How about a comparison on merit, not marketing 1502

You don't seem to understand your own premise then. You said that it was a miracle that linux has survived "completely sans any major insbreastutional force". If you want to say that IBM was not a major force, go ahead, but you look foolish. In the doing, IBM has not aided the grbuttroots linux bunch at all.

Well, it started out that it was you who were interested. After all, you claim that it has been "one long unending gang rumble in the market place" that has brought Microsoft to the current day, but the rumbling has long been over. Your sense of history is certainly suspect.

OS-2 was dead a long time before it was abandoned. The market voted for Windows and made it the leader by far.

What kind of meaningless statistic would that be, hank? People obtain Windows via a multi-channeled distribution system. The bulk of the use of Windows is on single machines. People get a new machine on the same cycle as there is a new Windows release. Don't think that is a coincidence!

LOL!!! Where do you get your information about Bill Gates' psyche, hank! The linuxers tell one another that Gates is dreadfully afraid of them, much as the Iraqis insisted that the Americans were not at the Baghdad Airport. Sheer bravado and not an ounce of truth.

You are a fool to believe that tripe. For one thing, the Microsoft marketeers believe in winning at a handsome profit and hardly believe in winning at any cost. That they can do that again and again is a tribute to their ability to read the market and effectively lead it where it can most efficiently go. All this robber baron and silver spoon tripe is nonsense dreamed up by the loser to soothe their hurt feelings at how they could come to such an utter defeat at the hands of such a boor! They underestimated Mr. Bill and you are following their lead. Guess where that ends up!

You probably do hear a lot of people say your theories are looney. Add my voice to the long, long list! LOL!!!

Well, you go on with that belief, hank, and Mr. Gates will rest snug in his bed. Nothing succeeds unless the customer knows of it and word of mouth regarding technical issues as fine as are usually drawn between Windows and linux pbutt miles above the consumer head and well below the consumer consciousness.

The personal computer market had its shakeout years ago, hank, maybe you missed it.

Hoyt Axton once sang "Some you win and some you lose and the winners all smile and losers say 'Deal the cards again!'". But there isn't going to be a new deal, hank. You've got a bust and you are stuck with it.

You take the cake, hank! Are you another instantiation of the Mark Kent fellow? Can't be two of you around! LOL!!!