beware of the updates you install

don't

their

Not really a liar, but not looking at it the same way. Linux support does seem to expect some contribution to the solution from the user, unlike the MS world where they cannot trust the user to plug in the stuff. More a different world view than a comparable situation. Such is FOSS vs M$ viewpoint.

?-)

There is some truth in that, however i use a windows port of Irfanview in the workplace on a regular basis.

YMMV

?-)

makers to

a lot

with

Incorrect. I personally got hit with a M$ windows version that refused to run on top of DRDOS. And the practice continues until today. M$ actually lost the lawsuit that time because they were too obvious.

?-)

Me too as a simple photo viewer, hardly the same thing though. And was Irfanview originally ported from Linux to Windows, or vice versa?

Trevor.

On 17 Dec 2013, "Trevor" wrote in rec.audio.pro:

Irfanview is only a Windows program. There is no native Linux port.

} } Irfanview is only a Windows program. There is no native Linux port.

So no relevence whatsoever to the dicussion then! There are decent viewers for Linux of course, but still no decent editors IMO, ony Gimpy ones.

Trevor.

It's not Microsoft that makes the choice -- it's the manufacturer of the device that needs a driver. It's annoying to own a product you're fond of, then discover there's no driver for a new operating system.

If you're going to criticize Microsoft on this point, it should be for its failure to allow serial devices * to work with USB ports. Oddly, the only support Microsoft is allowing parallel printers to connect to USB. It requires a $15 adapter, and works nicely.

• This is assuming the driver will run properly under the new OS.

Shouldn't /any/ device simply plug in and work, regardless of the expertise of the user? The computer industry has a long way to go on this.

What's wrong with making money? Profit should be a strong spur to producing the best-possible product. Of course, that assumes you /want/ to produce the best-possible product.

Windows no longer runs on top of DOS. So how does it still occur?

By the way, I misstated. Microsoft did not require computer makers to put DOS on all their machines. Rather, they had to pay the licensing fee for every machine, whether or not it had DOS on it.

Let's not forget that Apple has a monopoly on its hardware and OS.

Profit actually forces companies to cut corners, advertise more and apply the monopolistic pressures described upstream, rather than put more resources actually into a product.

What is the Windows version of Gparted?

Apple is a closed garden, complete with fashion police, and a dress code. They can have their little party. Android is taking over.

Other than honesty and conscientiousness, how does /not/ making money encourage someone to produce high-quality open-source software?

I used to use Partition Manager. It was bit klunky, but it worked.

Whoops. Partition Magic.

"Partition Magic allows you to create, resize and merge partitions on your hard drive without destroying data.

Last update 3 Nov. 2011 Licence Free to try | $69.95

OS Support Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows 8

Downloads Total: 4,924,031 | Last week: 11,853

Ranking #1 in HardDisk Tools"

$70?

For the fun of it? To mock Microsoft and Apple? Because they are true artists? Most of them take donations; some are underwritten.

I like the free software because I enjoy messing with computers and do not want to beg over the phone for a new 20 digit code every time I brick one and have to start over.

Partly true -- stupid companies cut corners. Smart companies have a longer horizon; innovative companies with something truly worthwhile can carve out a niche serving customers and make money, often by a more thoughtful balance of re-investment and profit.

Profit motive, properly applied, is a remarkable engine. And, through competition, faults can be self-correcting -- such as stupid companies going out of business (assuming they are allowed to die; too often now the state floats enterprises that perhaps ought not continue).

Still, the beast is imperfect and sometimes messy. However, far _less_ perfect and much more messy are "profitless" systems where you hope your fellow man is doing something because s/he thinks well of you, or the state has commanded people to do something (hopefully good).

Problem is, when you overlay innate human avarice and greed on those profitless systems, the despair is deeper and the corrections much harder to make.

Frank Mobile Audio

"Partition Magic allows you to create, resize and merge partitions on your hard drive without destroying data.

$70?

I paid $50 or so for my copy 15 years ago. When per-byte hard-drive capacity was far more expensive, that was a reasonable price.

Actually I was thinking of public corporations and their fiduciary duty to maximize profits, and the executive bonus structure that rewards doing unhealthy (long term) things to the business. The idea behind free software is that it should be free to the end user, not that computer companies shouldn't pay for developing OS, Utilities, protocols, etc. (which already happens). Smart companies finance pure research.

New to me, I have had three serial somethings on usb-things on cash register computers.

Kind regards

Peter Larsen