intodimensions.com

David Wheeler has updated his impressive work “Why Open Source Software / Free Software (OSS/FS)? Look at the Numbers!”

Useful? Perhaps not. Funny? Definitely! Take a look at Dilbert’s ultimate house.

Paul Murphy offers some insight in Ecommerce Times. He discusses Mac versus PC in terms of price, performance, and usability. Most interesting, however, is the conclusion:

“On the other hand I think the intuitive bottom line on the Macintosh versus PC productivity debate is actually pretty simple: I’ve never met a PC user whose focus on the job he or she was supposed to be doing wasn’t significantly diluted by the need to accommodate the PC and its software, but I’ve never met a business Mac user who considered the machine anything other than a tool, like a telephone or typewriter, for getting the job done.”

CNet reports:

“PCs running Linux are growing in popularity in part because they can be loaded with a pirated copy of Windows, according to a study from analyst Gartner. The consulting firm issued a report on Wednesday stating that about 40 percent of Linux PCs will be modified to run an illegal copy of Windows, a bait-and-switch maneuver that lowers the cost of obtaining a Windows PC. In emerging markets, where desktop Linux enjoys wider popularity, the trend is even starker. Around 80 percent of the time, Linux will be removed for a pirated copy of Windows. Pirated copies sell for around $1 in the streets of Shanghai and other cities in Asia and Eastern Europe, but can also be bought in stores selling brand name PCs.”

If it’s true - and I don’t dispute that it is - it’s not very surprising. Many consumers go for price as the main deciding factor in terms of picking a computer, and the question of legality and morality is different in different parts of the world. So is the answer to do something to stop people buying these cheaper PCs and putting Windows on them? Perhaps. I think a better answer would be for Microsoft to come up with a better way to compete with other platforms, like Linux.
Update: Open source fights back.

CNet points to some problems with totally getting rid of IE:

“For many people, using a non-Microsoft browser such as Firefox is now a must for secure Web surfing–but most still keep a copy of Internet Explorer around just in case. The problem is that many Web developers create their sites so they work best with Internet Explorer (IE), but not to work as well with browser software used by relatively tiny groups of potential visitors. Sites subject to complaints from Firefox users include Web travel site Expedia and Microsoft’s MSNBC news site. Even Shutterfly, the online photo service backed by Netscape Communications co-founder Jim Clark, warns visitors that it supports only a limited set of browsers.”

My personal take on this is that it is bad of web designers to design around a particular browser. Most things you would want to do with web sites you can do with cross-browser technologies, and there is in most cases no need in relying on one particular browser. When building an intranet it’s a different situation since it’s a controlled environment.

SlashDot has an interesting piece about possible internet censorship in Australia:

“Left wing Australian Christian political party Family First wants an annual levy of $7 to $10 on all internet users in Australia to fund a $45 million mandatory national internet filtering scheme aimed at blocking pornographic and offensive content at server level.”

I’m not surprised that someone would suggest it, but it seems like a bad idea all around to me.

CNet reports:

“In a move to add more open-source arrows to its quiver, Linux seller Red Hat has acquired the Netscape server software products of AOL Time Warner, the companies plan to announce Thursday. Red Hat plans to release the Netscape Enterprise Suite as open-source software, meaning that anyone will be able to use, modify and redistribute the products. It’s a new step in Red Hat’s “open-source architecture” plan to expand beyond its core product, the Linux operating system, Chief Executive Matthew Szulik plans to tell analysts at a company conference Thursday in New York.”

RedHat is already an important force in open source software and with this addition they should be able to take an even more important position, especially when it comes to enterprise systems, which is what they’ve focused on since they stopped making their Linux OS available for free.

From Yahoo:

“The 2004 presidential campaign has marked the coming of age for Internet ‘blog’ journals as a cutting edge political tool for raising cash and revving up political support. Blogs, short for web logs, are online diaries, sometimes by fiercely-partisan writers, that are being lapped up by the Internet masses. The journals took off in the mid-1990s and there are now estimated to be hundreds of thousands on every subject in cyberspace.”

CIO Update has an interesting look at UNIX versus Linux, from HP, IBM and Sun:

“The decision to stay with UNIX or to migrate to Linux is top of mind for many. So, the question becomes: When does it make sense to stay and when does it make sense to move? We put that question to the big three UNIX vendors — IBM, Hewlett Packard (HP) and Sun — to understand how they help their customers decide where, when and if a migration makes sense.”

CNet reports:

“The online cons known as “phishing” have cost U.S. consumers $500 million, according to a study released Wednesday. In addition, the study found that three-quarters of wired Americans have noticed an increase in phishing incidents during the past few months, with one-third saying they’ve receiving e-mails sent under fraudulent pretenses at least once a week. The study, sponsored by Truste, a nonprofit privacy group, and NACHA, an electronic payments association, surveyed 1,335 Internet users across the United States. Phishing scams use e-mails that appears to come from trusted companies to lure people to bogus Web sites, where they’re asked to divulge sensitive personal information, such as credit card data. Attacks frequently target bank customers, but recent scams have sought out users of Gmail and Amazon.com.”