On Friday 03 November 2006 1:25 pm, Geoffrey wrote:
Peter Van Lone wrote:
On 11/3/06, Matthew Stringer <qube@firstnet.co.uk> wrote:
Having both software vendors co-operating with each other can only be a benefit to myself and the customers.
exactly
You people are absolutely clueless. Look at Microsoft's history with 'partnering' with other companies. Only Microsoft wins in the end.
Ya know, I've been trying to stay out of this one, but this brings up the opportunity to speak to my glimmer of hope. I believe the above statement by Geoffrey *is* what M$ is thinking, that they'll win. However, I think personally they missed out on what they have been in denial about for a while now and it is going to bite them in the *ss. They perceive that Novell / SuSe (the companies involved, et al) are in charge and if they take them out, they'll win. What they don't realize is that *WE* are in charge, that *FREEDOM* is in charge, that *CHANGE* is in charge. All the things that make OSS what it is. Let's use puppies as an analogy. Let's say that when M$ sees a cute puppy, it eats it. They started out going to the pet shop, acting like a genuine customer, purchase a puppy and love it long enough to get it out the door without raising any eyebrows only to take it home and eat it at the first opportunity. After several trips back to the pet store for a replacement puppy, the store got suspicious, and investigated. When they realized the horrific things that M$ was doing, their first reaction was to want to refuse service and not sell any more puppies to M$. The problem with that solution was that by the time the investigation was over, they realized that 99% of their entire business was from the sale of puppies to M$, and therefore can't cut off their nose to spite their faces, so they continue begrudgingly to sell to M$, and M$ becomes so brazen about that fact, they just start to cook the puppy right there in the store. After a while, M$ starts to notice this street vender selling puppies to the people that used to be customers of the Pet store before M$ took over all the sales. Seeing this, M$ decides to start buying puppies from the street vendor too, just assuming that they will be able to overpower them like the pet store. After all, what do they have to worry about? They already learned how to get what they want from the humans working at the store and on the street, And humans are on the top of the food chain, right? However, when they get this street vendors puppy home to eat it, turns out it isn't a puppy at all, but a wolf, and the pack that it came from is able to smell the scent of their own. Now the pack sees M$ cooking and eating that puppy and tear them to pieces. Sure, humans are highest on the food chain, but cruelty and viciousness of mother nature can NEVER be under-estimated. Everything that goes up, MUST come down, and we're just the pack of wolves in sheep's clothing to do it! Know what I mean? B-)