de Icaza: Rest of World Will Force US Into Linux

Eugenia writes "OSNews had an interesting discussion with Miguel de Icaza about all things Linux and Novell. Miguel talked about the general patent problem and how this will become the one single stumbling block of widespread adoption of Linux in USA, while he asserts that Longhorn uses some 'new' technologies already found on Gnome and elsewhere. Miguel believes that poor countries will be the first that will adopt widely Linux, and as long the EU won't adopt a similar system to US for patents, Europe will follow soon after, leaving no option to USA but to eventually adopt Linux as well in the long run (despite potential patent problems). Another strategy Miguel discussed was about moving as many F/OSS applications as possible to Windows in order to familiarize the casual users with open source. Among many other interesting tidbits he also mentions that Quark is now using Mono on Mac OS X." Of course, the EU not adopting software patents seems to be less and less likely.

Uh huh...

[Boing]

Rest of World Will Force US Into Linux

Umm, yeah... because that worked so well with the metric system.

Re:Uh huh...

[ballpoint]

Is this really an "US and them" issue ?

After all, we're only ordinary men.

*** marker ***

[dash2]

This is an (un)official Slashdot repetition marker. Any further posts on the Lame Ass Metric System Analogy (LAMSA) are now Redundant, and their posters may be spanked with a metric ruler.

Posts utilizing the LAMSA _above_ this marker may also be moderated Redundant, but you may not beat the poster for more than forty five minutes at one sitting. Thank you. Have a nice day.

Re:Uh huh...

[Ari Rahikkala]

Why, certainly. Who'll deny it's what the fighting's all about?

liter/litre meter/metre

[wowbagger]

Just to make a point:

Pronounce the following:

er

re

Explain to me how you can pronounce "re" as "reee" and "metre" as "meee-tur".

I suppose if the spelling were
metr

then it might make a degree of sense.

Re:Either that, or it will be soccer and metric

[Anonymous Coward]

That's "football", you insensitive clod.

Re:Maybe Not...

[Daniel Dvorkin]

In certain occupations, though, it's the lingua franca.

Didn't some comedian say that the two major successes of the metric system in the US were the 9mm bullet and the kilo of coke?

Re:*** marker ***

[zerocool^]

I think it's more effective to spank someone with a yard stick.

~Will

Re:Do not underestimate the EU

[SmackCrackandPot]

The EU is becoming more and more unified every year, and the economy of Europe is quickly becoming simmilar to the economy of the US, where you can compare a European country to a US state.

But just try ordering component parts (English keyboard - $25) for computers from one country (England) to have them delivered to another country (Brittany, North West of France), and see what reply you get. Even though the distance is less than 200 miles, and the transaction could be done just as quickly, by driving across on the ferry and making the purchase in person without question:

"Sir, we cannot take your order. You are trying to export to a foreign country with a foreign credit card".

"We don't accept foreign credit cards".

Driving left versus right is based upon efficiency

[Anonymous Coward]

It is so much more convenient to build the tunnel between England and France with the left-hand lane from France that can double as the right-hand lane from England, aka traffic compression :-)

Re:Maybe Not...

[Kainaw]

Here in Spain over a million people regularly turned out for protests again the war last year.

Wow. The Spanish must be more Borg-like than the rest of the world. Nowhere else can you get a million people to turn out for anything except sports, unless... Is "protests again the war" Spanish slang for "World Cup Championships"?

Re:Do not underestimate the EU

[DahGhostfacedFiddlah]

The days of the US as the economic superpoer of the wolrd are numbered by just abount any metric you use.

Ah, but the US - she does not use the metric system.

Re:Metric System

[RayBender]

Yeah, and Imperial units also allow for more precise measurement of distance, because a foot is shorter than a metre.

I hear some really clever mathematicians have come up with this cool idea called "decimal notation", though, which lets you use any unit you like to measure things with infinite precision. I wonder if it'll catch on?

Not in the good ol' US of A. Here we use fractions and like 'em. If God thinks Pi=3 then so do we. Real numbers are a work of the Devil, promulgated by the French.

Re:*** marker ***

[Idarubicin]

I think it's more effective to spank someone with a yard stick.

Meter sticks, being 9.3% longer than a yard stick [google.com], are actually the best tool for effecting punishment.

Once again, the metric system is demonstrably superior. Have a nice day. :D