On the [EMAIL PROTECTED] list, David Guest wrote, wrt "The Register - Gnome to be based on .NET - de Icaza": > Times change. > > http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/23919.html
I am reminded of a (possibly apocryphal) saying which is reputedly popular amongst neo-Marxist revolutionaries who suddenly find themseves in power (e.g. the Sandinistas in Nicaragua): "The only thing worse than ruthlessly being exploited by multinational corporations is not ruthlessly being exploited by multinational corporations." In other words, although multinational corporations typically insist on oppressive levels of labour market deregulation, huge tax concessions or subsidies and then repatriate large profits, they do offer access to capital, technology and most importantly, vertically integrated markets which the beleaguered and impoverished newly liberated country would otherwise only be able to dream about. In this case, the vertically integrated market is future Windows systems based on .NET and associated Microsoft infrastructure, such as Passport authentication (or even Windows authentication). Having just listened to the entire George Dubya Bush State of the Union address, I was reminded of the distinct parallels between the discomfort which open source proponents feel regarding the Microsoft dominance over the computing landscape with the pain which so many Two-Thirds World countries (also known as Third World countries, but two-thirds is more accurate) feel regarding the Western (and US in particular) economic and cultural hegemony over the rest of the world. Tim C
