In yesterday’s annual strategy memo to Microsoft employees, CEO Steve Ballmer declared: “Noncommercial software products in general, and Linux in particular, present a competitive challenge for us and for our entire industry, and they require our concentrated focus and attention.“Elsewhere, “Can Open Source Catch Microsoft By The Horn?“: How exactly do you stop a much awaited, overly hyped software release from the billion dollar Redmond giant Microsoft? The Open Source front has no definite strategy on how to catch the raging bull by its ‘Longhorn’, but is closely following the “If you cant beat ‘em, join “em” mantra.
Ballmer: “Linux Requires Our Concentrated Focus and Attention”
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Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSAlert.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
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slightly more deference than public enemy #1.
“Noncommercial software products in general, and Linux in particular, present a competitive challenge for us and for our entire industry, and they require our concentrated focus and attention.”
Good. Now *BSD can grow stronger when M$ concentrates on killing Linux.
“There is always enthusiasm in our business for new concepts. So-called ‘free software’ is the latest new thing. We will rise to this challenge, and we will compete in a fair and responsible manner that puts our customers first. We will show that our approach offers better value, better security and better opportunity.”
My question is this did he say that with a straight face or was it done by dictation.
MS hase never competed in a fair or responsible manner.
MS does have better opportunity for techs, because it requires so many more techs per machine. Or is that backwards again I always seem to get it confused this MS software.
I am glad Microsoft is concerned, as they should be. Windows XP was a great step up. Instead of butchering the 9x system yet again, they have streamlined on a consistent code base. Now with Longhorn they may actually blow away all competition yet again. Could Miguel and friends play catch up? We’ll have to see. Either way the results will come out impacting technology as we know it for the future.
”
Good. Now *BSD can grow stronger when M$ concentrates on killing Linux.”
this is a stupid attitude
“ould Miguel and friends play catch up? We’ll have to see”
Miguel doesnt have to play catch up with a future product and he isnt the only guy concerned
there are several other viable approaches
>>”When does MS ever care about being fair and responsible?”
“They don’t and never have, and neither does the rest of Corporate America.”
Well that’s a cynical attitude. Are you telling us that every corporation from public to private, small to large, overseas and domestic, past, present, and future isn’t interested in being to a degree “fair and responsible”?
In the desktop space I see linux distros possibly catching up to XP by the time longhorn ships. You will bossibly be able to find many of the features in seperate peices by different developers in the community, but who will combine all this work into a seamless and easy to use experience like microsoft does? MS probably has most of this stuff done in alpha form, with developers on board already buiding applications. They are probably sitting back doing some user and bug testing.
Consumers beleive marketing hype. And there will be hundreds of commercials when longhorn ships showing how the new os will improve their lives, “connect them to to world”, help their kids with their homework, etc. People will buy into it partly because 90% of them are using some version of windows, and partly becuase of some eye catching 3d graphic or color pallate that longhorn will have. All major computer manufacturers will jump on the bandwagon because longhorn’s system requirements will force users to upgrage in order to take advantage of these “usefull” features.
Sure linux distros are free, but Windows is “free” to end users because it comes as a standard option on desktop systems.
This is a very, very old Steve Ballmer memo. I don’t know why it is getting rehashed.
“Sure linux distros are free, but Windows is “free” to end users because it comes as a standard option on desktop systems.”
no you get to pay along with the system
WTF? I can get *so* much more work done under KDE 3.2 now than I ever could with XP. There’s nothing at all I’d want from a Windows environment.
All I’m doing with Windows now is using it as a game/simulation loader. Other than that, I can only think of one application that I need on Windows – a mapping program out of Britain that I use infrequently… lucking I won’t have to buy or run Longhorn to get it.
“Sure linux distros are free, but Windows is “free” to end users because it comes as a standard option on desktop systems.”
If it’s an “option”, then you should be able to purchase the PC with out it. So the next time you buy a PC ask them what the price is without MS-Windows. I’d be suprised if they would even be willing to talk to you & and even if they did they would tell you to ask MSFT for a refund (good luck getting it).
> If it’s an “option”, then you should be able to purchase the PC with out it.
Last time I checked some ASUS laptops were around EUR 200 cheaper w/o OS than with some Windows version. (I’m living in Austria, YMMV)
QUOTE FROM ARTICLE:
“In yesterday’s annual strategy memo to Microsoft employees, CEO Steve Ballmer declared”
RTFA! Hehe thats the first time Ive said that.
They are buying a computer and they don’t care what OS it comes with. They see a price $599 and it comes with a list of features, windows home preinstalled being one of them.
Check out: http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&kc=6V…
It doesn’t say “windows xp home add $200”. It doesn’t give a dollar value. Sure the $35 dell paid for it is factored into the total price of the system, but the average consumer doesn’t know that. You have to “add $70” for xp pro, but xp home is part of the system as far as they are concerned.
it’s an “option”, then you should be able to purchase the PC with out it. So the next time you buy a PC ask them what the price is without MS-Windows. I’d be suprised if they would even be willing to talk to you & and even if they did they would tell you to ask MSFT for a refund (good luck getting it).
Someone had a slashdot story (I think) about doing that.
The manufacturer eventually offered $10 (since they get Windows wholesale), he replied that he paid retail for the laptop. They went back and forth for a while, until he (by plan) had documented the whole thing well enough to go to Small Claims Court, win pretty much by default (they never showed up), and collect the price of a copy of XP + court costs.
The article had a lot of practical advice, and the odds of success look pretty good, if you have the time to play the game correctly to the end.
If it happened very often, computers would start carrying notices that they weren’t sold apart from their Windows install. They’d be adding a hardware EULA to the OEM Windows license.
I think a major reason that Microsoft’s software is popular is because they are a large group working together to provide a complete platform. Between the os, development tools, APIs, installing software, and core software packages such as Office, IE, Windows Media Player, etc… They have a specific goal of making everything work well and interoperate with eachother.
In the free software community you also have the same software/tools but they are being developed by a large community of independant groups each having a different goal. Many free software people think of Microsoft as the enemy but an even bigger enemy is their neighbor free software developer. Instead of building a great IDE, web browser, API, drivers, etc… everyone forks off and builds their own version so now we have 10 different pieces of software that attempt to accomplish the same goal and only end up halfway there. By working together in the first place they could have combined those 10 different IDEs and made one or two really good ones. How many times do you have to reinvent the wheel before you realize that people who are embracing and extending the existing wheels are leaving you in their dust?
I’m all for free software and open source but I think the community is very disorganized compared to Microsoft which is a company but also a very large organized community of developers. At the current rate things are going the only viable desktop solutions that fit most people’s needs are provided by MS and Apple. I’m not saying they don’t both have their quirks but they are the best of what’s around. I hope more OS’s and software can join that list in the future!
Multinational companies have a big influence in keeping the people like they want them too trough the media =/. How much people are watching TV channels full of rubbish all evenings?
People’s ignorance (and those trying to keep it that way) is indeed the main problem.
Posted on 2004-04-29 19:50:53
>>”When does MS ever care about being fair and responsible?”
“They don’t and never have, and neither does the rest of Corporate America.”
Well that’s a cynical attitude. Are you telling us that every corporation from public to private, small to large, overseas and domestic, past, present, and future isn’t interested in being to a degree “fair and responsible”?
Corporations are interested in making a profit. If they can do that without screwing the customer, that is simply a nice bonus, but only secondary.
I once read something that has stuck with me ever since – if you want to know whether a corporation is going to do the right thing or the wrong thing, just look at whatever option is going to make the most money and that’s what they will do. Ethics are largely irrevalent, so long as they can get away with it. I read a story yesterday where Nortel fired some head guys over the handling of finances. You see this kind of thing more and more, so who knows how much of it goes on behind the scenes? Maybe it’s like cockroaches .. usualy when you see a few running around in the kitchen, it’s because the walls are so overcrowded that there’s no room for them.
My point? If you want to do something about Microsoft, do something about Corporate America. Or else, as soon as you get rid of Microsoft, somebody else will take their place .. the general public is more interested in the latest episode of American Idol than what Microsoft or their government is doing, so not like they’re going to care.
There are projects that are unifying things in the Open source world. Just look at freedesktop.org, KDE, GNOME, distros like Lindows, Xandros, etc…
As far as IDE’s go, I know of only 2 IDE’s for Linux: KDevelop and MonoDevelop. As far as office goes, you have KOffice and OpenOffice.org. Web Browsers, you have Gecko and KHTML (with many front ends, but they pretty much do the same thing).
There isn’t much forking in FOSS, however there are a lot of projects that don’t reuse any code and make their own version.
>>>>”When does MS ever care about being fair and responsible?”
>>>”They don’t and never have, and neither does the rest of Corporate America.”
>>Well that’s a cynical attitude. Are you telling us that every corporation from public to private, small to large, overseas and domestic, past, present, and future isn’t interested in being to a degree “fair and responsible”?
>Corporations are interested in making a profit. If they can do that without screwing the customer, that is simply a nice bonus, but only secondary.
Corporations are not merely interested in making a profit. The management of a corporation has a fiduciary duty to its stockholders to maximize their profit. Corporate management can be held civilly and/or criminally liable if they co not do so.
If they can be “fair and responsible” while doing so, that would be nice. However, this is, unfortunately, very much the exception rather than the rule.
No, IANAL. But I’ve seen corporate boards removed for precisely this reason.
“Corporations are not merely interested in making a profit. The management of a corporation has a fiduciary duty to its stockholders to maximize their profit. Corporate management can be held civilly and/or criminally liable if they co not do so.”
You’re thinking of “Duty of Loyalty”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiduciary_duty
The “Fair” part would fall under “Duty of Care”.
http://www.orac.gov.au/displaypage.cfm?ID=168
Note that “acting in good faith” is part of this.
http://www.bricker.com/Publications/articles/157.asp
So no the law does place limits on what corporations can do, even in the pursuit of their shareholders interest, and expects them to behave in a “fair and reasonable” manner.
Darius: I once read something that has stuck with me ever since – if you want to know whether a corporation is going to do the right thing or the wrong thing, just look at whatever option is going to make the most money and that’s what they will do. Ethics are largely irrevalent, so long as they can get away with it.
Sounds like a number of individuals I know. Don’t forget… Corporations are run by people. Some people are honest and nice… Some you have to watch constantly… And some don’t care about anything at all as long as they’re comfortable… And so on…
What planet do you live on ? XP sucks monkey balls compared to Windows 2000. Instead of streamlining W2K more and increasing it’s ability to operate faster, they just added more eye-candy and bloat.
People like eyecandy. Good looking products sell.
People like eyecandy. Good looking products sell.
More eyecandy doesn’t have to slow down the system that much. Just look at what Be did to the app_server for the R6 release. It has themeing ability and transparent windows but it’s actually smother than the app_server in R5.
While XP’s themeing ability slowed down the system considerably, at least with some themes.
But the MS philosophy is that people will buy new hardware anyway, so why bother optimizing?
Some people keep saying that MS has some of the most talented developers on the planet, well, it certainly doesn’t show. Bad management I suspect.
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
Mahatma Ghandi ….
yep, they are worried, and they always put out mad fud about linux.
and so they should.
however, this is the first time I have heard of microsoft mention openoffice as a direct threat to their products.
interesting article.
I did not mean they should put out mad fud about linux
I meant they should be worried about linux
In a windows world all you need to write in a jobapplication is “I know windows and office”. And in Linux world? Which distro? Which desktop environment? Which [obscure application and version thereof out of countless similar ones]? It’s about standardization in the corporate world. Linux coming in all shapes and forms doesn’t fit the paradigm.
there is more differences between windows versions than there is of linux versions. granted, the 2 main desktop look different, but both are far more intuitive than any windows desktop.
people know ms office ? hmm which version ? does this not change bewtween versions either ?
please post sensibly when you try to make an attack on linux, or shut up, there is enough trolling going on about here already.
Microsoft isn’t organized in the way that everyone knows each other other neither. There is a hierarchy in which development team JSFYWIE doesn’t know anything about team AHJGFEU.
“If it’s an “option”, then you should be able to purchase the PC with out it. So the next time you buy a PC ask them what the price is without MS-Windows. I’d be suprised if they would even be willing to talk to you & and even if they did they would tell you to ask MSFT for a refund (good luck getting it).”
Regarding PC’s that’s relatively not hard. Regarding laptops it is a bit harder (in Europe).
But what if you can chose to join a so-called PC-private project sponsored by your work (and used-to-be government) with which you can get a “high-end” x86-32 desktop for a fair price? It includes all kind of nice hardware (good 3D card, DVD burner, etc) however also OEM stuff like MS Encarta (Encyclopedia? I have one online and a huge one in paper form.), MS Autoroute (For which i have ns.nl, 9292ov.nl, locatienet.nl), MS Office (I am not gonna support proprietary lock-in software by buying it), and the list goes on. Why isn’t there some choice to NOT get this software? I simply do not want it! Yet, ALL PC’s come with this huge packet of MS software (10+ packages). They ALL have it !#%#$#$%#$##
sorry guys but its a realistic scenario. As linux grow, firms like novell, redhat, ibm and others are likely to go out of their way to break compatibility and then to protect their investment in their linux.
SCO is one major test for linux. The next major test will be when linux advocates (corporations) start suing each other.If linux succeeds in taking enough market share away from MS then i assure that the linux friends (red hat, novell, ibm) will turn on one another.
I have mixed feelings about linux in general. The idea of community ownership and no locked in proprietary nonesense is appealing to me.
Yet linux means free labor for massive corporations and that could injure software developers. I don’t like that.
Just beware because corporatoins are corporations and the ones which are traded publicly have shareholders and bankers to answer to. corporations will be corporations. Open source is not a religion to these people just a means of securing profit for now.
“In yesterday’s annual strategy memo to Microsoft employees, CEO Steve Ballmer declared”
Yer, that’s what all the gullible news people are saying but it still isn’t new. Just because it says that in the article, it doesn’t mean that it is true
. Steve Ballmer produced a memo with exactly (and I mean exactly) the same words in it years ago.
“sorry guys but its a realistic scenario. As linux grow, firms like novell, redhat, ibm and others are likely to go out of their way to break compatibility and then to protect their investment in their linux. ”
Well Ryan, the “forking” issue has been addressed in the past, and the answer is no different now, than it was then.
“SCO is one major test for linux. The next major test will be when linux advocates (corporations) start suing each other. If linux succeeds in taking enough market share away from MS then i assure that the linux friends (red hat, novell, ibm) will turn on one another. ”
I’m not certain why you would be assuming anything? Is common sense really that hard to find?
“Yet linux means free labor for massive corporations and that could injure software developers. I don’t like that. ”
And how exactly is this any different now, than it was in the past? Also ask yourself why exactly do we have the GPL?
“Just beware because corporatoins are corporations and the ones which are traded publicly have shareholders and bankers to answer to. corporations will be corporations. Open source is not a religion to these people just a means of securing profit for now.”
It doesn’t need to be a religion, for “religion” isn’t what’s holding it together. The GPL and the force of law, plus simple pragmatism is helping hold it together. The “religion” part is what helps get one out of bed in the morning, but that would be for naught if our work could be immedietly sucked away, never to return.