Posted on 11/13/2006 1:51:43 PM PST by bigdcaldavis
Anyone can tell you an interesting story, but when it comes to Microsoft and Novell’s recent deal Linux enthusiasts around the world have more than a couple up their sleeves.
Microsoft has a long history at killing competition. They started with Novell’s Server market, they tried to do with Java, and today they are trying to do it against the Anti-Virus vendors. They succeeded against Netscape, gained significant grounds against Sony’s Playstation, and killed a thousand other products that I can’t name because I forgot about them after Microsoft obliterated them out of the market. If any of you are XBox lovers, I don’t have to tell you that in the war over consoles Microsoft has been losing money on every XBox it sells. Zune (the competition to iPod) is said to have a similar strategy. In short Microsoft has a huge bank balance and can pump in a lot of money until the competition goes bankrupt.
As a result of this announcement its not a surprise that the Linux world is almost up in arms against Novell for giving in for a few pieces of silver. I on the other hand have a different prespective on it.
* Microsoft isn’t interested in suing anyone (anytime soon atleast) because of its Vista launch schedule and the tricky negotiations going on in Europe * SCO has already tried the same FUD which Microsoft is accused of trying. In fact if you remember Microsoft had “licensed” SCO unix in a similar deal which was indirectly used to fund SCO’s battle against IBM/Linux * Most of the other visible products Microsoft has went after till now have been markets where Microsoft didn’t really have a foothold. Linux is one of the very few unique products which started up as a competitor to Microsoft has has gradually increased in popularity over the years. [Firefox/Mozilla is the other one which I admire] * The other interesting point to note is that unlike most other commercial vendors who got nailed by Microsoft’s pump and dump strategy, Linux is not a commercial entity which can go bankrupt. They can kill Novell, but it will be very hard for them to kill the whole linux movement.
My personal analysis is that Microsoft is afraid.
* Its so afraid of loosing this battle that in its moment of desperation its ready to do anything short of launching a Microsoft branded Linux distribution. * The Financial deal Microsoft and Novell signed has a few hints of where this might be heading. * To begin with its clear both of them want to integrate each others OS using each others technology to provide a better virtualization experience. * Its also clear that though Novell might use significant portions of proprietary Microsoft technology (for example for authentication, authorization and accounting) Microsoft will mostly be using GNU code to which Novell doesn’t have any rights anyway. * So why is Microsoft paying Novell ? * And what’s the deal with 240 million dollars for linux license subscription cost ? What is it going to do with that many copies of linux distribution ? * Oh wait, they could embed it into your Microsoft operating system ? Have you ever thought which distribution of Linux you would use if your Microsoft OS copy you already have, has a Linux distribution pre-bundled with it? * Novell also mentions that it will pay Microsoft a minimum amount of licensing fees, which can increase depending on its own sales. So may be it will sell Windows as well… who knows. But it will sell something with at least some part of Microsoft code in it. * Finally based on my personal opinion (with no understanding of financial details) it almost looks like Microsoft has kind of bought a share of Novell’s company and wants a piece of the action every year. * May be Microsoft is going to announce something even much more significant which will dramatically increase Novell’s sales. May be Novell is an investment after all… not just a pump-and-dump target.
My thought process finally took me to the one place I didn’t want to go… Its the thought that Microsoft will soon bundle Suse linux with one of its own products.
Coming back to the discussion on whether we should abandon Suse or not, I personally think it doesn’t matter as long as Microsoft is not trying to kill it. Stop acting like a 5 year old kid who doesn’t like the big guys. If anything, you should be excited about more commercial support behind your favourite OS. And if they really do bundle Suse with every Desktop/Server OS thats exactly what I wanted when I joined the revolution. Linux on every desktop… I have said this before, and I’ll continue to say it that I’m not opposed to Microsoft Linux as long as others can innovate and keep Microsoft on its toes.
I am a MS user and my training and much of my profession is in MS products, and I'm also pretty good with economics. You left out two main classes of people: those who have followed Microsoft's predatory history and those who dislike Microsoft products out of experience.
I think MS is a fine product and very responsive to the needs of government
Microsoft isn't a product.
IBM/LINUX were so wonderful (and open source as well), the marketplace would have long ago responded by rewarding these competitors.
On the desktop, Microsoft's dominance is obvious -- they rode in on IBM's push to the desktop computer and were smart enough to keep the rights to the OS. Once Compaq reverse-engineered the BIOS and clones were massively produced, IBM's dominant position was heavily diluted, but almost every computer still shipped with Microsoft's OS.
Doesn't that distro turn you into a commie? ;)
Shhhhh. Don't tell him it's an Etch-a-Sketch.
That's not a good thing. Or at least may not be. Have you checked to see if it got turned off in the BIOS? Also, even without the light, your OS may still be aware of it. Try that lspci command and check for anything that looks like wireless or 'broadcom'.
Regards, Ivan
ha!
One of the problems is that people always only look at the hardware specs. You specifically discounted OS X, which is a major reason to go with a Mac, especially with the GPU-accelerated libraries that free your CPU for other tasks (effectively giving you a faster CPU). You also discounted the tons of useful software that comes with a Mac.
Also, did you consider size as a factor in this deal?
If you're happy with your Dell, that's great. But you did pay for Windows in that Dell and got very little software-wise.
No. Actually the poster in question is our resident troll who does nothing on this entire forum except try to dump on open source stuff. If you take the troll seriously, you'll get sucked into wasting hours of your time while he runs around in circles.
It is there fore safe to say that it take a whole lot more time and knowledge to install and run Linux than your regular Joe Six pack installing and running Windows OS!
That depends. If you'd never spent any serious amount of time with a computer, they'd probably be about the same these days. If you are used to doing things in the single-threaded manner that MS-Windows uses, you'll probably not use the full power of Linux immediately because you'd probably not be aware of how much there is there to make it look and work the way you want it to instead of the way someone else (like Microsoft) wants it to look and work.
Most of the basic GUI stuff are pretty easy for MS-Windows users to work with.
If you want to learn some of the more advanced stuff, you can spend a lot of time working with it, but that's entirely up to you. I installed FC4 on my mother in law's laptop, and it pretty much just works for her. OTOH, if you want to learn how to make sed, awk, and grep work their magic for you, yeah, it's not as simple as just turning the computer on.
Have you checked out his new wireless notebook? He can't get the Internet working on it, though...
http://www.amazon.com/Wireless-Notebook-3-HP-Perforated-Subject/dp/B000GAU3OW
GE, you may want to know that well set-up networks give very few of the administrators full rights to everything. As a matter of principle, smart security people keep the number of those with full-boat privileges to an absolute minimum. Other admins will have rights to deal with what they normally deal with.
Regards, Ivan
What's Microsoft's big weakness in the PC industry? Server operating systems, which is why you do see Linux or BSD variants showing signs of competitive life, but why Mac (a client-focused OS) is little more than a niche.
On the other hand, Microsoft does have a large installed based of server software (backoffice apps like Exchange, et. al.)
So maybe, just maybe, this deal is intended to start migrating Microsoft away from developing server operating systems, and to focus more on software, client/workstation OS, and other consumer appliances (media PC, gaming, portables, etc.), especially if they don't see Linux as a workstation threat. (Which, at the moment, looks like a safe bet.)
Yes. His defense of Christians takes a backseat to his hatred of OSS. Then, even Christians become just another commie to him. Sad.
I once had a friend who couldn't get the integrated wireless in his laptop to work. Knowing how these things go from experience, I started from the bottom and asked him to confirm that his laptop actually had integrated wireless. It didn't.
You have to see what OS X Server can do these days. Remember, it is basically BSD with a bunch of tools on top.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
Why, because you can pop in a wireless card and it will work? Or, you can go commando and spend half of your time on message boards asking people how to get your card to work.
I personally love it for the geek factor, but get real. If you are trying to run a business in the real world, nobody can compete with MS. If they could, they would be gaining ground.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
Like Apple?
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