Linux-Advocacy Digest #236, Volume #32 Fri, 16 Feb 01 12:13:03 EST
Contents:
Re: Whistler/.NET will Help Linux (T. Max Devlin)
Re: Whistler/.NET will Help Linux (T. Max Devlin)
Re: Linux and the 21st Century Boom - Re: Wy Linux will/is failing on the desktop
(T. Max Devlin)
Re: Linux and the 21st Century Boom - Re: Wy Linux will/is failing on the desktop
(T. Max Devlin)
Re: Linux and the 21st Century Boom - Re: Wy Linux will/is failing on the desktop
(T. Max Devlin)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: T. Max Devlin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Whistler/.NET will Help Linux
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Fri, 16 Feb 2001 16:41:32 GMT
Said Bloody Viking in comp.os.linux.advocacy on 14 Feb 2001 01:46:21
GMT;
>
>Mike Martinet ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote:
>
>: Whoah! Hold on there little buckaroo. I'm the one who said I hope MS
>: tries to turn their software into a subscription service because I
>: believe it will *speed* the acceptance of Linux as an alternative. In
>: other words, I completely agree with your forklift analogy.
>
>: "This is not your father's forklift"
>
>A fun question is what is the wierdest analogy ever devised for Microsoft.
Years ago, there was a "myth story" about the DOSFish. I got tired of
hearing it, as it makes the standard mistake of believing it was an
accident of history which started the monopoly. I posted an updated
story last year. Not quite an analogy, but perhaps you'll find it
entertaining.
Once upon a time, there was a great and powerful ogre, a most evil
monster, and his name was Bill Gates. No, let's start that again....
Once upon a time, there was an evil ogre who lived in the Pea Sea. He
was a very greedy and jealous ogre, and he terrorized the gentle people
who lived by the Pea Sea. When the ogre took up residence in a cave
along the path which everyone used to go from the village to the sea,
the people were fearful, and complained to their god, Usgov, saying "How
can we get to the sea, for we need to fish its waters to eat, and the
ogre controls the only path." So Usgov, being a wise and fair god,
called the ogre, and representatives of the villagers together, and bid
them "tell me of the fact of the situation, that I might pass judgment."
And so it was that the people told Usgov of the ogre's loud bellowing
and threats when they approach the Pea Sea, demanding that the people
owe him for the right to gather food from the Pea Sea. And Usgov saw
that this was so, and asked the ogre why he should not be stricken down.
And the ogre said "But I have done nothing wrong. My bellows and
threats are meaningless, as the villagers can easily get to the Pea Sea
without using the path; they can climb over the mountains."
And Usgov saw that this was so, and asked the villagers why they don't
climb over the mountains, or build another path. "It would take many
weeks for us to get to the Pea Sea if we had to climb over the
mountains. We want to use the path." The ogre yelled, "But it is my
path!". Now, Usgov was a great and powerful god, but he was not
all-knowing and all-seeing, as some gods are. In fact, to prove how
wise and just he was to his worshipers, Usgov did even blindfold himself
and stop up his ears with wax, so that he might not be distracted when
awaiting petitioners. Even more, he had been sleeping for decades
before we was aroused by the clamor of the villagers, and so knew not
when or how the path through the hills from the village to the Pea Sea
was made. So he told the villagers "You may use the path or not use the
path, but the ogre lives on the path, and may do there as he pleases.
Is there any other complaint you have?"
And the villagers cried "Yes! The ogre does many evil things, because
he is greedy and jealous. Look, see all of the people who are weak from
hunger, because they cannot easily fish in the Pea Sea because of the
ogre's horrid threats and traps." And the god said "But what precisely
has the ogre done? I am a wise and just god, and so I will only pass
judgement on specific actions the ogre has taken, for it is not my place
to simply call him mean and horrid and smite him down. For if I can do
it to him, then, yea verily, I might then do it to each of you."
And so the representatives of the villagers reported, "The ogre does
demand that we buy fish from him." When Usgov asked the ogre about
this, the ogre said "I do ask for payment for fish delivered, but if the
villagers don't want to pay me, then they can fish for themselves." The
god who would judge these actions asked the villagers if this was true.
The villagers responded "Yes, great Usgov, but the other fish in the Pea
Sea are hard to catch, and we have grown use to the Dosfish. But no
villager can catch a Dosfish themselves, for the ogre will then beat and
drown that person until they are dead." When asked about this, the ogre
claimed "I have All Rights Reserved on Dosfish, great Usgov, by your
decree; no villager may catch one without my consent, and I do not grant
it to any. It is my choice." And once again, Usgov tried so hard to be
fair that he blinded himself, and said "Dosfish may only be taken from
the Pea Sea by the ogre." But the ogre was not satisfied with this, and
said "If the villagers should want to eat any other kind of fish which I
can provide for them, I should be able to catch and sell it." The
villagers , being skeptical of the ogre's intentions, demanded that each
kind of fish is different, but are often hard to tell apart. "If you
say yes to the ogre, then he will be able to call any fish a Dosfish, or
call a Dosfish anything else, and we would be lost!" But Usgov had
grown weary of this audience, and the hour grew late. And so, he
pronounced a great Decree of Consent, and then abandoned the villagers
to the fate of the ogre, sure, because they were a strong and hearty
people, that they would eventually either outwit or kill the ogre and
live for many years by the Pea Sea.
And so the people went on about their lives, and walked the ogre's path
to the Pea Sea, and while some few caught their own fish, most would pay
the ogre for his Dosfish, even though the Dosfish was among the ugliest
and least tasty of fish in the sea. The villagers bought them because
they were used to the taste, and didn't mind it so much, and never had
to look at it until it was cooked and on their plate, with all the ugly
parts hidden from their sight. For the ogre sold his Dosfish very
cheaply, charging only one quarter of the price that the villager who
made fishing equipment charged for a rod and nets.
Now, the villagers who used the path, but caught their own fish, soon
found that it became more and more difficult to carry their fish home.
The ogre, in secret, had been narrowing the cliffs which bound the path,
even until it was too narrow to get anything but the small and ugly
Dosfish through. And of those villagers who did not use the path,
preferring to climb over the hills, for it was good exercise, some would
still buy the ogre's Dosfish.
But soon the villagers became dissatisfied, and wanted something other
than Dosfish, for it was an ugly and bad-tasting creature. "I will
catch a new kind of fish," said the ogre, hiding his greed and jealousy
behind a smile of customer service. And the ogre caught a different
kind of fish, one which was tasty and pretty to behold. It was called
an Applefish, although it did not resemble a fruit, and was actually a
mammal which had returned to the sea rather than a true fish. And from
sticks and bark, he molded an effigy of the Applefish, and called it
Chicago, because it sounded like a cool code-name. Taking a Dosfish,
and wrapping it in the Chicago, he held it before the villagers and
cried, "Behold! For I have created a better fish than the Dosfish! And
I shall call it Winfish."
The leprechaun who owned the rights to the Applefish, called a fish even
though it was not, complained to Usgov that the Winfish was a copy of
his Applefish, and so must the ogre make amends. But the ogre easily
bested him, saying, "It might look like an Applefish and feel like an
Applefish, but it tastes not at all like an Applefish, and so is mine."
And even then the villagers complained again to their god, saying, "It
might look like an Applefish, and be called a Winfish, but it is a
Dosfish, and so the ogre is trying to cheat us." The ogre replied "But
this is a different fish, and is not a Dosfish, and anyone looking at it
or tasting it (for the bark the ogre had used was sweet, and did taste
something like Applefish) does know this to be true."
And again Usgov put on his blindfold, and held out his hand, and could
tell the difference between a Dosfish and a Winfish, and again
proclaimed that the ogre could sell fish has he pleased, even while he
controlled the path to the sea. And then one day, the ogre did smite a
villager with a large rock, and killed him, almost. And the villagers
took the ogre once again before Usgov, and told him of what they had
seen. And the ogre said "But he had captured a Dosfish, and was taking
it back to the village, and it is within my power to smite any who do
this." And the villagers pointed out "That is not a Dosfish, but a
Doctorfish. And although a Doctorfish might look like a Dosfish, it is
not a Dosfish." And the ogre replied "But since it looks like a
Dosfish, it could be made into a Winfish, and both the Dosfish and the
Winfish are mine, and so if a villager is smitten for catching
Doctorfish, this is their problem." And Usgov, as usual and befitting a
just deity, had his ears plugged up with wax, and so could not hear the
ogre's lies, and could only console the victim but would offer no
compensation for his injuries.
Time passed yet again, though not long of it, and the ogre's reign was
mighty. The Dosfish, and the Winfish which was the Dosfish with bits of
bark and sticks to make it look like an Applefish (bits which would
frequently fall off, as the ogre was not a fine craftsman, though he
would always strongly deny that it was a Dosfish under the decorations,
and would insist that the similarity between a Dosfish and Winfish was
coincidence) was a small and had little nutrition even when you were
used to the taste. The villagers had to make many trips to the Pea Sea
to buy the Dosfish from the ogre, and they grew weaker all the while,
until the thought of having to climb over the hills to get to the Pea
Sea caused them to swoon and cry in fear. "Oh great ogre," they cried,
"please give us the Winfish; we will pay any price." And the ogre began
to plan his greatest plot. He would throw many herbs and minerals into
the lake which would feed the Dosfish, and cause them to grow strong and
reproduce in plenty, even while it poisoned the other fish in the Pea
Sea, and would darken the waters, preventing boy fish from finding girl
fish, and thus reduce their numbers. For being able to block the path
to the Pea Sea so that others could not fish easily was not enough to
satisfy the greed and jealousy of the ogre. He wished to ensure that
the only fish which lived in the Pea Sea were Winfish, which were
Dosfish.
Now at this time a great thing did happen. Quietly, without the
thundering proclamations of the ogre, and off to the side of the village
near the mountains, where few people would ever go, there lived a quite
but studious fisherman. This fisherman had long ago learned how to
climb over the mountains to reach the Pea Sea without treading the
ogre's path, and found it very easy to do. But over time, even this
seemed to be too much effort, for even as the Pea Sea got larger and the
trip through the hills shorter, the fish in the Pea Sea were becoming
less nourishing and attractive. And so a great hero was born, when the
humble fisherman, who's name was Linus, decided to dig a new path
through the mountains. And this he did. And when he got to the shores
of the Pea Sea, and saw the great number of Winfish which swam in its
waters, he did not despair, but instead threw into its waters a new kind
of fish which he had nurtured in his bathtub, and he called it a
Nixfish. For Linus had visited other seas besides the Pea Sea, and had
seen both the Spark Sea Risk Sea filled with many animals which looked
like fish, and were called Unixen. Taking some Unixen back to the
village, he had toiled for many months to breed a kind of fish which had
the strengths of Unixen, but could live in the Pea Sea. And this fish
had a magic power, which was that it could always find a girl fish or a
boy fish even with its eyes closed, and so would replicate very quickly,
until there were more fish in the sea than any number of villagers could
eat. This magic came from a talisman that Linus did borrow from some
friends of his, other fishermen who did not use the ogre's path, and ,
and it was called an Open License.
And so once again the ogre took bark and sticks, and tacking a Dosfish,
and first turing it into a Winfish, he fashioned the likeness of a
turtle, and placed the Winfish inside of it even as he had wrapped the
Dosfish in the Winfish bark. The turtle, a slow but very useful kind
called a Browser, was quite good when served with fish, and the people
had been using more and more of them to make up for the poor and bitter
Winfish they were made to eat by the power of the ogre. "See," the ogre
proclaimed, standing before all the villagers on the path to the Pea
Sea, "My greatest work! You have said the Winfish is tiny and bitter
tasting, and I have answered your calls. Behold, the Browserfish! Soon
all will eat heartily, for Winfish are to be sold no more, and so all
will benefit from the Browserfish." And the villagers scoffed, and
although tired and unhopeful, they once again appeared before Usgov, and
asked that he stop the ogre from preventing them from living on the
plenty of the Pea Sea.
"But how do I prevent you from living on the plenty of the Pea Sea?"
exclaimed the ogre. "For is it not I that gives you the plentiful
Winfish, the only fish in the Pea Sea which is pretty and tasty? Do I
prevent you from climbing over the mountain? Do I stop you from fishing
as you please? What harm can I cause those who harvest Browsers? I do
not prevent them from doing so. I am only making it easier for those
who want both Winfish and Browsers to enjoy a healthy meal without
having to catch two creatures."
And finally Usgov became skeptical, and questioned the ogre at some
length. Now, Usgov was a kind and gentle god, and this has been said
before; while covering his eyes and stopping up his ears may have led
him to make some unwise choices, it is all for the best in the end, for
he is not swayed by the mere evidence of his eyes and his ears, but
quests for the truth without deception. But as all gods, Usgov did have
a great weakness. Once his decision had been decreed, he was fearful of
having to change it later, as then his worshipers would think him weak
and easily confused, and would worship him no more. So Usgov did say "I
will not consider whether the ogre can run the path to the Pea Sea. Nor
will I decide whether the Winfish is a Dosfish. These things I have
decreed already, and must not be reconsidered. But I will determine if
the Browserfish is a Browser, or is a fish, or is both or is neither,
for it might even be as a mammal, like the Applefish."
And so Usgov took off its blindfold and unstoppered its ears, and walked
the land questioning all whom it thought had answers. And seeing the
great multitude of Dosfish in the Pea Sea, and the dark waters, and
seeing all the villagers buying Winfish from the ogre even when the
larger, tastier, and much more plentiful magic Nixfish were free for the
asking, it pondered whether or not the situation is as it assumed. And
so it led the villagers to the ogre's lair, and it commanded the brutish
creature to allow them in. And in the ogre's lair, they did find many
tablets, and on these tablets were written all of the plans, plots, and
intentions of the ogre since it took up residence by the Pea Sea. And
so it was that they read of the ogre's menacing tactics to take over the
path which before all had stridden freely. And so it was learned of the
ogre's plot to place a high fence across the backbone of the mountains,
to further discourage those who would avoid the path, and his narrowing
of the path to prevent anything but the tiny Dosfish from being carried
back to the village, and to allow him to more easily hurl rocks onto
anyone who would displease him, and to toss pebbles to trip those who
harvested Nixfish and Browsers. And they did find out how the Winfish
came to be, and how the ogre had crushed in the skull and broken the arm
of his own brother ogre, who's name was Ibm, when it wanted to breed a
fish which was larger and more tasty than a Dosfish, and was pretty as
the Applefish. And it was learned also how the ogre knew the villager
who had caught the Doctorfish was innocent, but had smitten him anyway,
simply for trying to catch something which looked like a Dosfish,
because it could too easily be made into a Winfish, even with the bits
of bark and sticks which fell off of the other Winfish to show the
Dosfish underneath. And they did read further that the ogre had meant
for the Browserfish to encourage the villagers to abandon those who
would catch and sell Browsers, as well as the ogre's intentions to
likewise capture the market in coffee, a new beverage which goes well
with most fish from the Pea Sea, but makes Dosfish taste very bad
indeed, even worse than usual. And they learned many many other things,
all amidst endless descriptions of the ogre's intent to stop the
villagers from benefiting from the plenty of the Pea Sea, so that soon
the ogre would not merely control the path and the Winfish market, but
soon all of the waters. These the ogre did because it was jealous, and
greedy, and for no other reason.
And learning of these things, Usgov did command that the ogre be torn
asunder, split into two and left to survive in whatever way he could
manage. And some of the villagers, who were afraid they would lose
their way to the Pea Sea if the path should no longer be narrow, and
were afraid they would have no fish were the ogre there not to sell
them, and thought the Nixfish, and the Browsers, and even the Applefish
were not tasty at all because they had grown used to the bitter, greasy
taste of Dosfish with Winfish bark. And these villagers yelled at
Usgov, and the other villagers, and said "By what right do you tear him
asunder for selling fish?"
And so it was that Linus did not wield the sword which split the ogre in
twain, nor was it those who gathered and sold Browsers, although these,
and many more, were responsible for its falling. It was Usgov which did
swing the weapon, even while some of the villagers protested, having
learned to be jealous and greedy by the example of the ogre, and
forgetting that it was not for selling fish which the ogre was finally
laid low, but for all of the other things the ogre did, dishonest and
unjust things in multitudes, to make it ever-harder for the villagers to
enjoy the fish in the Pea Sea.
--
T. Max Devlin
*** The best way to convince another is
to state your case moderately and
accurately. - Benjamin Franklin ***
------------------------------
From: T. Max Devlin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Whistler/.NET will Help Linux
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Fri, 16 Feb 2001 16:41:33 GMT
Said Erik Funkenbusch in comp.os.linux.advocacy on Thu, 15 Feb 2001
[...]
>I believe in capitalism, and while I know MS has done many things wrong, I
>also know that most of MS's competitors have done equally wrong things. For
>instance, the comment about "cutting off Netscape's air supply" is waved
>around, however an equally bad comment made by Sun goes unnoticed. Sun's
>Chief Lawyer is quoted as saying "We've got our boots on their throats. The
>right thing to do is to press until they stop breathing. If you're going to
>strike at the king, you better cut his head off." in regards to MS.
>
>The shit that MS gets acused of is simply stupid in so many cases.
And still MS stands convicted of monopolization, while Sun has never
been even investigated, let alone charged. Perhaps it wasn't the "air
supply" comment itself, but the monopolization, which is the problem.
Much is made of the MS quote because they proceeded to exclude
competition from the market by anti-competitive, illegal actions.
Whereas Sun has only market power, not monopoly power, to follow through
on the corresponding analogy.
>> > and I recognize that only about half of what they hype ever comes to
>> > be (mainly because they start hyping it way before they even have a
>> > solid implementation and figure out later that it doesn't work well
>> > the way they intended).
>>
>> Until now...write it down. Funkenbush acknowledges that MS hypes things
>> before they have an implementation. You're making progress.
>
>When someone decides to have a civil conversation, you might be amazed at
>what my opinions are. But, your already starting to wade into the
>inflammatory.
If you cannot deal civilly with people who are justly angry and
inflammatory, then you aren't anywhere near as reasonable as you pretend
to be. Chances are good, in fact, that no matter how rational your
opinions might be, a troll is still treated with contempt and mocked.
As easy as it may be for you to pretend that it is your opinion which is
treated with contempt due to some lack of reason on your opponent's, but
the fact is, you are mocked because of your trolling, Erik; it has
little to do with what your opinions are.
>> What you just wrote is exactly why I am so skeptical of .NET. Even MS
>> executives can't clearly articulate what it is, and what they have
>> articulated sounds incompletely thought through.
>
>Well, it's already out there. We're using Beta's of it. People are already
>implementing sites in it. Companies are beginning development of new
>projects in it. It's out there, it's just not finished yet.
So it would seem quite simple to provide a clear and articulate
description of "it", don't you think? What happened to "its not like
Cairo"?
>> >The market will speak on this. MS can't force people.
>>
>> Indeed. If they aren't careful, they could blow off the whole foot this
>> time too. The market has changed and MS doesn't have the developer
>> mindshare they used to have. They've always relied on that to pull them
>> through when they announce these initiatives but they've managed to use
>> up nearly all of their credibility this time around. Making statements
>> about using .NET to enforce licensing and content restrictions isn't
>> doing them any good either. That's the kind of thing an company that's
>> out of touch with their customers does, because it will please some of
>> their business partners and satisfy internal goals. It is almost worthy
>> of the "old" IBM.
>
>Indeed. That's MS's biggest fear, becoming IBM.
I would have thought it was being split by the government and then
trampled by Linux.
--
T. Max Devlin
*** The best way to convince another is
to state your case moderately and
accurately. - Benjamin Franklin ***
------------------------------
From: T. Max Devlin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Linux and the 21st Century Boom - Re: Wy Linux will/is failing on the
desktop
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Fri, 16 Feb 2001 16:41:35 GMT
Said Erik Funkenbusch in comp.os.linux.advocacy on Tue, 13 Feb 2001
>"Mart van de Wege" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
>news:3a87aea4$0$25219@reader4...
>> 2. Disregarding this, you obviously relied on me to provide you
>> with correct information, instead of reading the FoF yourself.
>> If you had, you might have found, a few pages before the snippet
>> I posted, the story of how a *major* OEM reseller was pressured
>> by Microsoft, using the OEM license as a weapon, into not
>> shipping it's own alternative OS. Hint: the major OEM reseller
>> is IBM, look it up yourself. While MS does not prohibit OEMs
>> from shipping altOSs, they can make life difficult for any OEM
>> that does, and given that DELL, Compaq, and IBMs PC division
>> operate in high-volume, low-margin markets, any threat of
>> raising costs will cut directly into their profits.
>
>IBM also severely underreported their sales to MS and owed MS millions of
>dollars in unpaid licenses.
You have not one shred of proof of that.
>This gave MS the opportunity to pressure them
>from their own mistakes.
No, the fact that IBM required a license for Windows to stay in the PC
business is what provided pressure. The licensing stuff was a ruse; a
fabrication used as a smoke-screen for monopoly pricing.
>Any OEM that keeps factual records and pays their
>bills would not have been able to be so "pressured". Was it wrong of MS to
>pressure them? Sure. But you needn't hand your assailant a knife and leap
>upon the blade yourself.
You needn't apologize for monopolists, either, yet you still do.
>On top of that, the PC division has always been at odds with the OS/2
>division. They resented having OS/2 forced down their throats, because most
>customers didn't want it. IBM go backstabbed by their own infighting,
>primarily because the PC division wanted to make a profit and justify their
>salaries.
>
>Look, I worked for an IBM business partner that developed OS/2 software. I
>wrote OS/2 software myself for this company. I dealt with the AS/400
>divisions and the PC divisions and these people were always fighting
>internally.
Well, duh. You think that makes them somehow unique or different from
every other corporation on the planet? If infighting within a
corporation eliminated the ability to make a profit, no products would
ever be produced by a corporation.
>> So apologies for the first (slightly incorrect) post, but I
>> still stand by my original contention, that MS licensing
>> practices *effectively* prohibit OEMs from shipping anything but
>> windows. Now you give me a link to prove that it isn't so.
>
>So far your only evidence is the IBM situation, which had extenuating
>circumstances related to IBM violating their license with Windows 3.1 due to
>non-payment. All IBM had to do was pay their bill and MS wouldn't have had
>any ground to offer a settlement.
This 'extenuating circumstance' is an unsupported unilateral allegation
by Microsoft. All IBM had to do was pay Microsoft billions in fees they
didn't owe, according to them, and Microsoft wouldn't have forced
monopoly pricing on them? What a tired pile of rubbish this is.
--
T. Max Devlin
*** The best way to convince another is
to state your case moderately and
accurately. - Benjamin Franklin ***
------------------------------
From: T. Max Devlin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Linux and the 21st Century Boom - Re: Wy Linux will/is failing on the
desktop
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Fri, 16 Feb 2001 16:41:36 GMT
Said Erik Funkenbusch in comp.os.linux.advocacy on Wed, 14 Feb 2001
>"Mart van de Wege" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
>news:3a89bb38$0$27533@reader4...
>> I'll make you a deal: find me a case where MS didn't abuse that
>> power to stop an OEM from shipping an alternative to Windows,
>> and I'll go hunting for supporting evidence to my claim.
>
>Huh? There is no way to prove what you're asking. All you have to do is
>accuse them of having a secret deal to offset any case of an OEM willingly
>choosing windows.
The way I read it, Mart is only asking for ONE SINGLE EXAMPLE where
Microsoft did not use some sort of anti-competitive leverage to force an
OEM to pay higher prices. Show us an example of a major OEM shipping an
alternative to Windows before two years ago, for example, or some
evidence that "what the market will bear" isn't ignored for the more
lucrative (and illegal) "what we can force each individual customer to
pay".
>> Despite
>> some hot-headed reaction on my side, and some extenuating
>> circumstances on your side of the argument, the score is still
>> (by your own admission) 1-0 in my favour.
>
>I fail to understand why you think that tit-for-tat in licensing deals is
>abuse. IBM screwed up, and didn't want to meet the terms of their license.
>MS had every right to deny them a license based on their previous
>violations.
Only according to MS. Why is it that you take for granted MS wasn't
lying, like they lied to federal judges and the consumer and the media?
--
T. Max Devlin
*** The best way to convince another is
to state your case moderately and
accurately. - Benjamin Franklin ***
------------------------------
From: T. Max Devlin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: alt.linux.sux
Subject: Re: Linux and the 21st Century Boom - Re: Wy Linux will/is failing on the
desktop
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Fri, 16 Feb 2001 16:45:39 GMT
Said Bob Hauck in comp.os.linux.advocacy on Tue, 13 Feb 2001 07:43:43
[...]
>Oh, so when you do it speculation is ok then? We can speculate all we
>want, but from known facts we can determine that the settlement was for
>at least 10% and perhaps as much as 25% of what Caldera was asking.
>There's a big difference between 10% and 1% of a billion.
I believe the settlement was probably for at least 50%. This based on
the fact that it was so utterly obvious that Caldera was not only going
to win the case, but the dirt dredged up and made part of the public
record should the case proceed was going to be so damaging that even
monopoly power wouldn't save Microsoft. It seems unlikely Caldera would
be so incompetent as to give up a case they were assured of winning,
particularly given that Microsoft was VERY interested in having much of
the evidence sealed and kept secret. It doesn't seem too outrageous,
given that, in fact, that MS might well have paid a settlement even
*higher* than the original claim. Two billion is still pocket change to
MS, while their delusional public image is worth the whole show.
--
T. Max Devlin
*** The best way to convince another is
to state your case moderately and
accurately. - Benjamin Franklin ***
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