MS security patch EULA gives Billg admin privileges on your box

[magick1]

I noticed this article in my reading. It seems that Bill is up to no good, again. When is Bill going to realize we don't need him to decide whats best for us.  Moreover, I trust Bill Gates and Microsoft as far as I can throw the coporate office.

http://www.theregus.com/content/4/25435.html

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[badkarma]

yep ... saw this the other day on slashdot too, problem is that the average user probably doesn't care about this (as long as he gets his automatic bugfixes) it's a very scary thought though with microsofts track record of anti competitive bussiness practices (I'd be too easy for them to do an automatic update which purposly breaks some other kind of software)

[Ice-9]

Intentionally breaking other software is something they really can't afford right now if they want to be perceived as a trustworthy company (rofl).
But what scares me the most is that M$ are also active in DRM and it could soon become impossible to even watch a divx movie or even listen to any mp3 that hasn't got the appropriate signature file  
Actually that's not entirely accurate, I could watch any movie I like and listen to any mp3 I want, all I would have to do is stay in Linux  

[lazygamer]

This is for Windows XP right?

[WaWAR_FA]

if things keep going like this them one day people who use windoze will wake up and see that their computers no longer belong to them.

they cant add or delete files that M$ deems to be harmful to their linsenced OS (when you buy M$ you dont own it you only liscense it, they can take it away at any time)

any files you have on your computer they will beable to remove, or in some cases report you for.  they will be able to ad anything they want to their computer, because its not your anymore.

everyone will be forced to upgrade their computers or they will lose their ability to use them (kinda like automotive companies putting nylon fly wheels in cars so that they will wear out)

im sorry but i dont trust something designed to fail after a set period of time. (forced upgrades) {please note windows no longer supports 95}.  soon everybody using 98 will lose support too.

hurry up and buy the newest version of windoze so you can use their computer and lose your freedom in the process.

[Master of Reality]

hey WaWAR_FA, you should hange your display name to 'WaWAR_FA / Bob' in 'your profile' to display your new bobness (i did see you sign up, didnt i?)

[WaWAR_FA]

lol

bob is god.

[Calum]

re:

Microsoft do not support any versions of windows except windows 2000 and windows xp. I am not too clear if they support windows millenium actually, but i suspect they are being deliberately obscure on that point.

The systems on people's machines do not belong to them when using any proprietary system. This is the case with SunOS, Solaris, MacOS, BeOS, as well as Microsoft windows. I actually have a feeling that the licence terms do allow you to own your own copy of GNU/Hurd/linux and Free/Net/OpenBSD, is this the case? At any rate, the effect of the licence has the same effect as if giving the administrator ownership of the system.

re: deliberately updating formats and programs so as to not be back compatible, this has been going on at M$ for ever too. The first program to use the .doc format was write.exe, in windows 2. I used that program the other day to make a small .doc file (tha version of write has three fonts, and they were built in to the program, not external font files) i saved the .doc and found it could only be opened in raw text mode in word 97 and word 2000. Why? word 2000 has umpty tum thousand lines of code, why can it not contain the necessaries to decode the original form of it's native file format when write.exe is only a few kilobytes itself? This is what's now happening on a much larger scale to the OS, to the utilities, to the very licence of windows.

also, "soon" we won't have control over our own machines? it has been the case for a long time, but people are only just starting to notice it. Too little too late, that instinct of the humans that fears change is too strong. It's the same reason i think that we will all die of pollution this century. Too little, too late.

Just my thoughts. What i'm saying is, the signs have been there since 1983, high time to take action...

[HibbeeBoy]

Bill seems to be the biggest control freak there is. This is bang out of order ! I am at the stage now where my distrust of M$ has become so great I am going to use 2 machines at home. 1 machine for my personel stuff and another for internet use. In fact I am going to get a Mac Laptop for my own stuff and use another PC for the internet. I will work on the internet PC to switch to Linix. Enough about home, what about the work place ? I would be very concerned that M$ flunkys are dicking around with stuff at the office. This whole thing stinks, the manufacturers are also getting in on the act. From an IT standpoint, a lot of IT admins don't like Windoze anyway but are forced to use it. It's up to these guys to make the changes before it is too late. GAME ON !

[cocoamix]

Serves 'em right. Every time M$ does crap like this, it's just punishment to users dumb enough to use Windoze and agree to EULA's without even reading them (ESPECIALLY ones from M$).

[HibbeeBoy]

Serves who right ? The net admins or the home user?

[Calum]

he means that if people refuse to see the tidal wave in time, then it's their own fault if they drown.

[HibbeeBoy]

Well, I think that is a little bit over simplistic and a bit cruel but I take your point. I have worked in places where the net admin has cursed something awful about how crap M$ is but the corporate "standard" is Windoze. It's tough to change that culture and it will take time. As for the home user, well they get sold down the river by the manufacturer or the guy in Best Buy or "Dude ! You're getting a Dell." Maybe if Linux did a bit of advertising outside of trade mags for a bit of exposure we could see that tidal wave approaching. Mac are doing a great campaign on "switching" and it has conviced me that there is a good (nay great) alternative to M$. So I am in for a Mac at least for home. However, I can't tell the president of the company "Hey man, Windoze sux, I want to order 60 new macs over the next 18 months etc, etc etc." It's a tough sell.

[WaWAR_FA]

identity cards in the uk the wave is here.