Sorry your browser is not supported!

You are using an outdated browser that does not support modern web technologies, in order to use this site please update to a new browser.

Browsers supported include Chrome, FireFox, Safari, Opera, Internet Explorer 10+ or Microsoft Edge.

Geek Culture / Bill Gates: Hardware will be free, but free software won't hack it

Author
Message
MicroMan
21
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 19th Aug 2003
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
Posted: 5th Apr 2004 05:28 Edited at: 5th Apr 2004 05:42
Link
"Gates did throw a few jabs at the "free software" community, which is most likely a reference to the open source community. He said that "free software can do some good stuff, but not the really good stuff." He also said that the open source community would have to deal with compatibility problems, once it gets an installed base."

During the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2004 Bill Gates was asked about how computing ten years time. He claimed that hardware would be virtually free, and that software would be where any value in IT was. Then he jabbed at the open source community (again) and claimed that they couldn't make compatible software for that future.

[EDIT]
Oops... Forgot the link
http://techupdate.zdnet.com/techupdate/stories/main/Gates_gives_magical_software_tour.html?tag=tu.arch.link

-----
They SAID that given enough time a million monkeys with typewriters could recreate the collected works of William Shakespeare... Internet sure proved them wrong.
-----
Back to top
Profile PM Email Website
indi
22
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 26th Aug 2002
Location: Earth, Brisbane, Australia
Posted: 5th Apr 2004 05:44
Link
poor billy. the owner of ikea has now beaten him as the richest man.

hardware will always have a price. you pay for the factories to make another gazillion microchips. Its a simple case of price vs demand and consumerism. can u imagine down the track they just start giving away 9 gigahertz cpus? no i cant. As well as fueling new research for different ways to acheive things. cpus are in everything which also means things like toasters and fridges would drop in price. Its too far fetched to even comprehend.

free open source will always be around when smart people have a passion and a keen interest as well as free time. I give away free source code here sometimes, just like heaps of other people. Same with other areas like linux and computing.

I think he is more wishing things like that would happen.

I can replace any business software with linux and it works just fine as a great alternative. Perhaps its biting more into his profits than expected. The reason he hates it is because it defeats his monopoly.


fall down seven times, stand up eight
Back to top
Profile PM Email
Dave J
Retired Moderator
21
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 11th Feb 2003
Location: Secret Military Pub, Down Under
Posted: 5th Apr 2004 07:58
Link
Of course he says that, he makes software.


"Computers are useless they can only give you answers."
Back to top
Profile PM Email
Dazzag
22
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 26th Aug 2002
Location: Cyprus
Posted: 5th Apr 2004 10:57
Link
Really, the owner of Ikea?

Amazing really, most of their stuff is complete s**t (cross between MFI and Lego with more than a hint of Butlins).... jokes comparing to MS please book now to avoid disapointment.

Cheers

I am 99% probably lying in bed right now... so don't blame me for crappy typing
Back to top
Profile PM Email Website
indi
22
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 26th Aug 2002
Location: Earth, Brisbane, Australia
Posted: 5th Apr 2004 11:33
Link
yeah apparantly hes stingy and flys domestic etc..
69 billion or something radical.
they mentioned it today on the news.


fall down seven times, stand up eight
Back to top
Profile PM Email
MicroMan
21
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 19th Aug 2003
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
Posted: 5th Apr 2004 12:06 Edited at: 5th Apr 2004 12:07
Link
Apparently... To become the richest man in the world you have to make complete crap, sell it expensively, and then fool people your products are really something useful and trendy.

Oh... That's capitalism, isn't it?

My bad.

-----
They SAID that given enough time a million monkeys with typewriters could recreate the collected works of William Shakespeare... Internet sure proved them wrong.
-----
Back to top
Profile PM Email Website
DMXtra
22
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 28th Aug 2002
Location: United States
Posted: 5th Apr 2004 12:23
Link
Yeah, well your not going to become the richest man in the world by giving away all your software for free either. In fact you will probably be looking for a job and something else to do.

Also to be honest, a ton of free software is crap too, just look at the indie community for any kind of software genre if you need proof of that.

I will take Windows XP over Linux any day of the week. I wouldn't even know what to do with linux except maybe grep something in a log file for the hell of it to kill some time.

Dark Basic Pro - The Bedroom Coder's Language of choice for the 21st Century.
Back to top
Profile PM
adr
21
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 21st May 2003
Location: Job Centre
Posted: 5th Apr 2004 13:43 Edited at: 5th Apr 2004 13:45
Link
Quote: "I will take Windows XP over Linux any day of the week. I wouldn't even know what to do with linux"

Thank you for exemplifying my gripe with windows-only types...

Put another way, you've just acted out the following scene:
"Linux is shat"
"Why?"
"Dunno really, cos it's not windows"

Linux is *very* good at what it does. It's a stable, lightweight, server-standard OS. I would take linux over windows any day of the week when it comes to hosting a web page or database. That said, Linux is quite boring. It's a bit too work oriented for me and I don't think I could cope without my "toy-town" OS...

stop();
hammertime();
Back to top
Profile PM Website
Eddie Gordo
21
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 14th Jan 2003
Location: Ohio - USA
Posted: 5th Apr 2004 16:30
Link
Linux is stable and Windows is standard and simple...but Linux has ROX and ZeroInstall now...so i'm not sure what to think...actually i like using Linux as a desktop and Windows as a server...but im weird like that

Formerly Eddie Gordo...
Back to top
Profile PM Email
TKF15H
21
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 20th Jul 2003
Location: Rio de Janeiro
Posted: 5th Apr 2004 16:39
Link
Quote: " Linux is stable and Windows is standard and simple"

What standard??? The MS standard?

I have linux installed, and I prefer it over windows, but the software I use is for windows so I end up using that more. I don't like the GIMP, I prefer PSP. DBP games crash after showing the first frame. The Spetialists runs slowly. Etc.

Can I see a demo now?
Back to top
Profile PM Email Website
CattleRustler
Retired Moderator
21
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 8th Aug 2003
Location: case modding at overclock.net
Posted: 5th Apr 2004 17:24
Link
standard meaning running on 80-something percent of the worlds pcs
I'd take that market-share any day of the week


Home of the VB.NET Class Builder Utility - Demo and FULL versions now available!!
Back to top
Profile PM
Lord Ozzum
21
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 29th Oct 2003
Location: Beyond the Realms of Death
Posted: 5th Apr 2004 17:57
Link
I like Microsoft things.
I have XP, WM player, and all that stuff
It's because it isn't such sh!t you people (not all of you) make it out to be...besides, I've seen a LinuxUser before, and it scared me away from Linux for the rest of my life!

You're just jealous cuz the voices don't talk to you!!!
Back to top
Profile PM Email
TKF15H
21
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 20th Jul 2003
Location: Rio de Janeiro
Posted: 5th Apr 2004 18:08
Link
Quote: " standard meaning running on 80-something percent of the worlds pcs"

I've never seen linux not run on a PC. Sometimes it's a little hard to install and will give errors in the process, but I've seen it run on anything from a 286 to the newest PCs.
Note: Linux is one thing, KDE is another. KDE won't run on a 286.

Can I see a demo now?
Back to top
Profile PM Email Website
BatVink
Moderator
21
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 4th Apr 2003
Location: Gods own County, UK
Posted: 5th Apr 2004 18:09
Link
I'm a Lemming, I'd love to have an "alternative" OS, but Windows, even with all it's faults, makes my life easier.

I'm not a Windows fan, but there is no practical alternative that won't give me a headache trying to switch to it.

BatVink (formerly StevieVee)
http://facepaint.me.uk/catalog/default.php
Back to top
Profile PM Email
Rob K
Retired Moderator
22
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 10th Sep 2002
Location: Surrey, United Kingdom
Posted: 5th Apr 2004 20:33
Link
Indeed.

With the exception of the near-perfect Mozilla Firefox, most free software is a bit rought around the edges. Microsoft go through every dialog and carefully decide what should and shouldn't be in it, how the user can access the dialog, what decisions the user will have to make, and which Windows will make for you.

For newbie users, this lack of polish will undoubtedly cause problems.

BlueGUI:Windows UI Plugin - All the power of the windows interface in your DBPro games. - Plus URL download, win dialogs.
Over 140 new commands
Back to top
Profile PM Email Website
Neil19533
21
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 30th Aug 2003
Location: England
Posted: 5th Apr 2004 20:50
Link
Linux is made by the user. Windows is made by a huge company who want perfection. And if your a developer who do you make software for, the big huge company or the hobbists. Me personally have both os' and also the linux os on the xbox which is cool. but windows is my choice of os because there is more software.

I wonder where that fish did go, a fish, a fish, a fish, O
Back to top
Profile PM Email
MicroMan
21
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 19th Aug 2003
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
Posted: 5th Apr 2004 20:51
Link
Actually, I think I can see a point in Bill Gates reasoning. Imagine you're living in a world utterly immersed in communicating technology: everything from the dishwasher to the light fixtures are connected to each other, and each has their own API.

For pure cost reasons, it would be very hard for an indy programmer to create an app for that world because it would require the app to access and connect to perhaps a dosen different environments. This even if Microsoft is broken up tomorrow, and perhaps particularly then because there will be no impetus to adhere to the massive standard that Windows de facto is.

So, I can see that he has a point.

-----
They SAID that given enough time a million monkeys with typewriters could recreate the collected works of William Shakespeare... Internet sure proved them wrong.
-----
Back to top
Profile PM Email Website
Secret Shadow
20
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 4th Apr 2004
Location: USA
Posted: 5th Apr 2004 21:03 Edited at: 5th Apr 2004 21:05
Link
Bill Gates must be taking some sort of drug to think that hardware will eventually become free. Isn't it hardware that supports his stupid games and programs? I am a Windows XP user by heart, but it is just crossing the line to diss the people who REALLY keep you in buisness. They put an XP Designed label on their computers, they use the latest hardware to support his latest games, and what does he do to thank them? Tell them that they will soon be in the poorhouse! This is the kind of BS that lead me to buy PS2, not the evil Xbox!

Ok, maybe I'm a little crazy, but i do have a point you know

No, just because I eat haggis does'nt mean I'm from Scotland!
Back to top
Profile PM
Back to top

Login to post a reply

Server time is: 2024-11-25 02:06:49
Your offset time is: 2024-11-25 02:06:49