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OSC not happy with BBC's Windows 7 coverage

Tom Warren   on 10 November 2008 - 10:13, updated 10 November 2008 - 12:54 · 41 comments & 11128 views

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The Open Source Consortium (OSC) is getting its knickers in a twist about the BBC's recent Windows 7 coverage.

The OSC has started a complaint with the BBC's Fair Trading Unit claiming that the BBC are advertising a Microsoft product that "does not even yet exist." Obviously the OSC didn't attend Microsoft's recent PDC to pick-up their copy of Windows 7 that clearly exists.

An email, sent to the BBC's Fair Trading Unit, reads as follows:

"You may recall that Open Source Consortium expressed concern about BBC iPlayer and the Microsoft Windows operating system...

...moving forward, it feels like deja vu all over again.

On BBC News we see a two minute advertisement for Windows 7 - the replacement for Vista (link: BBC News item: A closer look at Windows 7). This product does not exist, even if it does come into existence, it will not exist for two years by Microsoft's own projections.[...]

Gerry Gavigan
Chairman
Open Source Consortium"


Not only are they wrong about the product not existing they even got the date wrong as it's likely to be a year until RTM. Last year the OSC slammed the BBC for their use of Microsoft's DRM with the BBC iPlayer.

The BBC's Fair Trading Unit has passed the complaint to the BBC News site and has yet to respond publicly regarding the concerns of the OSC.

Post a comment · Send to friend Comments · There are 41 additional comments
#1 Examinus on 10 Nov 2008 - 10:17
Losers.
(6 replies) #2 Arkos Reed on 10 Nov 2008 - 10:20
huh ? oO
BBC News is reporting about some upcoming technology, what's wrong with that...?
#2.1 creamhackered on 10 Nov 2008 - 10:21
Exactly...pretty sad that the OSC has to act like this.
#2.2 ZeroHour on 10 Nov 2008 - 11:02
creamhackered said,
Exactly...pretty sad that the OSC has to act like this.


+1
#2.3 Neoauld on 10 Nov 2008 - 13:59
ZeroHour said,
+1

yeah..because the OSC has some real good OS's to advertise /sarcasm
the avg consumer doesnt know what open source is..nor do they care
#2.4 theyarecomingforyou on 10 Nov 2008 - 14:38
I don't like the idea of the BBC advertising commercial products. However, here they are reporting on the upcoming version of Windows... the operating system used on 90% of computers. This is very important, as it affects people at both home and in the office.

The OSC complaint about DRM was justified. This complaint is not.
#2.5 +Mercellus on 10 Nov 2008 - 14:40
creamhackered said,
Exactly...pretty sad that the OSC has to act like this.

Agreed, this is getting a bit ridiculous in my opinion.
#2.6 leojei on 10 Nov 2008 - 15:21
I just woke up and saw this post. Man, the joke of my day yet~

LOL! OSC definitely need a more refined procedure for making a formal complaint to anyone.
#3 devHead on 10 Nov 2008 - 10:21
I guess denial ain't just a river in Egypt.
#4 Tantawi on 10 Nov 2008 - 10:25
haha, idiot kids.
#5 Sacha on 10 Nov 2008 - 10:29
Look out, neowin is up next!
(2 replies) #6 mrmckeb on 10 Nov 2008 - 10:59
Lol, go drown yourselves.

If anything, the BBC managed to point out that Windows 7 had touch-screen capabilities "like Apple's iPhone" - right, because that's where Microsoft got their inspiration for the Surface from.
#6.1 madhon on 10 Nov 2008 - 13:25
No its much more likely they got the inspiration from this

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jeff_ha...ouchscreen.html
#6.2 MioTheGreat on 10 Nov 2008 - 14:52
madhon said,
No its much more likely they got the inspiration from this

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jeff_ha...ouchscreen.html


Microsoft has been working on the Surface for years, and the entire interface idea is nothing new or innovative by either Apple or Microsoft.
(1 reply) #7 Pygmy_Hippo on 10 Nov 2008 - 11:03
"...moving forward, it feels like deja vu all over again."

Are they trying to be funny here or do they not get the meaning of tautology?

(Very possibly the former, it's Monday morning and my humour is refusing to kick in! )
#7.1 jmc777 on 10 Nov 2008 - 16:51
It's a Yogi Berra quote.
(2 replies) #8 StepASide on 10 Nov 2008 - 11:11
OSC = Fail
#8.1 Cpugeni Ω on 10 Nov 2008 - 12:02
StepASide said,
OSC = Fail


LOL
#8.2 leojei on 10 Nov 2008 - 15:21
phail big time!
(1 reply) #9 Cpugeni Ω on 10 Nov 2008 - 12:10
This product does not exist, even if it does come into existence, it will not exist for two years by Microsoft's own projections.


Did he actually take time to find this out, if he did, he better check he hasnt the wrong sugar in his coffee! Two years would be November 2010.... Microsoft have already said that they are aiming for a release of 2009 Christmas holiday.
#9.1 leojei on 10 Nov 2008 - 15:23
The guy who made the complaint probably fly to the space for about half a year and just come back to earth and the first thing he does would be this complaint. There's NO WAY this guy doesn't know all these rumours that it'll be less than 2 years for Win7 to come out, not to mention the test builds all along start from 2007.
#10 Chicane-UK on 10 Nov 2008 - 12:25
I'm all for Open Source but this 'boo hoo' attitude really gets to me. I'm sick of the 'cut your nose off to spite your face' type arguments.

What, for example, is wrong with BBC iPlayer? One has to weigh up so many factors when chosing to make streaming media available on your website. Flash has proven to be an excellent choice IMHO as almost EVERYONE has Flash, and it's available for a huge variety of platforms and devices. What were they supposed to use as an alternative?!

The BBC reports on Ubuntu quite frequently, and is also quick to criticise Microsoft when they make a mistake. I personally consider their journalism to be fair and balanced. Gerry Gavigan needs to get a grip.
#11 LTD on 10 Nov 2008 - 12:33
it feels like deja vu all over again

No, it's just deja vu.

This grammar needs patching.
#12 ajua on 10 Nov 2008 - 12:36
What the heck were they thinking about???

Complaining like this is lame. Just lame..
(2 replies) #13 JamesWeb on 10 Nov 2008 - 12:42
Well I'm going to complain personally, I heard lewd comments about Windows 7 had been left on Andrew Sachs's answering machine.
#13.1 creamhackered on 10 Nov 2008 - 12:45
Hahaha good one
#13.2 ZeroHour on 10 Nov 2008 - 12:46
LOL and on the OSC answering machine
#14 KavazovAngel on 10 Nov 2008 - 12:59
Lol OSC, what the hell are you thinking?
#15 vetneufuse on 10 Nov 2008 - 13:38
Doesn't exist huh? I bet Windows 8 already exists at MS in some shape or form, Windows 7 already handed out at PDC in alpha form... I'd sure say that exists... now how you define exists... humm exists defined as to have real being... well I'm sure those PDC bits where not real so obviously it doesn't exist... I sure as heck do not want what that guy is smoking at OSC... it sounds like to him existing is on store shelves... which who cares... windows 7 still exists by definition.. it's stuff like this that makes people not like open source and look at them as a bunch of whineing free loaders...
#16 vetMarshalus on 10 Nov 2008 - 14:41
I guess Neowin will just have to stop taking about any upcoming Linux distro releases. Wouldn't want to "advertise" for a "non-existent" product.
(1 reply) #17 Mathiasdm on 10 Nov 2008 - 14:45
Ugh, things like this give open source a bad name :-(

/me steps forward: "I use open source, and I do not condone OSC's actions."
#17.1 Vezineth on 10 Nov 2008 - 15:07
Thats what more people should be like. As a Firefox user , I appreciate open and collaborative efforts but wont admire idiots giving open-source projects a bad image. Screw that guy , I bet he isn't even a programmer.
(1 reply) #18 Deathray on 10 Nov 2008 - 15:10
BBC should post this email on their frontpage and the title should be "How to spot a bull**** Consortium"

Whoever is in this group must feel ****ing embarassed
#18.1 leojei on 10 Nov 2008 - 15:24
NICE, or, someone can make public the email here at Neowin so we can at least have a laugh at.
#19 +Ricardo Gil on 10 Nov 2008 - 15:26
They really shot themselves on the foot now. What a sad day for Open Source this is.
#20 Airlink on 10 Nov 2008 - 15:54
Is that that WHAAAmbulance I hear?
#21 thealexweb on 10 Nov 2008 - 16:01
There just a bit jealous Windows 7 will beat anything they can produce.
#22 MMaster23 on 10 Nov 2008 - 16:32
Cry me a river.. really...
#23 Exosphere on 10 Nov 2008 - 16:57
The fact is, if BBC reported about an open source OS, most of the viewers would not have any interest or possibly understand what it's about.
Windows 7 however does have a massive interest, most the population use Windows, so the BBC have a good reason for discussing & showing it's new features even if we might not be using it for 12 months+

The fact is, whatever is popular will get coverage.
For example:
iTunes is possibly the worst source for music when it comes to quality, but it's coverage by the press makes the masses think it's one of the few online places to buy digital downloads.
#24 2Cold Scorpio on 10 Nov 2008 - 19:10
Uhhh, it seems to me that the OSC is composed of a lot of idiots. Maybe they're just jealous that Windows 7 is a more compelling release than anything they might have a hand in for the foreseeable future? ^_^
#25 smooth_criminal1990 on 10 Nov 2008 - 19:35
Come ON! I just searched the bbc website for "windows 7" (quotes included) and it only brought up 6 results, one being unrelated, one being an old one about Midori, and 4 relating to Win 7 itself.

Linux on the other hand brought up 9 pages of stuff (admittedly some old, and the most recent being September 200

As a user of both Firefox and Linux, I think they're giving themselves a bad name with this whining.

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