Wither Microsoft?

[John Bailo]

The recent quarterly earnings report, required by law, issued by the
Microsoft Corporation are a harbinger of what is to come. Slowing
revenue growth, and declining profits. What we see here is a Chrysler,
circa 1973, in the making. A bloated heavy industry giant unable to
compete in the 21st century marketplace and using legal tricks,
government subsidies and public relations to prop up its decaying
position. Bill Gate is a Chairman Mao, shown crossing the Yangtse to
exhibit his /youth/ , but we all know that he is being carried across by
divers below.

The question is: Wither Microsoft? Do we allow the natural course of
events which would be the mass impovershment of those associated with
the fading Empire, a dustbowl around Lake Samnammish, where once wealthy
/marketing execs/ will be turned into sharecroppers, or should Microsoft
be allowed to take part in the new and growing OSS movement.

The recent statements by Redhat, Novell executives and even Linus
Torvalds may be seen as an olive branch in that direction.

What if? What if Microsoft took the challenge, and decided to no longer
try and monopolize each and every level of the playing field, but to
actually do real competitive work, and try to build a Linux distro for
the desktop. Clearly they know a few things about the desktop whereas
all their other attempts in server software, e-commerce, hardware
gaming, etc, have been abject failures, unworthy of the name /Microsoft/ .

Suppose Microsoft could be placated with, say, 1/4 of the Linux desktop
market. The other 3/4 going to the real winners, Novell, Mandrake,
Lycoris, Lindows, and others who have produced highly usable and working
desktops (no, I did not forget Fedora, I am just supposing they see
their product more as bleeding edge, rather than commercial).

Think of it, Microsoft and Bill Gates -- a full quarter of the desktop
market could be yours, if you play your cards right. If you cease being
Goofus and become a Gallant in the busienss world maybe others will
accept you and allow you to do commerce in the very competitive world of
the desktop.

Oh, it will take time, since you, Microsoft, are so, so far behind the
leaders in desktop software, but, so long as you are willing to learn,
there may be others who can help and teach you.

Microsoft, I hope you think long and hard about it. What is it to be?
A failed bankrupt hulk of a shell, rotting in the tumbleweeds of 156th
Avenue North? Or a player, in the new world of KDE, GNOME, Open Office
and the future of the desktop...

[Mike Sux Cox]

John Bailo wrote:

The recent quarterly earnings report, required by law, issued by the
Microsoft Corporation are a harbinger of what is to come. Slowing
revenue growth, and declining profits...

[snip facts from an alternate universe]

You seem to be a pretty smart guy, so, I really need to ask. Do you
purposely live in your own made-up reality or are you of the belief
that if you keep repeating something it will somehow become true?

[Melvin]

"Mike Sux Cox" <mi*************@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:7M********@news.mike.sux.cox...

John Bailo wrote:

The recent quarterly earnings report, required by law, issued by the
Microsoft Corporation are a harbinger of what is to come. Slowing
revenue growth, and declining profits...

[snip facts from an alternate universe]

You seem to be a pretty smart guy, so, I really need to ask. Do you
purposely live in your own made-up reality or are you of the belief
that if you keep repeating something it will somehow become true?

The Bailo has always made up the facts to suit whatever delusion he
is currently experiencing. No rhyme or reason, just a bitter individual.

His information is good for adding to killfiles though.


--
Linux;writtenbyhackers,distributedbyfreeloaders,us edbyfuckwitslikeBailo<jaba
il*@earthlink.net>.
..

[Jeff Relf]

Hi John Bailo ,
Re: Dusting off your crystal ball . . .
you chant ... o-o-o-o-o-ohhmmmmm . . .
o-o-o-o-o-ohhmmmmm . . .
then you predict Microsoft's future , saying ,
" Slowing revenue growth , and declining profits " .

Linux is about special servers ... Special desktops .

Microsoft is about a Virtual network of

backward-compatible binaries and API's .

Even the connections are virtual .

Linux is not Microsoft , and vice versa .

[John Bailo]

On Sat, 24 Jan 2004 21:09:15 -0800, Jeff Relf wrote:

Hi John Bailo ,
Re: Dusting off your crystal ball . . .
you chant ... o-o-o-o-o-ohhmmmmm . . .
o-o-o-o-o-ohhmmmmm . . .
then you predict Microsoft's future , saying ,
" Slowing revenue growth , and declining profits " .

Linux is about special servers ... Special desktops .

Microsoft is about a Virtual network of

backward-compatible binaries and API's .

Even the connections are virtual .

Linux is not Microsoft , and vice versa .

The word /backward/ is about the only rational part of your post.

What is a /special server/ ? Given that the entire Usenet system runs on
Linux as well as most web servers and sendmail systems, then the entire
thing would be seen as special.

Microsoft is, I agree, virtual. It is not real. It doesn't produce
Operating Systems -- just boot apllication loaders.

That is why I offer the olive branch to Bill Gate -- take 25% percent of
the desktop, write a decent distro, and feed your employees. My guess is
that they couldn't maintain a 25% percent share and it would be quickly
whittled to 5%. But, I am just trying to help him help himself.


--
Bush 2004
An Open Source Administration

[tadchem]

The problem with being on top is that there is nowhere to go but down...

....but that doesn't mean that the pile is shrinking.
Tom Davidson
Richmond, VA

[Jeff Relf]

Hi John Bailo ,
Thou doeth inquire , " What is a Special server ? " .

Google is a special server .

Novell's shit is a special server .

Novell's future desktop's will be
targeted to very specific tasks .

What's so hard to understand about that ?

[John Bailo]

On Sat, 24 Jan 2004 21:56:01 -0800, Jeff Relf wrote:

Hi John Bailo ,
Thou doeth inquire , " What is a Special server ? " .

Google is a special server .

Novell's shit is a special server .

Novell's future desktop's will be
targeted to very specific tasks .

What's so hard to understand about that ?

No, I am mistaken. I like that idea. Because that is the very essence of
Linux. In Linus biography he talks about wanting to write a /personal/
operating systems. What that means to me, is that he wanted /his own/
operating system. In the sense that my computer is /my/ computer, he
wanted an Operating system that was /his personal operating system/ That
is something Microsoft cannot produce. Linux can be special because it
is open source and it can be customized in so many ways -- to power
Google, the search engine that Bill Gate says _kicked his ass_ or the
premier e-commerce site, Amazon.

Each business is /special/ and /unique/ -- a bland boot application loader
such as DOS cannot handle these special needs -- it is too inflexible --
it does not follow the infinitely tailorable needs of the 21st century.

That is why Wall Street has cast its votes for Linux.

--
Bush 2004
An Open Source Administration

[John Bailo]

On Sun, 25 Jan 2004 00:56:06 -0700, tadchem wrote:

The problem with being on top is that there is nowhere to go but down...

...but that doesn't mean that the pile is shrinking.
You mean there's just as much stinking bullshit as ever?


Tom Davidson
Richmond, VA

--
Bush 2004
An Open Source Administration

[Peter Hayes]

John Bailo <ja*****@earthlink.net> wrote:

The recent quarterly earnings report, required by law, issued by the
Microsoft Corporation are a harbinger of what is to come. Slowing
revenue growth, and declining profits. What we see here is a Chrysler,
circa 1973, in the making. A bloated heavy industry giant unable to
compete in the 21st century marketplace and using legal tricks,
government subsidies and public relations to prop up its decaying
position. Bill Gate is a Chairman Mao, shown crossing the Yangtse to
exhibit his /youth/ , but we all know that he is being carried across by
divers below.

The question is: Wither Microsoft? Do we allow the natural course of
events which would be the mass impovershment of those associated with
the fading Empire, a dustbowl around Lake Samnammish, where once wealthy
/marketing execs/ will be turned into sharecroppers, or should Microsoft
be allowed to take part in the new and growing OSS movement.

The recent statements by Redhat, Novell executives and even Linus
Torvalds may be seen as an olive branch in that direction.

What if? What if Microsoft took the challenge, and decided to no longer
try and monopolize each and every level of the playing field,
You can't make a leopard change its spots.
but to actually do real competitive work, and try to build a Linux distro for
the desktop.
They'd only do that if they found a way to monopolise Linux, and the
only way they could do that is through patent and copyright
manipulation.
Clearly they know a few things about the desktop whereas
all their other attempts in server software, e-commerce, hardware
gaming, etc, have been abject failures, unworthy of the name /Microsoft/ .

Suppose Microsoft could be placated with, say, 1/4 of the Linux desktop
market.
Microsoft don't do "placated".
The other 3/4 going to the real winners, Novell, Mandrake,
Lycoris, Lindows, and others who have produced highly usable and working
desktops
Once Microsoft get a foot in the door, Linux as a free and independent
OS for the mass market is finished. You know the Arabic saying, "Let the
camel get its nose in the tent and the rest of the camel is sure to
follow."
(no, I did not forget Fedora, I am just supposing they see
their product more as bleeding edge, rather than commercial).

Think of it, Microsoft and Bill Gates -- a full quarter of the desktop
market could be yours, if you play your cards right. If you cease being
Goofus and become a Gallant in the busienss world maybe others will
accept you and allow you to do commerce in the very competitive world of
the desktop.

Oh, it will take time, since you, Microsoft, are so, so far behind the
leaders in desktop software, but, so long as you are willing to learn,
there may be others who can help and teach you.
Anyone doing that will be assimilated.
Microsoft, I hope you think long and hard about it. What is it to be?
A failed bankrupt hulk of a shell, rotting in the tumbleweeds of 156th
Avenue North? Or a player, in the new world of KDE, GNOME, Open Office
and the future of the desktop...

Microsoft is a company dedicated first and foremost to monopoly control
of its market. The only way that will change is if the current
leadership retire to soak up the sun on their tropical paradise island,
and the new leadership have a more pragmatic approach to the desktop
market.

And that's not likely to happen because the mindset, the raison d'etre
of Gates & Co is to win. They're not like so many of the dot-com
entrepreneurs whose sole ambition was to sell out and retire at 25.

--

Peter

[Jeff Relf]

Hi Peter Hayes , You say ,
" Microsoft is a company dedicated first and foremost to
monopoly control of its market " .

It's a natural monopoly .

And it's expensive to maintain ,
all the new binaries and API's have to be
reasonably backwards-compatible .
And new devices are designed for Windows , not Linuxes .

Linuxes today has none of that ,
so they can only do very specialized tasks .

[John Bailo]

Jeff Relf wrote:

Hi Peter Hayes , You say ,
" Microsoft is a company dedicated first and foremost to
monopoly control of its market " .
A dedication to which they have /FAILED/ as witnessed by shrinking
profitz...

It's a natural monopoly .
It is an _ungodly_ stinkpile.

And it's expensive to maintain ,
all the new binaries and API's have to be
reasonably backwards-compatible . And new devices are designed for Windows , not Linuxes .
Really? The most powerful home /device/ will be the Sony PS/3. Built
from the ground up on Linux...so it doesn't carry all the tired old
baggage of DOS.

Linuxes today has none of that ,
so they can only do very specialized tasks .

All tasks in the moderm world are /specialized/ - the DOS production
system cannot keep up with the consumers changing needs and moods.

That is why Wall Street blessed Linux and dropped DOS-soft like a hot
potato...

--
Bush 2004
New Technology, New Openess

[Peter van der Goes]

"Mike Sux Cox" <mi*************@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:7M********@news.mike.sux.cox...

John Bailo wrote:

The recent quarterly earnings report, required by law, issued by the
Microsoft Corporation are a harbinger of what is to come. Slowing
revenue growth, and declining profits...

[snip facts from an alternate universe]

You seem to be a pretty smart guy, so, I really need to ask. Do you
purposely live in your own made-up reality or are you of the belief
that if you keep repeating something it will somehow become true?

If that were so, there might be some hope.
Actually, he's a not so smart guy who likes to hear himself talk (and stir
up trouble).

[Peter Hayes]

Jeff Relf <[e-mail]> wrote:

Hi Peter Hayes , You say ,
" Microsoft is a company dedicated first and foremost to
monopoly control of its market " .

It's a natural monopoly .
In the same way Standard Oil tried to be a natural monopoly a century
ago.
And it's expensive to maintain ,
all the new binaries and API's have to be
reasonably backwards-compatible .
What Microsoft have to do is what Apple did and create an all new OS
with a "Classic" mode. No legacy code, no legacy security holes.
And new devices are designed for Windows , not Linuxes .
Please explain why nVidia put out drivers for most popular Linuxes.
Linuxes today has none of that ,
so they can only do very specialized tasks .

Eh?

--

Peter

[Jeff Relf]

Hi John Bailo , You make another funny ,
" The most powerful home Device will be the Sony PS/3 .
Built from the ground up on Linux " .

That's an example of a Specialized device .

Linux is perfect for that .

But I was referring to PC devices .

How many personal computers are there ? 400 million ?

How many PS/3's are there ? 0 ?

[Jeff Relf]

Hi John Bailo , Showing no market savvy , You comment ,
" Wall Street blessed Linux and dropped DOS-soft
like a hot potato " .

The tech boom-bust cycle is about 30 years long ,
and the last boom was far bigger than any before . . .

The fun has just begun .

[Jeff Relf]

Hi Peter Hayes ,

You say Microsoft is an unnatural monopoly ,
" In the same way Standard Oil tried to be
a natural monopoly a century ago " .

API's and binaries have to be backwards-compatible ,
and new personal computer devices have to be
designed for it ... All of that is super expensive .
No Linux even comes close .
That's why Microsoft has a natural monopoly .

You say ,
" What Microsoft has to do is what Apple did
and create an all new OS with a ' Classic ' mode .
No legacy code , no legacy security holes . "

Apple is specialized , just like Linuxes are ,
neither one is like Microsoft .

You ask ,
" Please explain why nVidia put out drivers
for most popular Linuxes " .

That's great ,
if all you want on your personal computer
is a nVidia card .

[John Bailo]

Jeff Relf wrote:

The tech boom-bust cycle is about 30 years long ,
and the last boom was far bigger than any before . . .

For a given technology, yes. For old style boot application loaders,
such as DOS, the curve fell to the ground. That is why Warren Buffet,
an investor in shoe companies and restaurant supply equipment has
pummelled Bill Gate with his Bershire Hathaway stock ( up from $66,000 a
share to $88,000 a share this quarter).

The new stocks of the Web, Internet, OOP and p2p (here I include
Linuxes) are just beginning their ascent.

--
Bush 2004
New Technology, New Openess

[John Bailo]

Jeff Relf wrote:

Hi John Bailo , You make another funny ,
" The most powerful home Device will be the Sony PS/3 .
Built from the ground up on Linux " .

That's an example of a Specialized device .

Linux is perfect for that .

But I was referring to PC devices .

How many personal computers are there ? 400 million ?

How many PS/3's are there ? 0 ?

How many bar codes are there? These will all be Java carded.

How many home devices are there? These will all be Linuxed.

--
Bush 2004
New Technology, New Openess

[John Bailo]

Jeff Relf wrote:

Apple is specialized , just like Linuxes are ,
neither one is like Microsoft .

Yes, absolutely. That is the reason that GM beat Ford. They offered
specialiation, tailored to the consumer.

Bill Tyrant Gate has been force feeding crapware to the people for
decades. No wonder Wall Street and the World Opinion revolted and threw
off the Old Petty Dictator and replaced him with a Penguin -- owned by all !
--
Bush 2004
New Technology, New Openess

[Arnold the Aardvark]

Jeff Relf wrote:

Linux is about special servers ... Special desktops .

Specialised? How?

I've installed various distros on various machines
and had fewer problems than with Windows (plus not
having to re-boot four times - that was XP). XP
refuses to recognise the USB ports on my current PC
no matter what I do, but under Linux (it's dual boot),
they are working perfectly.

Lots of Linux apps have crashed on me but not one has
ever fazed the OS. Specialised? I'd call that essential.

I'm guessing you know less about Linux than me (quite
a feat) and are basically flogging some tiresome
misconceptions.
Arnold the Aardvark

[-DC-]

"John Bailo" <ja*****@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:dC*****************@newsread1.news.pas.earthl ink.net...

Jeff Relf wrote:

Apple is specialized , just like Linuxes are ,
neither one is like Microsoft .

Yes, absolutely. That is the reason that GM beat Ford. They offered
specialiation, tailored to the consumer.

It's also damn hard to beat "Free!"

Linux is actually more mature in a lot of ways than Windows, since it is
based on Unix which has been around a hell of a lot longer than Microsoft.
It was also designed to be multi-user right from the start whereas Windows
was morphed into some ugly multi-user platform. Just look at the standard
Windows file structure to get an idea of how hodge-podge it really is.
Programs can install anywhere, users can save in multiple locations, there
are few restrictions. And any forced restrictions usually break old legacy
applications.

Then there are the artificial limits imposed by Microsoft, such as Windows
Professional only allowing a max of 10 concurrent connections. Or Microsoft
Access MSDE only allowing 5 concurrent database connections before
_artificially_ degrading. What a crock. And don't forget product
activation!

They should have gotten a clue from what happened to Intuit with TurboTax.
Users don't like being forced to register or limited in their freedom. This
is the main reason open-source is growing so quickly.

[William Ryan [eMVP]]

There is no such thing as Access MSDE, they are seperate products. I'd
check my facts about the rest of the assertions regarding MSDE.

As far as licensing, Macromedia has a forced registration which is probably
the most polite in existence. And I have yet to see any evidence that
either MS or Macromedia is losing customers b/c of it (while I agree that
it's annoying).
"-DC-" <ee******@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:MI****************@news.uswest.net...

"John Bailo" <ja*****@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:dC*****************@newsread1.news.pas.earthl ink.net...

Jeff Relf wrote:

Apple is specialized , just like Linuxes are ,
neither one is like Microsoft .
Yes, absolutely. That is the reason that GM beat Ford. They offered
specialiation, tailored to the consumer.

It's also damn hard to beat "Free!"

Linux is actually more mature in a lot of ways than Windows, since it is
based on Unix which has been around a hell of a lot longer than Microsoft.
It was also designed to be multi-user right from the start whereas Windows
was morphed into some ugly multi-user platform. Just look at the standard
Windows file structure to get an idea of how hodge-podge it really is.
Programs can install anywhere, users can save in multiple locations, there
are few restrictions. And any forced restrictions usually break old

legacy applications.

Then there are the artificial limits imposed by Microsoft, such as Windows
Professional only allowing a max of 10 concurrent connections. Or Microsoft Access MSDE only allowing 5 concurrent database connections before
_artificially_ degrading. What a crock. And don't forget product
activation!

They should have gotten a clue from what happened to Intuit with TurboTax.
Users don't like being forced to register or limited in their freedom. This is the main reason open-source is growing so quickly.

[Jules Dubois]

On Tue, 27 Jan 2004 22:21:10 -0500, in article
<news:Od**************@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl>, William Ryan [eMVP] wrote:

There is no such thing as Access MSDE

Did you miss the lesson in Emvp class about why top posting is incorrect
English usage?

[William Ryan [eMVP]]

Top posting is an English Usage issue?
"Jules Dubois" <ye*********@no-domain.cn> wrote in message
news:cq******************************@40tude.net.. .

On Tue, 27 Jan 2004 22:21:10 -0500, in article
<news:Od**************@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl>, William Ryan [eMVP] wrote:

There is no such thing as Access MSDE

Did you miss the lesson in Emvp class about why top posting is incorrect
English usage?

[Christopher M. Tomaszewski]

John Bailo,
I suggest you undergo a psychiatric evaluation. Microsoft is the leader
in every field into which it steps. Recently, Microsoft entered the console
gaming market with its Xbox. It released simultaneously with GameCube,
produced by the veritable longstanding dominater of console gaming,
Nintendo. Xbox shattered all first day sale records despite the simultaneous
release of GameCube. Microsoft easily comes to dominate every market it
enters and the flunctuations in its revenue you spoke of is completely
negligible. Microsoft suffers flunctuations much wider than that constantly.
Come back when you can tell me that Microsoft suffered four consecutive
quarters of losses, a true sign of a faltering company.

[Linønut]

Fearing a spontaneous XP reboot, Christopher M. Tomaszewski mumbled this incantation:

John Bailo,
I suggest you undergo a psychiatric evaluation. Microsoft is the leader
in every field into which it steps. Recently, Microsoft entered the console
gaming market with its Xbox. It released simultaneously with GameCube,
produced by the veritable longstanding dominater of console gaming,
Nintendo. Xbox shattered all first day sale records despite the simultaneous
release of GameCube.

I thought Xbox was still second to the PlayStation2.

I clipped most of your crossposting crap. I'm sorry to see you have the
same first name as myself.

--
No, I won't fix your Windows computer!

[John]

Christopher M. Tomaszewski wrote:

John Bailo,
I suggest you undergo a psychiatric evaluation. Microsoft is the
leader
in every field into which it steps. Recently, Microsoft entered the
console gaming market with its Xbox. It released simultaneously with
GameCube, produced by the veritable longstanding dominater of console
gaming, Nintendo. Xbox shattered all first day sale records despite the
simultaneous release of GameCube. Microsoft easily comes to dominate every
market it enters and the flunctuations in its revenue you spoke of is
completely negligible. Microsoft suffers flunctuations much wider than
that constantly. Come back when you can tell me that Microsoft suffered
four consecutive quarters of losses, a true sign of a faltering company.

And the XBox is still a money-loser for the company. In fact, most all of
their ventures (save for Windows and Office) are money-losers. Thankfully
for MS, every time someone buys a PC -- whether they want or use the
version of Windows that comes with it -- MS gets a chunk of change. So,
what we have here, really, is a situation where OS & Office buyers are
subsidizing XBox and the on-line services.