other things I liked about KDE, as opposed to GNOME, is that it let me have the desktop my way. GNOME has a very clear idea of what makes up the ideal desktop. It’s just not my ideal desktop. I really resent KDE ‘telling’ me what my desktop should be. If I wanted that kind of attitude, I’d be a GNOME user.
May 28, 2008
by sjvn01
2 Comments
On July 1st, Bill Gates will retire. He’ll still spend about 20% of his time on Microsoft projects. If Microsoft is to retain 20% of its economic clout in five years time, the company’s board should start working on firing CEO Steve Ballmer now.
Why? Because Ballmer has been in charge of Microsoft for the last several years and he’s been running it into the ground. Even before Gates announced that he was going to retire, Ballmer was already in charge and his record of failure speaks for itself.
1) The Vista Technology Flop. Technically, Vista was crap. You don’t have to believe people like me who think Vista, a year and a service patch since its release, is still an over-priced joke pretending to be an operating system. But, maybe you will believe Microsoft’s top-level executives when they say its trash.
Who was at the wheel of the good ship Microsoft during the tens of thousands of man-years and billions of dollars to create Vista? That would be CEO/captain Steve Ballmer.
May 28, 2008
by sjvn01
0 comments
It seemed like such a great idea. Linux is moving from edge and departmental servers to the data center, so why not offer Linux data center automation, complete with virtualization Linux lifecycle management? Well, maybe it’s still a great business idea, but Levanta wasn’t able to make a go of it.
Officially, there’s still no word that the San Mateo, Calif.-based company is out of business, but former employees say that the company laid them off on April 1. The list of those who were fired ranges from clerical support to Madhur Kohli, the company’s former vice president of engineering.
According to sources close to the deceased company, what put the final nails in their coffin was that after accepting $8 million in second-round venture capital from vSpring Capital and Levensohn Venture Partners in October 2007, the company was unable to show that it could shift its focus to enterprise and data-center-sized Linux management projects.
The venture capital companies, which had already been supporting Levanta, were disappointed when the company’s attempted shift from focusing on its Linux management appliances to becoming a full-time Linux data center automation company came to little. Or, as one former staffer put it, “We were never going to even be able to play in that market. There wasn’t enough there, there.”
May 27, 2008
by sjvn01
8 Comments
I will never cease to be amazed at how fast things change and how quickly people forget. Today’s example is a Slashdot posting with the title, “Why Buy a PC Preloaded with Linux?” Specifically, the dotter—slasher really doesn’t give the right tone—wants to know “‘Why should I buy a PC preloaded with Linux?’ They are more expensive, and it’s not hard just to reformat the PC with Linux. I hate paying the Microsoft Tax as much as anybody else, but if paying that ‘tax’ allows companies to reduce my price by bundling with my PC products that I will never use, why wouldn’t I just buy a Windows-loaded PC and reformat?”
Oh dear. Let’s start at the top. Sometimes Linux computers are more expensive than their otherwise identical brothers with XP. But, they’re not always more expensive. This kind of statement of ‘fact’ in a question always makes my FUD detector start to beep.