Strange Case of Disappearing Open Source Vendors

I found this article to be of interest to my reading, I am sure that the true Linux community will appreciate these points of views.

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The Strange Case of the Disappearing Open Source Vendors

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The willingness to make scurrilous accusations ("open source might facilitate efforts to disrupt or sabotage electronic commerce, air-traffic control or even sensitive surveillance systems") is symptomatic of the disregard for the truth afflicting corporate America these days. The willingness to harness misinformation as a tool of corporate strategy springs from the same "me first at all costs" mentality that led us to the Enron debacle. Just as Enron thought it was appropriate business practice to manipulate the California energy markets to raise its profits, Microsoft seeks to influence public policy to raise the costs of software and prohibit government support for a low-cost alternative.

While it may not seem so from this article, I'm actually a big fan of Microsoft. They had a vision early on of cheap, ubiquitous personal computing, and the fact that computers are so widespread today is in part a tribute to their singleminded pursuit of that vision. And now, with .NET, they have a new vision, of an Internet-scale operating system, which is driving the industry forward into uncharted territory. Despite the many knocks on them from the open source community, they are an innovative company. But they are also an arrogant company, and one that has fallen into the trap of buttuming that they somehow have a right to profit levels that they've enjoyed in the past, and that any method to maintain that profitability (even when growth slows) is legitimate.

I part ways with Microsoft when they seek to restrict the choice of their users, whether by unfairly using their monopoly position to extinguish compebreastors, or by undermining industry standards with non-interoperable extensions, or by locking in users, or by seeking to influence public policy to shut out open source software.

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Resorting to FUD tells me the days are numbered, open source is already making an impact and it is here to stay. Like Elmer Fudd said, "Hahaha, I tawt I taw a wabbit." The rabbit is here to stay.

I return COLA to the usual rants and flames.

-- HPT