>
> > 2. It stifles any future technical creativity, not only for MS but for
> > other companies as well.
>
>I saw Bill say this on the teev and I really don't see how the proposal
>stifles creativity in companies other than MS.
MS made a fundamental error when they started selling Windows - they
allowed competitors access to their API's and source code.
Consider this scenario, from a purely capatilistic and non-open-source
point of view;
1. Gates, et. al. develop an OS that the user community, in what they
currently use for "wisdom", decide is better than sliced bread and start to
use it in droves. No-one is forcing them to use Windows - there's FreeBSD /
Linux / OS/2 / NeXTStep / OS X, etc...
2. Wordperfect (for example) come to Gates and say "We want access to your
code so we can write WordPerfect to run under Windows".
Here's the mistake;
GATES GAVE IT TO THEM !! OK, he licenced it, for $$$ or whatever...
My response as Gates would have been;
3. "No - not only will I not give it to you, I'll make sure that
WordPerfect will NOT run under Windows. If users want a word processor,
then they can buy the Windows one - WORD. If you want a GUI to run
WordPerfect under, go write your own".
Now, before you say that this is monopolistic, consider;
* The user community is not being FORCED to purchase Windows - there are
alternatives.
* Microsoft is a commercial moneymaking enterprise, and shouldn't HAVE to
give or grant access to its' proprietry property to anyone.
Whether you approve of Gates ethics (which I don't), or like his software
(which I don't), you have to respect the man's business accumen.
Remember: Microsoft is not and has never been a Software Company - they are
a Marketing Company and a bloody good one - as the "world wide domination
of Windows" proves.
Where the hell do you thing Windows NT came from ? The original group of
programmers that created NT were the VMS guys from Digital - NT is what VMS
would have become had development continued.
Take another product - FrontPage - written by Vermeer, Inc. - I still have
version 1.0 and it was a bloody good product. MS bought the company because
they liked the product - good business move. They then got their hands on
it and eventually got rid of most of the original developers. The latest
incarnation, FrontPage 2000, is a bloated piece of crap.
The point is, MS didn't DEVELOP these products, they BOUGHT them.
I stand by my original comment - the break-up will never happen.
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