[ShadowAce]

Long article, but a good read

[Golden Eagle]

Long article, but a good read

LOL what was his supposed point? That Apple and IBM are the saviors of open source? I guess he doesn't realize their own software products are mostly closed source and not free to copy, as well as both companies being patent hordes themselves.

[dayglored]

> Long article, but a good read

Pretty good analysis and commentary, if a little slanted.

The perspective one has on Microsoft's recent patent nonsense (pun intentional) is highly dependent on how one views Vista, specifically its success or failure.

If Vista had been delivered on-time, had been received well by customers and reviewers, and had sold well as an upgrade in addition to new machine pre-installs, this recent move to stomp FOSS with patents would be seen as the giant dealing the death blow to the renegade Linux penguin-heads.

But in fact, Vista was years late, has been panned in the press and rejected by customers, and is only selling in places where it's the only choice. As a result, this move against FOSS is seen as the dying gasp of an already fatally weakened dinosaur.

I believe the latter is the more accurate one (although both views are simplistic). As you know, I'm no Microsoft fan. But I hope that Microsoft does not die from this monumentally stupid move. Microsoft has a legitimate place in the software market, for the products that they sell in fair competition. I'd imagine they could hold somewhere between 35% and 50% of the market even after they shoot themselves in the foot here.

What I don't know for sure is whether their business model, which for two decades has been built on monopoly ownership of the market, can actually adapt successfully to honest competition. It might not, and that would be a shame for all, since as this article points out, the success of FOSS is dependent on standardized hardware that Microsoft made into a commodity. Remember when computer hardware was expensive? I sure do.

There is no FOSS-produced hardware, folks. Remember that.

That said, I'm glad to see the massive ship of Ballmer, Gates, & Co. headed for the rocks. They've fought hard to make themselves so ugly and hated, and they've earned every bit of pain they're about to cause themselves.

It'll be an interesting ride down, as long as they don't take everybody in FOSS with them. Here's a wacky thought: the grand irony could be that Jobs might be the last man standing (because Apple produces its own hardware).

[epluribus_2]

Good software is harder to engineer and support than hardware. The people who do this should be paid for their work. Part time hobbyists have a role but some software is a valuable product that has a price. The war against such commercial software is stupid.

[papasmurf]

I'm not skeered, just disgusted. Having long been an avid supporter of MS, I have begun to see the light in the last few years.

I think MS is killing off it's customer base, their customers are spending less of their IT budgets with them, and soon they will reap what they have sown. I, for one, am constantly looking for a way to leave them completely. If I hadn't got myself hooked on a Tablet PC, I think I would have been done already.

In the meantime, I'm keeping my eyes on projects like Reactos and the ongoing Ubuntu growth.

:O)

P

[Patton@Bastogne]

.


ShadowAce,


To be fair, I've never used the Linux O/S ... so I won't pass judgement.


But ... "OpenSource Office" totally sucks ... I discovered (upon being a newhire) that the CEO absolutely hated Microsoft and Office, et al.


So therefore, like the typical liberal she is, "everyone" was forcred to use the pathetic "OpenSource Office" software ... except of course, a "few" privlidged (sp) folks who were allowed to use Microsoft Office.


Of course, the CEO's justification was "free" ... just as I would say that a neighbor's dog turd is likewise "free" when it's been deposited in your freshly manicured front lawn.


People can bitch and moan (as I do occassionally) about Bill Gates and Microsoft Vista (ad nauseum) ...


But American office productivity would be severely decreased (by now) were it not for the MAGNIFICENT Microsft Office Suite ... instead of using Wordstar, Wordperfect (a piece of Shiite), Lotus-1-2-3, DBase 3-4-5-6-7), Eudora Mail, etc. etc. etc.


BTW. I quit the position (CME) three weeks later ... and found myself a "sane" CEO whose company uses Microsoft Office ...

Patton-at-Bastogne



.

[Patton@Bastogne]

.


ShadowAce & GingisK,


To be fair, I've never used the Linux O/S ... so I won't pass judgement.


But ... "OpenSource Office" totally sucks ... I discovered (upon being a newhire) that the CEO absolutely hated Microsoft and Office, et al.


So therefore, like the typical liberal she is, "everyone" was forcred to use the pathetic "OpenSource Office" software ... except of course, a "few" privlidged (sp) folks who were allowed to use Microsoft Office.


Of course, the CEO's justification was that OpenSource Office was "free" ... just as I would say that a neighbor's dog turd is likewise "free" when it's been deposited in your freshly manicured front lawn.


American office productivity would be severely decreased (by now) were it not for the MAGNIFICENT Microsft Office Suite ... instead of using Wordstar, Wordperfect (a piece of Shiite), Lotus-1-2-3, DBase 3-4-5-6-7), Eudora Mail, etc. etc. etc.


People can bitch and moan (as I do occassionally) about Bill Gates and Microsoft Vista (ad nauseum) ...


And do I ever "adoringly" look back to those "glory days" (GingisK) when the PC world was new ... filled with multiple (uncompatible O/S) and software packages ... unjustified astromonomically expensive PCs (because of low manufacturing efficiencies) ... and multiplied hours, days, weeks and sometimes months of insane PC troubleshooting ...

IT WAS JUST SO MUCH FUN /sarcasm-off ...


BTW. I quit the position (CME) three weeks later ... and found myself a "sane" CEO whose company uses Microsoft Office ...



Patton-at-Bastogne



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[The Spirit Of Allegiance]

Excellent article on Intellectual Property.

Quite an interesting battle of comments on Marxist ownership of technology, as well.