On Tue, 27 Feb 2007 02:55:14 +0000, Roy Schestowitz wrote:
> __/ [ Alias ] on Tuesday 27 February 2007 02:28 \__
>
>> Oy vey. That explains why MS thinks they can make end users prove
>> they're not a thief not once, not twice, but three times per
>> installation or reinstallation and/or hardware changes. They're so good
>> at it, most Windows users think "I have nothing to hide" and, like
>> robots, happily do it without thinking.
>>
>> I have hope, though, that the paying public is getting more educated
>> about these things and will vote with their pocketbook. Perhaps I am too
>> optimistic.
I don't think the paying public is paying enough attention to make any
difference. However, governments, corporations, and antitrust regulators
have wised up considerably. Some very heavy open-source funding now comes
from businesses fighting to break Microsoft's monopoly. MS would have
smashed Linux years ago except that we've acquired some very big backers
who can smash back. Balmer sputters a lot about patents but MS wouldn't
dare start a patent war against Linux, because IBM has a too big an
investment in Linux to let that happen and a patent portfolio of their own
that could bring MS to its knees. And after OS/2, I bet IBM is just
itching for an excuse to open fire.
I'm not under any illusions about our allies. Big Businesses got that way
by being ruthless. IBM isn't not doing this out of the goodness of their
hearts, they have their own plans for Linux. But, I'm hopeful we can have
it both ways - they'll defend us against Microsoft's machinations and take
Linux in the direction that benefits their own bottom line, but we'll
still be able to have our own distro's, too.
> And apparently, Microsoft does this again with Dell. Here's the latest, I
> suspect:
>
> Dell takes small steps toward Linux
Wow, that was some great reading, Roy. I wonder if all that will show up
on Microsoft's news server?
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