spinynorman Posted November 18, 2004 Report Share Posted November 18, 2004 Details at The Register. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoulSe Posted November 18, 2004 Report Share Posted November 18, 2004 Ballmer is a fool! I have never heard such weak statements in my life. Linux has been around for over 20 years, surely if someone's intellectual property was being abused they would have said something by now! Any of those governments who are scared away by such a stupid set of statements should be ashamed. What a desperate, final attempt - it's pathetic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sellis Posted November 18, 2004 Report Share Posted November 18, 2004 Paradoxically, this may actually help the FOSS movement. Ballmer's statement, in my view, merely adds to the perception of Microsoft as a greedy and manipulative, an impression already well founded on the fact that they are a convicted monopolist. I am sure that others also agree, and this statement is unlikely to win them any friends. To be a successful evil overlord, you need to sneak about quietly, quietly building and building until the trap is complete and everyone is under your spell. However, Ballmer is acting like a b-movie baddie, strutting about threatening everyone openly, bragging about his plans and making thinly veiled threats at just about everyone. I bet he'll be about the only person surprised when just about everyone gangs up and gets rid of him. If you don't think it can happen, look back at where IBM was 20 years ago. High-profile statements like this are elevating the issue of IP rights and wrongs to a high level. Even the inertia of the enormous EU parliament is being overcome as they realise that this is a serious issue that could do enormous economic harm to virtually everyone except Microsoft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkelve Posted November 18, 2004 Report Share Posted November 18, 2004 Hmmm... I think M$ just (albeit indirectly) declared war on me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonMage Posted November 18, 2004 Report Share Posted November 18, 2004 Bah.. I haven't seen anyone sued for using Linux yet in Asia. On the other hands, I have seen tons of people getting sued for using Microsoft products (pirated of course) :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leo Posted November 18, 2004 Report Share Posted November 18, 2004 To be a successful evil overlord, you need to sneak about quietly, quietly building and building until the trap is complete and everyone is under your spell.<{POST_SNAPBACK}> The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world that he didn't exist Maybe Mr Ballmer should consider shutting the f*ck up :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kde-head Posted November 18, 2004 Report Share Posted November 18, 2004 Ballmer's statements just show that Richard Stallman and his manic support for the principles of the GPL , is just so god-damn RIGHT. A lot of us, myself included, used to dismiss a lot of what Stallman said as pure hippie style pie-in-the-sky philosophy. Even Torvalds doesnt agree entirely with Stallman. Ballmer's threat just makes us all realise that Stallman's ideas sure as hell are NOT pie in the sky - but are deadly serious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arctic Posted November 18, 2004 Report Share Posted November 18, 2004 ballmer is imho an idiot without a brain. always was and always will be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aRTee Posted November 18, 2004 Report Share Posted November 18, 2004 You can say what you want, but to spout BS like that for such a pay, Ballmer is not the stupidest guy. The real stupid ones are those that let him and pay his salary... All of it is just about fooling the shareholders. Nothing else matters. Well, and fooling any and all customers... :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sellis Posted November 18, 2004 Report Share Posted November 18, 2004 Oh, come now. 5 posts into a thread about Mr Ballmer and no-one has posted this link? Shame on us all! Developers developers developers developers, as long as they are our developers and they do as they're told. Well, they will if they know what's good for them. An earlier poster suggested that Mr Ballmet learn to "shut the f*ck up". I hope that he, like Mr McBride over at SCO, continue to attract light and attention. The more light and attention paid to this business, the better, IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b Posted November 19, 2004 Report Share Posted November 19, 2004 From http://www.ntk.net/ballmer/mirrors.html One of his most briliant performance http://www.tarmo.fi/arc/monkeydance.mpeg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arthur Posted November 19, 2004 Report Share Posted November 19, 2004 (edited) software patents...stupid idea. like patenting a mathematical formula... why the hell do they get granted in the first place? better write to the patent offices... Edited November 19, 2004 by arthur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iphitus Posted November 19, 2004 Report Share Posted November 19, 2004 Ballmer is a fool! I have never heard such weak statements in my life. Linux has been around for over 20 years, surely if someone's intellectual property was being abused they would have said something by now! Any of those governments who are scared away by such a stupid set of statements should be ashamed. What a desperate, final attempt - it's pathetic. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Actually linux has been around since 1991, and was made public in 1993 http://www.linux.org/info/index.html ballmer is such a fool.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkelve Posted November 19, 2004 Report Share Posted November 19, 2004 Hey, lookie here! M$ are fools too! http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser...=DN/20040230959 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kde-head Posted November 19, 2004 Report Share Posted November 19, 2004 Commentary from the Register on the Ballmer/IP/WTO issue here: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/11/19/mi...without_firing/ "By adopting the WTO as its intellectual property enforcement proxy, Redmond believes it has a tactic that allows it to prevail without filing a single lawsuit. " "So it's in Microsoft's long-term strategic interests to make writing GPL software and using it illegal." if true , this is seriously worrying, for all of us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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