* Homer peremptorily fired off this memo:
> The Trolls are completely wasting their time attacking Linux with this
> "market share" bullshit, since it is completely irrelevant to the ethos
> of Free Software. For those companies that wish to take Free Software
> and run their business with it ... good luck to them, but the success or
> failure of those companies is still completely irrelevant to the goals
> of Free Software. The software is still /Free/ regardless of how many,
> or how few, people use it. Mission accomplished.
More than accomplished, as a lot of people do use it.
However...
> OTOH Microsoft's "mission" is monopoly, so they can turn out slop that
> everyone will be forced to use regardless. This way they are guaranteed
> revenue; with little investment of resources; and little or no skill.
> But the only way they can guarantee that monopoly is to destroy every
> other vendor, and the greedier (and more desperate) they get for money -
> the more market sectors they try to monopolise.
... and they'll fight like cornered rats to do it, as illustrated by the
sordid SCO, OOXML, patent saber, OLPC, and ULPC stories of the current
day.
> Unfortunately for Microsoft, their original "plan" only really worked
> the first time around, with the con-game they played with IBM and Gary
> Kildall. It's paid out for a long time, but now the cash (and strategy)
> is failing. In fact they've only managed to last /this/ long because
> they abused their ill-gotten power and money to bribe; corrupt; extort;
> threaten; litigate; spread FUD; and otherwise damage or destroy their
> competition.
A mostly fair assessment. Microsoft does put out some technically good
solutions, too, once they've beat on the code for a few years.
> Microsoft's abysmal failures, in every endeavour other than Windows and
> Office, proves that their time is up. This latest blow is just one of
> many signalling the end, as if their recent 30 Billion USD loss wasn't a
> clear enough signal. Good riddance.
Unfortunately, Homer, I fear the government would step in to help them
would it come to that. Some government already have helped them.
Witness the Bush administration's hands-off treatment, and the way some
governments subverted their own standards bodies to ensure they didn't
have to pay to have someone besides Microsoft handling documents.
It will be similar if the current dominant business desktop
infrastructure ever becomes threatened.
--
Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.
-- Bill Gates, Business @ The Speed of Thought (1999)
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