Apesar dos recentes ataques da Microsoft ao sofotware livre pelos poss�veis malef�cios que ele traria para as empresas, ao menos para a Microsoft, software livre s� trouxe benef�cios e a prova � seu uso pelo HotMail. Apesar das negativas, http://public.wsj.com/news/hmc/sb992819157437237260.htm When Microsoft moved to buy Hotmail in 1997, it was already running on FreeBSD, and continued to do so for several years, a source of some embarrassment to Microsoft. The company had earlier said, though, that it removed all FreeBSD from Hotmail last summer, and even has a lengthy technical paper on its Web site describing the transition. But Friday, Microsoft conceded FreeBSD was still being used at Hotmail on machines that track advertising and that run a crucial Internet function known as "DNS hosting." A Microsoft spokesman said he couldn't explain why Microsoft had given out incorrect information on the topic. The spokesman said FreeBSD was still in use simply because the company had yet to switch the machines over to Windows. But one employee of the Redmond, Wash., company said Microsoft has deliberately kept FreeBSD in parts of Hotmail because of its technical superiority over Windows in important functions and furthermore had decided to actually increase its reliance on FreeBSD. Many of the company's Web sites went down much of a day in January, and this person said FreeBSD was judged to be better than Windows at helping to prevent a recurrence of the problem. <corta> In its campaign against open-source, Microsoft has been unable to come up with examples of companies being harmed by it. One reason, said Eric von Hippel, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor who heads up a research effort in the field, is that virtually all the available evidence suggests that open source is "a huge advantage" to companies. "They are able to build on a common standard that is not owned by anyone," he said. "With Windows, Microsoft owns them." []s -- Edgard Lemos [EMAIL PROTECTED] Usu�rio Linux n� 135479 Assinantes em 18/06/2001: 2311 Mensagens recebidas desde 07/01/1999: 118715 Historico e [des]cadastramento: http://linux-br.conectiva.com.br Assuntos administrativos e problemas com a lista: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
