Well lets get a bit more optimistic. As far as I can see, the open source community went very far already in fixing this bug.
Henry Ford had a large advantage after inventing the T-ford. That car dominated the market for decades. But in the end, a monopoly is against nature. Its too rigid. Its uncontrollable. It becomes a burden. It is too costly to maintain. Its an offense to other peoples inventiveness and intelligence. Different brands for different users ask for continuous differentiation. Linux is the perfect answer for that: not only open and free, but endlessly adaptable to new situations and for other people. It is the uniformity that always loses in the end. Adaptability will... well, adapt and change. And that' s what matters. I do see it happening around me. Being a lover of decentralised things and organisations, I adapted linux as a user years ago. In that time, it took me quite some time and effort to really use linux for day-to-day production (I started with suse, and now use Kubuntu - yes, feisty 5). But I saw the INCREDIBLE PROGRESS of the linuxes, made possible by the linux communities. I really needed dual boot, as a bunch of apps at that time were not good enough or good but too nerdy for me. But in just a few years, program after program reached the standards for really good quality. So, at this moment, many months pass without the need for me to switch to Windoze. In the period of a few years, almost all programs I need are as good, and often better than windows equivalents. Although I do have a wishlist of course (Why cant I make / play presentations with embedded video in Impress ?? I do need to go back to powerpoint, and hence maintain dual boot on my laptop), I am very trustfull that the very flexibility and adaptability of linux will survive windows in the end. Poor Bill, he probably already knows a monopoly cannot and will not survive, and M$ just wants to prolongate the happy years of unethical high profits as long as possible. The firm is just postponing the inevitable end of its monopoly. In 10 years, we probably will have MS linux. (well, ehm, if it's not there already. Bill is very keen in buying good stuff, always was, wasn't he.) Another very strong point is, that pandora' s box is open already. There are many brands of linuxes in the field. There is a legion of volunteers working on open source. There is linux in the servermarket. Large firms are being founded on linux. This cannot be undone. That really is Microsofts problem: if they join the movement, they have to open themselves to the world. The alternative is buying linux. And they cannot buy linux. Even the richest firm on earth cannot buy exclusively what is common and general property, and in fact is not ownable, if you understand what I mean. Poor old wordperfect could be killed, but linux will allways pop up somewhere in a new form. So the best strategy for microsoft is : 1) keeping the influx of money from windows open as long as possible 2) preparing for a share in some kind of linux as large as possible 3) look around for unexpected new chances. Weapens are: market dominance (included temporarily acceptance of piracy as a way to dominance), legal fights all over the place to hold positions, buying patents and standards to strengthen the own position, and the same to take promising competition out of the market. For me, strong points in the above discussion are: - games. I do not play games, but others certainly do :) , and there really should be improvement in this field. Personally, I do think that persuading the large firms to include linux versions is a vain effort. Better invent something new and better for linux only. - costs. In countries where M$ prices are unaffordable high, pirated versions of windows are common. Nevertheless this is a good opportunity for gaining market share for linux. But in the richer countries as well -- in the end spending fortunes for windoze and for apps isn' t that clever. Someone in the finance department must discover that sooner or later. - politics: the US favors M$. Logically, other countries will favor other os' s. What about Red Flag Linux ? Would be fun to have dual boot Kubuntu / Red Flag. - continuous and ever lasting improvement. So large a community will keep on improving things - for free, for fun, for money. Important things, but small nice things as well, and everything in between. - greed. Bill Gates richness envies lots of people. Although linux is free, in using linux , developing apps, implementing and what not, a lot of money can be earned. Against the inventiveness of " the rest of the world" M$ will lose its monopoly in the end. As Henry Ford did. So what I really see before me is a PC-world emerging from a narrow- minded monopolistic " early-years" period, and widening into a blossoming future of variability, flexibility and adaptability. Watch the market share of M$ going down the next 10 years. :D And please enjoy the fun now. Really important changes in world history are very rare. We are the lucky guys and girls to be there in the right time. Don't wait for your old age to remember these heroic days. Enjoy them now. And, happily, it is very probable that new, important and very unexpected things are going to happen (what is google doing ?), and will add to the fun of our changing world. -- Microsoft has a majority market share https://launchpad.net/bugs/1 -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
