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Gates Foundation still giving Windows away for free
,----[ Quote ]
| How interesting it is that Gates was all for
| giving Microsoft software away for free in 2002
| and they set up programs inside of Microsoft to
| help do this. We've heard that Bill will be
| giving his billions away and we learned he
| created a foundation for his family to run and
| act as a place for him to....wait for
| it....give his money away. Guess what he also
| has done there? Yup, he's given out Microsoft
| software to educational institutions.
|
| It is actually self promoting. You see, if
| Microsoft gets knocked from their lofty perch,
| the name Bill Gates and Microsoft end up quite
| faded. But, by Bill heading off Open Source
| Software and software freedom in the
| educational sector, he looks like a hero,
| slowly spends his monopoly money, and he keeps
| Microsoft brand value high. He also hooks
| children into the Microsoft software cycle of
| renting bad software and paying for the next
| fix which is advertised as being better.
|
| I wonder if he wrote about this in his book,
| "The Road Ahead" since it seems he's been
| thinking about this for a very long time. It is
| a rather convenient plan since he's to way more
| than anyone could spend on his own needs. By
| spending that money on Microsoft software then
| giving that away, he preserves the market value
| of Microsoft software and heads off the open
| source software from gaining in the education
| sector and growing from there. And his name
| still seems important in the world of
| computers.
`----
http://www.linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2010-06-28-022-35-NW-CD-MS-0000
,----[ Quote ]
| I think it's worse than that. I seem to recall
| that a condition of dealing with the Bill and
| Melinda Foundation was that you couldn't use
| Linux.
| And this
http://www.gatesfoundation.org/about/Pages/terms-o f-use.aspx#system
| seems to confirm it. (Though I seem to remember
| it was for computers they donated as well)
|
| And that doesn't even get involved in some of
| the other things that the Foundation's been up
| to.
| Seems the foundation was investing in companies
| that were doing bad things. And in a rather
| bizarre turn of events, some of the
| foundation's efforts were to try to ameliorate
| the conditions caused by the companies they had
| invested in.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la- na-gatesx07jan07,0,6827615.story
| And when this was found out, their effective
| response was that it was too much work to try
| to stop investing in such companies.
`----
http://www.linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2010-06-28-022-35-NW-CD-MS-0001
Recent:
New computer equipment proves popular
,----[ Quote ]
| âBoth computers are equipped with a range of
| software, including Microsoft Office
| programs,â Gardner explained. âOnly one of our
| old computers had the Microsoft Office
| software, and it was in constant demand. Many
| of the other library branches still have only
| one computer equipped with Microsoft Office.â
`----
http://rodeo.cincinnati.com/getlocal/gpstory.aspx?id=100125&sid=164587
"Microsoft decision puts public libraries at risk"
,----[ Quote ]
| Of course, where some see a Microsoft
| blunder, others see a Linux opportunity.
|
| There are lots of ways to solve this problem
| under Linux, but none of the ones I can think
| of offhand are easy or automatic:
|
| 1. You can run your shared-access PC from a
| Linux "Live CD." It's impossible to corrupt
| the operating system, and you can get a clean
| start with every reset. Disadvantage: live
| CDs are slow; also ties up the CD-ROM drive.
|
| [...]
`----
http://www.goodbyemicrosoft.net/news.php?item.568.3
Microsoft decision puts public libraries at risk
http://windowssecrets.com/2010/04/08/01-Microsoft-decision-puts-public-libraries-at-risk/#story1
Microsoft Made Choices, Libraries Must Respond
,----[ Quote ]
| Since the program was part of a project by the
| Gates Foundation, ostensibly with primary usage
| aimed at these libraries, it makes one wonder
| what the folks at Microsoft are thinking.
|
| My first opinion, and one I believe Iâll stick
| with, is that there is absolutely no need to
| update to Windows 7, for as the saying goes âif
| it isnât broken, donât fix itâ. Though the
| talking heads at Microsoft would have you
| believe that Windows 7 is worlds better than
| Windows XP, that is far from true. If there are
| any small differences in security, they can be
| fully mitigated with a simple change of
| browser, firewall, and antivirus/antimalware
| programs.
|
| [...]
|
| SteadyState is descended from the Public Access
| Computer security software developed in the
| early 2000s by the Bill and Melinda Gates
| Foundation. It was part of the foundationâs
| ongoing drive to put computers into schools and
| libraries.
|
| In 2005, Microsoft picked up the torch with the
| release of the Shared Computer Toolkit and then
| followed with SteadyState in 2007 for Windows
| XP.
|
| Ironically, news of Microsoftâs decision not to
| support SteadyState in Windows 7 arrived in the
| same month as a Gates Foundationâfunded,
| University of Washington study, which reported
| that some 77 million Americans used a library
| computer or Wi-Fi network to access the
| Internet last year.
|
| [...]
|
| Not only is the Gates Foundation supposed to be
| sensitive to this, Microsoft, working in its
| own best interest, should see the immediate
| need to do something, or else, some
| enterprising person will come along and show
| many libraries the benefits of a little jewel
| called Linux.
|
| Letâs face it, for what people do on computers
| at the library, Linux, specifically Ubuntu or
| OpenSuSE would work very well, and be very
| easily administered by the right person. SO
| each library district may have to pay for that
| right person, in the long run it saves
| thousands, if not millions of dollars in
| bypassing the Microsoft trough, and forced cash
| removals every 3-4 years.
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http://myblog.latestrend.com/general/microsoft-made-choices-libraries-must-respond/
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