SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
On January 14th, Windows 7 reached its official "end-of-life," bringing an end to its updates as well as its ten years of poisoning education, invading privacy, and threatening user security. The end of Windows 7's lifecycle gives Microsoft the perfect opportunity to undo past wrongs, and to upcycle it instead.
We call on them to release it as free software, and give it to the community to study and improve. As there is already a precedent for releasing some core Windows utilities as free software, Microsoft has nothing to lose by liberating a version of their operating system that they themselves say has "reached its end."
Also at The Register and Wccftech.
This discussion has been archived.
No new comments can be posted.
Free Software Foundation Demands That Microsoft Release Windows 7 as Free Software
|
Log In/Create an Account
| Top
| 227 comments
| Search Discussion
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
"The subspace _W inherits the other 8 properties of _V. And there aren't
even any property taxes."
-- J. MacKay, Mathematics 134b
(Score: 3, Insightful) by takyon on Thursday January 30 2020, @03:20AM (3 children)
Headline is accurate. It is also accurate that FSF is just as irrelevant as it was 4 months ago.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by vux984 on Friday January 31 2020, @02:26AM (2 children)
It's a request. Calling it a "demand" is just typical headline click-bait inflation. My friends called on me to play as a kid -- that's not a demand. To call on someone to do something is a request, nothing more.
When its a "demands" the demander expects the demandee to submit to their will, usually with some sort of threat of coercion/force/consequences to back it up; so refusal creates conflict. This all adds up to suggesting a 'fight is brewing', and is typical clickbait headline bullshit. "Workers demand better wages" usually in the context of protesting/striking or threatening job action; that's a demand. I call on my kids to clean their room this weekend; that's a request. I'd like them to do it, but they're free to ignore it. Now, if it doesn't get done for too long; maybe next time I "ask" there's an edge to it -- maybe now they're advised they aren't going out / eating dinner / playing video games / whatever until its done -- now I've made a demand -- we're headed for conflict if it doesn't get done.
FSF "demands" Microsoft open source Win 7 ? Really? What is the FSF doing or even threatening to do, or even pretending to symbolically threaten to do? Nothing.
If we wanted an headline that was accurate, how about:
"FSF calls on Microsoft to open source windows 7" -- given the quote, that seems to be the most straightforward way to report it: to say they did the thing they actually did, using the words they actually used.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday January 31 2020, @02:43AM (1 child)
I could pull out the dictionary definition of "demand", that certainly encompasses this. Or...
https://www.fsf.org/windows/upcycle-windows-7 [fsf.org]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by vux984 on Friday January 31 2020, @03:21AM
I actually did look at an idiom dictionary before posting; and it said 'call on' was to request, and I stand by that.
But, yup, the FSF made a completely toothless demand, but its in their own words now; headline is accurate ... you win. Game over. :)