Can Microsoft Hurt Linux?
webreview.com
by Michael Swaine
Reasons not to worry:
Linux is not targetable: there is nothing to attack.
There is no company or individual for Microsoft to crush.
There are no stockholders or board members to frighten.
Those responsible for the development of Linux are not motivated by market share.
They turn up their noses at cash flow.
They sneer at return on investment.
They have no assets at risk.
They hate Microsoft.
They're smart.
Their number is infinite (i.e., there is no obvious limit to the number of developers who might choose to contribute, a real problem for Microsoft's competitive planning).
The average variable cost of production for Linux is US$0. (In euros, that's 0.)
That's also the price, basically, making it hard for Microsoft to undercut it.
Microsoft can't buy Linux.
If Microsoft buys a Linux vendor, another will pop up.
If Microsoft licenses Linux, it must release the source code, in which case Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer are dead and somebody else is running the company Linux has really won.
Microsoft = U.S. government, Linux = Viet Cong guerillas.
Microsoft = Redcoats marching formation, Linux = Colonists shooting from behind trees.
Linux = a virus for which there is no known cure.
Nor any cure desired by the patient.
Linux is a better operating system than NT.
Linux is a way better operating system than NT.
It actually matters that Linux is a better operating system than NT.
Microsoft can't get NT 5.0 out the door anyway.
When they do, it'll be an embarassment.
There are other free Unixen. Linux itself is dispensable.
Unix is here to stay. The Internet is Unix, all network administrators cut their teeth on Unix, and many of them say they'll give up Unix when you pry it from their cold, dead fingers.
The real threat to Microsoft is not Linux but the open source software movement.
Months ago, Microsoft formed a top-secret special division that was supposed to go around to ISPs using Linux and promise them anything to switch. It didn't work.
Managers can effectively control only what network administrators buy, not what they actually use.
Microsoft uses Linux to develop its own software, for crying out loud.
All Microsoft can do to halt the spread of Linux is to produce better software. That will be in the Windows HellFrozeOver™ release.
Best of luck. |
