Free Software Foundation 'demands' Windows 7 be released as free software

[JustJake]

This is the most absurd FSF request I've ever seen. These guys look like (something I'm not allowed to say) which reflects poorly on open source in general.

 

[JustJake]

It doesn't need to cost them anything in labor to release it (they already have the source code package as they've needed it for those with the clout to demand it (governments) and/or pay enough for it.)

That's not true. Unless you are one of the few licensees allowed to distribute builds, the source code is not available in a buildable format. There is a lot of non-microsoft IP in Windows that would need to be removed, they would need a build system not tied to their internal processes, and they would need to remove IP they don't want to share. It would cost a great deal.

 

[JustJake]

Additionally, and what a lot of people fail to realize, Microsoft likely could not open source the OS even if it wanted to. There surely are portions that Microsoft licensed from other vendors and is not able to relicense.

I know from first hand experience that this is infact true, and there is a lot of it.

 

[JustJake]

I say this as sometime who has developed software for about 25 years now and at least half of that was for Windows. Most of what I've written in the past decade has been deployed on Linux.

The request itself is bullshit. You can upgrade to Windows 10 for free. Microsoft has told to create ausb installer, you enter your Windows 7 key and it just works. If you have a bios key it may work as well, should be on a sticker as well.

In any case, it isn't really end of life as a software, just that version. The natural path is to upgrade or migrate. This is a publicity stunt playing and simple.

I run Linux at home. It's better than it's every been in terms of timing on the desktop. There's still some pain though. I'd say it's nearly at parity with Windows. And this may be the time to change over if you're still running Windows, most of what you use will probably have a Linux version or work in wine.

After 37 years as a Windows developer I switched to Linux about a year ago. I love it, but it is far above windows in the pain department. But it's worth the pain.

 

[arrowflash]

That basically means I would be the only one in my family spending 20 minutes on all their machines. You are not only pissing on your friends and family. You are pissing on yourself.

And then you have it all over again in the next build.

Edit: That doesn't change my previous comment. It is not possible in 2 days much less 20 minutes.

It's all on the SAME Property page!
Disable these or set them to manual start. Sort by Startup Type to show automatic services, right-click and select Stop. Change the item to disabled or manual.

• AVCTP service: if you don’t use Bluetooth Audio Device or Wireless Headphones.
• BitLocker Drive Encryption Service: if you don’t use BitLocker storage encryption.
• Bluetooth Support Service: if you don’t use any Bluetooth device.
• Computer Browser: this will disable Network discovery of systems on the local network.
• Connected User Experiences and Telemetry: it will disable Feedback, Telemetry and Data Collection.
• Diagnostic Policy Service
• Diagnostic Tracking Service: it will turn off Telemetry and Data Collection.
• Distributed Link Tracking Client: if you don’t need to use a network.
• Downloaded Maps Manager: if you don’t use the Bing Maps app.
• File History Service: if you don’t intend to use Windows Backup or System Restore.
• IP Helper: if you don’t use IPv6 connection.
• Infrared monitor service: if you never use File transfer via infrared devices.
• Internet Connection Sharing: it is an old service that can be disabled.
• Netlogon: if you are not on a domain controller environment.
• Program Compatibility Assistant Service: it will hinder your running in the Compatibility Mode though.
• Print Spooler: if you don’t use a Printer.
• Parental Control: if you don’t use the Parental Control feature.
• Remote Registry: you’d better disable it. Then, no one can access your Registry remotely.
• Secondary Logon
• TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper: if you are not a part of a Workgroup network.
• Touch Keyboard and Handwriting Panel Service: if you don’t use a touch device.
• Windows Error Reporting Service: if you don’t need to save or send error reports.
• Windows Image Acquisition: if you don’t use a Scanner.
• Windows Camera Frame Server: if you never use a webcam or an integrated camera.
• Windows Insider Service: if you are not a part of the Windows Insider Program.
• Windows Search: if you never use Windows Search

Disabling all unnecessary services is FAR from being the only things that have to be done in order to optimize Windows 10, prevent it from spying on you and un**** it in other ways. We also have to make quite a few registry changes (some of which require to take over ownership - a bit more time wasted), edit dozens of GPOs, change options hidden behind several layers of control panel menus, use a few command prompt and Powershell commands, disable several scheduled tasks in the task scheduler, and edit the hosts file. Probably more things I can't remember right now.

However if you have to do it on several PCs, most of these tasks can be automated with a well made batch file or script. At least for only disabling services (like I say far from being all that needs to be done but it already helps quite a bit), making a batfile for that is pretty trivial.

Or you could use sysprep + dism + ADK/WAIK to build a custom generalized Windows 10 image in a VM with a custom default profile and all optimizations, customizations and changes applied, even adding a collection of preinstalled open source, quality basic software (7zip, LibreOffice, VLC, Mozilla, Chromium, etc), and then just reformat those machines and deploy that image. It's far from being a trivial task to people without previous experience in these tools (even if they're computer savvy), but once you figure them out and get custom .wim image building using sysprep right, they become an essential part of your computing life if you're a Windows user.

By the way, something to add to @CharmsD services list: don't forget to also disable Superfetch/SysMain (renamed to SysMain starting with Windows 10 1809), it's the main responsible for Windows 10's constant excessive disk usage and pretty useless.
I wouldn't disable lan and domain-related services, bluetooth services or the print spooler, unless you're really paranoid and in a PC that needs to be air gapped. If I recall correctly I think you need to take ownership and give explicit deny permissions in the Registry keys for the diagnostic policy and diagnostic tracking services so they won't re-enable and restart on their own. Lastly, fully disabling Windows Search service is not recommended either since it can break several things within Windows 10, I'd recommend to disable Windows Search functionality via settings and GPOs instead.

 

[ZedRM]

... nonsense...

Opinion

 

[Puiu]

You mean how my W10 pcs don't wake up from sleep and my W7 pcs do?

I seriously doubt that it is because of windows 10 that you have sleep issues and I can probably fix it in a few minutes (as long as the PCs aren't ancient and have proper drivers).

 

[loki1944]

I seriously doubt that it is because of windows 10 that you have sleep issues and I can probably fix it in a few minutes (as long as the PCs aren't ancient and have proper drivers).

Does the same thing at work with their new W10 laptops. I've had about 100% more issues with W10 than I ever had on 7 or XP.

 

[Puiu]

Does the same thing at work with their new W10 laptops. I've had about 100% more issues with W10 than I ever had on 7 or XP.

Nostalgia glasses much? Even XP? Really? Please tell us, what were those issues?

 

[Yynxs]

Bullshit. Windows 10 isn't spyware and you damn well know it! It's nothing more than scare tactics spread by people who have their tinfoil hats on too tight. Sure, Windows 10 does send some data to Microsoft but there is nothing indicating that there is any personally identifiable data being sent. Yes, there is metadata and telemetry but metadata and telemetry is a far cry from actual user data.

Thank you to

CharmsD for posting that list:
So Microsoft NEEDS TO KNOW EVERY MINUTE OF EVERY HOUR OF EVERY DAY MY if my PC IS POWERED ON and:
a)if I have a bluetooth device or bluetooth speakers
b)if I use drive encryption
c)if I have a network and have other computers on it.
d)if I want to have a network
e)if I want to backup my system locally
f)if I use IPV6 addresses or devices
g)If I put in an infrared controller the can quite literally ONLY control local devices
h)if I want to use the PC to control house access to the web or filter the web's access to the house
I)if I want to use legacy software or games
j)if I use a printer, seriously, a printer
k)if I have children and need to control access to the web
l)if I have a touch keypad
m)if I own or use a scanner
n)if I own or use a webcam
o)if I want to search my personal files

Yep. "Tinfoil hat stuff"

 

[Bullwinkle M]

Look to the Middle East, them people want us all dead. Dead. DEAD! They will stop at nothing until the west is destroyed.

You want to continue living? Do you not want another 9/11? If so, we need all the intelligence information we can get to make sure that another 9/11 NEVER HAPPENS AGAIN!!! If that means that data collection is what needs to be done, so be it.

Better to be safe than dead because some radical Middle Eastern scumbag decided to do another mass terrorist attack. If you think they won’t do it again, think again! We have to stay ever VIGILANT!!! We have to protect ourselves!

You are either with us, or you are against us. The very foundations of western civilization is on the line here, we have to do what is necessary to protect our way of life.

I'm against you of course!

The crap you spout is what caused 9/11

I'm putting you on my Terror Watch List!

 

[Yynxs]

Uh no, it's not simply licensing. It's organizations using old software that no longer receive support. Upgrading to a new OS requires organizations to purchase and incorporate new software and it can take some work to make sure it'll preform properly. Many organizations will hold onto and use 10+ year old software rather than put the effort and expense into doing regular upgrades as they should be planning for in the first place. The funny thing is that regular upgrades are often cheaper and less invasive than holding onto antiquated software for as long as possible. It's all about corner cutting.

This the same single tech view of organization that repeats itself without understanding what "organization" means. An organization is people. The larger the more.

In any 'new' situation, let alone software, people require training and not, as the federal government likes to say in it's form statements, "20 minutes to complete".

If the 'organization' is 10 people deep, and you need an hour to train the people to use one new change in software, that is 10 hours of productivity lost on ONE change. If there is a new interface, then change is usually in the hundreds of differences and people's learning curves are NOT the same. Hours lost can be lost while the customers are waiting and customers go where they want.

If the organization is 500 people, well the math is easy. A thousand people spread across multiple sites or on the road for sale or service and tens of thousands of training hours and, more importantly, error correction occur.

This is based on the software working the same across the entire organization and does not include breakdowns caused by the O/S automatically updating some wonderful security or compatibility issue that shouldn't have been missed under any normal QA functionality.

It is NOT "corner cutting". In a span of 10 years overall productivity on a stable platform remaining the same, it is orders of magnitude cheaper to not change than to do a single large change at complete End-of-life. $866,000 for one year is 'drop in the bucket' compared to training 33,000 people to transition to a new O/S interface.

Those developers and proponents of 'just change already' should try to learn a bit of business economics to guide their paths in designing to deploy 'new' stuff.

 

[Freddie159]

Did most not bother to even read the article. It is basically telling why it likely wont ever happen. A good chunk of win 7 code is still in 10. Not to mention the fact certain companies will be paying MS for 3 more yrs to use win 7.

I agree with the first part but not the support part, places willing to pay for support won't even look at free stuff unless it's better and then also supported by MS which is unlikely, so they will just keep paying MS to keep their Official status unchanged.

 

[Sigit]

Not going to happen. Some of its code base still alive and well inside Windows 10.
They won't open even their XP!

 

[BigRedPDX]

I don't see this happening, but at some point it could be considered abandonware. Like most of Microsoft's starting operating systems, Win10 has it's problems, but I feel they could get it to Win7 stability by the end of this year. The grumbling is nothing new every time a new OS comes out. Of course there will be bugs and things to improve on. We're the testers!

 

[arrowflash]

I don't see this happening, but at some point it could be considered abandonware. Like most of Microsoft's starting operating systems, Win10 has it's problems, but I feel they could get it to Win7 stability by the end of this year. The grumbling is nothing new every time a new OS comes out. Of course there will be bugs and things to improve on. We're the testers!

The only chance Windows 10 could have of getting Windows 7 stability and reliability would be if MS completely froze the implementation of new features and eyecandy for at least 1 or 2 years, until they achieved that objective. It will never happen as long as MS breaks 10 new things that were working fine before whenever they add some new feature that no one asked for or eyecandy.

I have heard that the problem is that Microsoft's current management goes totally in the opposite direction of that. Engineers and developers aren't rewarded anymore for finding and fixing bugs or optimizing code like they were during the Gates and Ballmer eras, under Satya Nadella's management they are only rewarded for adding new features.

 

[Casaria]

Windows 10 is superior.

Upgrade.

More updated and has more support? Yes.
Superior? No. It's a piece of garbage that is an attempt to come back from the craphole that was windows 8. Windows 10 is probably my least favorite OS I've ever used, vs 98, XP, Vista, and 7, and I've never used 8. They're trying to phase out the Control Panel in favor of their cruddy settings app, not to mention phasing out things like the efficient windows media player in favor of "films and TV" which loads slower and has unnecessary "features". It keeps asking me if I want to continue using it. Yes. I do. Stop asking. There are so many extra programs which don't matter and/or are running 24/7 when your computer is on.

 

[lostinlodos]

The open source community needs to dump the elitism and innumerable egos fighting for attention and...

Exactly. I’m all for open and the freedom thing. I’m also for freedom to choose. I live the hypocrisy of “freedom” and loaded locked down licensing, especially when used together. Most copy left licenses included some evil share alike clause.
Everything I’ve ever done has been dumped freely. I prefer the IDGAF and DWTFYW licenses. Personally. If you can package and sell it, go for it.
Maybe if they came down from their cloud stools and looked at each other they’d figure out there’s a joke in almost everything they press. A joke they can’t see way up there.

 

[Mugsy]

While I'd love to see this, it'll never happen.

They never even released the original Windows95 to the Open Source community and it has been worthless for over a decade. (Even DOS is still protected.)

As someone mentioned above, a single solid *nix platform with common integrated Win compatibility layer is probably the best alternative. Though any Win CL would really only be a feature to smooth the transition from Windows to a full OpenSrc Linux platform, and so far, no one has been willing to make such an investment in a free OS.

The most common Win CL is "Wine". If a major hardware maker were to throw their weight behind it and a single Linux variety, they could *eventually* bury M$.

But for now, M$ would bury any hardware maker who dare try that.

 

[captaincranky]

OK, these demands are outrageous to say the least.

But, OTOH, I don't think it's unreasonable for M$ to dispense with activation on its older OSes
.
For example, anyone with a valid licensed copy of maybe XP, should have the activation protocol set to permanent, with no reactivation required in the event of a reinstall.

 

[QuantumPhysics]

More updated and has more support? Yes.
Superior? No. It's a piece of garbage that is an attempt to come back from the craphole that was windows 8. Windows 10 is probably my least favorite OS I've ever used, vs 98, XP, Vista, and 7, and I've never used 8. They're trying to phase out the Control Panel in favor of their cruddy settings app, not to mention phasing out things like the efficient windows media player in favor of "films and TV" which loads slower and has unnecessary "features". It keeps asking me if I want to continue using it. Yes. I do. Stop asking. There are so many extra programs which don't matter and/or are running 24/7 when your computer is on.

I agree that windows 8 and 8.1 were trash.

But Windows 10 is perfect.

 

[Mugsy]

I agree that windows 8 and 8.1 were trash.

But Windows 10 is perfect.

Perfect garbage. A spam delivery device with flaky updates they charge for the privilege of using.

I've installed anti-Spamware in the past to prevent programs from doing what Win10 has built in.

 

[QuantumPhysics]

Perfect garbage. A spam delivery device with flaky updates they charge for the privilege of using.

I've installed anti-Spamware in the past to prevent programs from doing what Win10 has built in.

I have NO antispamware beyond defender.

I have no problems.

 

[Mugsy]

I have NO antispamware beyond defender.

I have no problems.

You missed my point. MS themselves now bombards you with spam through the OS.

 

[lostinlodos]

I have NO antispamware beyond defender.

I have no problems.

I guess it depends on what you call spam. Having each update add a bunch of new icon adverts for games to the start menu is the very definition of software spam in my book.