Microsoft and linux in China

[JoeHill]

David Payne left a post-it on the fridge:

> On Wed, Jul 11, 2007 at 04:24:20PM -0400, Paul King wrote:
> > > http://www.salon.com/tech/htww/2007/07/10/microsoft_china/index.html  
> > 
> > I like the part where Gates is forced to say that "Piracy isn't so bad
> > after all". If this is an actual quote, this has got to make Gates the
> > lowest life form besides the amoeba. He stands for no higher principle than
> > the Dollar Almighty.
> > 
> > However, it can also mean that he is hinting that he could be going open
> > source at some point. That sounds impossible, but that above quote
> > contradicts years of Microsoft leading the charge against piracy, and the
> > Genuine Advantage program. But the quote also sounds utterly improbable.
> > Would he keep market share by going open source, or going the way of RedHat
> > and others, with a retail production version and a downloadable freebie for
> > everyone else?
> > 
> > Or perhaps, being the richest man in the world, maybe he thinks he can have
> > it both ways (piracy OK in China; not OK elsewhere). That would not be a
> > first for powerful public figures.
> > 
> > Paul King
> > 
> > --
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> 
> Hi,
> 
> I think Microsoft would rather people pirate their software 
> than use Linux because in the long run it will help him 
> maintain his market share. 

There's no 'think' about it. Haven't we all, in one capacity or another, seen
this with our own eyes? Of any of my stints as a 'Windows Professional' (I
still chuckle when I hear that...), only one saw me consistently dealing with
Windows software that was properly licensed, and then only because I was not
dealing directly with the clients, I was setting up their classrooms. Even
then, any and/or all times I would interact with the students taking courses in
Windows software and OS's, nearly all of them would openly discuss using
unlicensed software, and often exhibited that on their own laptops. It's common
knowledge, from what I've seen and heard, that MS obtained its market dominance
from the beginning in large part due to the rampant unlicensed copying of its
software (of course tricky dealings and dumbass decisions by competitors helped
too).

> If more people start getting experience with and start liking other
> operating systems it will seem like a more viable option for business to use.

What's that smartass response with 'Sherlock' in it? ;-)

> I don't think Windows would ever be open source.

Who would want that? Who would even want to see it, let alone use it? It needs
to be completely rewritten from the ground up anyway, and then they would just
be reinventing the wheel.

-- 
JoeHill
++++++++++++++++++++
 Bender: Stay away from our women. You got metal fever, baby, metal fever! 
--
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