the anvil problem

[measl at mfn.org]

On Thu, 30 May 2002 tpurdy at newsguy.com wrote:

> On Thu, 30 May 2002 0:02:05 EDT, Jeffrey Altman <jaltman at columbia.edu>
> wrote:
> 
> The first pass at this I had a lot of crosstalk in the office and
> mangled things, badly.  One more time:
> 
> Say 3/4ths of the world offices use Microsoft software of one variety or
> another and these systems all need regular reloading for proper
> operation.  After reloading, you hook up with MS's computers in Redmond
> to (re)license things.
> 
> Say a large aircraft full of fuel torches the place (Microsoft's campus
> in Redmond), some fanatical bunch of wackos nuke the place, or maybe,
> some demented engineering student lobs a home-made EMP device onto the
> lawn?  
> 
> What's the world gonna do when the master licensing borg croaks and
> nobody can (re)license their office equipment warez?
> 
> Is this disaster recovery a Microsoft issue or a US Government national
> security issue?

Certainly not a nsec issue.  This is a personal problem for those who choose
to buy products that have these design flaws.  

And no, I am not being "cute" - I am dead serious.  Anyone who would put out
their hard earned $$ for a product that is designed as XP is has the
inevitable disaster "coming to them".

Think back to what "copy protection" did to Ashton-Tate, then vote with your
wallet and refuse to buy into the XP disaster-in-waiting.

 -- 
Yours, 
J.A. Terranson
sysadmin at mfn.org

If Governments really want us to behave like civilized human beings, they
should give serious consideration towards setting a better example:
Ruling by force, rather than consensus; the unrestrained application of
unjust laws (which the victim-populations were never allowed input on in
the first place); the State policy of justice only for the rich and 
elected; the intentional abuse and occassionally destruction of entire
populations merely to distract an already apathetic and numb electorate...
This type of demogoguery must surely wipe out the fascist United States
as surely as it wiped out the fascist Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

The views expressed here are mine, and NOT those of my employers,
associates, or others.  Besides, if it *were* the opinion of all of
those people, I doubt there would be a problem to bitch about in the
first place...
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