Re: [Off Topic] An EXCELLENT Microsoft Confidential document on
Hello,
George Bonser <grep@shorelink.com> wrote:
> On Thu, 5 Nov 1998, Jiri Baum wrote:
... [extra level of indenting still Jiri]
> > > While this appears at first sight to be a classic play out of the
> > > Microsoft handbook, there is a subtle but very important
> > > distinction. By releasing the source code, the program is
...
> But Microsoft must, at all costs, prevent any extention or modification by
> the user that results in any additional utility without additional income
> to Microsoft.
Oops - what I meant was that this should be a correction to the
explanation of OSS in the memo. Ie, what they are up against.
I wasn't expecting MS to turn around and say 'here's the code'.
> They might not also want to reveal code that detects
> competing products and sabotages them or gives misleading error messages.
*Misleading* error messages? I can't remember the last time I saw
one... Most of them seem to be content-free.
(Does a misleading config option count? The other day I turned off
'enable mobile device connection', and it grabbed the port anyway.
Of course, the other program didn't say what the problem is, just
'unable to communicate'.)
> their developers are payroll, Open
> Source developers are, in most cases, not.
Probably doesn't make that much of a difference - if their software
was the best, people would be willing to pay extra for it.
Jiri <jiri@baum.com.au>
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