I have always been partial to Google, since they were early Linux adopters, but their use of my email content to push ads on me is concerning. This can only mean one thing - even one’s email is being scrutinized, my private communications with other people is being read, as though I am using my employer’s email system for personal affairs. Recently I rejoined Tucow’s because they partner with Thunderbird - $20 a year for email, and no ads. I have not read their privacy policy, perhaps I should.
On 2013-01-20 16:16, RichardET wrote:
>
> I have always been partial to Google, since they were early Linux
> adopters, but their use of my email content to push ads on me is
> concerning. This can only mean one thing - even one’s email is being
> scrutinized, my private communications with other people is being read,
Google is very open about this, it is described in their terms of use
and in their faqs. It is not read by humans, but by machines. It is not
very much different than email being displayed by a web server to you, a
machine is reading it. It just feigns ignorance of the contents.
Any ISP can read your email if they wish, regardless of the law may say:
email is not traveling on closed envelopes like paper mail. If you want
privacy, use encryption. Use closed envelopes.
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 11.4, with Evergreen, x86_64 “Celadon” (Minas Tirith))
Maybe because he’s vulgar …
Never been on Facebook in my life, most likely never will.
Have been on Tweeter only once - sorry, I was worried about Marcia MacMillan being sick
Loved Google 20 years ago (or so …) and told everyone to give up Yahoo!, Altavista and suches…
Hate Google now and use duckduckgo. Give it a try!
It’s not true - or not entirely true.
I happen to know someone who worked for Google. They are not allowed to say of course.
If Google says that it is not read by humans, it is definitely a lie.
On Sun, 20 Jan 2013 15:16:01 +0000, RichardET wrote:
> This can only mean one thing - even one’s email is being scrutinized, my
> private communications with other people is being read,
> as though I am using my employer’s email system for personal affairs.
There is a difference between someone reading your e-mail and a baysian
analysis of the content to display potentially relevant ads.
Jim
Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Administrator
Forum Use Terms & Conditions at http://tinyurl.com/openSUSE-T-C
On 2013-01-20 20:16, please try again wrote:
> It’s not true - or not entirely true.
> I happen to know someone who worked for Google. They are not allowed to
> say of course.
> If Google says that it is not read by humans, it is definitely a lie.
Well, I do not trust any ISP not to read my emails. I have worked on
telephone exchanges, and heard the stories about bored personnel on
night shifts pinching lines at random to listen… People are people,
ISP personnel can read my email just as easily.
Which is different of reading email on purpose by the company. If that
can be proved, they can get hefty penalties on many countries.
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 11.4, with Evergreen, x86_64 “Celadon” (Minas Tirith))
I just remember how Picasa had to run in WINE, SketchUp was never ported and Music Manager had more features (and better stability) on Windows rather than Linux. Is there any product or “thing” Google did that they provided for Linux and not for Windows that Windows did not have an equivalent for? A lot of their actions seem to be less “FOR” Linux than just adding Linux to some of their Windows offerings.
I’ve got nothing against Ballmer and I really like MS products. Win XP and Win 7 are really great. I’m also considering buying some windows phone but then again Android might be a better choice. Maybe I’m just not a Linux geek 
Not on the short term.
But here’s the thing: the end of XP support and the 8 fiasco have contributed to erode the absolute dominance of the market by Microsoft. It’s unlikely the Redmond Guys will ever have a 95% market quota again. Or anyone else for that matter. But that erosion doesn’t mean a downfall. And the growth of Linux on desktops is going to be slow. Mostly on older machines that can’t run XP any longer but whose hardware is still in good shape.
On smartphones and tablets Android reigns supreme. Datacentres and servers are also mostly Linux-based. The only part of the computing market where Linux has not the #1 spot is the desktop/laptop market. The one that the plebians regard as “computing”, but it’s just a part of it. Maybe not even the biggest.
But don’t worry. Emerging markets are going to need good computing solutions for a low total cost of ownership. And Linux offers a great advantage at that. It’s going to be a slow and painful crawl, but as Africa, the Americas, China and Russia adopt Linux-based solutions as their standards many people will have to use Linux on the desktop. And the market share will grow to a good chunk of the market.
Yeah, the end of Windows XP support might cause a few users to consider Linux rather than buying Windows 8 (I heard 7 is already off the market shelves too). I never really understood why Windows needed daily / weekly security updates though, and why it’s so bad that Microsoft stopped offering them… not seeing these in Linux so I assume Windows is generally more easy to hack and needs its bricks cemented constantly?
Either way, it’s been about an year and a half since I removed Windows and switched to openSUSE entirely. At this stage, I wouldn’t get Windows again even if it magically became FOSS software. Although it’s a matter of preference, I can’t see what Windows has better over Linux precisely… except fewer bugs which I admit Linux frequently has, and that it’s guaranteed to run the latest commercial games which WINE might not. I’m talking from a desktop perspective too… I usually play modern games (now with the free video drivers and MESA), do art and animation, etc.
It’s possible that many don’t switch to Linux because the stereotypes about it aren’t that good, so some never actually try it before deciding. I see it like “my computer came with Windows, my friends and family use Windows, at work all machines have Windows… so why would I get into trouble to run an OS alien to me when all I need is a stable computer, especially when people say you must be a geek to understand it and it often has bugs”. IMO, desktop Linux needs to make its voice heard somewhat more to people who aren’t its users yet. Like encouraging corporations to switch their machines to it, or publicity spots on TV (saw some about Windows but never heard the word Linux in the media).
Am 25.04.2014 12:36, schrieb MirceaKitsune:
> Like encouraging
> corporations to switch their machines to it, or publicity spots on TV
That existed once upon a time by IBM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7dTjpvakmA
–
PC: oS 13.1 x86_64 | i7-2600@3.40GHz | 16GB | KDE 4.11 | GTX 650 Ti
ThinkPad E320: oS 13.1 x86_64 | i3@2.30GHz | 8GB | KDE 4.11 | HD 3000
HTPC: oS 13.1 x86_64 | Celeron@1.8GHz | 2GB | Gnome 3.10 | HD 2500
On 2014-04-25 12:36, MirceaKitsune wrote:
>
> Yeah, the end of Windows XP support might cause a few users to consider
> Linux rather than buying Windows 8 (I heard 7 is already off the market
> shelves too). I never really understood why Windows needed daily /
> weekly security updates though,
Same as Linux 
> and why it’s so bad that Microsoft
> stopped offering them… not seeing these in Linux so I assume Windows
> is generally more easy to hack and needs its bricks cemented constantly?
According to the Wikipedia, Windows XP was released on 2001, and
maintenance stopped on 2014. That’s… what, 13 years of updates?
openSUSE does just a year and a half of updates, then “forces” you to
upgrade to the next release. The reason given is that to keep releasing
updates for a certain release becomes more difficult with time, till it
becomes exceedingly complicated or expensive and has to stop (evergreen
extends support (limited) for an extra year or two).
So that Microsoft fully maintained XP for over 12 years is an impressive
accomplishment!
(SLE has, I understand, up to 5 year of updates, if you pay)
I don’t like Windows, but I have to recognize successes where due.
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 13.1 x86_64 “Bottle” at Telcontar)
Oh… I’m not denying that. Keeping a Windows version as old as XP alive and updated until this year was indeed an impressive thing Microsoft did.
My only confusion was why Windows relied on weekly updates so much… apparently more than Linux. Back when I used Windows (XP to 7) there was a set of updates at least once a week, with the message “fix a security vulnerability that would allow an attacker to do this and that”. openSUSE has weekly / monthly updates to important system components too… but most seem to be about fixing bugs, rarely mentioning security vulnerabilities. So logically, I’m assuming that Windows doesn’t have such a secure foundation… because it needs patching every week to keep hackers away, while Linux mostly patches bugs and just occasionally security issues. Or at least that’s the impression I got… sorry if I’m wrong.
Then again, since most people still use Windows, the bad guys probably only bother making viruses for it 90% of the time. Hence why IIRC, there aren’t even any anti-virus programs for Linux, since they probably aren’t needed. Does make me wonder how much of it is “Windows taking the heat instead” or “Linux being so secure you can’t make a virus for it”.
I think part of why Windows XP needed so many patches, especially at the latter half of its life, is that it existed long enough for vulnerabilities and more in-depth weaknesses to be probed, discovered and exploited. Apple took the hard step earlier when it moved to the Unix-base OS X.
Windows 7+, on the other hand, appears to be more secure and stable (and actually, as I see it, more Linux-like in the good parts). But Microsoft isn’t (yet) going to be so dumb as to stretch out Windows 7’s life as long as XP. I think they have learned their lesson and they would already be moving on fully to Windows 8 except Windows 8 has not been received so well in part due to its radical interface design.
Until Windows 8 (9?)+ is more adopted, including in Enterprises, they will keep Windows 7 (and the Windows 7 based Windows 2008 r2) going but they don’t want it to last as long as XP.
Think of how often Vista comes up in routine computing anymore (not much, except as legacy system or system requirements).
I actually think that in Microsoft Windows decline, Chrome OS is going to grow significantly (maybe even more than Linux) for the consumer market and Apple products for developers (because that 1 device can triple-boot and thus enable development on all of the platforms). Enterprise servers will move more towards cloud-based solutions (which is why Microsoft is pushing so hard, but Linux has the lead) and BYOD (which will mean more tablets and Chromebooks in the Enterprise).
The people that are interested in Linux may increase some, but the casual users who may have looked at Linux as an alternative could move away to tablets, chromebooks or newer Windows.
That’s my guess.
On 2014-04-25 13:56, MirceaKitsune wrote:
>
> robin_listas;2639110 Wrote:
> Oh… I’m not denying that. Keeping a Windows version as old as XP alive
> and updated until this year was indeed an impressive thing Microsoft
> did.
>
> My only confusion was why Windows relied on weekly updates so much…
> apparently more than Linux. Back when I used Windows (XP to 7) there was
> a set of updates at least once a week, with the message “fix a security
> vulnerability that would allow an attacker to do this and that”.
> openSUSE has weekly / monthly updates to important system components
> too… but most seem to be about fixing bugs, rarely mentioning security
> vulnerabilities.
But they are in fact security vulnerabilities. Traditionally on
SUSE/openSUSE, the “updates” repo only contained security related
patches. Later also important bugs were handled there.
If you have a look here:
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2014-04/
Those are the official security patches published this month only. Some,
like the chromium update, is not labelled as “security”, but if you look
at the text inside, it is.
Of course, that mail list is for several openSUSE and SUSE releases, so
you get more messages. But then, some mails are about several packages
or several distributions.
Then, most of the extra and external repos follow a different practice.
Instead of adding just the security patches needed, instead they update
packages to the next version - which solves the vulnerability as done
upstream, but also adds new features and new bugs and new problems (and
hopefully solve some old bugs and problems). Those updates are not
labelled as “security” updates, because most of them are mixed.
If you use “yast online update” or “zypper patch” you see the security
updates alone, or almost alone. If you use “apper”, or “zypper up”, or
yast, select “update to newer version if available” menu, then you see
all of them, mixed.
Mixed, in that many of them handle security issues at the same time as
new features and normal bug handling, so you don’t easily know the
security issues they handle.
> So logically, I’m assuming that Windows doesn’t have
> such a secure foundation… because it needs patching every week to keep
> hackers away, while Linux mostly patches bugs and just occasionally
> security issues. Or at least that’s the impression I got… sorry if I’m
> wrong.
Windows is not as secure as Linux (arguable), but looking at the number
of updates published on each side is not that clear a proof. In fact,
from the Windows camp they point that Linux gets many more security
issues than Windows; but this is also a half truth, because often
Windows security issues are kept secret, while Linux works on the open.
> Then again, since most people still use Windows, the bad guys probably
> only bother making viruses for it 90% of the time.
Of course, it is much more profitable :-}
But making successful Linux viruses is actually difficult. There are
some Linux viruses, but none as “popular”, meaning that they are
successful at spreading in the wild.
But there are other things than viruses.
> Hence why IIRC, there
> aren’t even any anti-virus programs for Linux,
Actually, there are some. Whether they are actually needed, or that they
solve issues, is arguable. I have never seen one virus catch in Linux.
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 13.1 x86_64 “Bottle” at Telcontar)
Dell is still selling Windows 7 computers. I think they are actually selling computers with Win8 professional, which is downgradeable to Win7 on the same Windows license. And they install the downgrade (Win7) at the factory, but provide Win8 media with it. The vendors know what sells, and it isn’t Windows 8.
I just installed updates (using Yast online updates) this morning. That’s one week from when I last installed updates. If you are not seeing updates on linux, then your system is out-of-date.
Software availability. There is software that only runs on Windows. If you need that software, then you will need to run Windows.
On 2014-04-25 14:26, dragonbite wrote:
> Windows 7+, on the other hand, appears to be more secure and stable (and
> actually, as I see it, more Linux-like in the good parts). But
> Microsoft isn’t (yet) going to be so dumb as to stretch out Windows 7’s
> life as long as XP. I think they have learned their lesson and they
> would already be moving on fully to Windows 8 except Windows 8 has not
> been received so well in part due to its radical interface design.
Mmm.
Moving from W7 to W8 is a choice of the customers, not of Microsoft.
They would love seeing it: more profits. They get a lot of pressure to
stretch the life of any version, because upgrading is costly for
customers: not only you have to upgrade Windows itself (and pay for it),
but upgrade many applications that stop working properly or at all (and
pay for them). Compose the problem with the fact that hardware
manufacturers often do not upgrade the drivers for the products they
sold two or three years ago to the next Windows version, forcing people
to buy new things like printers. Ah, and typically upgrading Windows
needs much more powerful computer.
That’s what made people keep using an obsolete thing as W-XP for so many
years. Money. And Microsoft failed to force them, or did not really want
to force them. Thankfully. Maybe they are not so evil! :-p
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 13.1 x86_64 “Bottle” at Telcontar)
I think they were going to first stop selling the retail version (on the shelf) this year, and then the OEMs were not allowed to sell them pre-installed at some later date. But like so many other things, either of those plans may have been reversed or extended.
On 2014-04-25 15:06, nrickert wrote:
> Software availability. There is software that only runs on Windows. If
> you need that software, then you will need to run Windows.
That’s my case.
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 13.1 x86_64 “Bottle” at Telcontar)
I could be in the minority, but I don’t mind if people stick with Windows. I figure if it doesn’t become as “popular” as Windows, the hackers won’t target us as much. Just my opinion, though. I’m not against Windows in a militant sort of way, I just prefer openSuse. My mother has Windows 7, and it seems to work well, and my brother still has Vista, never had trouble with it. Then I have another brother that seems to hate Linux, though he never tried it. He once referred to it as “that useless Linux”. I doubt Windows 8 will drive most people to Linux. Most people I know never even heard of it, let alone try it. There’s no ads on TV about it, how would they know about it? And who has the funds to advertise it anyway?