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

Re: Microsoft exec dissects Linux.

Author:Dave Winer
Posted:3/5/1999; 7:25:22 AM
Topic:scriptingNews outline for 3/5/99
Msg #:3625 (In response to 3624)
Prev/Next:3624 / 3626

If I were Microsoft I'd be even more bold.

I'd bet on Linux, heavy, while I continued to bet on Windows, heavy.

Microsoft is a software company. They're behaving as if they're still fighting the OS battle. But the OS battle is boring! The money is going to be made in the ideas and goods that can flow thru computers. If Linux makes a good server OS (it does) then why not bet on Linux as a server OS?

If I were Microsoft I'd look at this as an opportunity to make a small investment, cash-wise, that could balloon to a large cash value. If it doesn't profit Microsoft, no big deal, Microsoft has lots of cash. But if it does, it guarantees that Microsoft has a seat at the table of a future OS, Linux.

If Linux is going to displace NT on the server, no amount of FUD from Microsoft will stop it. So Microsoft might as well profit from the growth of Linux. This is what IBM did in the early 80s. It worked, as Microsoft knows. The problem is that they took their eye off the ball in the mid-late 80s and reverted to their blue suit bullshit. As Chuck says, it's a losing strategy.

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