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NY Times discriminates against Linux users

linux.com — NY Times discriminates against Linux users. Here's the proof.

Who dugg this? Made popular Aug 27, 2006

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  • pufuwozu, on 10/12/2007, -12/+167If they blocked Windows users would you be willing to use something like Cygwin to view the videos?
  • atdigg, on 10/12/2007, -11/+110So... why the ***** do you post here if you don't use Linux, you are not interested in the subject, and you didn't even check the article?

    Just being a troll?
  • atdigg, on 10/12/2007, -15/+106Should I understand that you don't mind being discriminated against if you have some (imperfect) loopholes that you can use to get by?

    Why should I be forced to use Wine or Crossover (for which I would have to pay) to see some videos that run perfectly on Linux if the site allows it?
  • pufuwozu, on 10/12/2007, -10/+87I have no idea why you spanned something like that over three separate comments.

    I'm pretty sure you do have Flash installed, how else would you have seen the submitted story? Magic? Maybe you didn't even watch it though, that could explain why you think that the guy in the video didn't pay for the NY Times subscription when in fact he did.

    Anyway you have totally missed the point, it wasn't about him having Flash or not (if you were smart you'd notice he even made the movie in Flash), The story was about NY Times blocking Linux even though its fully capable of viewing the movies. It's a matter of choice, not movie format.

    If I don't like a product or service, I don't tend to use it, you're right. On the other hand if I don't like a product or service I like to complain about it and make other people aware of it. I don't use NY Times but the fact that they block things like this is really stupid and should be posted on Digg.
  • atdigg, on 10/12/2007, -12/+85Troll! The guy paid for NY Times content.
  • atdigg, on 10/12/2007, -9/+67How can you tell if you didn't even watch the video?

    Why don't you just block the Linux section of Digg if you are not interested in the subject, you said you don't use it... oh wait, you couldn't troll Linux posts if you don't see them.

    Why don't you use your own advice, don't like it, don't read it. Bye!
  • Nougat, on 10/12/2007, -4/+54Wow. I blocked stinknugget, and there are now only three comments visible.
  • dontbejack, on 10/12/2007, -11/+54You, sir, are one whiny little bitch. You're nothing but a troll. Leave the Linux section alone.
  • perrupa, on 10/12/2007, -8/+42That's not the issue at hand though. You shouldn't have to change how your computer/browser is identified fora page to work. it's as bad as those sites redirect your browser to another page if you're using firefox. They're not as common anymore but they used to be around.
    IMO a page should just try and work properly and put a small disclaimer saying "if you are having trouble make sure you meet these requirements" or something to that extent.
  • massysett, on 10/12/2007, -1/+33If you click on the "Video" tab from the home page and then click the "additional system requirements" link, there's a popup that has an AJAX feedback form. Take a minute to go in there and ask why they won't let Linux users view the videos even though the videos on the homepage work.
  • babbling, on 10/12/2007, -7/+37Let the NYTimes know you're not happy about them not supporting Linux (and preferably Ogg Vorbis/Theora) in a language that everyone can understand...

    president@nytimes.com; publisher@nytimes.com; public@nytimes.com; feedback@nytimes.com; clarosa@nytimes.com; schools@nytimes.com; wedinfo@nytimes.com; society@nytimes.com; nytnews@nytimes.com; executive-editor@nytimes.com; managing-editor@nytimes.com; news-tips@nytimes.com; the-arts@nytimes.com; bizday@nytimes.com; foreign@nytimes.com; metro@nytimes.com; national@nytimes.com; sports@nytimes.com; washington@nytimes.com; editorial@nytimes.com; oped@nytimes.com; circulation@nytimes.com
  • atdigg, on 10/12/2007, -7/+36stop trolling.
  • anonydigg, on 10/12/2007, -3/+32"THat's like my crying about my freaking UK plug not working in European countries or the US or Aus and NZ."

    Well, what if you had a shaver with a UK plug, and then went to a hotel in one of those countries that had a UK plug as well, but said you can't use them because you should buy the kind of shaver that we sell in our duty free shop instead. Does that sound ridiculus enough for you to understand?

    The distinction here is that it is technically possible, but not allowed because of some other deal.

    By the same anology but taking it to the extreme, could you say black people can't complain about racism because they should just go and deal with people who aren't racist?
  • Phocion55, on 10/12/2007, -4/+30@stinknugget: You're clearly wasting your time here....seeing as how every comment by you has been buried. The only reason I had to expand one of your comments was to reply to it....to inform you that you are a moron.
  • idntunknwn, on 10/12/2007, -3/+27It's called poor website design.
  • sfly510, on 10/12/2007, -6/+29I wish I knew why you had to comment this article 9 times.
  • dontbejack, on 10/12/2007, -13/+34My god, SHUT THE ***** UP.
  • babbling, on 10/12/2007, -2/+20akinder,

    I don't think so. As a Linux user, I don't care about Linux specifically. What I do care about is equality and fairness. I recognise that proprietary formats and blocking certain systems is not fair. For this reason, I promote free formats like OpenDocument and Ogg Vorbis/Theora.

    As a side-note, I'd like to encourage everyone who reads this to complain to the BBC about their use of proprietary formats. They do listen to complaints, and since they're government-funded, they have to take large volumes of complaints very seriously. So we could make a difference! Check http://www.getogg.org/campaigns.shtml for details on how to lodge a complaint. It takes less than 5 minutes.
  • LKBM, on 10/12/2007, -0/+15And if the store intentionally picks you out for worse service because you drive a Chevy, you shouldn't complain? Personally, I'd let the manager know what was going on, as well as all my friends.

    Perhaps, in part, by posting it on Digg.

    You're ignoring the primary point of the article.
  • Garda, on 10/12/2007, -21/+36If you were a "leading edge tech person" you would probably be able to change your user agent string and get the video anyway. Seriously, I use Linux. Even I'm saying get a life
  • weirdbro, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16The trick is, they don't have to do ANYTHING to get it to work. It had to be a deliberate choice not to let it work. Its not like they add any, they had to work harder to not let Linux view.
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -5/+19Dont confuse "discriminates against" with "doesn't care about". They are very different things.
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16Yep!

    If there was one person on digg that deserved to be blocked, it was him. Don't bother replying to this sticknugget, nobody can hear you, and nobody cares!
  • jadacyrus, on 10/12/2007, -8/+22Breaking News: most websites are hosted on Linux.

    Also, your a dumb-ass troll. :-)
  • Phocion55, on 10/12/2007, -6/+19This guy must work for Microsoft or something......if he even has a job.
  • nickwebb, on 10/12/2007, -13/+25@akinder
    That's just plain stupid. When have you EVER heard of a site purposely turning away the most popular operating system with the masses crying out to move along?

    A lot of you are missing the point. This (likely) isn't discrimination against Linux users only because they are using Linux. It's a case where some fumbling jack-hole web developer (and/or his superiors) doesn't know anything about Linux and so they avoid a possible swath of whining emails about it by saying 'we don't support you' AND now displaying the video.

    Instead, they could have posted a disclaimer and continued to serve the page in the same fashion they do to Mac and Windows users (IE, Flash).

    It's a case of bad design.

    Stinknugget doesn't have a clue as to what he doesn't like about this video, or, at the very least, his grasp on the English language is not at a level whereby he can communicate his dissatisfaction, but I share his sentiment in that this video contains a certain degree of 'whining'.

    Look at what percentage of usage Linux has in the market. I don't think any Linux user out there worth their salt is going to assume that everything that CAN work with Linux is going to - usually because it means having to support the OS... and yet, this guy goes through all of the trouble to produce a video documenting it?

    A simple "NYTimes sucks for Linux people. Heads up and send them an email." would have sufficed.

    This guy is a jack-hole too, because his entire intention wasn't to bring this to our attentions, but to whine.

    Sorry for the rant, but I found both sides of the argument annoying.
  • TheG2, on 10/12/2007, -3/+15@mistshaddow2k4

    http://www.nytco.com/company.html

    I'm sorry, but the NYT is a privately owned and traded company. If your infering that they recieve some federal funding, well, then Linux must also be a government program because it recieves federal funds both directly and indirectly (Colleges).

    So my reality isn't the one thats twisted, its the one with facts.
  • Yeyui, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13Imagine if, say, Speedway, were to refuse to sell gasoline to anyone driving a BMW.

    It might be legal, but if that happened and I drove a BMW, I sure as hell wouldn't let them do it quietly.
  • Phocion55, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12Please, enlighten me.....what's a real "operating system" ? I would love to know.

    Better yet, what OS do you personally use to run clustered high-volume web servers?
  • Ratty, on 10/12/2007, -4/+14So if most readers are white it's ok to block black people from viewing?
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12Thank babbling I just email all of them
  • Esctalker, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11It's part of their philosophy, they want rights to provide news to everyone, they got the rights. But its still an impossible job, but disallowing Linux-users when Linux-systems can play it is really stupid.
  • Nebbie, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11If they just didn't care about Linux, they wouldn't go through the effort of blocking it. Because they are actively blocking it, they do care about it: negatively.

    Some Linux fanboys do the opposite, and block IE from viewing their site even if it can view it just fine. Is that just not caring about Windows? Or is that discrimination?
  • Mejogid, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11The point here is that Linux is perfectly able to view the videos without any changes on either side, other than accepting the user agent string, whereas to view it in Lynx would require substantial extra effor on the part of the NY Times.

    (assuming that was an analagy).
  • eqisow, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9* Mine does. Both me and my Mom.

    * My Dad does (different house)

    * My cousin and his mom do, though their dad doesn't.

    * Two of my friend's households do.

    That's 5.

    Granted, I don't think it's discrimination so much as having a ***** site designer. There should at least be a "Continue anyway" button.
  • GamingLab, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11"discrimination by design", great slogan
  • idntunknwn, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11I don't agree that its discrimination. Discrimination implies that it is intentional. I think its more likely to be just a bunch of clueless web developers.
  • Yeyui, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9NO, the NY Times site provides content that IS compatible with GNU/Linux, but they refuse to provide it to users of GNU/Linux systems. The Linux users do not need a different product/service, just like BMW do not need different gas.
  • farrellj, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8I surf the NYT website all the time under Linux...And the video section "http://video.on.nytimes.com" comes up fine if you change your browser's ID string, but under the current version of the official Flash plugin, Version 7.0 (some release), the "Loading" spinner spins forever. It may need Flash 9 to work properly, and with any luck, the Linux version will come out soon!

    I know it's stupid that you have to changer your browser's ID string, and the Mozilla Foundation should put some pressure on the NY Times, and tell them the next time they take out an ad, it will be in some other newspaper...Maybe US Today? Ouch, that would hurt!
  • Markie1006, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10stinknugget who?

    Oh, you mean that clown I blocked - nothing to see here (any more)... move along...
  • bieber, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7iTunes _does_ discriminate against OGG users, in a way. Being a free codec, it would be massively easy for them to implement, and they wouldn't have to pay royalties or anything. So why don't they? Because they want people using their chosen codecs...
  • kgasso, on 10/12/2007, -5/+12@nickwebb:
    It saddens me a bit to see your comment get modded down for no reason other than what appears to be simply not giving a big thumbs-up to the Linux zealots.

    I've been a fairly regular Linux user since 1995. For me, interoperability between Windows, Mac OS, Linux, and FreeBSD systems pays the bills. I pretty regularly use all of the aforementioned OSes - it's part of my job.

    I agree that the issue pointed out by the story may be a major inconvenience. However, there are MANY other sites out there that don't work as they should under "alternative" OSes and/or browsers. It's not discriminatory, just poor quality control on the part of the web designer(s).

    Long story short: Technical ineptitude is NOT discrimination.
  • Phocion55, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10I'd love to see your information sources for all these claims. Please post them here to enlighten us all, wise one.
  • Phocion55, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Yes.....cuz Mac users have a SPOTLESS reputation for not being annoying, snobbish, and condescending.
  • micro506, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9@Phocion55

    No, Microsoft doesn't hire twelve-year-olds.
  • spectre_25gt, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Are you retarded? The video works perfectly well in Linux. The detection script just happens to suck balls.
  • Yeyui, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Yes, discriminate: to make a difference in treatment or favor on a basis other than individual merit (from the Miriam-Webster Dictionary of Law)

    The NY Times treats users of Linux differently than users of Microsoft Windows or Apple Macintosh. Specifically, it allows the latter to view videos, but does not allow the former to do the same. This distinction is not based on the individual merit (of the opperating systems or the users), as demonstrated on the front page, where the distinction between the operating systems is not made.

    The discrimination is not based on a trait specifically prohibited by law, but that does not change the fact that it is still discrimintation.
  • Footstick, on 10/12/2007, -5/+11"iTunes DISCRIMINATES(!!!!!) against OGG users!" Is also quite shocking.
  • Phocion55, on 10/12/2007, -4/+10"Most sites are designed on Macs"

    How do you figure?
  • Yeyui, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8So its only discrimination if the group being negatively affected is sufficiently large? I guess its not possible to discriminate against albinos then.
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