In comp.os.linux.advocacy, thufir
<hawat.thufir@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote
on Thu, 10 Jul 2008 05:58:08 GMT
<Qxhdk.67766$Jx.22731@pd7urf1no>:
> On Thu, 10 Jul 2008 06:39:04 +0100, Homer wrote:
>
>
>> So instilling fear in others; e.g. Ballmer's _FUD_ that
>> "Linux infringes 235 of our patents" in order to
>> _coerce_ Linux vendors to join Microsoft in a protection
>> racket, or committing destructive acts; e.g. Microsoft's
>> sabotage and attempted assimilation of Yahoo, /is/ terrorism.
>
>
> I think that's a bit of hyperbole. If you're terrorized by Ballmer then
> your biggest problems aren't OS related.
>
>
> -Thufir
I doubt anyone here really understands the PC market
anyway. Certainly I don't, though I can speculate --
and of course one can always pull up Dell's public stock
reports from Yahoo! Finance, not to mention various
court proceedings relating to DoJ actions. (Google has
this capability as well, though I'm not as familiar with it.)
The key statistics section in particular indicate Dell has
$62.5B revenue (ttm), which is good (it compares nicely
to Microsoft's $58B), but the profit margin is abysmally
low: 4.76%. (To be fair, they at least have one.)
Since most of Dell's equipment sells with Microsoft
Windows, a variant of Microsoft's deemed-illegal "license
per box regardless" with a 6% discount would be more than
sufficient to block out everyone else in the OS market,
as far as Dell equipment is concerned, anyway.
Dell also has $2B in debt, probably 5 year commercial
paper. The rates thereon might be 6%; interest costs would
eat up about $50M/year (0.1% of revenue) on that alone.
Small, yes, but Microsoft has *no debt whatsoever*.
If Ballmer's comments are terroristic noise, or IEDs buried
in a roadway, Dell's results are the rough equivalent of
a mountain of dirt sitting on a roadway. It will take a
lot of effort to clear that roadway and put Linux on an
equal footing.
And Microsoft isn't about to lend anyone a bulldozer to help. ;-)
As for Yahoo!....they're a little more complicated, as they're
primarily driven by ad revenue AFAIK.
Terrorism, gangsterism, or just aggressive business tactics?
Good question. I wish Elliot Ness were still around to help
answer it, maybe. ;-)
--
#191, ewill3@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
/dev/signature/pedantry: Resource temporarily unavailable
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