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* Posts by MattCasters

15 publicly visible posts • joined 10 Apr 2007

Italians threaten suit over Windows pre-install

MattCasters
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WTF?

Not even Dell UK

I actually tried the link you provided and couldn't find any Linux computers.

The link "Shop for Ubuntu laptops" shows Microsoft operating systems ONLY!!

Perhaps there are indeed Linux systems on Dell UK, but it almost seems like Dell is ashamed of Linux or something.

It's not really relevant since the topic was a lawsuit in Italy, but I think it's a clear sign of a Microsoft monopoly.

Besides, it's not like the UK is representative for the situation in the "real" Europe. These crazy islanders don't even use the Euro to pay for things! Go figure!

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MattCasters
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WTF?

No offering = No market = No Demand

How can there be any demand if there is never a meaningful offering that appears?

How can there be any meaningful offering when Microsoft is blocking all attempts with monopolistic behavior?

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MattCasters
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Pint

Italy

Remember, the suit's in Italy, not in the US nor in the UK.

If I compare to the situation of here in Belgium/Brussels, I indeed do NOT have any meaningful Linux choice as far as laptops and desktops are concerned.

Not from Dell, Lenovo, HP, Asus. Not at MediaMarket, not at any of the hardware chains, not in any of the multi-media stores.

If I want to get a professionally supported machine with Linux on it, my only choice is to buy a main brand machine and pay the Microsoft tax.

The fact that you can buy an Apple is something that is very nice, but doesn't do away with the fact that Microsoft has indeed a monopoly. It doesn't matter whether or not it's 100%, 95% of 90% it's still a monopoly.

Mmm, now that you mention it, perhaps it should be illegal to couple sales of OSX with apple hardware too :-)

I'll drink to that.

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MattCasters
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Not in Italy

You can't buy that Ubuntu Dell laptop in Italy nor in most parts of Europe (UK might be an exception).

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MattCasters
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Stop

Not in Europe

Dell, Lenovo, Asus etc might have a small Linux offering in the US, but not in Europe.

In Europe, all you can do at best is build yourself or have a local store build it for you.

These "white" boxes are your only option.

That option doesn't exist at all for laptops. Even in the netbook range, there are hardly any Linux versions to be found.

The fact is that true competition like the competition taking place among the CPU, Video and RAM producers can not even take since Microsoft is forcing vendors to ship with Windows.

There are plenty of choices among vendors with respect to any hardware aspect. With the operating system, your have no choice but to pick Microsoft.

What you are left with is a clear case of a monopoly and I say it's about time someone tried to do something about it. It hurts competition and it's bad for Linux and Windows users alike. I mean €199,99 for a Windows 7 Home Premium license? Give me a break! That would never fly if there was any real competition going on.

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Native-Linux music player Amarok gets major overhaul

MattCasters
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Amarocks!

Unlike the other commenters complaining I use Amarok every day to listen to the radio or play music from my collection. Amarok 1.x already is very very nice so I can't wait to see version 2 mature and grow. The fact that there is a stable release out there is nice and the fact that they are continuously improving is promising.

As for KDE 4: I'm using version 4.1.3 every day now and calling it "buggy and immature" is really a bit of a stretch. Missing small features here and there: sure, but very usable and enjoyable to work with. KDE4 like KDE3 is of-course more than just a thin UI shell, it contains many frameworks for multi-media, database and network connectivity, etc.

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Google cedes Belgium to Germany

MattCasters
Coat

Good!

Any government, be it Google HQ or Germany, should do better than the sorry lot that's "running" Belgium right now. I say we had it coming!

My coat is the one with the "Belgium is dead" sticker on the back.

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A reading from the second book of Codh

MattCasters
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Brilliant!

"In what respect does your input enhance the four phase application lifecycle management delivery system threshold holistic architecture initiative deployment validation baseline best practice success driver?"

I soiled my pants laughing reading that line, hence the smell. I don't think my Linux use has anything to do with it.

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The OLPC XO laptop

MattCasters
Paris Hilton

Moisture, dirt, kids hands, sunlight?

Stop right there, how much is the Eepc? Looking at the advertisements to the right of this comment it's around 219 GBP or about 400 USD.

That makes it twice as expensive and for that money it isn't even designed to be used in PC-unfriendly environments. As such, even starting to compare it is completely besides the point.

I bet you couldn't see a Paris Hilton picture on the Eee in direct sunlight either, even if you wanted to.

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Google OpenSocial: after the hype, the holes

MattCasters
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Troll

While I agree that "Open standards" are often meant as an oxymoron when used by the likes of Microsoft and other large corporations, to me "open" and "standard" are synonyms. If a standard is not open, it's not a standard at all.

As such, claiming that all open standards are always causing security problems is fortunately nothing but a troll.

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Microsoft thanks EU after losing its appeal

MattCasters

Re: Window Media Player

To be honest, it plays just fine on my Linux box using the Kaffeine media player.

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Desktop Linux: That dog will mount

MattCasters

Congratulations!

You managed to write the most confusing and FUD-filled article on the Linux desktop I've seen in months. And you insulted the grandmothers at the same time.

Keep up the good work!

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Burned by a MacBook

MattCasters

Support contract

This just goes to show that a decent support contract is not optional if you buy a computer for work. This is unrelated to Apple and applies to all brands of computers. What *is* related to Apple is that I didn't buy from Apple because I couldn't get "on-site next business day" support contract from them.

Enough said.

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Crypto boffins urge Belgium to withdraw early ePassports

MattCasters

Prestige project

It was a prestige project of the "purple" governement led by the liberal Guy Verhofstadt. It was in-line with his grand project and vision to bring Belgium into the 21st century.

Most people in the ICT industry know that if you're an early adopter in this game, you pay dearly. And so Mr Verhofstadt did. The parties that led the country for the last 8 years lost around 15% in the elections today and he stepped down.

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Vendors causing confusion on business intelligence

MattCasters

Not gobbledygook at all

There are good and solid methodologies that you can follow to arrive at a good and solid BI solution for your company.

ALL those methodologies start by looking at the requirements first, then model the data and then approach the construction of the warehouse.

The choise of reporting tools, dashboards etc are almost irrelevant if the homework is done there and then.

That in itself brings you to the root of the problem. Because requirement analyses, modelling and ETL can hardly be called sexy and it's a very hard sell, that aspect of BI is rarely sold. So the established BI vendors spend insane amounts of money trying to get you hooked on fancy reporting tools that might or might not fit your needs.

The only advice I can give anyone is that it's not up to any vendor to decide about what your needs are. You get less disapointments that way.

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