Archive for August, 2007

How we funded SBC’s AT&T acquisition

August 31, 2007 at 3:21 pm · Filed under Telkom, telecoms

If you ever wondered about the true reasons for the high cost of telecommunications services in South Africa, elucidation is at hand. An article by Ann Crotty in last week’s Business Report explains how government’s sale of a 30 percent stake in Telkom to the Thintana Communications (the consortium of SBC and Telekom Malaysia) placed both companies above South Africa’s laws.

As a result SBC effectively drafted our new Telecommunications Act and this cozy deal helped finance SBC’s recent acquisition of rival AT&T. Read all about it here. The story draws heavily on an article published in the subscription-only US academic journal, Telecommunications Policy.

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Do you use Windows or does Windows use you?

August 29, 2007 at 9:23 am · Filed under Linux, Microsoft, Windows, desktop OS

I’m endlessly amazed at the number of seemingly intelligent people who persist in using Windows. The numbers of reasons to “Kiss the Blue Screen of Death goodbye” are many and growing daily. From Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) to Digital Rights Management (DRM) to malware. It is incomprehensible to me that more people haven’t switched to a real operating system, one that you control rather than the other way around.

El Reg’s Dave Jewell sums it up perfectly: “I thought a computer was supposed to be a time-saving, productivity-boosting tool. Somebody please remind Microsoft…”

Read the rest of this entry »

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Dump Ubuntu for Windows? No thanks …

August 28, 2007 at 11:13 am · Filed under Linux, Windows, desktop OS

There’s an interesting furore developing around a convicted movie pirate, Scott McCausland. As part of his sentence he has to submit to having all his internet activities monitored by the authorities.

Unfortunately for Scott, this means he can no longer use Ubuntu Linux – or indeed any Linux – because the monitoring software only works on Windows. This is not to say that the internet use of Linux and Macintosh users a cannot be monitored, just that the American authorities can’t do it.

Needless to say, he’s fighting the decision tooth an nail. As The Register puts it: “Using monitoring software and wearing a monitoring bracelet were bitter enough pill but switching to Windows is just too much for the Tux-lover, who intends to fight the decision.”

Read the full story here

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A load of crap on the Internet

August 22, 2007 at 7:15 pm · Filed under Uncategorized

This was too funny not to post. It seems that the University of Aberdeen plans to welcome students back with a high bandwidth internet network connected via the sewers. Give new weight to the contention that there’s a whole load of crap on the internet.

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Gooodbye Vista; Hello Linux?

August 19, 2007 at 9:15 am · Filed under Linux, Microsoft, Windows, desktop OS, open source

It’s been almost eight months since Microsoft launched Vista and the problems still haven’t been sorted out. By contrast, there’s a major new version of Ubuntu out every six months or so and there are never issues of the scale of those created in Redmond. Result? Microsoft is pissing off its most loyal fans.

Consider PC Magazine editor-in-chief Jim Louderback. Not only has he become disenchanted enough to consider dumping Vista, he’s considering switch to Linux rather than going back to XP. Read his tale of woe here.

Perhaps he should try Ubuntu. It’s what I use and I’m a very happy (and only moderately technical) camper.

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US consumers happy with Apples

August 16, 2007 at 10:39 am · Filed under PCs

A new customer satisfaction survey out from the University of Michigan that cites the American Customer Satisfaction Index puts Apple on top of the customers’ pile with with 79% satisfaction rating. HP’s Compaq division is languishing at the bottom of the heap on 73%.

While these figures may seem high we shouldn’t leave sight of that they suggest around a quarter of PC customers in the US are dissatisfied with their computers. Interestingly, my own favoured brand – Lenovo – doesn’t get a mention, which is probably due to a lack of penetration of the US market. More’s the pity: everybody I know who has a ThinkPad swears by it – especially those who, like me, dumped Windows.

The Inq’s Wily Ferret makes an interesting comment: “As PCs continue to become commoditised and prices fall, it’s perhaps not surprising that the manufacturer coming out on top is about the only one with any profit margin left – Apple’s machines come with a hefty price premium for design, and that money pays for customer support, something Dell has yet to get its grip on.” The full story is here.

More details on the survey, including a table of the results, can be found here.

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ODF for China?

August 15, 2007 at 7:09 am · Filed under Microsoft, ODF

With all the talk of Open Document Format being adopted (or not) in places like Massachusetts or Munich, few people seem to have noticed what’s going on in what is soon to be the world’s largest economy. There’s an interesting piece by Peter Junge on ZDNet blog that examines the issue by pointing out China will most likely merge its current standard with either ODF or Microsoft’s OOXML.

The bulk of the post focuses on why OOXML shouldn’t be ISO certified and is the biggest problem for Microsoft’s standard: ‘Another Standard, Microsoft does not support, is the specification RFC 3987, which defines UTF-8 capable Internet addresses. Consequently, OOXML does not support, to use Chinese characters within a Web address.’ This would be problematic for many languages, not just Chinese.”

Check out the full story here.

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Exploring Vista alternatives

August 9, 2007 at 8:31 am · Filed under Linux, desktop OS, open source

Some commentators maintain that a migration from Windows XP to Vista would be as big a change as moving to either Linux or Macintosh. Now InformationWeek has run a piece pitting Apple and Ubuntu users against one another to establish which provides the better desktop environment.

Serdar Yegulalp and Mitch Wagner set the stage: “If you’re one of those Windows users who are less than enchanted by what you’ve seen of Vista and you’re thinking about switching, you face some tough choices that can make you feel like a pioneer. Is it a good idea to move to a Mac, with its easy interface, high level of safety and stability — and higher prices? Or is it better to adopt a Linux distro, which is free (or, at least, inexpensive), supported by a range of imaginative developers — and not quite newbie-friendly? Either decision forces you into new, unfamiliar territory.”

What follows is a long and very detailed look at these two alternatives, paying particular attention to eight key areas: Installation & Migration; Hardware Support & Power Management; Networking, Web & Wireless; Productivity; Entertainment; Security; Working With Windows (because Microsoft can’t be completely ignored); and Stability, Backup & Disaster Recovery.

The conclusion seems to be “different strokes for different folks”. But, speaking as an Ubuntu convert, it’s a no-brainer: If you want to halve (at least) the cost of your computing, Linux is your only option*. Vista hardware requirements and Macintosh prices (particularly here at the southern tip of Africa) put both out of reach of most consumers. All that’s left is older Windows versions and Linux.

It’s very long but well worth the read, here.

* This is premised upon the fact that half the cost of Windows computing is usually attributable to software (from applications to security tools), all of which can be free in the Linux world. Read about my shopping expedition to find a PC for my mother if you want to explore this logic.

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Wishful thinking?

August 5, 2007 at 12:47 pm · Filed under Linux, Microsoft, ODF, desktop OS, open source

There’s an interesting commentary on The Inquirer today, positing the theory that Microsoft’s recent overtures towards open source are a sign of fear. It starts off discussing recent moves by Redmond to have its “shared-source” licenses approved by the OSI. Interesting stuff, especially the illustrations of how Microsoft’s licences are inherently incompatible with both the letter and spirit of open source.

Then the author delves into the ODF/OOXML debacle and Microsoft’s attempts to hang onto proprietary control over the file format in which people store their personal and business data. I mean, if you can’t access your data without using software from Microsoft, who really owns that data? You or Microsoft? And if Microsoft decides not to support that format in future, where does that leave you and your data?

Interestingly, he stayed away from the other file format argument currently on the go: the one over a successor to jpg. Arstechnica has a good piece on the current state of this game here that ends with: “Redmond has also stated it will offer a royalty-free grant for its patents that are required to implement the new standard.”

Errr … Right! As our intrepid columnist notes in his piece: “The IT industry landscape is littered with the dead dreams of people who once trusted Microsoft.”

Quite. But who are you sonny? Your byline is Egan Orion and Google finds a singer, song-writer by that name. Google also discovers the name is an anagram of Oregonian, that the afore-mentioned artiste has a blog called, the laughing penguin and just happens to be based in Seattle, Washington.

Now it starts to make sense. I mean, if you’re an open source advocate who just happens to live in Microsoft’s backyard, it would probably be desirable to retain a certain amount of anonymity. I mean, you never know when Steve Balmer will come knocking with chair in hand.

;-)

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