From dpuryear at usa.net  Fri Nov  4 15:51:18 2005
From: dpuryear at usa.net (Dustin Puryear)
Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2005 15:51:18 -0600
Subject: [brlug-poly] M$ Spams Free Speech Alley.
References: <200510242051.48744.williamhill2@cox.net><200510271956.35781.williamhill2@cox.net><8d48b6ba0510281645n3669c6b4n3b3808a771479909@mail.gmail.com>
	<49e372d20510290851o15056915n7faa26a6b5266fbf@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <02a201c5e18a$32ade200$b40710ac@wec.wnet>

I'll give Will points on completeness when he argues a point though.

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----- Original Message ----- 
From: John Hebert
To: Politics at brlug.net
Sent: Saturday, October 29, 2005 9:51 AM
Subject: Re: [brlug-poly] M$ Spams Free Speech Alley.


On 10/28/05, Shannon Roddy <sroddy at gmail.com> wrote:
Will, you remind me of a person on one of the politics boards I am on. 
Blinded by hatred, refusing to be impartial, and consumed by your desire to 
shit on M$ every time you get the chance.  The difference is that you hate 
M$ and he hates Bush.

I don't like it, you don't like it, but unfortunately, many or most of the 
students are probably thrilled that they can now get M$ products for "free" 
through LSU.  Most universities are doing this now.  Hell, even Caltech does 
it.  And they are complaining about budget problems.  No raises last year, 
tuition increases, layoffs, etc.  The JPL situation doesn't help.  And, yet, 
they still buy massive license agreements with M$.  It is the way it is done 
now.  like it or not.


Shannon, what's up with the JPL situation? I hadn't heard they had problems.

I assume most universities are given "an offer they can't refuse" by 
Microsoft; higher license fees resulting from an audit vs. blanket coverage. 
Or, they sincerly like the offer that Microsoft is giving them.

Will, you are kinda boring to read sometimes when what you offer is 
opinionated invective. I mean, I assume that LSU is run by fairly smart 
people who took a look at the numbers and said to Microsoft "Ok, we'll pay 
that." If you value freedom, then you must allow LSU to make their own 
business decisions. If you are really convinced Microsoft is commtting some 
crime, then you are going to have to come up with better arguments than what 
I have seen so far, or do something about it. How about running for Student 
Government and starting a movement to revoke the technology fee paid by 
students? Heck, offer Linux software instead. Microsoft would probably 
counter-offer a lower fee. ;)

John








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From williamhill2 at cox.net  Sat Nov  5 22:56:19 2005
From: williamhill2 at cox.net (Will Hill)
Date: Sat, 5 Nov 2005 22:56:19 -0600
Subject: [brlug-poly] Microsuck.com site review.
Message-ID: <200511052256.19558.williamhill2@cox.net>

Most of the information presented at this site is older, but it is well 
written, organized and reasoned:

http://www.microsuck.com/

Of particular interest are what kinds of information Microsoft likes to keep 
about you, despite your attempts to erase it.  This includes all of the 
websites you have visited, your email and so on.  The author shows you where 
to find the files, what steps have been taken to hide them from you and the 
implications of hiding the information from the user without the user's 
knowledge.  Registry abuse is also mentioned.  The "fast find" database of 
all the text you have ever entered into your computer is also explained.  

http://microsuck.com/content/ms-hidden-files.shtml

They also have instructions for getting around all of the above tracking, but 
I doubt they take them seriously.  Anyone will quickly realize the only way 
to avoid this kind of monkey business is to avoid software written by people 
who have abused your trust.