Article

2007-04-05 Science & Technology

EU~~SSR~~ orders MS to hand over ~~bugs~~ code; Boeing next?

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Posted by Walter Duranty 2007-04-05 00:00|| || Front Page|| [6 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Although they won't do it, it would be interesting if Microsoft were to tell the EU that under those conditions, Windows software will be withdrawn from the European market. The subsequent screaming might even penetrate the walls of ivory towers in Brussels.

Posted by RWV 2007-04-05 00:37|| 2007-04-05 00:37|| Front Page Top

#2 I'm no MS fan, but legal theft is still theft. It would be cool if Gates reply consisted of a copy of "The Little Red Hen."

Posted by PBMcL 2007-04-05 01:12|| 2007-04-05 01:12|| Front Page Top

#3 PBMcL, xactly my sentiment... coming from a Linux user.

Posted by twobyfour 2007-04-05 01:26|| 2007-04-05 01:26|| Front Page Top

#4 Obfuscated Code is the proper reply

Obfuscated code is source code that is (usually intentionally) very hard to read and understand. Some languages are more prone to obfuscation than others. C, C++ and Perl are most often cited as easily obfuscatable languages. Macro preprocessors are often used to create hard to read code by masking the standard language syntax and grammar from the main body of code. The term shrouded code has also been used.

There are also programs known as obfuscators that may operate on source code, object code, or both, for the purpose of deterring reverse engineering.

Posted by 3dc 2007-04-05 03:18|| 2007-04-05 03:18|| Front Page Top

#5 an example of obfuscated code:

#include
main(t,_,a)char *a;{return!0 main(-86,0,a+1)+a)):1,t<_?main(t+1,_,a):3,main(-94,-27+t,a)&&t==2?_<13?
main(2,_+1,"%s %d %d
"):9:16:t<0?t<-72?main(_,t,
"@n'+,#'/*{}w+/w#cdnr/+,{}r/*de}+,/*{*+,/w{%+,/w#q#n+,/#{l,+,/n{n+,/+#n+,/#
;#q#n+,/+k#;*+,/'r :'d*'3,}{w+K w'K:'+}e#';dq#'l
q#'+d'K#!/+k#;q#'r}eKK#}w'r}eKK{nl]'/#;#q#n'){)#}w'){){nl]'/+#n';d}rw' i;#
){nl]!/n{n#'; r{#w'r nc{nl]'/#{l,+'K {rw' iK{;[{nl]'/w#q#n'wk nw'
iwk{KK{nl]!/w{%'l##w#' i; :{nl]'/*{q#'ld;r'}{nlwb!/*de}'c
;;{nl'-{}rw]'/+,}##'*}#nc,',#nw]'/+kd'+e}+;#'rdq#w! nr'/ ') }+}{rl#'{n' ')#
}'+}##(!!/")
:t<-50?_==*a?putchar(31[a]):main(-65,_,a+1):main((*a=='/')+t,_,a+1)
:0 "!ek;dc i@bK'(q)-[w]*%n+r3#l,{}:
uwloca-O;m .vpbks,fxntdCeghiry"),a+1);}

Posted by 3dc 2007-04-05 03:20|| 2007-04-05 03:20|| Front Page Top

#6 regarding the above code...

Although unintelligible at first glance, it is a legal C program which when compiled and run will generate the 12 verses of The 12 Days of Christmas. It actually contains all the strings required for the poem in an encoded form inlined in the code. The code then iterates through the 12 days displaying what it needs to.

// Although in the above display different line breaks likely wreck it.

Posted by 3dc 2007-04-05 03:25|| 2007-04-05 03:25|| Front Page Top

#7 After that is said the agreement would finally give WINE a real chance of working.

WineHQ.org

Posted by 3dc 2007-04-05 03:30|| 2007-04-05 03:30|| Front Page Top

#8 Yeah, because poor, picked-upon Microsoft needs help.

Bullshit. Microsoft has plagued the market for decades with their monopolistic tactics and their shoddy software. Now, someone is finally calling them out on it, and now they have to release source, and MS doesn't like it one bit. Tough.

Posted by gromky 2007-04-05 05:38|| 2007-04-05 05:38|| Front Page Top

#9 I'm actually kinda torn about this.

Microsoft has the absolute right to sell binaries only of their product and they have earned the right to the market share they have now. AT the moment Vitsa is apparently going nowhere and is unlikely to soon.

We may eb happy that Bill Gates is getting gigged by the Euros but from a business standpoint, this action is confiscatory because MS's business model disallows open source code. It's not funny when a government any government gives itself the right to destroy a business because it is too successful. It's ugly and its a bad precedent.

Now, as to Boeing; they have actually been down this road. Our very our national fastener standards were derived from Boeing work in the forties and fifties. It made Boeing stronger and it made the nation stronger. WHen IBM did their PC thing, they moved on.

So, I am torn about this. Frankly I think it is a Bad Thing™ that the EU is going to drive MS out of business.

Posted by badanov 2007-04-05 07:02|| http://www.freefirezone.org]">[http://www.freefirezone.org] 2007-04-05 07:02|| Front Page Top

#10 Please ...

There's ample precedent - Microsoft signed a deal back in 2003 that allowed China access to Windows source code. That was the price Bill Gates was willing to pay for selling MS products in the PRC.

PRC-Microsoft Windows Source Code Deal

Posted by mrp 2007-04-05 07:23|| 2007-04-05 07:23|| Front Page Top

#11 Grrrrr. I posted the article. I dunno what happened to the cookie.

Posted by Jackal">Jackal 2007-04-05 08:59|| http://home.earthlink.net/~sleepyjackal/index.html]">[http://home.earthlink.net/~sleepyjackal/index.html] 2007-04-05 08:59|| Front Page Top

#12 they have earned the right to the market share they have now.

Nope, they have used illegal monopoly tactics to get the market share they have now.

Posted by gromky 2007-04-05 09:15|| 2007-04-05 09:15|| Front Page Top

#13 Gromky,

There is another side to the MS coin you are posting.

I hate to say it, but without the 90% installed base that MS has given us with Windows, we still, as IT, would be stuck in the dark ages of support with major interoperability issues forcing case by case / unique issue everytime.

I remember IT before dos/windows (and during windows' evolution, lol). Oh sure we had DLL hell for a while there, but at least the machines could talk to each other - and not just at a stack level, but useful applications.

Yes MS has been tough, predatory, etc, but they've also acted as a catalyst for the IT industry (beyond mainframe cores in basements).

Yes there is linux and what not, which are important, but in reality we've gained and paid for MS dominace.

I for one do appreciate the other side of the coin, understand your side of it, but am happy with the stabilization of the deskside that windows has brought. I'm not talking bugs here, but market penetration and the known factor of windows being everywhere ... it drives development by reducing risk of compatibility and therefore risk of development. Meaning more developers, more software, etc.

Both sides of this coin exist with MS and it is important to recognize the benefit MS as brought as well as the pain.

Posted by bombay">bombay 2007-04-05 09:29|| 2007-04-05 09:29|| Front Page Top

#14 Is this a red on red fight?

If so pass the popcorn.

Posted by Procopius2k 2007-04-05 09:31|| 2007-04-05 09:31|| Front Page Top

#15 To speak honestly as a computer engineer and a developer. For tough applications MS never gives one enough information to really debug and make it stable.

For ruggedness and reliability I would never want to put M$S in a zone (such as combat) where you need a trusted machine. Why? Well for one thing you never know when it's going to throw a temper tantrum and decide it will not run unless some license is made clear or it has a chance to talk to mama in Redmond. (put a sniffer on your pc's connection some time. It calls mama a lot.)

I can see or ships or such in a major battle and losing at a critical moment because some stupid little box decides it needs you to talk to Redmond about some license renewal.

In any complicated and dangerous environment I can't trust M$S. That said I have no problem with folks using in in non-mission critical roles as long as they keep their anti-virus software uptodate. (At games it excels)

Posted by 3dc 2007-04-05 11:07|| 2007-04-05 11:07|| Front Page Top

#16 Most Rantburgers have been along on the ride from our living on a Windows server with code in ASP, and witnessed the convolutions we went through before finally throwing up our hands and moving to Linux/PHP.

I don't know about y'all, but I'm much happier. Except for occasional attacks by Chinamen, we've been doing pretty good for the past year. And no data loss, which was something I always had to look out for on Windows - the occasional records lost without explanation.

Posted by Fred 2007-04-05 11:57|| 2007-04-05 11:57|| Front Page Top

#17 While I'm no fan of Microsoft, I'd still like to know if they've ever made a single penny from their China venture. Does anyone have the stats on that? I've heard that they've yet to turn a dime due to theft and piracy.

I anticipate much of the same from the EU. Their "government knows best" structure is pure poison to private entreprise. The EU should not be trusted with a fountain pen, much less source code.

Posted by Zenster">Zenster 2007-04-05 15:27|| 2007-04-05 15:27|| Front Page Top

#18 Let me indulge a fantasy.
Bill Gates may not know any hackers, but he knows people who do. How about arranging for some talented people to take a look at EUro leadership's personal finances?

Posted by gromgoru 2007-04-05 17:55|| 2007-04-05 17:55|| Front Page Top

#19 > Is this a red on red fight?

Yes, exactly. Though MS is about 2% more evil than the EU.

Posted by DMFD 2007-04-05 20:25|| 2007-04-05 20:25|| Front Page Top

23:55 OldSpook
23:55 JosephMendiola
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23:36 3dc
23:34 3dc
23:30 JosephMendiola
23:21 OldSpook
23:18 Cromert
23:18 OldSpook
23:13 WTF
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23:00 OldSpook
22:54 Barbara Skolaut
22:52 Mark Espinola
22:50 Old Patriot
22:39 3dc
22:38 3dc
22:37 newc
22:37 DMFD
22:24 Frank G
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21:57 The Ghost of Hideki Tojo