B.I.O.S. to lock out non-Windows code ?

[Keith Mastin]

<quote who="Anton Markov">
> Hi Hugh,
>
> I really like your ideas.  I too am a strong supporter of capitalism and
getting the government out of the way.  Unfortunately what you are

How do 'capitalism' and 'getting the government out of the way' equate?
AFAIK, capitalism requires government, and it's antithesis is anarchism.
If you're thinking that getting the government out of the way of the
creation of individual economic wealth in the free market is going to
happen soon, well... I wouldn't hold my breath on that one. :)

> describing is an utopia, that is to say it will never happen.  There is
a flaw in human nature that will always create a certain number of
bandits, crooks, politicians, and other dishonest individuals. These

IIRC it's called 'rule of law'. Society creates it's criminals. Make
something illegal and BOOM you have a whole new class of criminals.

> people will try to abuse the system just as they do now and ruin it for
everyone else.  There always has to be a controlling body that keeps

That system was designed by people who have a vested interest in
controlling everything they can get a little leverage on. IMHO, the
(greed-driven) invention of the concept of ownership created the mess that
we're in to begin with (and no, I can't think of a better alternative
route to get to where we're at technologically). We've recently
proliferated that concept by expanding it to include ownership of thoughts
and ideas. Taxes soon to follow...

> these individuals from ruining it for everyone else.  Preferably this
wouldn't be a democratic body (alas, the majority seem to fall under the
definition of dishonest (or at least not-so-nice-and-kinda-lazy) I gave

Most people I know are willing to work hard to make their money, raise
their families and do the best they can with what's available. If they are
dishonest, I would say it's in the exception rather than the rule. What I
don't like about democracy is all this damn voting...

> above), but an aristocracy of a kind where the members are selected
based on their wealth and achievements in life (definitely not

Meritocracy also has it's flaws. F.ex. Who sets the parameters of the
meritocracy and why should everyone else recognize it as valid? (At this
point of the game we are still validating based on invention. If it's new,
we validate. We often validate things that we later wish we hadn't.) While
meritocracy may be the least unfavorable of the available options, it may
also be time to start thinking outside the box. Let's make some NEW
mistakes here. :)

> hereditary).  Isn't that the way most open-source projects elect their
leaders (the 'achievements' part anyway)?

I think in OSS if you start the tribe you automagically get to be the
chief. If you're a lousy chief or have an lousy project then the injuns
will leave for a better tribe. Even poobahs like Erik Raymond just kind of
stepped up to the plate and got labelled as chiefs. We're a pretty
easy-going bunch of injuns here. :)

> A few more points below.
>
> P.S.  Please understand that I am not contradicting your ideas.  I just
want to point out that instead of concentrating on a perfect world that
will never be, it is best to think of a real future and preferably as
close in the future as possible; that way we can play our role in making
that future come true.

I think if we start thinking far enough ahead we'll actually see where all
of this is ultimately going... individual IP (ipv6) addresses mapped to
your retina, finger prints and voice mask, all in the name of controlling
that evil monster called spam. Or if not spam, then viruses or open source
advocates... the folks really in power will find some reason, label it as
evil and gain granular control of populations. Think Orwell, the book of
Revelations or whatever. The end result is the same. We become robots or
criminals. Think I'm joking? It's illegal to be without identification at
all times in some countries. The direction is more control, not less.

The overall future of this planet is not a pretty picture unless we start
making some fundamental changes in our values and beliefs systems. I see
it as falling apart at the seams physically, socially and spiritually.
Thinking collectively of ourselves as unique citizens of the planet is one
step that I would say is one in the right direction. How we apply our
talents to creating our future is what will make the difference when we're
explaining to the ghosts of our grandchildren about what our part in all
of this was.

You have some interesting ideas that present a lot of food for thought.
>From where I'm sitting, the problem I see is quite possibly not the same
one that you see. If it is, we are maybe looking at it from different
angles (do-gooder <> good-doer?).

At the end of the day, I think M$ should make the damn BIOS'es. Why not?
They don't need to be the only ones making them (USDJ will be all over
that one), and it's unlikely that they will be allowed to mass produce
them OS specific. The market won't allow it at this point (remember the
iNtel fiasco with PIII chips having serials?). An open source version will
appear soon enough that will work better and look like hell. :)

<snip>
-- 
Keith
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