In comp.os.linux.advocacy, Oliver Wong
<owong@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote
on Wed, 3 Jan 2007 18:29:12 -0500
<c%Wmh.104523$Rg5.879674@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
>
> "Roy Schestowitz" <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:1365683.ruNxqEddHm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> 2007: a world without Microsoft?
>>
>> ,----[ Quote ]
>> | The disappearance of Microsoft and Windows would leave a massive
>> | vacuum in the computing industry - who would be able to take
>> | advantage and slip into the gap? Who would benefit the most?
>> |
>> | [...]
>> |
>> | Linux is already offering alternatives to Microsoft, and would
>> | easily rush into the gap.
>> `----
>>
>> http://apcmag.com/4891/a_world_without_microsoft
>>
>> No zombies. No SPAM. Overnight, a dream becomes a reality.
>
> <quote>
> Imagine that you woke up tomorrow to a world without Microsoft.
>
> Not a world where Microsoft never existed, but one where it hit some hidden
> critical corporate mass and imploded, or it was discovered that the Windows
> source code was actually the DNA sequence for red cabbage, and all the
> directors disappeared to a hidden undersea stronghold. Whatever really ...
> Microsoft existed and now it doesn't.
> </quote>
>
> You seem to be assuming that the article is asking you to imagine a
> world where Windows disappears overnight, as opposed to one where Microsoft
> disappears overnight. Just because MS disappeared doesn't necessarily mean
> that the copy of Windows on my computers will.
>
> I suspect if Microsoft disappears, that means the Windows source code is
> now public domain, and perhaps we can convince some of the (former)
> Microsoft engineers to release it to the public, so that Windows may become
> opensource and updated by the community. That way, we get to keep playing
> our computer games while following the ideals of FOSS. With the source code,
> any interoperability problems between Windows and Linux (and other OSes)
> will be more easily solved, hopefully (depending on how well the source code
> is documented -- or perhaps a community of volunteers will go through the
> code and progressively document it over a period of a few months). A win-win
> situation.
>
> Spam, zombies, etc. will still exist, at least overnight. Some
> vulnerabilities may be spread even faster, because the black hats have
> access to the source code. Of course, the white hats have access to the code
> too, but currently Windows has no efficient repository system like Debian
> (for example) does, and most Windows users are probably not comfortable
> recompiling their OS, so it'll be difficult for the white hats to get the
> users to install the updates.
>
> - Oliver
>
>
There is also the ~$40B-$50B/year effect, much of it
presumably in the Washington State economy, if Microsoft
vanishes. AFAICT, such would be highly disruptive,
although in theory Linux and Linux-based products
might indeed fill in the gap -- given enough lead time.
(Some products, of course, are already available, such
as Evolution.)
--
#191, ewill3@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Linux. The choice of a GNU generation.
Windows. The choice of a bunch of people who like very weird behavior on
a regular basis, random crashes, and "extend, embrace, and extinguish".
--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com
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