____/ [H]omer on Sunday 24 June 2007 11:52 : \____
> Verily I say unto thee, that Roy Schestowitz spake thusly:
>
>> Fah-get about Mr. M.R.Soft. Microsoft is now chasing down its own 'valued'
>> profs.
>>
>> http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/0,1000000121,39287310,00.htm?r=1
>
> I've read through this story carefully, including the victims own site,
> and it is very revealing indeed, and equally disgusting. Here is someone
> MS should be embracing as a valued ally, but instead they are kicking
> him in the teeth. It's unbelievable. Surely even the MS faithful must
> question Microsoft's ethics now, how can they have any supporters left?
>
> The ed/op followup is also worth a good read:
>
> .----
> | "Developers! Developers! Developers!" Steve Ballmer's sweat-soaked
> | mantra, delivered in a terrifying interpretive dance of almost
> | shamanistic intensity, is unforgettable. Indeed, Microsoft has long
> | had a legendary devotion to the army of third-party programmers who
> | support the Windows platform — a devotion that has been one of the
> | wisest and most effective investments the company has ever made.
> |
> | Yet one independent software vendor is now learning the downside of
> | that intensity. It doesn't matter whether what you do is
> | objectively good; whether it is popular, even whether it's
> | explicitly intended to help the developer community write better
> | code in the service of the Microsoft way. Dare to disagree with the
> | business plan, and you are toast.
> `----
>
> http://opinion.zdnet.co.uk/leader/0,1000002208,39287330,00.htm
>
> This story deserves a unique thread. Did you post this at the time?
Richard did. I think it demonstarted the fact that they truly squeeze the goose
at this stage. They are desperate to keep the revenues in a world of changing
paradigms and new favourable brand names. All those adverts and failed
projects cannot be swept under the carpet with just two cash cows. It is not
surprising that aggressive buybacks began, the company became very aggressive,
and over half of its cash piles are gone after just 2 years.
I'm neither kidding nor fantasising. This is very serious and the only think
allowing Microsoft to hide this are large piles of cash and media control.
Gates has already walked away, along with a few other seniors. Bach dumps his
shares as well, albeit very gradually so it doesn't trigger the attention of
investors or inside trading watchdogs.
I firmly believe that in years to come we'll not just see Free software
everywhere, but we'll also revere companies that thrive in Free software (e.g.
IBM, Red Hat, Google) as they become stronger and stronger... probably too
strong for consumer's comfort.
--
~~ Best of wishes
Roy S. Schestowitz | Othello for Win32/Linux: http://othellomaster.com
http://Schestowitz.com | Free as in Free Beer | PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
Cpu(s): 25.9%us, 4.4%sy, 0.9%ni, 64.8%id, 3.5%wa, 0.3%hi, 0.2%si, 0.0%st
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