

Windows 7 Sins - New FSF Campaign - tjr
http://windows7sins.org/

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shizcakes
Wow, that's a lot of overblown hyperbole. Free software actually suffers from
variants of a number of these, at least to the same extreme that "Microsoft"
does them in Windows 7.

This is the kind of stuff that avoids critical thinking in favor of "OMG
WINDOZE"

~~~
gloob
I've never found subtlety to be the strong point of the FSF. The fact that
this particular campaign suffers from hyperbole is...less than shocking.

~~~
potatolicious
This is particularly questionable:

 _"7. Threatening user security: Windows has a long history of security
vulnerabilities, enabling the spread of viruses and allowing remote users to
take over people's computers for use in spam-sending botnets."_

The way this is phrased (and knowing the FSF, quite deliberate) is to paint MS
as _complicit_ in the spread of malware. This is patently false and I would
like to see the FSF called out on this - this draws _extremely_ close to
libel.

~~~
pyre
Well, in specific instances you could make a case... Like not patching a huge
vulnerability for months. But this claim is way too broad. Most of the
security problems plaguing Microsoft today are the results of decisions made
years ago. The Microsoft ship doesn't turn on a dime, and unfortunately their
large codebase isn't the only thing causing this slowness (internal
politics,redtape,etc).

{edit} s/cases/instances/ {/edit}

~~~
potatolicious
There's a difference between not patching vulnerabilities and "allowing"
viruses to take over your computer. One is negligence, the other implies
active collusion. The FSF is way out of line with that comment - but who am I
kidding, this is hardly surprising.

The free software movement would be a lot better off if more tempered people
were in charge of the FSF.

~~~
branden
You're misreading the sentence.

 _""7. Threatening user security: Windows has a long history of security
vulnerabilities, enabling the spread of viruses and allowing remote users to
take over people's computers for use in spam-sending botnets."_

It states that the "long history of security vulnerabilities" enables and
allows exploits, which is true. The obvious inference is that Microsoft has
allowed that long history to persist, thus enabling the exploits. This is an
accusation of incompetence, not malice.

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smanek
Hey at least they didn't use <blink></blink> (they used "text-decoration:
blink;" instead!)

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kevinh
Ignoring the obvious flaws in the site design, they should rework the sidebar
which states Microsoft's "sins". It states that they are education, DRM,
security, standards, monopoly, lock-in, and privacy. At a glance, this is
confusing. It's mixing positives (privacy, security, standards, education)
with negatives (DRM, monopoly, lock-in). Now I understand that it explains it
in the main text portion of the site (education actually being poisoning
education, and so on and so forth) but at a glance it weakens their point.

I looked at the side and thought, one of Microsoft's sins is education? Well,
I guess, according to them, Microsoft isn't that bad after all. It needs more
clarity and consistency.

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jsonscripter
It doesn't matter what anyone thinks about Microsoft, but "trusted computing"
is _definitely_ BAD. No one wants that stuff.

~~~
chrischen
The idea is that windows is working against the development and proliferation
of free software, which supposedly has more potential than proprietary
software. So it's not "switch to Linux because it's easier and better," it's
"stop Microsoft so there can be more focus into free software because it can
be better."

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branden
I'm glad they put their point about education at the top. Microsoft has pretty
much guaranteed that any computer education a child in this country receives
will be a lesson in how to use Windows or Office.

~~~
patio11
_pretty much guaranteed_

I leave America for a few years and suddenly programmers use Macs and K-12
education uses Windows? What kind of bizarro world is this?

~~~
Poiesis
Wow, this never occurred to me. Great observation. Funny thing is, I
personally used a Mac _until_ OS X, and not since. So, ever since they came up
with a decent OS, I haven't used it.

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allenp
I couldn't believe this ham-handed site was actually created by the FSF until
I read it on their page. Don't they know that apple is the new microsoft?

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geuis
Windows gets updates, bad! Windows has security vulnerabilities, bad!
Seriously? This is why no one takes these people seriously. The one valid
argument about standards completely overlooks IE and instead focuses on
OpenOffice, which has no significant marketshare.

~~~
ajross
Oh, stop it. They say that Microsoft "forces updates on it's users" and list
some examples. They aren't complaining about windows updates. And how is an OS
with security vulnerabilities not a problem? Windows _does_ have a history of
poor security. Using a linux distribution is undeniably less of a security
risk than running windows. Why wouldn't this be a disadvantage of windows?

And I'm not understanding the mindshare argument. Your point is that locking
standards work out is only a problem if you're not (!) successful at it?

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nkohari
For the record, Windows 7 isn't crippled to stop it from being used on
netbooks. I run Windows 7 Ultimate on my Asus EEE 1000HE, and it works
flawlessly... it's not noticeably slower than XP, and I even get all the eye
candy.

~~~
tvon
Nobody said that Windows 7 Ultimate wouldn't run on a netbook, what they said
is that _the version of Windows 7 that comes with netbooks is "crippled"_. I
don't recall the details but I believe it has been limited to running 2
applications at a time.

~~~
Quiark
That is true, it's Windows 7 Starter (see wikipedia at
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_7_editions>). It does not seem to limit
the number of programs though. I don't think the Starter edition is a
particularly evil thing from Microsoft, because this edition is cheaper.

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jodrellblank
" _Nearly every computer purchased has Windows pre-installed -- but not by
choice._ "

There isn't much choice. Nothing else is as good. It just isn't.

1) Make free software better than Windows

2) Problem solved.

" _Microsoft regularly attempts to force updates on its users, by removing
support for older versions of Windows and Office_ "

The last time I tried to do a CentOS yum update on a little used server it
failed with an unhelpful error message. Turns out it was to old and the
repository mirrors had been moved.

By the way, you can freely download the Office 2007 Compatability Pack for
Office 2003. Don't let that get in the way of a good rant though, will you?

" _Microsoft has attempted to block free standardization of document formats,
because standards like OpenDocument Format would threaten the control they
have now over users via proprietary Word formats_ "

And they've also opened up the new Office document formats for anyone to use.
Yes, they do have fields like "interpret this control character as Word for
Mac 3.1 did", but that's the same problem that means they can't "just switch
to Open Document Format". It's not (necessarily) malicious, just the
culmination of decades of program specific cruft.

" _Threatening user security: Windows has a long history of security
vulnerabilities_ "

Yeah and so has Apache, OpenSSH, and virtually all software with the possible
claimed exceptions of Ranum's custom code and OpenBSD.

Good thing Microsoft delayed the release of Vista while they changed their
development processes to focus more on security, eh? Like how they block
network connections on a fresh install until you do a Windows Update (or tell
it to unblock them), and how Outlook blocks script and executable attachments
unless you explicitly allow them, and how they put UAC in to address the
problem of people running as administrators, and how they include Windows
Defender in Vista and nag you to install AntiVirus and switch on Automatic
Windows Updates and reduced website privileges in IE8 ...oh, yes "a long
history of security vulnerabilities" that sounds bad, let's make it a Windows
Sin.

 _This makes using a free software operating system the best way for users to
escape Microsoft and avoid becoming victims of these seven sins._

The best way to ensure you can't open people's email attachments, the best way
to ensure your staff haven't a clue how to use their computer anymore, the
best way to lose an awful lot of business advantages that Linux et al can't
replicate.

Look... I would be on your side, if you weren't so smugly hawking the same old
same old all the time. 2001 wasn't the year of Linux on the desktop, nor was
2002 or 3 or 4 or ... nor will 2009 be at this rate.

One company I saw yesterday who had broken away from the Windows mould? Mac +
Firefox + Zimbra + Google Docs. Another I know of? OpenOffice ... on Windows.
All the customers I deal with who evade the usual Windows way of doing
business computing are Mac Laptop users.

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albertcardona
I had forgotten that Windows existed. A campaign may be counterproductive.

