Rockin' on without Microsoft

Mr. Nice Guy · August 20, 2003, 08:06

Click here

Way to go Sterling ball! That's the spirit!

MikeH · August 20, 2003, 08:14

Nice.

I think M$ pissed off a lot of companies back then. I'll keep buying on buying Ernie Ball guitar strings.

FrustratedPoet · August 20, 2003, 08:44

Threads with just a link and no decent explanation make baby jesus cry.

Asher · August 20, 2003, 09:02

Sweet, a guitar-stringe maker talking about computers.

It is possible to "rock on" without Microsoft, just like it's possible to live without a car and to not wear underwear, it doesn't necessarily mean it's a good idea. Aside from this, where they're obviously going for the rebellious PR angle which is why they somehow managed an interview with a tech site. Good PR move, I suppose, for a company who makes guitar strings...

MikeH · August 20, 2003, 09:04

He's a business man talking about saving money.

Asher · August 20, 2003, 09:07

The article talks about how he was a software pirate as a business, I really don't think he's in any position to be talking about running a business.

He's just bitter that his ass got busted with proprietary software, and now he's stuck with open source.

Clearly he doesn't think the open source software is better, just not MS. Which fits the mindset of so many misguided people.

Quote:

Humiliated by the experience, Ball told his IT department he wanted Microsoft products out of his business within six months. "I said, 'I don't care if we have to buy 10,000 abacuses,'"

Harovan · August 20, 2003, 09:16

Quote:

Originally posted by Asher
Sweet, a guitar-stringe maker talking about computers.

It is possible to "rock on" without Microsoft, just like it's possible to live without a car and to not wear underwear, it doesn't necessarily mean it's a good idea. Aside from this, where they're obviously going for the rebellious PR angle which is why they somehow managed an interview with a tech site. Good PR move, I suppose, for a company who makes guitar strings...

At least his products won't be eaten by worms.

FrustratedPoet · August 20, 2003, 09:20

The abacuses might be, though, so I'm not too sure he's up on the deal.

Asher · August 20, 2003, 09:21

Quote:

Originally posted by Sir Ralph
At least his products won't be eaten by worms.

FrustratedPoet · August 20, 2003, 09:22

Oh, and [insert joke about Apple's being eaten by worms here].

MikeH · August 20, 2003, 09:24

Quote:

Originally posted by Asher
The article talks about how he was a software pirate as a business, I really don't think he's in any position to be talking about running a business.

Nah, they just had a few unlicenced copies, that's normally down to not keeping track of what you have licences for or what you've got installed. Almost all companies don't keep track of licences properly. I reckon most companies would fail an audit. He wasn't bothered about that anyway I don't think, I think it was them putting him on TV that was the problem.

You are right that that's not a justifiable business reason to change but it seems from the article that it's saved them money.

We run Linux and Windows machines here depending on what they are for. File server is windows based, web servers etc are Linux.

Harovan · August 20, 2003, 09:25

Quote:

Thanks for the heads up, Microserf, but he doesn't make Linux. He makes guitar strings. Do they teach reading in Redmond?

Asher · August 20, 2003, 09:59

Quote:

Originally posted by Sir Ralph
Thanks for the heads up, Microserf, but he doesn't make Linux. He makes guitar strings. Do they teach reading in Redmond?

I'm sure they do, but look closely at what you wrote and the context of this thread.

I thought you meant "his products" as in the open source ones he was talking about that he used...

I didn't realize your post was a joke, simply because it wasn't even close to being funny.

Asher · August 20, 2003, 10:01

Quote:

Originally posted by MikeH
Nah, they just had a few unlicenced copies, that's normally down to not keeping track of what you have licences for or what you've got installed.

How that happens is you copy CDs and install Windows with the same key on more than one. That's pretty intentional IMO...

They aren't big enough to quality for a corporate licensing scheme.

MikeH · August 20, 2003, 10:06

You typically only get one set of CDs no matter how many licences you buy. We get the M$ office software pack thingy and we just get a box of disks every so often even though it comes with multiple desktop/server/office licences.

MikeH · August 20, 2003, 10:07

You can just phone up and buy more licences without getting more disks as well.

Harovan · August 20, 2003, 10:17

Quote:

Originally posted by Asher
I'm sure they do, but look closely at what you wrote and the context of this thread.

I thought you meant "his products" as in the open source ones he was talking about that he used...

I didn't realize your post was a joke, simply because it wasn't even close to being funny.

It couldn't be funny, because my monthly supply of humor was exhausted in the past week, when I helped to clean the computer of a friend of my wife. Do you know what it means to make a diagnose, a clean up and patching of a XP Home at 700 km distance through the phone line with a woman at the other side, who doesn't even have a clue what a backslash is and who's computer keeps crashing every 2 or 3 minutes? It took several hours on 3 evenings. The first time it failed, because in the five minutes between cleaning up and patching she succeeded to catch that bloody thing a second time, and that only because all patch attempts had failed before due to the frequent crashes

I have sworn, when ever I get those bastards who wrote this worm and this operating system in my hands, they won't get away alive.

FrustratedPoet · August 20, 2003, 10:21

Couldn't you have downloaded the patch yourself and mailed it to her on a CD? Or does it not work like that? (only asking in case I have a friend with a similar problem at some point)

Harovan · August 20, 2003, 10:31

Quote:

Originally posted by FrustratedPoet
Couldn't you have downloaded the patch yourself and mailed it to her on a CD? Or does it not work like that? (only asking in case I have a friend with a similar problem at some point)

That's what I did on the 2nd evening, after we failed in a 2 hour session the day before to download it.

<Label x>
... guiding her to the website with the cleaner ...
"Do you see that link?"
"What's a link?"
"That blue underlined text, that says FixBlast.exe."
"No."
"Look, it must be there! It's near the bottom of the page."
"No, it isn't there."
"You may have to scroll down to see it."
"Ah yes, now I have it."
"Right click it with your mouse and choose "Save target as..."
"Ok I did."
"Save it to your desktop." (To have her easier find it later)
"Where's the desktop?"
"Press that little folder icon with the green arrow up, until it changes its color to grey"
"Ah, I see the icon... too late

, it's shutting down again..."
*curses*, go to Label x.

Have this several times in a row and watch yourself becoming a fury.

I sent it per email, though, not per CD, that'd be lasted longer. But it runs several minutes. Too much for those frequent crashes.

Kuciwalker · August 20, 2003, 11:04

Quote:

Sterling Ball, a jovial, plain-talking businessman, is CEO of Ernie Ball, the world's leading maker of premium guitar strings endorsed by generations of artists ranging from the likes of Eric Clapton to the dudes from Metallica

Wow, I'll listen to him about what software I use. Whew! A GUITAR-STRING MAKER! What a computer whiz!

Asher · August 20, 2003, 13:10

Quote:

Originally posted by Sir Ralph
It couldn't be funny, because my monthly supply of humor was exhausted in the past week, when I helped to clean the computer of a friend of my wife. Do you know what it means to make a diagnose, a clean up and patching of a XP Home at 700 km distance through the phone line with a woman at the other side, who doesn't even have a clue what a backslash is and who's computer keeps crashing every 2 or 3 minutes?

Did it occur to you to use the Remote Desktop feature?

XP Home ships with a cut-down version of it, where they can "request help from someone" (ie, you) and it lets you remotely access their computer.

Ari Rahikkala · August 20, 2003, 13:38

Thank you, BSA, thank you, thank you

! Without you open-source wouldn't be half as popular as it is now...

yavoon · August 20, 2003, 14:32

hi asher! didnt expect to see u here!

Asher · August 20, 2003, 14:36

hi yavoon how r u
thanx u for ur help full contribooshun tuh the thread

Harovan · August 20, 2003, 14:42

Quote:

Originally posted by Asher
Did it occur to you to use the Remote Desktop feature?

XP Home ships with a cut-down version of it, where they can "request help from someone" (ie, you) and it lets you remotely access their computer.

Did it occur to you to realize, that her computer crashed every few minutes and I would need a new "access token" (or however these things are called, I forgot) every time?

Asher · August 20, 2003, 14:44

Quote:

Originally posted by Sir Ralph
Did it occur to you to realize, that her computer crashed every few minutes and I would need a new "access token" (or however these things are called, I forgot) every time?

It only takes a second to run fixblast.exe, then it doesn't crash anymore. Hooray!

Harovan · August 20, 2003, 14:51

Fixblast itself ran over 15 minutes on her computer (hell knows why, it ran five on mine when I tested) and took a while before it actually succeeded its work before the computer shut down again. And the true pain was not to run it, but to make her get it.

Oh, and by the way, even if I could monitor what she does (and that's all the XP Home version allows), I couldn't help her myself, because I don't gain control over her PC. A well thought feature, Microsoft. You have to get XP Pro (designed for those who know what they're doing) to get full help. XP Home (designed for the computer illiterate) leaves you in the rain.

Asher · August 20, 2003, 15:06

XP Pro's remote desktop is geared for people like me, to log in remotely and do stuff, not for tech support.

Harovan · August 20, 2003, 15:20

The best in the whole story (or should I say nightmare) was, that after the second evening we thought we were rid of it. Not so. The few minutes to guide her to the MS update page (which was painfully slow that day) and make her patch her computer were enough for her to catch that thing a second time. That made up the third evening session for me. Thankfully this time she already had FixBlast and knew how to run it. We had tried to patch the PC before the cleaning, but two download attempts had failed, because the site was slow and her computer crashed before the download was complete.

I set up that computer myself for her. It was cheap (she couldn't afford more) and shipped with XP Home. I thought for a moment to format it and install a Woody with Gnome and Mozilla on it. It wouldn't have made a big difference to teach her the basics of Windows or Gnome. And the tech support would have been much better. I should have done it!

Whaleboy · August 20, 2003, 15:24

Ummm, Asher, those are easily countered viruses