In article <l9Lqk.198797$gc5.113758@pd7urf2no>,
thufir <hawat.thufir@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> On Tue, 19 Aug 2008 22:03:56 +0000, Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>
>
> > "It just tells you how desperate Microsoft is for a competitor that
> > theyâ??re holding up a software box produced by 100 guys in the hills of
> > North Carolina. Who are they trying to kid?"
> >
> > --Robert Young, CEO of Red Hat
>
> Uh, link?
I see Roy has answered, but ducked actually providing a link. Here it
is:
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/longterm/microsoft/stories
/1999/linux012199.htm>
> <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/longterm/microsoft/stories/1999/linux012199.htm>
Here it is in context:
Microsoft's first defense witness, a Massachusetts Institute of
Technology economist, said last week that Linux, which now runs on
more than 10 million computers, could become a viable competitive
alternative to Windows in a year or two. The company's lawyers and
some of its executives have gone a step further, suggesting that
Linux is a genuine present-day threat to Microsoft.
The government's economists and technical experts take the opposite
view, arguing that it will be at least five or 10 years, if not
more, before Linux (rhymes with cynics) will be a true competitor to
Windows. And that's a prediction Young agrees with.
Asked whether Linux poses a competitive threat to Microsoft's
dominance of the desktop operating system market, Young chortled.
"It just tells you how desperate Microsoft is for a competitor that
they're holding up a software box produced by 100 guys in the hills
of North Carolina," he said. "Who are they trying to kid?"
"We are absolutely not a viable competitor at this time," he
continued. "We have every intention of being one. But how long will
it take? Realistically, it will be 20 years."
Microsoft executives scoffed yesterday at Young's two-decade
prediction. "I think that is ridiculously pessimistic," said Tod
Nielsen, who manages Microsoft's relationships with software
writers. "Paradigm shifts happen in our industry every six months,
and any attempt to predict more than a few years into the future
becomes very doubtful."
--
--Tim Smith
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