Microsunhat anyone?
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| salparadise May 18, 2005 12:44 AM EDT |
A new unholy trinity for the 21st Century?
A planet sown up, logged and registered? Add RFID to the mix! It is the duty of every free thinking individual to resist as far as possible all corporate spying, corporate mindsets and "big business plans to improve your lifestyle today"! Free software for free people. Windows et al for drones. Trying not to be scared here. |
| cjcox May 18, 2005 7:02 AM EDT |
Microsoft has no problem with GNU/Linux or open source just as long as it stays out of the corporate space. They are perfectly fine with it on the desktop (traditionally not the Linux hot spot). As long as it stays a "hobby" OS.. Microsoft is content (so is Sun, their partner). With that said, a Red Hat acquisition would strictly be done to remove the Red Hat corporate presence. Purely a defensive move... and Microsoft has done this kind of maneuver many, many times in the past. Acquire the competition and lay it to rest (with each passing year, the gov't hand on Microsoft becomes less and less which is allowing them to return to their normal "practices"). An interesting spin would be to consider that Microsoft would do this on Sun's behalf (btw, Microsoft has already made at least one acquisition on Sun's behalf). Sun obviously want to own the *ix space, Microsoft seems to be ok with this for now (thus the 10 year partnership with Sun). My guess is that Microsoft does not feel any threat whatsoever from Solaris, not now, not in the near term. Of course after the 10 year period... the Quickening will force them to make their final stand against each other.... of course it could lead to a "merger" (remember Microsoft only does win-lose deals) of the two companies. There are still some at Red Hat (I believe) that are strictly there to get rich quick (which was about 90% of them when they went public). So... it's possible that such an arrangement might take place.... but I think it unlikely... unless it's strictly being done to help out Microsoft's friend, Sun. |
| TxtEdMacs May 18, 2005 7:55 AM EDT |
Sorry guys, this is going to have to be quick and a bit brutal: your take on the issue is a bit too simple minded and too U.S. centric. Suggest you read an article in Linux Journal, pp 70 - 76; June, 2005 in the hard copy and I am sure it also is on the LJ site, though you might have to be a subscriber to get access. In essense, RH now releases code that could have been proprietary, its full distribution (enterprise) is released under the names of competing distributions with only their (RH) trademark being removed. While this acquisition might pass here (U.S.) with only a verbal blowup primarily on the net, elsewhere such a purchase at very least would be the target of withering legal questioning: " ... and tell me again your great plans for the leading Linux corporate distributions are!". That refrain might come from the EU. In Asia it might be met not by a high volume response, but the cold determination to literally kill MS in the market by fair and other means. Note: these are the fastest growing markets in the world (at this moment). There will be no free ride on this for MS. Moreover, it could coalesce a group of otherwise unlikely allies (worldwide) determined to do bodily harm once and for all time to MS. While MS may do stupid things, they are not completely brain damaged and some wiser minds within should be advising them of the real dangers or over stepping certain boundaries. Killing small though vibrant startups that had a future seen by only a few differs both in scale and wider recognition than the technological infanticide MS has practiced in the past. Let's for a moment assume that the deal to do a hostile take over of Red Hat has been decided. What of Novell, and even Mandrake (which recently got French government backing)? What of a Linux startup outside the U.S. belonging to several different South Asian countries? Even MS might lack sufficient cash to kill every newcomer. The consequences are too unpredictable for them to take such a risky path, though it might seem to be a no brainer win here in the U.S. |
| cjcox May 18, 2005 1:03 PM EDT |
Microsoft can (and has in the past) write whatever check is necessary to please the EU. There is NO risk here for M$. I still doubt that it will happen though. Microsoft is NOT interested in taking on all newcomers.. only the successful ones (success meaning having the potential to damage 3-5% or more of Microsoft's market). The win is the destruction of Linux in the perceived corporate work place. It's all about money. M$ stock goes up if Linux is effectively dealt away with. If you want to get absolutely evil about all of this... the fact that other newcomers might arise just mean more future increase for Microsoft. They could raise their valuation 5-10% with every sting of death... at least 5 or 10 times before the investment community catches on. Remember Microsoft is an AMERICAN company. Trying to talk about them outside of that context is pretty pointless. |
| TxtEdMacs May 18, 2005 2:00 PM EDT |
cjcox - perhaps you have not followed MS closely enough (I certainly have not!), but you might remember the predictions that the world was to become MS everywhere. For example: cell phones (certainly not leading today), set top boxes (well not yet), a charge on every bank transaction (they were supposedly seeking a cut by having their software running all electronic transactions - somehow I do not see that ever happening) and there were probably others. MS may seem American (meaning U.S. based and they are strong here), but Brazil, Argentina and even Columbia are American but MS's strength varies across the sample States listed. When Cisco says its goal is to become a Chinese company one can extrapolate from this outlandish statement that there is a large stash of cash to be made elsewhere in the world. Playing the stock valuation game will not win this war. Indeed even buying the company will not assure the retention of the core staff. If they jumped immediately the expected stock gains would vanish quite quickly. The code is public, the skilled are again armed with a new, private company and the war begins anew. |
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