[Info-vax] Taking a break - Open Source on OpenVMS Conference Calls Resume

[seasoned_geek]

On Sunday, July 3, 2022 at 4:20:40 PM UTC-5, John Dallman wrote:
> In article <2ae3f4b0-82ac-4b7a... at googlegroups.com>,
> rol... at logikalsolutions.com (seasoned_geek) wrote: 
> 
> > On Sunday, July 3, 2022 at 9:56:51 AM UTC-5, John Dallman wrote: 
> > > In article <4ae4de33-ba0d-403a... at googlegroups.com>, 
> > > rol... at logikalsolutions.com (seasoned_geek) wrote: 
> > > 
> OK, so a segment of the Android app market is having a fashion for Dart 
> and Flutter. Those work fine on Android and iOS. That doesn't in itself 
> imply a transition to Fuchsia. Do you have any more substantial sources 
> on that than the likes of 
> <https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/is-samsung-looking-to-replace-android-w 
> ith-fuchsia-os>? 

Not that can be linked to or isn't currently protected by NDA. It appears some of their employees have been tweeting things they shouldn't have.
https://www.sammyfans.com/2021/12/22/fuchsia-may-power-future-samsung-devices-replacing-android/

> 
> Samsung is a big enough organisation that they can keep in touch with 
> projects that aren't their definite plans. Google is a large and 
> balkanised organisation: I'm sure there are people within it who would 
> love to replace Android with Fuchsia, but there definitely aren't enough 
> Fuschia resources out there for that process to start. I looked, and 
> there isn't much documentation, no app SDK and no NDK.

Well Android has architectural and security flaws that simply cannot be fixed. In particular it cannot be defended against this.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/18/israeli-spyware-used-to-target-phones-of-journalists-and-activists-investigation-finds.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegasus_(spyware)

I don't know what you're looking for in doc though.

https://fuchsia.dev/fuchsia-src
https://fuchsia.dev/fuchsia-src/development/sdk

> I'm afraid you're a bit behind the times. .NET runs on a lot more 
> platforms these days, but it is not what Microsoft want to push for all 
> development. 

That would be highly likely. I don't follow MS, just have friends that work for various MS entities who can't keep their mouth shut. They know how much I hate Microsoft and all it stands for.

> They've been through a lot of proprietary languages and 
> frameworks in the last decade. I've been in touch with them a lot in the 
> last couple of years about producing software for ARM Windows - they came 
> to us and asked us to do it - and there hasn't been a murmur about 
> anything like this Windows-style desktop for Linux.

Microsoft is a large Balkanized organization that constantly pursues technical and commercial dead ends. It's a heavily siloed company. Malcolm Berko had the best financial rant I've ever read about Microsoft.

https://www.creators.com/read/taking-stock/08/16/america-first-and-microsofts-purchase-of-linkedin

Sadly this world lost him.

I've had friends who worked "at Microsoft" at the same time in the same campus in the same building and neither heard of what the other was working on.

Is Microsoft Automotive group even still around after getting fired by Ford over the debacle that is Sync? That was their one and only customer.


> Visual Studio development tools all run locally. The corporate Office 365 
> I use is installed locally. I think you're over-interpreting their 
> consumer strategy. If they do what you suggest, they lose their biggest 
> allies in corporate IT departments: the staff trained on Microsoft 
> products, who don't understand other operating systems. 
> 

You know, working in the medical device world as I do now, I see a lot of corporations who run their own Windows Update servers. Not one corporate desktop pulls down anything from Microsoft. I've never used the Office 365 product. Does it run any different when you are working via Internet? I've seen companies pay Google for their own "private" Google Docs and gmail. I've seen other companies host the stuff on their own servers. Do you really think Microsoft won't sell a company the size of a Baxter Office 365 for their local network so it can be completely secured by the company?

Managing Microsoft licenses has historically been a nightmare.

https://isg-one.com/articles/managing-microsoft-licenses-the-cost-of-convenience

Just how many people in a corporate office actually understand anything about Microsoft Windows as an operating system? The vast majority I encounter use their corporate installed email, Web browser, Office products (be they Google Docs or something from Microsoft), and possibly sharepoint. That's it. They get to everything from the desktop and have no real knowledge of what is running underneath.

> Microsoft is a very large and severely balkanised organisation. I'm sure 
> there are people within it who would like to do what you suggest, bit it 
> would be commercial suicide for the company. 

Microsoft has committed commercial suicide numerous times. Bill Gates committed enough crimes in the early days to give it a too large cash war chest which is why it can recover from catastrophe after catastrophe.

MS DOS 4.0
Windows ME
Windows 8
Windows Vista
Microsoft Bob
Microsoft Automotive
Zune
Clippy

Remember Windows Phone which involved the purchase of Nokia and forcing them to divest Qt, then a massive write-down. Talk about incompetence! They actually owned Qt but didn't want it competing with their other proprietary products so they made Nokia get rid of it.

https://www.pocket-lint.com/apps/news/microsoft/106694-the-biggest-microsoft-failures-ever

Windows Mobile - not to be confused with Windows Phone

They even failed spectacularly at social networking with MSN some 15 years before Facebook.

https://techlog360.com/failed-microsoft-products/

I had forgotten about WebTV, Passport, and Encarta until I looked at this.
https://lisamerriam.com/microsoft-becoming-a-failure-12-brand-mistakes-with-high-costs/

The one you can never forget about is Microsoft Money. A product sooooo bad the FTC barred them from giving it to Novell so they could buy QuickBooks/Quicken.

The short answer is Microsoft routinely commits suicide. Sadly, it hasn't depleted its cash reserves and gone out of business.

I hear what you are saying. For any other company it would be legitimate. Microsoft never learns from mistakes.

Will the "Windows Desktop for Linux" be the next Windows ME? Maybe. Letting the user pick a Linux distro to install then layering a Microsoft Desktop on it removes an awful lot of legal liability for network breaches, malware, viruses, etc.