* Posts by The BigYin

3080 publicly visible posts • joined 25 Mar 2008

Whitehall and Microsoft thrashing out 1-year NHS WinXP lifeline

The BigYin

Re: Other Opera\ting Systems

3. The only license they should accept is GPL (or equivalent). That way the taxpayers who paid for the code can use it should they so desire.

Why would a taxpayer want to do such a thing?

Because a lot of the problems are common to many walks of life, the specifics are matters of configuration.

The BigYin

Re: IT in the NHS can be a joke anyway

Yup. Especially when there are options like MyKolab, ownCloud and goodness knows what else.

The BigYin

Another failure

So the Met fails to migrate in time; must beg to pay MS lots of taxpayers' money.

The NHS fails to migrate in time; must beg to pay MS lots of taxpayers' money.

Seriously, where do they hire these idiots? High time they migrate off Windows as much as possible so that any tax money spent on extended support etc at least has the CHANCE of benefiting the taxpayer footing the bill.

Yes, such a project would cost and take decades; but the end result is more than worth it.

Gmail data-mining lawsuits fail to get class action status

The BigYin

Re: Ignorance and Stupidity

Dear AC,

Email is a postcard. If you don't want it to be read by others, don't send it or use GPG (although even that still leaks metadata).

Eight hour cleansing to get all the 'faggots' and 'bitches' OUT of Github

The BigYin

Re: “faggot” and “bitch”

In the past I've been told to not use the word "abort" as it is offensive to USAians (connotations of "abortion").

There's a dent in the office floor from where my jaw made impact.

The BigYin

Wait....Github?

Aren't they a cesspool of female exploitation or something? I'm sure I read that recently.

As for comments in code, we sweep ours for swearies and remove them (corporate standards) but some do remain as they are "in context". Mostly these are mini-rants about the design of C#, Java or whatever and a warning that the code which follows is as ugly as an ugly thing from planet Ugly; but that's the way it has to be.

Some are also just plain funny. Once you get down to a few well-known cases, it's easy to filter them out.

MH370 airliner MYSTERY: The El Reg Pub/Dinner-party Guide

The BigYin

Re: Eh?

Not really, the Malaysian radar saw the plane but no one did anything about it. The other countries are simply keeping schtum so they don't expose how much/little they can see.

It's a bit like the Kursk: military secrecy trumps human life.

The BigYin

Re: What if it was ditched and sunk intact?

> to the extent that it has *never* been done.

Sorry, that's cobblers. Did you forget the Hudson River? It's been done on a number of occasions with varying degrees of success: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_landing#Commercial_aircraft

Morrisons supermarket hit by MASSIVE staff payroll data robbery

The BigYin

Correct, this isn't the NHS you know.

The browser's resized future in a fragmented www world

The BigYin

Re: Er what?

> Perhaps another threat to the open Web is Facebook.

This. I find far too many clubs, societies, charities and companies that have all their actual stuff in Facebook, there web page is just a place holder that say "Look at our Facebook page".

Depressing.

Netflix needling you? BBC pimps up iPlayer ahead of BBC3 move

The BigYin

Re: Yay for iPlayer!

Seems I spoke too soon. Downloading is only possible on Windows or OS X; lovers of freedom are left out in the cold. Shame.

At least get_iplayer still works (and XBMC) but for how long?

The BigYin

Re: Yay for iPlayer!

Thanks Richy.

What they've done is hit iPlayer with Win8 uhly stick but keep their colours. Not so long ago everyone (and I do mean EVERYONE) copied Apple with their UI design, although they often failed to have the quality or completeness of vision.

As Win8 is the new-shit-on-the-street, everyone copies that now.

Don't tell me El Reg's Win8-a-like make-over passed you by?

The BigYin

Yay for iPlayer!

One of the very few catch-up services that "just works" on GNU/Linux without having to fart about with WINE, Moonlight or other crap.

Although I still see the old version - ho hum

Barclays warns freelance techies of DOUBLE DIGIT rate cut

The BigYin

To paraphrase Dune

"The bonuses must flow"

Blighty teen boffin builds nuclear reactor INSIDE CLASSROOM

The BigYin

Arrest him, now!

Nuclear....fusion....sounds like a hydrogen bomb to me. ARREST THIS BOY!

Clearly he is a terrorist and manufacturing a bomb. WHICH OUR TAXES PAID FOR! (£3,000)

We cannot let children get away with this. ARREST HIM!

THINK OF THE CHILDREN!

Unless you are an aide of David Cameron, in which case DO NOT think of the children.

Dell charges £16 TO INSTALL FIREFOX on PCs – Mozilla is miffed

The BigYin

Taxation

As I can avoid the Mozilla tax on that form, will Dell now make it possible to avoid the MS tax as well?

Satya Nadella shakes up Microsoft, appoints 'Scroogled' man Mark Penn as strategy chief

The BigYin

Hmm...

...FUD merchants to the fore it looks like to me. Never let the facts get in the way of PR, hey MS?

Linux-friendly Munich: Ja, we'll take open source collab cloud

The BigYin

Re: Hmm. You never......

"That doesnt mean that they want [Linux]."

Strange, all those Android sales must be fictional.

"'Almost no one wants Linux on the desktop'"

That's a different statement. It really is becoming clear you don't know what Linux actually is. And I'll put it you you that most users wouldn't give two shits if Linux was or was not on their desktop. It is the applications and the UI which matters more to them than the kernel.

"you are really that uninformed that you think that those products even come vaguely close to Microsoft Office?"

That wasn't the statement, was it? It was about ODF support. If you wish to discuss what supports what, that which one is best really depends on the use case. Did you know, for example, that LibreOffice Calc can off-load processing on to the GPU? That might make is a better fit than Excel for some use cases.

The BigYin

Re: Hmm. You never......

"I don't see Munich providing audited proof...only a project team keeping themselves in a job for the last decade!"

I don't see MS doing that either.

"http://www.itworld.com/open-source/337658/microsoft-wont-release-study-challenged-success-munichs-linux-migration"

You merely cite the non-release of data, that doesn't back up your claim. In case you have forgotten your claim was: "doesnt save any money in any reasonable timeframe."

Please cite your evidence.

"Pretty much no one one wants Linux."

Factually incorrect. Most people use Linux every single day. Do you even know what Linux is I wonder.

"The UK government is considering mandating the use of ODF"

Wrong. Try reading the actual proposal.

"and the most capable product that supports that out of the box is - [Libre|Open]Office!"

FTFY.

The BigYin

Re: computing devices on the planet

"Really?...there are a huge number of embedded computing devices that are too simple to run even an embedded Linux"

Yeah, sorry; I wasn't really thinking of embedded systems, just things that us humans usually interact with (desktops, tablets, phones, servers etc).

If we took every single thing and added em up - I'm really not sure what OS would come out on top (or if what came out on top would even qualify as an OS). But it sure as shit wouldn't be Windows!

The BigYin

Re: Hmm. You never......

"Meanwhile, unchecked MS corporate arrogance, avarice, and alienation are achieving their own rewards: revulsion, rejection, and public alienation."

I know a company who is looking at junking their desktops to replace them with RasPis (or similar low power, thin-client). At the moment they'll back on to a Terminal Server (so still Windows) but they'll save licensing fees on the clients (which are only used to hit TS anyway) and make energy savings.

Quite a neat idea really and a good transitional position.

I say "transitional" because their back-end stuff (databases etc)...yeah, that's not Windows either.

The BigYin

Re: Hmm. You never......

"Except that HP never [published] the report."

MS really do hate freedom, openness and accountability; don't they? I am sure there are points to be argued but until MS publish their report in full, we can't fully assess their conclusions.

"The reason that MS are not 'shitting themselves' is that the Munich project has shown that to make such a move takes over a decade"

Which proves what a bad idea it was to go with MS in the first place.

"leaves 30% of your users having to still use Microsoft"

For now.

"provides an inferior solution in terms of capbility and comptibility with most common business"

You mean supporting ISO standards? Gosh, which company doesn't support proper ISO standards? The name is really familiar, I'm sure it'll come to me. IMHO, OOXML is not a "proper ISO standard" given how it was ratified and the complete obtuseness of the documentation.

"doesnt save any money in any reasonable timeframe."

Please cite you publicly available evidence, please.

"In fact across the whole of Europe the only similar notable project is for the French police"

At the moment. The UK government is making noises with their standards proposal. I think the whole XP-expire deadline is causing people to re-think how they work.

Maybe more adoptions will come out of Munich, maybe not. But what is wrong with getting some actual competition in the market place? Nothing, other than causing MS to panic.

The BigYin

Re: Got to admire them ...

It is, apart from a few mad laws (e.g. being responsible for all activity on your network - hence no free Wifi; heavy restrictions of vehicle customisation) but then they aren't the only country with quirks like that.

It certainly appears have a less corrupt government than the UK, but then I'm not an expert on German politics.

If I could speak German, I'd move.

The BigYin

Re: Hmm. You never......

"See the end users of the Munich's 'open source wonder project' banging on about how much they love using the heath robinson IT effort that has been imposed on them"

Well we didn't get to hear how many we super-excited to see Windows which was also imposed on them. The end-user really won't care beyond "Does this work?" and "Can I get my stuff done?" IT is almost always imposed on the end-user.

If you want "Heath Robinson" then you really do want Windows and MS. It wasn't that long ago that Excel (to pick one) behaved in a different way to all other Office programs. Remember the Bluetooth stack? Jesus Christ, what a fustercluck. Windows networking is still a fustercluck!

"See any independent audits of these supposed 'four million in savings'"

"independent" in the same way as the MS-funded FUD? Which is funny. When MS start paying for FUD, you know they are shitting themselves. FWIW I am pretty sure Munich has release their costings. Feel free to read them and offer critique.

"Get to hear exactly how much Munich still spend on MS licensing. (Hint, if you remote in to a windows PC from a Linux box, MS will still charge you for a windows license)."

I don't think they RDP in, I think they have a few Windows boxen kicking around for certain uses.

"I suspect in reality the whole thing is a vanity project for a few senior civil servants. Paid for, in spades, by the suckers that are the tax payers of Munich. High fives all round!!!"

As opposed to bending over and taking what MS has to offer? Maybe Munich will be a failure. Maybe it will be a success. From a certain point of view it doesn't matter, it matters to try. All those years ago, if people hadn't tried MS-DOS then MS would be nowhere.

"Bring on the down votes as I have cast doubt on the only 'Linux on the desktop' customer that I or the freetards have ever heard of....."

Clearly your ears are closed. Extramadura and French Gendarmerie. That's without looking anything up. Most in-flight entertainment systems are GNU/Linux. Does that count as a "desktop"? Not sure. Many weapons systems are now GNU/Linux due to fears over Windows' security, I am sure they have UI but don't know if you'd count that as a desktop.

If we drop the "desktop" requirement, then we can safely state that the majority of computing devices on the planet to day are running Linux (but not always GNU). Servers are still mostly GNU/Linux.

If you look beyond the Outlook/Excel button-pushers, it's not a Windows world. It's a free world (even Darwin is at least open). A world MS is scared of, which is why they do their utmost to not implement standards and poison the well. They know they can't win a fair fight.

The BigYin

Hey, hey UK

Are you seeing this? This is how you get shit done. This is how you stimulate competition and innovation. If you buy MS Exchange from Company A or Company B makes no odds; you are still buy MS Exchnage; there is no competition and thus no need to inter-operate or support open standards.

Yes, yes, yes; the ODF proposal (not that that precludes the use of MS Office in any shape or form). It's not enough. You need to start *now* with projects to ditch lock-in software.

Dropbox erects sueball shield with new T&C and privacy legalese

The BigYin

Well, there's stuff like SugarSync, Seafile, OwnCloud and so on. These are free (as in cost) and some are free (as in freedom). So you could roll-yer-own.

OR

You could simply pay someone to roll it for you, provide support etc.

OwnCloud, for example, has companies with paid-for offerings.

Pick whichever scratches your itch best.

Prez Obama cyber-guru: Think your data is safe in an EU cloud? The NSA will raid your servers

The BigYin

Statement of the bleeding obvious

"NSA and any other world-class intelligence agency can hack into databases even if they not in the [USA]"

Yeah, we know. That is why we are so pissed of with the USA, UK, and all the other USA lackeys.

So much for defending freedom.

Arseholes.

Microsoft asks pals to help KILL UK gov's Open Document Format dream

The BigYin

I took MS's advice and sent in my comments

Unfortunately for MS I think they are a a freedom-hating shower of arseholes (not to mention a convicted monopoly abuser) and proclaimed my support for ODF.

I know there will be pain/costs in the short-term, but that's OK given the longer-term savings.

Retiring greybeards force firms to retrain Java, .NET bods as mainframe sysadmins

The BigYin

I'd love to do that

I started out doing COBOL, now I'm a Java jockey. Moving back to mainframes would mean getting away from all the MS shit that I have to deal with day-in, day-out.

Where do I sign up?

Ill communication delays NHS England's GP data grab for six months

The BigYin

I think the problem for them was a lack of public awareness, but the fact the public became aware of the intended data rape. The fudged lack-of-info campaign was clearly deliberate.

Nasty holes found in Belkin's home automation kit

The BigYin

"It still pisses me off that people have been working with IT kit for around 15-20 years, but still use the arguement that its all 'too complicated' and dont spend any time helping themselves by finding out what it is they are actually buying."

That doesn't piss me off at all. What pisses me off is the push by clueless marketeers that it should be easy. My boiler is 'too complicated' and beyond setting the temperature/timer I don't touch the bloody thing. I hire someone who knows what they are doing.

Why are people so averse to hiring someone to come in and sort out their router or what-have-you?

*I* am quite happy to arse about with my routers, but it is certainly way, way, WAY too complicated for the average user. Just as my boiler is way, way, WAY too complicated for me.

We can't all be experts in everything y'know.

The BigYin

Liability?

"the systems leak a hard-coded key and password that Belkin uses to sign firmware."

So let's say that someone gets robbed because of this.

Would their insurance pay-out, or refuse because they had equipment that was known to be insecure?

Is Belkin in anyway liable for consequential loss?

Steelie Neelie 'shocked' that EU tourists turn mobes off when abroad

The BigYin

Re: Two words

Not in all countries. In Germany, for example, the operator is responsible for all activity on their network; so free wi-fi is a rare thing indeed.

Outside of the UK I disable roaming data, never make calls, never take calls and only use texts if I absolutely have to.

Top Brit docs wade into GP data grab row, demand 'urgent' NHS England talks

The BigYin

I just opted out

No way I am letting the government sell my deeply private information for a quick profit.

More info here: http://optout.care-data.info/

Tired of arguing with suits? Get ready to argue with engineers!

The BigYin

Internet of things?

The thought that my fridge and TV may be spying on me or sending spam emails is bad enough, but people putting the blast furnace (or whatever) on the Internet gives me a serious case of the heebie-jeebies.

Samsung: Ta-da! We made $7.8bn. What do you mean you expected another BILLION?

The BigYin

Re: Wall Street's tealeaf readers' pronouncements fail to happen

Straw man, I never mentioned communism.

The BigYin

Re: Wall Street's tealeaf readers' pronouncements fail to happen

And there is everything that is wrong with the world economy. Burning fast, burning hard and burning out.

Used all your mobile data? Why not buy your mate's excess bits?

The BigYin

"Never mind your wife, what's in it for China Mobile?"

Marketing and PR. Possible legislation dodge too? "Hey Mr. Politburo, no need for laws; look how *fair* we a being!"

UK.gov's web filtering mission creep: Now it plans to block 'extremist' websites

The BigYin

Re: Wrong Downside

"Now, if you don't have children who need protecting against online smut"

Here's a concept. As the parent that's YOUR JOB. Either you are willing to do your job, or just don't breed.

It's not beyond people to install a net nanny etc. Kids that will be traumatised by on-line smut are too young to gave their own mobile and shouldn't be using the Internet without supervision.

There's a lot more than just smut to worry about, news sites can be hard even for an adult.

Just because Britain's parents want to shirk the responsibilities is no excuse. Not knowing how is no excuse (learn or pay someone, just like you'd hire a plumber).

The BigYin

It was only ever about censorship

The "Protect the childrens from paedos" line was ust to get an emotional response and shut down dissent (as any dissent could be construed as supporting padephillia). Now the die is cast the glove can come off and the Tories and get censorship installed, which Labour will then increase and accelerate.

Thing is, his grand scheme won't work simply because it can't work. He will cause BILLIONS to be wasted on this futile task, while the schools and hospitals get sold off to pay for it all and the nation crumbles at his feet.

His censorship will be routed around and turn those of who believ in freedom of speech and thought into criminals.

Screw Mr. Cameron. Screw his Etonian-old boy clique. Screw the Tories. And screw Labour, their lick-spittle imitators. Where is the alternative party in the UK?

Why a plain packaging U-turn from UK.gov could cost £3bn a year

The BigYin

"Pimlico"? Bloody mobile phone autocorrect. Just take the entry you bastarding thing and no, don't add it to the dictionary.

The BigYin

"none pay tax or duty either".

Well neither do banks, supermarkets, coffe shops, cyber-tat bazaars, newspapers, or the rich. And this Pimlico is worried about a few fags before the nation's health?

Self-centered assmunch.

Weird PHP-poking Linux worm slithers into home routers, Internet of Things

The BigYin

"We are up to well over 900 known holes in the kernel alone."

Excellent! Hopefully the goog guys can use this info to mitigate attacks. Where's the public list of NTOSKRNL exploits?

Oh, I see, only the bad guys have that.

The BigYin

Re: Most folk are not El Reg readers

"we are talking about embedded devices here and manufacturers at the moment seem more interested in recording what channel our TV is playing to " improve our experience" than good security practices."

And that's what a firewall is for. The TV can still send its snoop report, but it is not public facing.

The BigYin

How?

Surely this requires access to a public site? Surely any public site is in a DMZ and heavily firewalled from the local network?

People shouldn't run their routers with remote admin available (unless they know what they are doing). People should also disable UPnP on the router's firewall to prevent remote access.

As this is all either default/most-basic-of-basics, how is this worm any threat?

DEATH-PROOF your old XP netbook: 5 OSes to bring it back to life

The BigYin

Re: OSs?

Umm, even their first point is wrong. Linux is just the kernel. It's quite possible to have many different OSs that share the same kernel.

WTF is the Internet of Things and how insurers will use it against you

The BigYin

Re: DMZ and firewalled to hell

Isolated/DMZ/Firewalled/Locked-down/Whatever.

Sorry - didn't really get much sleep last night.

HIDDEN SHRINE from 500 BC found, may crack Buddha's birthday riddle

The BigYin

Re: interesting enough story but....

Did you check the category it was under?

Even though your eyes are open, you may often fail to see.