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Microsoft gains ground against Linux in China
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Comments (4)
They could both be true, especially since so much is left to the definition of the reader.
Microsoft Office is pretty much a world standard, as is Microsoft Project. If piracy crackdowns really are taking place, Microsoft could be seeing a surge in paid-for software, though it might really be competing against its own pirated wares more than Linux. Sales of services could also be seen as a gain.
Think about it: much of the Microsoft hook is based on lock-in from proprietary formats. It doesn't matter if the software is pirated or paid-for: hooked is hooked. If the piracy police start breathing heavy down your neck, is it cheaper for your business to toss all your business data out or to get licenses?
Microsoft Office is pretty much a world standard, as is Microsoft Project. If piracy crackdowns really are taking place, Microsoft could be seeing a surge in paid-for software, though it might really be competing against its own pirated wares more than Linux. Sales of services could also be seen as a gain.
Think about it: much of the Microsoft hook is based on lock-in from proprietary formats. It doesn't matter if the software is pirated or paid-for: hooked is hooked. If the piracy police start breathing heavy down your neck, is it cheaper for your business to toss all your business data out or to get licenses?
Quoting: ... doesn't matter if the software is pirated or paid-for: hooked is hooked.
Gates was purported to have used that logic as a means of capturing the Chinese market, however, I think he made an indelicate choice of words: 'addicted' to his software. Given Chinese history where parts of their major cities became exclusive zones for Europeans (and later USAians), that might have been a strategic mistake. The Chinese lost a war where the overlords insisted on their right to sell narcotics unhindered, which was the only Western product of interest.
Nonetheless, for other reasons the current regime might still make a deal with MS as a means of retaining their power. Remember it's free software as in freedom, not necessarily as "free" no cost. People that dabble with any sort of freedom seems to be discouraged there as much as possible, because the current regime really has a tenuous hold on the populous. The Communists long ago lost "mandate from heaven" to govern, that predates their Tenement Square massacre. They screwed up in a big way in the aftermath of some very large earth quakes. So by force, limiting information they retain power. However, it depends upon the Chinese population acquiescence: as long as the economy grows sufficiently fast that most people think their physical needs will be met and some luxuries will follow those in control are safe. If the economy falters, however, they (the party) know they will be gone probably quickly and violently, what would follow is unpredictable.
Microsoft can and would make deals no one in free software would. They along with Yahoo, Google and Cisco have become too cozy with this corrupt regime as has MS. For MS it's a deal made in heaven.
> If piracy crackdowns really are taking place, Microsoft could be seeing a
> surge in paid-for software, though it might really be competing against its
> own pirated wares more than Linux.
> Sales of services could also be seen as a gain.
Just what I was thinking... and it would be a good thing. Free software has a vested interest in a working copyright regime. And in an environment in which sales of services are stressed as revenue sources ;-)
Just what I was thinking... and it would be a good thing. Free software has a vested interest in a working copyright regime. And in an environment in which sales of services are stressed as revenue sources ;-)
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Another possibility is too focused a view could yield seemingly contradictory results. In any case, a large, established company such as Microsoft would not be lying to us!