[Debian]: MS hat da ein Problem...
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/zdnn_rc_display/0,3443,2144291,00.html
Who's afraid of big, bad Linux?
By Mary Jo Foley, Sm@rt Reseller
October 1, 1998 8:48 AM PT
In its
filing last week
with the
U.S. Securities
and
Exchange
Commission,
Microsoft
said it
sees Linux as a
major
threat to the
continued
dominance of
Windows. I
don't buy it.
If you accept Microsoft's claim at
face value, you might
conclude that Microsoft is
actively seeking ways to
emulate the free-software model
that's allowed Linux to
capture an increasing number of
hearts and minds. In spite
of a brief attempt to capitalize
on the appeal of open
source code by Microsoft president
Steve Ballmer, there
are no indications that
Microsoft's thinking about opening
up access to its source code. In
fact, in recent months,
both AT&T and Bristol Technology
have opted to sue
Microsoft for allegedly failing to
fulfill its contractual
obligations by supplying them with
source. Source code
openness doesn't seem high on
Microsoft's agenda.
If you still insist on believing
that Microsoft is actually
afraid of Linux, you might
conclude that it's investigating
ways to cash in on the Linux
phenomenon. But the
possibility of Microsoft doing
ports of SQL Server,
Exchange, Office or any other
Microsoft apps to any
operating systems other than
Microsoft's own (with the
minor exception of Apple's MacOS),
seems remote. And
any kind of investment or purchase
in a Linux or open
source vendor by Microsoft seems
laughable. Microsoft
hasn't issued any press releases
lately highlighting its
recruitment of a top Linux
executive or its displacement in
a key account of Linux by NT.
If Linux really might dampen
Windows and NT sales,
wouldn't Microsoft be hard at work
developing a Linux
clone designed to splinter the
market, as it did with Java,
for example? Or wouldn't it at
least be readying its own
better-late-than-never competitor
as it did in the browser
realm?
Microsoft has an undisputable case
of Unix envy, but it's
Solaris, SCO Unix, HP-UX and AIX
that Microsoft is
targeting, not Red Hat Linux or
Caldera OpenLinux.
Linux lovers: don't flame me. I am
not discounting the fact
that Linux is the only version of
Unix that's actually
gaining market share right now,
according to research
estimates. I am not disputing that
Linux has got a strong
and vocal following among
resellers and users. I am not
dismissing the importance of
investments by Netscape,
Oracle, Informix, Sybase, IBM and
the impressive list of
companies jumping on the Linux
bandwagon as of late.
But how much of this fervor is
simply the members of the
good, old Anyone-But-Microsoft
movement hoping and
praying that some company -- any
company -- will rise up
to give Microsoft a run for its
money? I'd also remind
anyone who has somehow managed to
forget that
coalitions, especially those
involving Unix players, have
succumbed to repeated untimely
deaths. Do you really
want IBM, Oracle and Netscape
running Linux?
And to those who hold up Intel's
recent discovery of the
importance of Linux as
indisputable proof that Microsoft's
empire will crumble as a result of
Linux domination, I'd
offer a more cynical take. I'd
suggest that Intel is engaged
in a major publicity campaign to
distance itself from
Microsoft, while behind the
scenes, it's business as usual
for the Wintel duopoly. If it
takes a little investment in Red
Hat to throw the FTC off in its
antitrust investigation of
Intel, that's a small price for
Intel to pay.
Am I missing something? Do you see
any verifiable signs
that Microsoft fears the Linux
wolves at the door? Or is
this just wishful thinking?
Talkback below and let me
know.
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