On Mon, 9 Jun 2003 18:58:44 -0500 John <yonaton@tds.net> wrote:
On Monday 09 June 2003 12:50, Fred A. Miller wrote:
http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/stories/story/0,10738,2913989,00.html
First off...M$ *can't* make M$Linux, because then, we'd all be able to look at M$' code.
That's not true. There is no prohibition against a totally binary "desktop-window-manager-environment" They can ask that you pay for their apps too. It would be like an improved Lindows.
Next, if M$ even *tried* something like this, all the people around the world now who are the makers and shakers for all the apps and kernel of Linux, would stop contributing.
Why do you say that? Don't let your "hatred of Microsoft" interfere with rational thinking. The kernel developers would go on just as is, and so would all the other developers. If you didn't buy their distro, it wouldn't affect you.
Yeah, M$ would really try this, uh huh, right. What's kept them from doing it already? The fact that just what I say would happen is what keeps them from even contemplating it.
They may very well be contemplating it. If they keep losing market share to linux, they may have to do something. Lindows is doing it now, rather poorly. If MS bought Lindows, and used their inside knowledge of their apps to make it better, they would have a sellable product, and keep alot of people using MS apps. Of course you would pay to download their binaries, just like Lindows does it. Then they could advertise: "".....the security of linux with the familiarity of Windows", like "have your cake and eat it too". OR...."Virus-proof multi-user Windows". -- use Perl; #powerful programmable prestidigitation