I'd say that Phill is summing up the facts rather nicely. To all those celebrating the "victory" of the largest Borg known to man (the USG) over Microsoft: if they can outlaw Windows, they can outlaw Linux. Anyway, at its heart this entire litigation was simply a shake-down operation. The digerati have been put on notice by the USG to start paying the USG their customary protection fees in form of lobbying expenses and campaign donations or suffer the consequences. And given how vastly software houses have expanded their lobbying efforts since the start of the Microsoft trial, I'd say that the mission has been accomplished with marvelous success. The racketeers in DC really will need to be dealt with sooner or later, --Lucky Green <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> "Among the many misdeeds of British rule in India, history will look upon the Act depriving a whole nation of arms as the blackest." - Mohandas K. Gandhi, An Autobiography, pg 446 http://www.citizensofamerica.org/missing.ram > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf > Of Phillip Hallam-Baker > Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2000 00:58 > To: Multiple recipients of list > Subject: Re: Microsoft: A Day Of Satisfaction As Corporate Bully > GetsComeuppance > > > > > GUILTY. > > > A federal judge appointed by Ronald Reagan, the most pro-business and > > anti-antitrust president in recent memory.. > > Ronald Reagan was best known for his limited intellect rather > than specific > policy positions. He was also 'anti big government' but presided over the > largest peacetime expansion of the military in history. Being > 'pro-business' > in US politics translates to delivering favors to party donors in > Washington > speak. The main distinguishing feature of Microsoft's business model as > opposed to other US corporations has been the lack of political donations. > > I had a bunch of folk from Newt Gingrich's office making very pointed > references to Microsoft's 'Failure to play a social role'. I > guess that they > made similar comments to people who actually have influence in Redmond. > > This is not a victory, it is simply the Internet being served > notice that it > had better pay up to the Congressional protection racket. > > > As for the judgement itself, it is trully bizare. The core of the rulling > concerning > the browser has already been litigated in the appeal court and overturned. > Larry Lessig will no doubt have a lawyerly explanation but it is > reasonably > plain where he stands in this. The issues that might have caused most > problems for Microsoft have actually been thrown out. > > What is left in the case is a judgement concerning the tying of > the browser > to the O/S. I told Microsoft to do that before there ever was a Netscape, > back when Mosaic was an academic project out of NCSA that had 30,000 > lines of other folks code without a single attribution for any of the > authors, > or CERN the lab where we worked. > > > I get kind of tired of the constant religious wars that have to > be fought in > the > computer space. I have used more than ten O/S in my time and written > good sized chunks of two O/S infrastructures. > > I am mighty tired of being told how great UNIX is when the basic mode > of interaction is to subject the novice to a hazing ritual (learning the > most > patheticly named set of obscure commands), survival of which allows the > expert to lord their Wizardly knowledge over everyone else. > > Just how much Microsoft hatred is simply a cry of rage from members of > a privilleged craft guild affraid of a technology that could render their > skills > obsolete and threaten their livelihood? > > That is not the kind of computing system I respect. The Web was a reaction > against that mindset. Tim wrote in in principle because he was a NextStep > junkie who realized that that platform had an awful lot to offer the High > Energy Physics Community, it was a means of escape from the centralized > control mentality of CERN CN division. > > > NextStep used UNIX as a base but went considerably beyond the > original design brief. If LINUX is to achieve its full potential > now is the > time > that that community face the fact that the UNIX O/S architecture > is complete > junk compared to what they are capable of building if they can find a way > of stepping beyond the constraints of UNIX while still leveraging the vast > base of applications. > > Microsoft achieved the position it has by executing a strategy that has > transitioned the old MSDOS userbase to a vastly more powerful one. > > > The economics of bits are not those of atoms. The entire dynamic of > software is that the value of an O/S lies in the applications it supports. > It is practically impossible for an O/S to offer an advantage to > developers > that is so devestating as to cancel out the effect of a large exisiting > installed > base. I see no need to postulate conspiracies when the underlying market > forces are so obvious. > > > The Web is a collaboration system. It is now time to rediscover that > potential. We have been marking time long enough - it is over eight > years since Tim gave his Annecy speech. Changing the way that commerce > is done is an interesting and profitable diversion but it is > merely that - a > diversion. > > > If you really want to fight this battle then do it yourself. I don't have > much respect for the idea of leaving the task to the US government. > > Phill > > >
