What shall we do with the Microsoft.....

Ken Bowley johann@trod.org
Sun, 2 Apr 2000 08:06:08 -0700 (MST) 

hahaha... loved the April Fools message there!

I especially liked the part where "Microsoft....gave the public what it
needed--a GUI to run on an IBM-compatible machine."  I only wish the
government had stepped is sooner and stopped them from killing off the
other GUI's that came out before theirs.

On Sat, 1 Apr 2000, Mark R. Myers wrote:

> Because then we wouldn't all be cheerleaders for Microsoft.
> Unlike some, I don't see Microsoft as the "evil empire."
> I see Bill Gates as probably one of Harvard Business School's brightest
> dropouts.
> Let us face it, in the early days of Micorsoft, he pulled some pretty good
> moves, capitalized on others mistakes (IBM), and gave the public what it
> needed--a GUI to run on an IBM-compatible machine.
> I remember the early days (even before DOS became synonymous with just one
> OS, rather than being short of the Disk Operating System). My first IBM
> compatible PC was a Zenith EZ-PC with 16 shades of gray, CGA-compatible
> monitor. The biggest hard drive you could get in a computer was 20MB, and
> they were HUGE (those good old, MFM drives).
> The EZ had 2 720KB 3.5" floppy drives. You would have to put the DOS boot
> disk in one, and your program in the other. Q&A Write (a good word processor
> at the time), fit easily onto 1 720K floppy, with a little room to spare.
> Then I upgraded to Professional Write and had to use both floppy drives for
> the one program.
> The EZ came with 512KB of RAM, and right away I bought the only expansion
> possible for it. That big box on the back gave it 640KB total RAM, a 1200
> baud modem, and a serial port.
> This was 1988 (so long ago). My wife would not TOUCH the thing. She could
> not understand DOS, or swapping floppies, or anything like that. Once I set
> Q&A up for her because she needed to write a paper.
> Now, thanks to Win3.1, & Win95, and computers as a whole getting better, she
> now teaches basic computing and software packages at our company (Win95,
> SAP, Siebel, Lotus Notes (ugh), Office97). Why did she learn it? Because it
> was graphical and it made sense to her.
> There were 100s of millions of people like her.
> Because these people started buying computers because computers became
> easier, prices started to drop dramatically.
> So, in a way, we can thank Bill Gates. Why? Partially because of his
> products, the price of PCs has plummeted.
> I know that if life would have been different, and any one of us would have
> grown up to be Bill Gates, we wouldn't trade places with any one of us, even
> for a second.
> Do I like Microsoft business practices? No. Do I like some of their
> products? Yes.
> IMHO, I think what should be done is that MS's OS division should be
> separated from the rest of the company. The OS division should openly share
> any new API's or innovations in both current and upcoming OSes with other
> vendors--whether they be Microsoft Software Division, IBM-Lotus, Corel,
> Caldera, whoever. I think that would be fair. That would more level the
> playing field. Then a small company would have the same knowledge of the
> API's and the OS as Microsoft Software Division would. Whether they take
> advantage of that knowledge, is up to them.
> That is what I think should be done with Microsoft. And, BTW, I corrected
> the spelling in the subject line.
> Mark
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: plug-discuss-admin@lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us
> [mailto:plug-discuss-admin@lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us]On Behalf Of
> jiva@devware.com
> Sent: Saturday, April 01, 2000 3:58 AM
> To: plug-discuss@lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us
> Subject: Re: What shell we do with the Microsoft.....
> 
> 
> Why don't you guys take this conversation to a Microsoft oriented
> mailing list?
> 
> On Fri, Mar 31, 2000 at 02:44:11PM -0700, Carl Parrish wrote:
> > I believe that according to the anti-trust laws. *Being* a monopoly in an
> > open market *is* against the law. (course I could be wrong. Memory of my
> > history class is foggy at best)
> >
> > Carl Parrish
> > Webmaster
> > ComputerPREP.com
> >
> >
> > From: plug-discuss-admin@lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us
> > [mailto:plug-discuss-admin@lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us]On Behalf Of Jim W
> > Sent: Friday, March 31, 2000 2:19 PM
> > To: plug-discuss@lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us
> > Subject: Re: What shell we do with the Microsoft.....
> >
> >
> > Not quite, Carl.  The judge has decreed that M$ is a monopoly.  The
> decision
> > about whether they violated any law is still pending.  I agree that the
> > judge's decree seems to indicate that he believes that there were laws
> > broken, but until he states that in public, under the U.S. constitution,
> M$
> > is still innocent.
> >
> > Jim
> >
> > the future is now
> >
> > From: Carl Parrish <cparrish@computerprep.com>
> > To: plug-discuss@lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us
> > <plug-discuss@lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us>
> > Date: Friday, March 31, 2000 2:13 PM
> > Subject: RE: What shell we do with the Microsoft.....
> >
> >
> > >
> > >The courts seems to disagree with you. They've already judged that M$ did
> > >infact break the law.
> > >
> > >Carl Parrish
> > >Webmaster
> > >ComputerPREP.com
> > >
> > >
> > >From: plug-discuss-admin@lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us
> > >[mailto:plug-discuss-admin@lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us]On Behalf Of Joseph
> > >T. Tannenbaum
> > >Sent: Friday, March 31, 2000 12:48 PM
> > >To: plug-discuss@lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us
> > >Subject: RE: What shell we do with the Microsoft.....
> > >
> > >
> > >They didn't "break the law", they just were not nice.
> > >
> > >Joe
> > >
> > >> From: plug-discuss-admin@lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us
> > >> [mailto:plug-discuss-admin@lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us]On Behalf Of Kevin
> > >> O'Connor
> > >> Sent: Thursday, March 30, 2000 9:21 PM
> > >> To: plug-discuss@lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us
> > >> Subject: Re: What shell we do with the Microsoft.....
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> The buying public doesn't 'decide' ... They follow like lemmings.
> > >>
> > >> Microsoft has broken the law. There are penalties for that.
> > >>
> > >> Kevin O
> > >>
> > >> "Mark R. Myers" wrote:
> > >> >
> > >> > My vote is to do nothing and leave Microsoft alone.
> > >> > No one put a gun to anyone's head and said that they had to purchase
> a
> > >> > Microsoft product.
> > >> > No tobacco company got someone addicted to nicotine against their
> will.
> > >> > With the AOL/Time Warner merger, it will make them a much larger
> > company
> > >> > than Microsoft and should provide some formidable competition.
> > >> > I like free software, but more importantly, I love free enterprise.
> > >> > I say, let the buying public decide, not a judge.
> > >> > There were no lawsuits by Sony when the VHS format (invented by
> > >> JVC) beat
> > >> > out Betamax, even though Betamax was a better product.
> > >> > I say, let the market decide. Let the people decide.
> > >> > There are some Microsoft products that I do like.
> > >> > Microsoft gave me a free copy of Windows2000 Professional (see, they
> > are
> > >> > getting into free software! :-)  )
> > >> > IMHO, it is the best OS that they have put out yet.
> > >> > But again, let the people decide.
> > >> > I DO NOT like Microsoft's businesses practices. I think Bill
> > >> Gates' parents
> > >> > never taught him how to "play nice."
> > >> > But there are other companies that I don't like their business
> > practices
> > >> > too.
> > >> > I purchased SuSE 6.3 (I will give all of the disks away free to
> > >> anyone who
> > >> > wants them).
> > >> > For some reason, I could not get it to print.
> > >> > I never had that problem with any other brand of Linux.
> > >> > When I contacted customer service via e-mail concerning the issue, as
> a
> > >> > registered SuSE users, I was informed that basic customer
> > >> service did not
> > >> > include the ability to make your computer able to print.
> > >> > I am sorry, but I think that printing is one of the main
> > >> reasons PCs took
> > >> > off in the first place. I consider printing to be a "basic need" of
> an
> > >> > operating system.
> > >> > So I disagree. I think Microsoft should be scolded for
> > >> predatory business
> > >> > practices, and that is that. Let the buyers decided.
> > >> > I guess I'm just too much a disciple of Milton Freedman economics.
> > >> > Mark
> > >> >
> > >> > From: "Furmanek, Greg" <Greg.Furmanek@hit.cendant.com>
> > >> > To: <plug-discuss@lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us>
> > >> > Sent: Thursday, March 30, 2000 3:01 PM
> > >> > Subject: What shell we do with the Microsoft.....
> > >> >
> > >> > > I have great suggestion how to equalize the market MS
> > >> > > is monopolizing!!!
> > >> > >
> > >> > > Fine MS $15,000,000,000.00 and donate the money to
> > >> > > Free Software Foundation!!!!
> > >> > >
> > >> > > The Wolf
> > >> > >
> > >> > > _______________________________________________
> > >> > > Plug-discuss mailing list  -  Plug-discuss@lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us
> > >> > > http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss
> > >> > >
> > >> >
> > >> > _______________________________________________
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> > >> > http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> "Waving away a cloud of smoke, I look up, and am blinded by a bright,
> > >> white
> > >> light. It's God. No, not Richard Stallman, or Linus Torvalds, but God.
> > >> In
> > >> a booming voice, He says: "THIS IS A SIGN. USE LINUX, THE FREE UNIX
> > >> SYSTEM
> > >> FOR THE 386."
> > >> (Matt Welsh)
> > >>
> > >> _______________________________________________
> > >> Plug-discuss mailing list  -  Plug-discuss@lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us
> > >> http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss
> > >>
> > >
> > >
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> --
> Don't hit a man when he's down -- kick him; it's easier.
> 
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-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=[The Realm of Darkness]=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= O-
 Ken Bowley                                        johann@trod.org
 AKA: Lord Johann                              http://www.trod.org
-=-=-=-=-=[ Linux, the choice of the GNU generation ]=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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