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Ow! MS strikes out against cross-platform?
by MJ Ray 19 Jul '01

19 Jul '01

I was just sent this via the FSFEurope.org mailing lists. I recoil in horror that they might get away with this. What do others think? Is Java going to die, will this become an "optional" plug-in like VBRUN.dll was on Windows 3, or is Java mostly used on the server side anyway? Slashdotters will have seen this anyway, but here's choice clips from http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2790355,00.html?chkpt=zdhpnew… A Microsoft spokesman said Java support was diminished for "business reasons" After Windows XP is launched in October, users will be directed to download a plug-in from Microsoft's Web site (www.microsoft.com) to make Java-based programs work. "if you want your Web page accessible to the largest number of people, you may want to drop Java" and switch to Microsoft's competing set of products, which is under development and is known as .Net. Microsoft's new products will now screen out Java as a possible carrier of computer viruses in e-mail and, under high-security settings, in Web-browsing software. ... Microsoft's new security rules don't halt the transmission of e-mail attachments that contain Microsoft Word or Excel "macros," Microsoft didn't announce the change. [Above Copyright 2001 ZD Inc. See their site for confusing terms. I think this complies. Foo.]

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Re: [Alug] Mail Clients Which one do you use?
by MJ Ray 19 Jul '01

19 Jul '01

oms101(a)freeuk.com writes: > [...] What I want to know is what is your mail set up and what is > its faults. Exim on the outbound (was an earlyish smail user), fetchmail on the inbound and Gnus on the user interface. It's a bit of a pig to set up initially, but it really does do everything.

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[fwd] Re: Very Worried at MS .net
by MJ Ray 19 Jul '01

19 Jul '01

As promised, the message from Alex Hudson to FSF Europe's Discussion list. To: discussion(a)fsfeurope.org Subject: Re: Very Worried at MS .net On Wed, Jul 18, 2001 at 01:10:27AM +0100, Alistair Davidson wrote: > .NET is a framework (VM, development tool, and standards suite) for > developing and deploying "web services" Not quite accurate - and this is why most people are confused. Ignore the marketing - .NET is the new Windows API. It provides a platform for web services, yes, but that's only one aspect of it. MS are pushing the web stuff hard, because it's a pretty new feature for them, but the other stuff shouldn't be ignored. Hailstorm and Passport are .net services - .net is as network integrated as you like, some things will only work over the network, some things will be local only. Hailstorm and Passport are two examples of .net services which are network-enabled. > One presumes that 3rd parties will be able to run HailStorm and > Passport-style services (MS claims that the HailStorm protocol is open, > at least). Hailstorm, I think you're right in saying, is open. Passport definitely isn't - and I would imagine that MS will want to keep it that way. Whether or not it can be reverse engineered depends on how well it's been done, I would suspect not. > There's no obvious reason, from the user or developer's end of things, > for MS to do this. I would forget the .net == Office For Rent scenario, it's not going to happen. Microsoft are too clever for that. > I'm not sure about passport, but how hard would it be to > reverse-engineer the thing if it's closed? Given it's supposed to be engineered around PKI, I would be surprised if it was reverse-engineerable, although it might be possible. I would assume, though, that MS will have gone to lengths to prevent people getting into it at a protocol level. Cheers, Alex.

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Problem Solved... for now... I think
by John Seago 19 Jul '01

19 Jul '01

I've got round my problems with Red Hat by installing Mandrake 8 over the top of it. the ultimate way out for the terminally confused. The Error message with balsa was `Authentication Failed'. Yesterday I realised that I actually had what I was looking for when I first got the Email and Web browser to work, as all the features were there that I used on Windows, (plus I can now get at my Windows files),but instead of just getting on and using it, I seem to have became hooked, and now will not give up until I can get everything working. Ultimate target a full set of Debian! (Is it addictive? I used to regard the computer as an electric typewriter with an electronic filing system, that cluttered up four times the space that my trusty typewriter did. Now I can't seem to stop until I can control it all!) John Seago

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Re: [Alug] Ow! MS strikes out against cross-platform?
by MJ Ray 19 Jul '01

19 Jul '01

Andrew Savory <a.savory(a)btinternet.com> writes: > Well, there are parts of .Net that are sane and sensible, and it doesn't > hurt to have another framework for internet application development. This one could. We all know where Linux fails most: where it's trying to play catch-up to a microsoft-led technology. It's time to stop staring at the competition waiting for them to make the next move and start blazing our own trail. After all, that's where the big advances and successes have been made: new technology. If we just slavishly follow, we'll always be behind and Linux will never make the mainstream. YMMV.

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Re: [Alug] Crashes on phylisophy
by MJ Ray 19 Jul '01

19 Jul '01

Andrew Savory <a.savory(a)btinternet.com> writes: > Yup, it's the swiss army knife of mail readers. Haven't found the toggle > to make a cup of tea when new mail arrives yet, though. Really? In Gnus, you just add the x10 command function to the new mail hook. Welcome to the swiss army kitchen sink of mail readers ;-)

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Re: [Alug] Crashes on phylisophy
by MJ Ray 19 Jul '01

19 Jul '01

Andrew Savory <a.savory(a)btinternet.com> writes: > mutt can use any external editor you ask it to. I use it with both pico > and vim, depending on mood... if [ $(($RANDOM % 2)) == 1 ] ; then vim $* ; else pico $* ; fi ?

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Crashes on phylisophy
by David Freeman 19 Jul '01

19 Jul '01

Can some one please explain something. When ever I get really deap and into a reply to an email which is deap meaningful and usually very philisophical Netscape causes linux to crash. The symtoms are the computer can't keep up with my typing, the harddisk rattles away at full tilt and then the mouse wonders randomly around the screen with out control, this is driving me mad, can anyone explain why? also does anyone know of a mail client addon for VIM or any mail client which uses the Vi commands? thanks D PS Fozzy I will reply when I stop getting crashes! ===== -------------------- "We all know Linux is great... it does infinite loops in 5 seconds." Linus Torvalds __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/

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Re: [Alug] Ow! MS strikes out against cross-platform?
by MJ Ray 18 Jul '01

18 Jul '01

Andrew Savory <a.savory(a)btinternet.com> writes: > Not even slightly. .Net is a framework for internet applications. Not quite. I'll forward the best explanation I've been sent as soon as I find it again. > .Net is yet another way of Microsoft embracing, > extending and ultimately consuming the internet. So, should Free Software (Mono, dotGNU) be aiding and abetting them in this smash and grab on Eden?

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Re: [Alug] Bash script help please!
by MJ Ray 18 Jul '01

18 Jul '01

bsamuels(a)datamansys.co.uk writes: > Can I automate this process from within a script? Yes, possibly, with .netrc and ftp, but why don't you tell us the actual problem you're trying to solve with this script and comparison and there's probably another solution out there.

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