Posted on 08/15/2011 6:06:08 AM PDT by ShadowAce
It seems Matt Rosoff is having a little bit of snark over Microsoft apparently disregarding Linux as a threat to its desktop business.
The schadenfreude stems from a tweet from Wes Miller, Research VP at Directions on Microsoft, which points out that Microsoft's boilerplate from its last two annual SEC filings has some interesting revisions, as seen here.
Predictably, Rosoff pours salt on the wound by off-handedly cackling about Jim Zemlin's comments earlier this year that taking on Microsoft would be like "kicking a puppy."
To be fair, Rosoff did a little digging in the same SEC filings and discovered that Linux was still present in the documents, most notably as competition in the server and embedded spaces.
First off, let's be clear: in the passage Miller and Rosoff gleefully cite, Google is still mentioned as competition on the desktop. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Google's desktop offering ChromeOS actually Linux?
Why yes, yes it is.
So, while Microsoft seems to be sweeping the Linux problem under the rug, anyone with half a brain can see that Linux is still a threat here, if not in actual name.
I would be dishonest if I were to suggest that at this time ChromeOS has significant market share against Windows. Frankly, no operating system does. But Linux is still in Microsoft's radar, never fear.
And I wonder what Microsoft's mobile section of its SEC filings will say in the face of yesterday's news that Windows Phone 7 2Q sales are so bad they've slipped below that of Samsung's in-house platform Bada? Bada, ladies and gentlemen, Bada is selling better at 1.9 percent than Windows Phone 7's 1.6 percent, with Android sitting on top for the same quarter at 43.4 percent.
Gee, that's awfully bad news, considering that "IBM engineer Mark Dean, who was on the team that built the first IBM PC, says the PC era is basically over." I would point these stories out to Rosoff, but it seems he actually wrote the stories to which I just linked.
Let me see if I have got this straight: Linux, according to Microsoft, has lost on the desktop, even though one of its cited competitors uses Linux. Meanwhile, a lot of smart people (besides just Dean) are pointing at mobile (tablets and smartphones) as the Next Platform, and right now Windows' mobile offering can't get mobile traction to save its life, while a Linux-based OS is kicking butt and taking names on smartphones and isn't doing too bad on tablets.
Boy, I'm so glad Rosoff is here to point such things out to me. Otherwise I might actually be worried.
Face it. You cannot win against logic this good.
I don’t really care about the wider adoption of Linux on the desktop. As long as it’s still lively enough to keep up with continued development, I’m good with running a platform that is stable, robust, and relatively virus/malware free. Let the rest of the world continue to be stuck dealing with the crap they have to put up with in a Microsoft operating system. i have email filters to deal with their spam-spewing zombies.
Not porn--X is the Roman ten--hence Linux is a ten.
linux has a serious problem penetrating the mass market. It is still pretty much a technobabble device for endusers.
I am will to bet if the article was “apple disregards linux” the mac snobs will be circling the waggons in support.
Linux is a hobbyist platform for script kiddies and wannabees. It is not a serious operating system.Yeah. Sure.
Tell that to Google, Amazon, Netflix, The New York Stock Exchange, the London Stock Exchange (after a disastrous attempt to use Windows). You probably have Linux computers in your house (computer routers, Tivo and other DVRs, Televisions, etc.).
But if it makes you feel better to think that Linux is only a hobbyist platform, you go right ahead.
And you don't want that.
Don't even try, you cannot win.
Not serious companies. Show me Linux in a company that actually does something.
LOL!
In fact, I can guarantee that you are using it right now.
The question is, what will the desktop be in a couple of years.
I suggest that eventually the handheld device will be the desktop, and will simply be wirelessly attached to the monitor and keyboard, or a docking station, when you want to use it as in a similar manner to a desktop.
My take?
Linux’s trajectory is up.
MS’s trajectory is down.
Where and when the lines cross and in response to what events is anyone’s guess. But in my opinion the eventual outcome is virtually certain.
You must be using the command line.
Possibly. I don’t disagree with you but I don’t agree yet. We’ll have to wait and see. I actually see those devices as merely being adjuncts to the desktop that you can take with you—but it won’t be the primary device (storage or otherwise) for most homes.
Not now, certainly, but in a few years, they should be just as powerful as any desktop, or at least good enough to function as a desktop.
OK, you've convinced me. I'm going to switch back to a REAL computer and OS:Tell that to Google, Amazon, Netflix, The New York Stock Exchange, the London Stock Exchange (after a disastrous attempt to use Windows).Not serious companies. Show me Linux in a company that actually does something.
Excellent point. I give you high marks in the Logic and Deductive Reasoning department.
Do not underestimate the Commodore. Furthermore, I have it on good authority that the Vic-20 is poised for a comeback.
Windows is good for those who are familiar with it, and don't need to perform tasks for which it is not well suited. When you try to conform another OS into the same mold as Windows, you will be disappointed, and feel like it is not up to the same level of competence as Windows, when the reality is that in some (if not most) areas, Linux is much more refined and developed than Windows is.
Linux is not Windows and shouldn't be treated, or judged, by the same standards.
/thread.
"..."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.