Microsoft is another bad example of capitalism gone wrong with too much greed, and in the people's need for a new wave of responsible corporates only those that completely embrace the FOSS ideals fit this need.

Unless Microsoft stops using its might to crush opposition, stops pretending other's innovations are its own ideas, makes modern systems for a greener world, and reduces its obscene profit margins, it will go the way of the American car companies, and I doubt that the people will allow their Government to bail this company out, as FOSS can offer a lot more decentralized jobs and a better brighter future than more of the same old Microsoft can.

The US White House is accepting questions and votes on these questions for Obama to answer.

I already asked questions on the topic of the system being employed for this purpose which has some bugs and uses not the fairest of methods for making new questions available for voting.

In any case, for anyone interested, let me present two questions I asked and I'll show you how to vote on them.

The first question:
There is a rapidly growing body of excellent free and open source software that can jump-start and tremendously help many starting businesses of all types. Does this administration have plans to help small businesses leverage this life-line?

The second:
In the age of low-cost Internet collaboration, patent and copyright laws need a makeover to fall in line with the Constitutional requirement that government-granted monopolies must "promote the progress of the sciences and useful arts". Change when?

And if you want a third:
Will the public be able to study and comment on the details of how online systems like this question submittal/voting form work?

To vote on these questions:

-- Go to http://www.whitehouse.gov/openforquestions/
-- Register, if you haven't, by clicking on the "sign in" link below the flash video (just need email and password and nickname and city).
-- Return to the main page and click the button below the "sign in" link. The button says "View Questions"
-- At the very top of the new page there is a "Search" box/button (below it there is one question that is featured and 10 more are below it). Here type in any part of the above questions as the search text, eg, "can jump-start", if you want to access the first question above.
-- You should now be able to see that question or, if not, scan for it (narrow the search results by putting in a search text that is unlikely to appear in other questions).
-- To the right of it, you can click on the check mark (or the x if you really don't like the question).

Thanks. There are a few days of this voting. Maybe we can grab around a few hundred net positive votes [riiight].

Perhaps we can prepare to mobilize quicker in the future.

Where does it say that Microsoft is "afraid" of USB keys? Nothing is given in this article, or the one linked to it that supports the assertion. The complete story merely says "Microsoft adamantly objected." The link to a Chinese language page was less helpful. It's hardly indicative of Microsoft as a whole.

Now, instead of thinking that whatever Microsoft doesn't like, it must be good, start thinking in terms of why Microsoft or any other organization, would have objections.

Imagine you're the system administrator for hundreds of public- or private-use computers and you start hearing reports of people booting their own software on your machine. Is this something that you want? Do you want to field support calls from people saying "I plugged in this USB key that I got from a friend and I can't get anything to work..."

Organizations that invest in hardware are control freaks, they wish to control what software their computers run. They hire teams of people to ensure they run smoothly. Going around subverting network policies will be considered a security risk and the the ability to do so will be eliminated.

I'm all for using whatever application or OS you want, just do it on your own hardware.

I love how people say "Microsoft is afraid of Linux" blah blah blah. There is no chance that Linux is going to usurp an MS operating system as long as it exists in an resemblence of its current form. The fact of the matter is, people like pretty packaging, they like standardized centralized support, and they like an O/S that will natively run applications that are readily available. I have used most flavors of Linux at one point or another and I have yet to see anything that Linux can do that i can not do with Windows (including booting Windows from CD and USB drive).

There are quite a few positives about proprietary software to go with negatives. I just get tired of reading this Linux fanboy crap written by people who obviously have not one clue what they are talking about. I am going to address the fanboy comments made by the author one by one below:

S: Open standards and real interoperability

A: This is just a plain and simple distortion, Linux is no more interoperable with any other O/S than a Windows box is. Sure most Linux distros offer the needed tools to make things work properly together but even with these tools good luck getting Active Directory to work properly and be stable for example. To be truly interoperable you have to work properly even with the guys you do not like. As for open standards, this is a complete joke. sharing how you made something with someone else does not mean you have an open standard. The few Linux "standards orgs" that exist are powerless and standardize nothing. If it were "standardized" you would not have to install distribution specific versions or recompile for every O/S.

S: A genuinely competitive computing marketplace, with real choices for home users and competitive bidding for business customers

A: Admittedly, there is certainly more competition in the Linux marketplace. I agree that MS has a strnagle hold on the competition. The fact remains though, they have earned it. Show me even one other O/S that has been anywhere near providing the same features and ease of use MS O/S's have provided over the years at the same time M/S was providing them. The Linux marketplace has been working at it for about 15 years or so now and is still not even remotely close.

As for "real choices..." what a joke. Linux is unrealistic for business. There is no way you can claim ANY O/S is secure when there are no coding controls and content management. The front end is cheap the backend on Linux is horribly expensive. Linux personnel cost a fortune and with VERY few exceptions there is no standardized support that is reliable. When your directory service goes down and your web servers shut down because of it etc. do you really want to be trolling forums to find the answer? Do you really want to be using an O/S that has no support system behind it or limited support at best. At least if you have the right SLA Microsoft will FLY SOMEONE TO YOU TO FIX THE PROBLEM.

Don't even get me started on the fact that the vast majority of computer users do not want to learn to administer an O/S they just want it to work and for the most part MS does and when it doesn't it is likely that 50% of the people standing near you know how to fix it.

S: An open, modern, user-customizable DRM-free PC BIOS

A: ROFLMFAO DRM free BIOS. Wow are you for real? You can easily take an EEPROM reader and read a BIOS to binary and modify it. There is no DRM. Furthermore you can go to any manufacturers website and download the BIOS for their product and in binary format and tweak it all you want. You also need to realize 90% of computer users, do not want to recode their BIOS.

S: Multiple CPU architectures

A: x86, x64, i64 multi proc, single proc, multi core, single core, HT, granted these are all SISC technologies, but honestly from a business perspective, why would you bother devloping support for a proc market that is less than 10% of the total pie when you have 90%+ market share of the remaining portion? You know businesses are started to make money and just because MS makes a smart business decision and does well with it does not make them evil nor does it need to make you jealous.

S: Modern bootloaders that support whatever the user wants

A: I have been a professor for quite a number of years now, as well as processor engineer, network admin, network engineer, desktop technician, system designer, etc. I can pretty much guarantee that 90% of the world does not even know what a boot loader is. Quit pretending like you have this great handle on what a "user" wants. The correct statement should be "....that support whatever a computer nerd wants". I can use the term computer nerd because that is exactly what I am. Back to the point though, as far as O/S's are concerned, I think bootloader falls just above built in cup holder in terms of importance for an O/S. Chances are anyone who really cares about a bootloader is likely experienced enough to write one. Let's be honest it is not that hard.

S: Desktop, laptop, and netbook systems without the Windows tax

A: "Windows Tax" great way to bias an article. You would be taken much more seriously if you actually supported your statements and did not make comments like that. What about the "Linux Tax" to use your term. The only difference is MS tells you how much the tax is up front and that is that. Linux distributions still tax you they just hide it in the form of poor usability in most cases, lack of true security, very apparent lack of centralized support, lack of applications, SERIOUS usability issues, and greatly increased downtimes. If you actually do your research and find studies done by independant firms you will find that the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) is almost always higher with Linux even at the desktop end user level and it is ENORMOUSLY higher at the corporate level. You may have saved an extra $400.00 on your server by not purchasing a Microsoft O/S but you are spending an extra $30,000.00 for an admin over an experienced MS admin. Wow yeah Linux is a FABULOSU idea to save money isn't it? Be realistic and make informed statements not fanboy comments.

S: Operating systems that are completely customizable and that fit into a multitude of devices and uses, from tiny to supercomputers

A: Ever heard of Windows mobile, Windows CE, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 Standard, Windows Advanced Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition, Windows Storage Server 2003 to name very few? Apparently not or you would not have made a statement that was so obviously incorrect. The O/S's I listed above can be found on literally hundreds of types if not thousands of types of devices. Did you know that the XBOX 360 runs on a stripped version of XP? Name one popular console system that runs on any readily available distribution of Linux.

S: Diskless systems that run from user-owned USB-keys

A: I am currently holding in my hand a bootable Windows CD that works perfectly, not an installation disk an actual operational CD boot Windows version that properly runs on just about any system you put it in. I just put that down and now I have picked up the Windows bootable 8GB thumb drive that was laying on my desk right next to where I picked the CD up from. And guess what they were both a hell of a lot easier to make than the bootable Linux USB drive I have.

S: Honesty in tech reporting

A: Your aticle is a great example of the kind of "honesty" you can expect from the Linux community. In my personal experience for the most part the Linux community tends to exaggerate and misstate things in order to promote their own ambitions of bringing down anyone who expects to be paid for their work. I have found a number of Linux modules from different coders posted on sites from slashdot to linuxfiles.com that claim to be "Secure" etc. and have massive security holes and/or backdoors in them. At least with MS you have some legal recourse for any problems that were knowingly introduced.

S: User control of our own systems and data

A: If you do not have control of your own system or your own data that is purely your fault and nobody elses. I use primarily MS O/S's and I have absolute control over every spaect of my system. Every Windows O/S is just as customizable as any Linux box I have seenm, the difference is with MS the procedures are not documented so you will need to know what you are doing.

As for the data control comment, again completely unrealistic. If anyone has control of your data other than you, that is again your own fault for not making consciencious and informed decisions about how, where, and at what encryption level your data is stored.

The fact is I am not a fanboy of any operating system. I am just sick and tired of seeing ridiculous lists posted by uninformed bloggers who think that copying and pasting other people's comments into an article they wrote on their blog makes them some kind of authority. Back up your statements with fact. The reason why you cannot is because there is no fact to back up your ststements and in quite a few cases the facts prove you wrong.

If Linux wants to have any chance at all the Linux community needs to get its act together cooperate and start standardizing things and create a market instead of doing this ridiculous everybody reinvents the wheel crap. Until then MS is going to forever own the market.

Most importantly, people should make their own decision about what works for them.

Windows is already bootable on usb drive. failure. I've had mine for 2 years on flash drive, and seen people with it before me.

@ChuckOp -- The adminstrator in such an instance would simply configure the machine to not be able to boot from USB keys. The author was talking about what these machines could be used for after the govt disposed of them. The argument is not airtight and you can pick around the edge of it. But the most straightforward interpretation is MS is scared of this capability. I would be too if I were a monopolist trying to force people to use my product.

Windows is already bootable on usb drive. failure. I've had mine for 2 years on flash drive, and seen people with it before me..

Boy, am I behind!

I did not know you can have Vista boot from a USB flash drive.

That means I can buy one license for Vista and run it on all my computers, right?

That will really help since all those new licenses were going to be so expensive.

The fact is I am not a fanboy of any operating system.

you spend a lot of time trying to prove you're not though.

Microsoft is scared to death! When you can draw this much defense to save an admin job for Microsoft! My advice to the professor is to learn something new. He makes statements as if he is aware of various systems.........but is he? He should know the door on Microsoft is closing. He will have to deal with it. I have been using Linux since Red Hat 7.2 and I have never looked back. The new distros are explosively new as compared to Windows. No drm, no virus, no root kits, no blue screen, no involuntary closing of my private documents, no license fees, no pop-ups, no defrag, and I own my stuff, share my stuff, copy my stuff, play games as much as I wish. I don't pay extra for office, or extra for games, or extra for video, or extra for the best in audio. I do not pay extra for DVD usage. I am learning to program. I have two PHD's, one Texas Professor, one college teacher in Virgina that all care if I learn to program! I get by with a little help from my friends! We are all getting Free, FRee, FREe, FREE!