Why not Linux?

[Colin McGregor]

--- Rick Tomaschuk <rickl-ZACYGPecefkm4kRHVhTciCwD8/FfD2ys at public.gmane.org> wrote:
> On Sun, 2006-09-03 at 13:29 -0400, Colin McGregor
> wrote:
> > While legally/morally questionable tactics have a
> real
> > (major?) role to play in the domination of the
> > industry by one player, there are other factors.
> > Another "joke" from times gone by was "Nobody ever
> > gets fired for choosing IBM". Point was, if an IT
> > professional picked a solution from say Burroughs
> over
> > IBM, and things went bad, the chances of getting
> fired
> > were much higher than picking an IBM solution. 
> 
> I just don't want to be the poor SOB responsible for
> installing,
> maintaining, patching, de-virus, de-spyware...

True, but supporting Microsoft is an honest, if nasty
way to make a living. I don't have kind words for
people who suggest large scale Microsoft solutions on
the other hand... 

Wonder if MS-Windows support person would interest the
likes of Mike Rowe, who hosts a show "Dirty Jobs" on
the Discovery channel? "Dirty Jobs" looks at honest,
but nasty jobs, like industrial grease trap cleaner,
Florida alligator wrangler, and sewer pipe inspector.
I mean dealing with Microsoft OSs is in some ways
nastier than any of those jobs. 

> > You can punish individuals for breaking the law,
> and
> > the thought of Bill Gates being REQUIRED to wear
> an
> > orange jumpsuit has a certain appeal. As for
> > corporations, the best you can hope to do is force
> > them to reform, this can be done by breaking them
> up
> > and/or  other legal actions, such as forced sale
> of
> > assets. Now, I don't know of any ideal solution
> for
> > Microsoft, but here are some ideas: 
> > 
> > - Make the source code to all Microsoft products
> open
> > source under a BSD or GPL licence.
> > - Require Microsoft OSs become a seperate company
> from
> > the other parts.
> > 
> I don't believe Microsoft will ever be forced by
> Government to 
> change since to many they are a 'rags to riches'
> (sort of) story.
> Government intervention will be seen as excessive
> state control which
> many will take offense to. The best we can hope for
> is a co-ordinated
> effort to match them in every market to take away
> their 'oxygen' as
> their managers refer to it and drive margins down to
> the point they are
> unable to be profitable. Quite frankly its good to
> have a large window$
> installed base. It will be a huge segment needing an
> upgrade in the
> future.
> RickT

Well, never say never when it comes to politics. I
don't think anything will happen as long the
Republicans control the US House, US Senate and US
Presidency, but hopefully that will change with this
fall's elections (part of a Canadian disease at the
moment, not being keen on Republicans :-) , never mind
the fact that some US Democrat administrations have
been about as bad for Canada as the Republicans...). 

Also, quick route for Microsoft to get hammered by the
government would be to have some sort of MASSIVE @#$%
up in which Microsoft played a real part (say a virus
exploiting a security hole that Microsoft hand known
about, but not fixed for months effectively bringing
down the Internet for a few days...). 

Colin McGregor

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