back to article Rampaging gnu crashes Microsoft Store, hands out literature

Activists representing the Free Software Foundation disrupted an event at the Microsoft retail store in Boston, Massachusetts on Thursday, urging passers-by to shun the software giant's Windows 8 operating system in favor of free software alternatives. The demonstrators, wearing Santa Claus and elf hats in the spirit of the …

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  1. Dana W
    Thumb Up

    This is made of pure win!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I'm surprised they didn't just shoot the Gnu, it is America after all?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Joke

        You must remember when talking about America....

        That strict gnu control is unconstitutional!!

        /snare drum

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        I'm surprised they didn't just shoot the Gnu, it is America after all?

        They only shoot children in 'merica

        1. 404
          Mushroom

          You sir, are an asshole.

          >:(

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            You sir, are an asshole.

            Shooting the messenger? You must be a 'merican.

            I've never shot anyone. I've never wanted to shoot anyone. I've never carried a gun. Yet I'm an "asshole". A violence crazed trigger happy country culture, in the aftermath of a hideous massacre, responds with a big push to ARM TEACHERS!... and I'm the one with poor taste/judgement? Splendid idea! More guns! No more quietly slipping off to have an old fashioned nervous breakdown for Miss Yankski when the unruly biology class finally causes her to "snap". No! Out with the class Uzi and a hail of bullets. It's the American way.

            If you find slaughtering children distasteful in some way, then perhaps a worthwhile thing to do would be DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT?

            Wake up! Get a grip on yourselves and sort your country out!... How many of these things are you going to allow to happen before you DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT?...

            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_attacks_related_to_primary_schools

            1. 404
              FAIL

              @AC 13:45

              You inject uneducated political opinion into an unrelated IT subject - you sir, are an asshole and a troll.

              Good Day.

              1. LarsG
                Meh

                Re: @404

                AC 13:45 opinions are valid in the context of the previous comments that have been made, he has not made a political statement and I doubt that he is uneducated.

                'On 13 March 1996, unemployed former shopkeeper[2] Thomas Hamilton (born Thomas Watt, Jr. 10 May 1952) walked into Dunblane Primary School Scotland armed with two 9 mm Browning HP pistols and two Smith & Wesson M19 .357 Magnum revolvers, all legally held.[2][3] He was carrying 743 cartridges, and fired his weapons 109 times.[4][5] The subsequent police investigation revealed that Hamilton had loaded the magazines for his Browning with an alternating combination of full-metal-jacket and hollow-point ammunition.' Wikipedia.

                He killed 16 young children then himself.

                The UK Government banned pistols outright and brought in stricter controls on all other firearms. Now to even own a shotgun you have to show that the weapon is kept securely, that you have a legitimate use for it, a police officer will visit your home, you will be checked for suitability, your doctor may be asked about you, your family will be interviewed and even your neighbours may be asked about you.

                The NRA response to the similar incident in Newtown is to put armed guards into schools and arm teachers. Who will check the checkers?

                That is a statement of fact. While it is impossible to eliminate every risk removing the general availability of weapons it helps, however to British eyes the response beggars belief and reinforces our view of the stereotypical American. To call someone an 'Asshole' for stating his views shows a lack of understanding and education on your part.

                1. Anonymous Coward
                  Anonymous Coward

                  Re: @404

                  excuse me but why the fuck are we talking about this? I came on to see how some knobhead Yanks tried to ruin micro¢ofts day..again... and all I got were knobhead Yanks.

            2. Joe Montana
              FAIL

              China

              Your wikipedia page shows that at least since 2010, China has had more attacks against schools than the US, and yet guns are illegal in China...

              It's not guns that kill people, it's not culture that kills people, it's crazy lunatics who kill people and illegal or not they will still be able to acquire guns... And if not guns, they will use swords, knives, or even home made explosives and achieve much the same result.

              Make guns illegal and only criminals will have guns.

              1. Anonymous Coward
                Anonymous Coward

                @Joe Montana

                Point taken Joe, but I can kill a lot quicker with 1000 rounds and a couple of assault rifles, just today some guy in the US killed 3 people in a car after a dispute over parking. You could lock the doors to a knifeman and you have a chance to run away.

                Putting a knife in someone is very personal very up close, using a firearm is more detached. Also the death tally is usually a lot lower. Still putting armed guards in every school, college, pre-school, nursery in the US would cost at the latest estimate 10 billion dollars. Something the US does not have in the bank.

                That's beside the point, the original post was about a Gnu protest in a Microsoft Store (shop in the UK in case you are confused by the terminology). Last week they tasered a woman in an Apple shop, who knows next week they might use a mini gun, that's the stereotypical impression we have of the US and its not far off.

              2. RICHTO
                Mushroom

                Re: China

                China has rather a lot more schools than the USA, and a much bigger population. Yet the USA still manages more deaths via gunshots.

                It IS guns that kill people. Easy access to guns means a lot more people will die than would otherwise be the case - the USA being a very clear example of this: Circa 11,000 deaths a year through guns in the USA versus circa 300 in the UK.....All of those other offensive weapons are also illegal or at least restricted in most civilised countries...Yes the determined criminals will still be able to get weapons, but your average teenager or lunatic with a grudge won't...

                1. Field Commander A9
                  FAIL

                  Re: China

                  It IS guns that killed people, not Adolf Hitler.

            3. Goat Jam
              Childcatcher

              Won't somebody think of the children?

              "A violence crazed trigger happy country culture"

              USA 2010:

              Death toll due to road accidents: ~$33K

              Death toll due to firearms: ~13K

              I'd be banning cars before firearms if I wanted to save lives.

              1. Goat Jam
                Facepalm

                Re: Won't somebody think of the children?

                Sorry, got the firearms death number wrong, it should be ~9K (8,775) the 13K figure is for total homicides.

              2. Captain Scarlet Silver badge

                Re: Won't somebody think of the children?

                You make a good argument, ban everyone from driving and killing people

                1. Field Commander A9
                  Thumb Up

                  Re: Won't somebody think of the children?

                  Autonomous car FTW!

              3. Anonymous Coward
                Anonymous Coward

                Re: Won't somebody think of the children?

                Goat Jam,

                Laudable intention I'm sure, but if you banned the general population from having cars, how would Americans get around?

                Meanwhile, ~10000 of your countrymen being killed every year by people with guns is OK is it?

                David W.,

                There are already Governors drawing up state legislation. Lots of support in Senate and Congress I believe too. Not everyone in the US is a lunatic of course, but you do seem to allow them an extraordinary amount of influence. Personally I find the idea of anyone seizing recent events as a marketing opportunity for firearms disgusting. Lots of such people seem to manage to be elected over there.

                1. Goat Jam
                  Big Brother

                  Re: Won't somebody think of the children?

                  "10000 of your countrymen being killed every year by people"

                  They are not my countrymen as I am not an American, but thanks for caring.

                  Oh and btw, murders happen in countries where guns are effectively banned, often using those very banned guns in fact.

                  In my country the populace are a docile, authority dependent mob of sheep. We also have strict gun laws. If people in my country were ever put in a position where they had to protect themselves from their own government then 99% of them would pussy out and let the government trample right over them while they begged for leniency.

                  It would be good for some of "my countrymen" to learn how to safely handle a weapon, you never know when they might need to. And with the communist rabble we currently have in power that day might come sooner than they might expect.

                  The downvote button is the red one over there, go at it leftards -->

                  1. Anonymous Coward
                    Anonymous Coward

                    Re: Won't somebody think of the children?

                    "If people in my country were ever put in a position where they had to protect themselves from their own government ..."

                    If people in my (USA) country were ever put in a position where they had to protect themselves from their own government, they'd still be totally screwed, because a couple of Bushmasters and a suburban garage full of ammo isn't going to do much good against network, water, and power cutoffs, helicopter gunships, and tens of thousands of highly-trained troops with body armor, UAVs, ground-based robots, guns that can shoot around corners, real-time reconnaissance, cruise missiles that can fly through city streets and hit you in the eyeball, and main battle tanks that can't tell the difference between a pothole and a hand grenade.

                    About the only use I can see firearms providing citizens in the event of an armed conflict with the central government is making fellow-citizen soldiers reluctant to engage; suppression via threat is one thing, but being forced to actually kill your neighbors is a tougher pill to swallow. That said, unfortunately for the gun advocate among us, another plus the US military has working for it is morale and effective chain-of-command. Distasteful or not, soldiers know damn well what they signed up for and whose orders to follow.

                    Regardless, it's doubtful it would come to that; if there's anything someone who casts such a jaundiced eye at government should know, it's that they're far too subtle to use bullets when suggestions will do just fine. If it comes down to guns, the citizens have already lost, and the people with the guns probably won't realize until it's too late that there's even anything wrong.

                    Defense against the state may have been a compelling argument in 1800; these days, the battles will be fought on different fields. And even in the unlikely event of a scenario allowing for direct bloodshed, the pea-shooters you get from the local gun show aren't going to do jack shit against the equipment and training of the US Armed Forces.

                    It's kind of funny - most heavily pro-gun people are also heavily anti-central-government and... bizarrely... heavily pro-military. Which, for those of you who are wondering, is *run by the central government*. Hard to believe, I know. But anyway, I find it odd that people who have so much respect for the military (which I do share) think that they could hide in the shrubs with a couple of low-rent semi-autos and take on a squad of Marines. Sorry, guys, those guns aren't going to do you much good - you're going to be playing harps before you get the chance to squeeze the trigger.

            4. Anonymous Coward
              FAIL

              @AC 13:45

              "I've never shot anyone. I've never wanted to shoot anyone. I've never carried a gun. Yet I'm an "asshole". A violence crazed trigger happy country culture, in the aftermath of a hideous massacre, responds with a big push to ARM TEACHERS!..."

              A 'big push to arm teachers'? The NRA is the only major organization to officially take such a stance - and even the majority of the NRA's members oppose it! The NRA position has, in fact, resulted in nearly universal condemnation - but I guess you chose to ignore that.

              Let me give you some numbers: The NRA has about 4.3 million members. The United States has 311 million citizens.

              For those of you keeping track, that's about 1.3% of the population - which is less than the 1.9% of Britons who voted for the BNP in the 2010 general election.

              And, as I said before, most - if not a vast majority - NRA members don't support the organization's asinine position on guns in schools.

              I fail to see how a position taken by an organization representing 1.3% of US citizens, which isn't even supported by most of those 1.3%, qualifies as a 'big push'. Perhaps you'd like to explain your reasoning?

              Either way, if you're comfortable writing off everyone in the US as violence-crazed and trigger happy based on the outlandish position of a minority of the NRA, surely you wouldn't object to my using the BNP's positions to describe all Britons? So, how about this - you're thugs and fascists who have a homophobic, xenophobic culture in which people think that gay people should go back in the closet and that black kids will most likely grow up to be muggers.

              Sound fair? No? Totally unrepresentative of the country, and it's absurd to judge everyone in the country based on a fringe organization?

              Couldn't have said it better myself.

      3. Fatman

        RE: I'm surprised they didn't just shoot the Gnu, it is America after all?

        Or just do like that rotten to the core fruity company did to some Chinese woman who wanted to buy some iFones - taze her.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "This is made of pure win!"

      And your comment was made of pure yawn, as is this very reply of mine.

      *yawn*

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Dork central. Non event, and no one cared or noticed. And the protestors have now returned to their local Games Workshop store....

  2. Steven Raith

    *bangs head against desk*

    Yay, way to raise a mature, intelligent argument.

    *carries on banging away*

    1. Jamie Jones Silver badge
      FAIL

      Re: *bangs head against desk*

      Exactly my thoughts too.

      This may be 'full of win', but if so, it's Microsoft who have won.

      The PR they could get from this is priceless.... "Would you trust your important work to something written by a bunch of protesters who stormed our store?" etc.

      1. Ole Juul

        Re: *bangs head against desk*

        Would you trust your important work to something written by a bunch of protesters who stormed our store?

        You're probably right that many think like that, but these days there are likely some people who don't necessarily think that the protesters are the coders, and who could even understand the intended message.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Would you trust your important work ...

          Would I trust my important work to something written by Microsoft? OMG

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Windows

            @AC

            "Would I trust my important work to something written by Microsoft?"

            I don't see why not, just do make sure its not a v1.0 product, otherwise chances are high you'll end up screwed.

            1. eulampios
              Linux

              @ShelLuser

              Since "Trust but verify" is not applicable, "Can't verify, so won't trust" should be used instead.

        2. Neil T
          Thumb Down

          Re: *bangs head against desk*

          Yeah, gotta say, to me this protest is a dick move. You want to promote your software? Run your own event. Don't gatecrash a competitor's. And make no mistake, the FSF is a competitor of Microsoft's. If Pepsi crashed a Coke event, they'd get their asses sued. Just because your product is free (and therefore it's not worth suing you) does not give you license to behave like a child.

      2. Anonymous C0ward
        Windows

        Re: *bangs head against desk*

        >Would you trust your important work to something written by a bunch of protesters who stormed our store?

        Would you trust your important work to someone who dances about on stage screaming like an idiot, looking like he is in serious need of a shower?

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          "serious need of a shower"

          "Would you trust your important work to someone who dances about on stage screaming like an idiot, looking like he is in serious need of a shower?"

          Stallman can't shower, because he has things living in his beard. That the things that are living there are mostly insects is NOT RELEVANT.

    2. Adrian 4
      Gimp

      Re: *bangs head against desk*

      Yes, we all know that corporate buyers prefer a calm, mature, professional approach.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvsboPUjrGc

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        @Adrian

        That movie always reminds me... If MS (or Ballmer for that matter) should uberly fail at one time he can always consider a carreer as a manager for a "professional" wrestler ;-)

        I can see him now on Raw or Smackdown :P

  3. Magani
    Coat

    Missing headline?

    That was the end of the gnus.

    I'm here all week....

  4. John P
    Stop

    "Microsoft's business model is predicated on these handcuffs" - If they're so bothered about handcuffs, why aren't they pulling this stunt outside Apple stores, Apple's ecosystem is the most locked-down environment in existence. They're just bitter about UEFI and/or looking for a new excuse to bash M$.

    1. ShadowedOne
      WTF?

      It might have something to do with Microsoft's domination of the desktop market, that's just a shot in the dark though...

      1. Mark .

        You're right, Apple's OSs are minor players compare to Windows on desktop, or Android on mobile, so in that sense MS are the better target.

        *However* I think there is a problem that it becomes hard to criticise MS, for what Apple have got away with doing - or even praised for doing. On top of that, they unfairly get vast amounts of hype and positive biased media coverage. MS can just say they're only doing similar things, and to a _lesser_ extent, than Apple do with IOS. (Sure yes, there's OS X, but most people don't care about that, that's not what gives Apple their hype.)

        So I do think criticism should be targetted at Apple, in response to all the hype they get for IOS.

        And even if one is using OS X, that's still giving money to Apple, to support their IOS development. And it's not just about locked-down IOS - there's the point of them attempting to destroy the most successful open source operating system, using software and design patents in the courts.

    2. E Haines

      The reason they're not protesting in Apple stores is because they recognize that the fact is Microsoft has become more locked down than Apple. OS X software can be installed from any source without restriction (if you don't want the OS harping on you about unsigned apps you can disable that in the preferences easily enough). That's not something you can say about Metro apps.

      1. InsaneGeek

        Ummm... what are you blathering on about?

        There is a an official document from Microsoft on installing a Metro app outside of Microsoft's store.

        http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh852635.aspx

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Have you ever noticed OS X and iOS run on Apple devices only?

        Apple *is* the most locked down system in IT - it's an exclusive hardware/software bundle - and iOS is extremely locked down - and if Apple could, the license would become even more exclusive as they attempted in the past, but it didn't work much and they had to step back especially since Android became a menace.

        But still you can't run OS X in a VM unless you're in Apple hardware, and is a security experts shows iOS is vulnerable he's expelled from the dev program instead of being rewarded. Windows is a much more open system than any Apple one, and all Windows 8 is attempting is just what iOS already done. FSF just shows they simply hate Microsoft, probably because DOS took programming out of universities and made people like Stallmann irrelevant to most.

        1. yossarianuk

          Re: Have you ever noticed OS X and iOS run on Apple devices only?

          2 major differences with Micrsoft.

          1. Apple don't have 80 - 90 % desktop market share - Microsoft got their monopoly when there was no viable competition - now Microsoft do their upmost to prevent fair competition - the tactics are fully outline in the Halloween Documents - patent attacks against Android and secure boot are prime examples of these tactics

          2. All tax payers fund Microsoft whereever they like it or not - Apple not so much.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Have you ever noticed OS X and iOS run on Apple devices only?

            Microsoft got its "monopoly" just because PC clones were (and are) cheap. I couldn't afford a Macintosh or something like that when I was a student - I could buy a PC clone and thereby MS software. Blame expensive proprietary hardware/software - like Apple - for that, not MS.

            Anyway, isn't everybody telling that MS no longer is the dominant one? That phones and tablets are killing the PC market? That Apple as a huge share of those markets? So why FSF is so concerned about a dying maket? Windows 8 ARM runs only on phones and tablets, and what is it its market share? Shouldn't they be concerned about Apple dominance there?

            If we are talking about patent attacks, well, it looks to me that Apple is on the front line attacking everybody, even who thinks about a 4:3 rectangle. Has FSF nothing to say about that? They just show their hate for MS only, before returning home and probably taking out their MacBook because it is cool...

            Anyway, you may like it or not, secure boot is the only way to improve PC safety - and it is already employed by many devices including the PS3 and the iPhone/iPad. As a company, I like secure boot devices because I can ensure only allowed software is run on them. I understand there should be a way to disable it - but only a secure one, for example an hardware token to plug in with the proper crypto key. There are already malware who can boot before and virtualize your OS. Think about it...

            And please, explain why taxpayers fund MS and not Apple - it looks they fund Apple as well, given every company of that pays a very little part of their incomes, while using services provided by taxpayers.

            1. Kiwi

              Re: Have you ever noticed OS X and iOS run on Apple devices only?

              "secure boot is the only way to improve PC safety"

              Really? Sure? What about all the other OS's that don't get infected by malware in the same manner that windows does?

              About the only thing that I can see secure boot doing for the general user is giving them an excuse to rebuild their music and photo collections from scratch (good luck getting their baby pictures back when they've grown up some).

              Few home users backup. So when things turn to crap, they need either to turn to people like me who use free tools to recover their data, or to much much more expensive places, which probably use similar free tools. Same for OS repair and so forth - want to run a Kaspersky (or AVG or Bitdefender et al) scan, or any other numerous repair tools? Tough. Unless secure boot can be easily turned off while still being able to access the data on the HDD, most home users will having to have their systems reinstalled from scratch without chance of recovering their data. And if their windows license sticker has been damaged, even just one character unreadable, they'll have to fork out for a new license as well.

              There's plenty of good ways to make a system secure. Secure boot isn't one of them.

              1. MCG
                Thumb Down

                Re: Have you ever noticed OS X and iOS run on Apple devices only?

                "And if their windows license sticker has been damaged, even just one character unreadable, they'll have to fork out for a new license as well."

                GTFO with your witless scare-mongering FUD, you dribbling troll.

          2. Mark .

            Re: Have you ever noticed OS X and iOS run on Apple devices only?

            Yes it's not like Apple are using patent attacks against Android. And all their i-devices are open and don't require jailbreaking to root at all. Oh wait.

            Apple do their utmost to prevent fair competiton. Just look at how we've ended up with vast amounts of audio devices only connecting to ipods and iphones - I know people who'd rather use their Android phone for music, but have to keep an ipod due to the locking. And that's before we consider the lock in of itunes.

            Do you have a reference to recent Halloween Documents and Android?

            How do tax payers fund MS, and not Apple? (I mean, I'm sure the Government use MS, but that's probably true of Apple too to some extent, and loads of other companies.)

        2. Curtis
          FAIL

          @LDS

          "But still you can't run OS X in a VM unless you're in Apple hardware"

          Really? My 10.6.8 VM running on a Dell Latitude 630 would beg to disagree.

          1. Victor Ludorum
            Headmaster

            Re: @LDS

            I think he meant *legally*. Look at the Legals for OS X. You can only run it on Apple hardware.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Surely cloud services in general would be a good target, oh and stop ChromeOS too?

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