Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Re: Microsoft exec dissects Linux.

Author:Chuck Shotton
Posted:3/5/1999; 7:20:12 AM
Topic:scriptingNews outline for 3/5/99
Msg #:3624 (In response to 3621)
Prev/Next:3623 / 3625

I don't see how this would help MS.

I guess the premise is that you can be an application developer, or an O/S developer, but not both. Apple has certainly learned that lesson, for example.

If Microsoft is as good at application development and integration as they say they are, then they should compete on all platforms, not just the ones on which they are afforded a captive, secure market because they own the O/S.

People lose sight of this fact when fighting the O/S holy wars, but the issue is not the O/S. The issue is the APIs. Most people could give a damn about the underlying O/S, as long as it doesn't crash and it lets them use the hardware and peripherals they need. Beyond that, all people really care about are the applications. As an application developer, I know I don't care about the O/S. If I can have a capable, well-documented set of APIs, I really, honestly, don't care one iota what the underlying O/S is.

If you have that perspective on computing, then it really doesn't matter whether Microsoft is in the "O/S" business or not. They should be (are) in the business of providing applications and APIs. That they confuse that with providing an operating system is their fault (loss). They should let other people do the grunt-work of putting software on the bare metal to make it work. Giving away the O/S doesn't give away the APIs, and they certainly wouldn't "lose control" of them, even if the source code to Windows was made freely available. Do you honestly think Billy Bob and Uncle Joe, working in their basement, are gonna hack together a serious, widely adopted API competitor to Microsoft's Win32 APIs out of that source? Everyone has a vested interest in adopting a common standard and Microsoft has already created the de facto API for desktop applications. Why not put it everywhere?

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