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.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Thursday January 30 2020, @04:32PM (2 children)
Not me! The word "you" can mean many things, so maybe you were addressing the general public.
I never had any respect for Bill Gates' technical prowess. Maybe in the 1970s he did some good stuff in context. I can't categorize him, other than to say he was a fierce competitor. Winning market share was far more important than product quality. And I understand that because I've worked too many hours/days/years for companies that pushed things out the door, ready or not.
I'm not sure if you were alluding to this, but your statement makes me think MS's code quality is related to quantum states, superposition, Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday January 30 2020, @06:16PM
Me, too... it's a natural result of capitalism: Product on the market brings income, product in development costs money, companies live by income and die by expenses, that makes easy Darwinian math.
Not intentional, but probably a Freudian slip.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by Nuke on Friday January 31 2020, @09:56AM
Gates was an OK programmer back then, but not the genius his fans believe. I have known guys who were his equal or better. His most significant thing was writing BASIC interpreters, although some say he had access to previous souce code to help him in that. I guess that guys on this forum already know that he did not write DOS, let alone Windows, Office etc*. I doubt he wrote anyhing significant after about 1980, although no doubt he cast his eye over others' code at MS sometimes.
Gates' interest in philanthropy, love of being in the public eye, business ruthlessness, and love of money shows him to be a "people" person, not a geek. His fans assume he's one because he wears glasses, but his geek card card expired long ago.
BTW, I have not heard much of him lately. There was a rumour that he is getting dementia - does anyone know?
* Let alone invent PCs/GUIs/computers/the internet/the wheel/civilisation etc etc.