Why Microsoft Should Acquire Linux

I was going to post this story here myself, but I really did not want to pull down the IQ of LXer.

I can just imagine MS turning over rocks asking, "Are you Linux?" "Are you Linus?"

Like in that children's story, "Are you my mother?"

Or Star Wars, "Linus, I am your father."

Monty Python wink wink nudge nudge, "What's it like?"

/MS scratches head, "Now what's a GNU?"

This particular author is consistently, er, well, I can't really say entertaining or interesting, but he does raise the cluelessness bar impossibly high, and shall reign forever as champion.

It is amazing how ignorant so many people are.... First acquiring Linux isn't possible, it is not owned by anyone, the name is trademarked, but the code is GPL.

Now, when MS acquires anything they absorb or destroy it, in essence the 'Borg' mentality. So MS wouldn't 'help' Linux if they acquired it, they would take what they wanted and destroy what didn't fit in with their 'Windows' vision.

Competition is the only reason MS fixes software bugs and/or adds features. If MS isn't forced to upgrade ancient and/or buggy code they don't, take a look at IE6, it was around for 5+ years! Mozilla's Firefox is the reason MS created the Firefox clone (IE7). MS created 'openxml' because of the looming threat presented by the iso standard 'odf' (MS was worried about 'sxw/c' before it even became 'odf' and an iso standard). The list goes on and on.

MS is a ruthless money making machine, they don't care about anything but making a profit. They would never honestly support a product that could take away from their monopoly. They may make the motions of cooperation, but they have always destroyed their competition, and often used unsavory business practices to do it.

Articles like this prove that the average IQ is sinking below the triple digit mark....

Cheers,

Alex Chejlyk

>it is not owned by anyone, the name is trademarked, but the code is GPL.

Ummm...No, not exactly.

I don't know who the owners are -- but somebody owns Linux, or, more accurately, Linux has lots of owners.

The GPL does not cede code ownership, it just grants a very broad array of rights. Code owners can do things with their GPL'd coe that non-owners are not permitted to do. For example, they can offer it under a proprietary license, a la Trolltech.

"but somebody owns Linux"

I'd say: someone owns the copyright to the source of the Linux-kernel. I'm afraid that's not the same as owing Linux, since Linux means much more than just source code these days.

And then look at this (quote from the site:)

Quoting:Click here to get the latest prices on Linux distributions!

Hmm? I have to pay for Gentoo? Well, sounds bad. Anyway, it seems more logical to me Linux acquires Microsoft anyway. Just kidnap all their shareholders (FARC offers seven-day training-courses I believe) and you're effectively done.

So, why are we WASTING TIME with this author and his "material"???

dinotrac,

I was a little wary of writing that sentence, but I stand by what I wrote "it is not owned by anyone, the name is trademarked, but the code is GPL"

The breakdown: owned by anyone = No one person or entity owns all the code in Linux, it would be damned hard to track 'em all down ; ) name is trademarked = Linus Torvalds the code is GPL = I understand the GPL code can be sold by the owner, but since there are so many contributors to Linux, selling it would be extremely difficult if not impossible. I am under the assumption the GPL code is available for all to see and use, that wouldn't work at Microsoft. MS and GPL are like oil and water.

Cheers,

Alex

swiftnet -

As a practical matter, you are correct.

I just see so much confusion between GPL and public domain, I make it my little mission to correct such statements.

Linus purchased by Microsoft... if you think he used the word "braindead" a lot before, just wait...

Obviously the author is educated beyone his intelligence........

Quoting:why are we WASTING TIME

Apparently, we have nothing better to do, I'm afraid. Or do we?

Lampooning the clueless is not necessarily a waste of time:

1) It's fun and entertaining.

2) They may learn something.

I heard tuxchick mention Linus had purchased Microsoft. Or did I misread that?

> Linus had purchased Microsoft.

What a great urban legend.... And, the only way that MS could ever get straight :D

Yeah, I know it's dated. I also know the meme has slipped into a kind of pseudo pop culture suspended animation, but it works with this story and somebody has to say it . . .

ALL YOUR LINUX ARE BELONG TO US.

. . . and besides, it's been too long!

OTOH Linus does own the trademark to "Linux"

http://www.linuxmark.org/about.php

I wonder what he would be tempted to sell it to M$ for? (Disclaimer: I am not being serious)

That could be fun. M$ decides to do its own Linux distro and Linus says no to the use of the name.

Winux?

OK, since we're doing the oldies but goodies, remember

Microsoft's New Operating System http://www.geocities.com/rcwoolley/?200512

And of course

Microsoft Linux - the premier linux distro http://www.mslinux.org/

"We just can't figure out how to get that darn foot out of there! The thing is like stuck."

Wait a minute. All my base do not belong to you.

{/deadpan}

.. and yes, I mean the whole thing. That's got to be one of the funnier headlines I've seen today, keep up the good work guys :).

I didn't realize that Rob Enderle had a brother. Or maybe Gundeep is his pen name?

Inhibit: We'll remember that one for in April.

Gundeep is probably the other 50% of the Anderle 'Group'.

Shhh... Bob and I have been hatching out how we could do just that! Shhh... BIG corporate secrets and all that. Don't tell ANYONE.

What a hoot! Please tell me this article was a good piece of satire, right?

Actually Tux and I had lunch the other day. He is planning a hostile takeover of Microsoft.

He has obtained the rights to all of the mineral wealth under the continent of Antartica, and will leverage those rights to buy Microsoft. He should have several hundred trillions of dollars left over to take over all of the other members of the BSA as well.

Either that or he want to buy a lot of herring, I can only understand about half of what he says.

Quoting:Don't tell ANYONE

Indeed, don't tell anyone! It's our trade secret, we are going to patent that plan, and therefore, it belongs to LXer's IP, to which we feel obliged to or not so existing shareholders to defend it, I mean, to get the economical benefit out of it our investors earn.

Quoting:all of the other members of the BSA as well

Whoa, the BSA has got members beyond Microsoft? And I was just believing Microsoft made the BSA to mean "Bull-Sh*t-Acronym".

Just to chip in having read the story and think I get his drift try this. Microsoft pays Linus $1 billion to never code on an operating system again. Then dishes out $0.5 billion to 20 similar top kernel hackers. Then say £10 million each to another 900. That's about the amount I understand they paid to develop Vista.

Hell they could even give them the task of writing the Vista replacement. To me that would qualify under the author's suggestion as buying Linux. Once they have the main 1000 developers working for them or not allowed to work against them they could be considered to own Linux and choose it's direction.

>Either that or he want to buy a lot of herring, I can only understand about half of what he says.

Buying Microsoft, and buying a red herring, ought not be too dissimilar.

Anyway, odd place to catch a Three Dog Night quote/paraphrase.

http://www.threedognight.com/l_joy.html