On Fri, 06 Apr 2007 18:22:20 -0700, Tim Smith wrote:
> In article <pan.2007.04.06.19.48.53.560225@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
> Kier <vallon@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> > Sometimes Roy could be more accurate. But my feeling is that MS news
>> > is relevant to Linux, as are several other topics such as DRM (they
>> > are related, of course).
>>
>> Some MS-related topics are relevant, I agree. DRM and other matters
>> connected to it certainly are, as they affect all OSen and users. But a
>> lot of the MS stuff really isn't. I'd rather learn more about the virtues
>> of Linux than the deficiencies of some Microsoft gadget.
>>
>> I'm not against him interpreting what some item of news means, provided
>> it's made clear which are his opinions and interpretations, and which not.
>
> My problem with Roy's postings is that some of them seem to be
> purposefully misleading. I'll give two examples.
>
> (1) He has claimed several times that the XBox360 (a topic of no
> relevance to Linux advocacy) has a 30-50% failure rate. There was *one*
> source that claimed this, but it seems questionable, for the following
> reasons:
>
> A. At the time, all other sources were claiming 3-5%, which makes it
> look like 30-50% could be a typo.
>
> B. The source was someone at a major studio developing launch titles,
> and so his experience was with prototype, pre-production, and
> development units, which could actually have a much higher failure rate
> than the final production units.
>
> C. There doesn't seem to be any plausible way a 30-50% failure rate
> would not be major news in the gamer press (or in the press in general).
> The press *loves* to report when the market leader stumbles. Microsoft
> is the leader in next gen consoles now--the press would be all over a
> high failure rate. Yet they are silent. (Just consider the number of
> 360's sold, and how many consumers would be affected if 30% had died).
>
> Roy knows all this. It was pointed out a long time ago. But he's kept
> bringing out that story.
The 360 shows little sign of being in that much trouble, I agree. It does
*have* troubles, I understand, but so do most other devices of such
sophistication. The Wii was rather plagued with players knocking each
other about with the handset, I believe :-)
>
> (2) He's claimed the NSA has a backdoor in Windows, and cites an old
> article about the NSA key. Yet soon after that article came out, there
> were many other articles, including by people prominent in cryptographic
> circles, expressing doubt that there was anything funny going on here.
> I think you'd have trouble finding anyone in the cryptographic community
> who believes that NSA key had anything to do with a backdoor.
Yeah, it's like all those dumb conspiracy theories. Debunking them never
seems to make them go away, because the believers just claim the evidence
debunking them is another conspiracy. It's more fun than real life, I
suppose.
>
> Roy knows this, but he keeps bringing up that original article.
Then I agree, he should stop.
>
> At least on these two topics, Roy is simply FUDing. He also FUDs on
> other topics, such as Mono. And when people involve tell him he is
> wrong (like Miguel on Mono), Roy starts in with the ad hominems against
> them.
Doesn't he read Linux Format? They're doing a series of
articles/tutorials on Mono-related stuff.
I'm not wildly in favour of the MS-Novell thing, myself, but it's not the
end of the world or of open source/free software, either.
--
Kier
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