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Technology Stocks : How high will Microsoft fly? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ToySoldier who wrote (11730)	10/23/1998 10:33:00 PM
From: Rusty Johnson	Respond to of 74651

Corel to give away a special version of WordPerfect 8 for Linux ... From g_m10 on the Linux thread: news.com Best of luck.

To: ToySoldier who wrote (11730)	10/23/1998 10:43:00 PM
From: Rusty Johnson	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

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.

To: ToySoldier who wrote (11730)	10/24/1998 8:25:00 PM
From: John F. Dowd	Respond to of 74651

Dear Toy: Still scratching my head over why the concern for the MSFT lemming? What a guy. As for Ballmer's comments they sound pretty straight forward. Where are the hidden threats and manipulations. Also according to you guys we shouldn't be listening to this MSFT BS so why are these professionals listening to Ballmer and not you. It is all very confusing. Perhaps you and Shush and other non MSFT share owners could head out to Redmond so that when the DOJ purges MSFT there will be someone there to run it. JFD

To: ToySoldier who wrote (11730)	10/25/1998 12:53:00 PM
From: treetopflier	Respond to of 74651

Toy In reference to your Ziffy post. Does Ballmer know that Prudential has an entire department that does nothing but contact former insurance policy holders and send them money due to a class action suit against them? Seems Pru had quite a lot of agents that got rich ripping people off in the 80's and early 90's. I have some friends who work at Pru in that group. The stories are pretty incredible! "Hi, I'm Joe from Pru and we owe you $20K, plus we are giving you a paid up insurance policy with a face value of $2M for our misdeeds..." Probably not what Ballmer meant when he said MSFT wants to be like Pru! Although I would like them to reimburse me for all the freakin' hours I spent tuning win.ini in the olden days! ttf