____/ The Ghost In The Machine on Wednesday 26 September 2007 01:11 : \____
> In comp.os.linux.advocacy, Roy Schestowitz
> <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> wrote
> on Tue, 25 Sep 2007 20:54:22 +0100
> <3336195.bzN3JGmrqB@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
>> Microsoft?s Internet Atrocities
>>
>> ,----[ Quote ]
>> | Unfortunately, however, Microsoft has lived up to its name as a
>> | poor-quality company when you consider their internet contributions. I
>> | consider Microsoft?s internet-related products as absolute atrocities that
>> | may have set us back more than they?ve pushed us forward.
>> |
>> | [...]
>> |
>> | Internet Explorer x.x
>> |
>> | [...]
>> |
>> | FrontPage
>> |
>> | [...]
>> |
>> | IIS Server
>> |
>> | [...]
>> |
>> | ActiveX
>> `----
>>
>> http://bludice.com/microsofts-internet-atrocities/
>>
>> Microsoft is not interested in improving the Web.
>> It is interested in *owning* it and making cash.
>
> Nothing wrong with that ... as long as it's standard
> and allows competition. Too bad Microsoft fails
> on all three fronts.
>
> [1] It can't own the Web. Assuming "the Web" is the
> collection of web developers, they'll do pretty much
> as they damn well please (and more power to them).
> If Microsoft is lucky, they might buy assistor tools.
> If not, well, there are those of us with a knowledge of
> vi out there still, with XSL and some interesting tricks
> that are done on the user's browser, with very light server
> load. There are also websites such as www.anybrowser.org
> which promote an alternative, standards-based orientation
> towards web design. Linux assists in that effort by allowing
> for multiple browsers to be used simultaneously. Want to
> view that website using Dillo? No problem. Amaya?
> Opera? Kahehakase? Galeon? Epiphany? IE? (Yes, IE
> runs on Linux, with WinE and IES4Linux!) One can even
> cobble up some Java and view a webpage using JEditorPane,
> though I'm not sure what's happened to HotJava, which
> turned cold and froze up long ago.
I know you're merely making a point, but what if the "Web" became merely DNS
and content therein was just a Microsoft binary? What if the Web was just a
set of referrals to some objects that are interpreted by Windows engines?
> [2] It's not standard. IE tries hard but fails in
> numerous areas. At least IE7 got PNG transparency more
> or less right. Too bad IE falls down in various other
> areas, some of them because it can't handle "naked" SVG,
> others because it doesn't process blahblah.xml properly.
Microsoft has recently admitted that poor support for standard was deliberate.
This is not surprising if you read some of Microsoft leaked memos (and
antitrust exhibits).
> [3] IE now allows competition, mostly because it had to,
> not because it wanted to. Mozilla's usage is now up
> to over 20% by a number of accounts.
I still believe that's partly because Microsoft tried to freeze advancement in
Web browser technology. The Web was a threat to Microsoft's desktop apps,
which only ran on Windows. When Microsoft elbowed Netscape (illegally) it sent
its IE developers to the refrigerator (or Maui). That's why competition is
needed. We could have that Ajax and Web 2.0 hype over 5 years ago.
> IE: Yep, it's an atrocity. It's had better days; IE4
> was arguably the best of its era. Too bad the rest of
> the world passed it by long ago.
>
> FrontPage: The blog mysteriously cuts off after "and", but
> it's clear FrontPage was a bad implementation of a good idea:
> making website creation easier.
It was snatched by Microsoft and perverted to generate Windows/Office-centric
markup. 'Larry Qualig', who used to post here (thank goodness that abusive
scum is gone), was among the original developers of FrontPage.
> IIS: A very funny beast, in many respects. I strongly
> suspect it was meant to be a skeleton Christmas Tree ... and
> that's what it's turned into, especially if the ornaments
> are infectious malware install kits.
IIS -- a leader in program downloads. Sadly, many of these downloads (and
installations) occur without the visitor's/user's awareness of desire. He or
she becomes a zombie.
> ActiveX: ActiveX has a long and tortured history. I'm not
> familar with all of it at all, but the mere fact that
> there are acronyms galore: DDE, OLE, COM, DCOM, COM+, ATL,
> RDO, ADO, ... ye gods. How do these all interrelate?
> Thankfully, many of them have been deprecated (RDO in
> particular is no more). Of course, figuring out which
> ones is a trip.
>
> [rest snipped]
No binary set belongs on the Web and timbl never intended for the Web to become
the private turf of some companies and their magical 'extensions'. There are
standards bodies for the Web, so a consortium can ensure everyone advances in
harmony.
--
~~ Best of wishes
Steve Ballmer is even monkier than his moniker suggests
http://Schestowitz.com | Open Prospects | PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
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