Newsmaker: A Gates reality check

In the business-software market, Microsoft is in an unaccustomed spot: It's a bit player in the shadow of much larger rivals.

If Gates & Co. have their way, Microsoft will become a force alongside Oracle and SAP in the multibillion-dollar business of selling human resources, financial planning and other software. The company has set lofty goals: Microsoft has said in the past that it hopes to rake in $10 billion per year in business software sales by 2010.

However, sales at the company's Business Solutions unit aren't growing as quickly as hoped. A new software platform intended to unify the company's disparate product lines won't be completed for at least three years. And there are questions about the overall demand for business software amid industry consolidation.

History shows that when it comes to new markets, Microsoft keeps trying until it gets it right--or it gets out. In this case, Gates is willing to bide his time. He spoke to CNET News.com about his strategy, ongoing efforts in security and how to get PCs into more hands across the globe.

Various Microsoft executives talked this week about how, long term, there are going to be four large players in the business-software arena: Oracle, SAP, IBM and you. How do you see that future?
Gates: I think it's an oversimplification to say there will just be the four players. You'll see some consolidation and you will see people who have built things from the ground up taking their special stuff and building it on top of, say, our platform. The more you have good tools and more extensibility hooks, then you will get people sharing what we already do for them so they don't have to try and duplicate that piece.

Year by year there will be consolidation. There will be people who decide to drop accounting or just do customization. This will always be a very complex market.

Are there customers that had built on top of Microsoft at the foundation level saying that, if Microsoft is a competitor on the application level, then they want to look at, say, Linux or Java?
Gates: There certainly has been a need to reach out to our ISVs (independent software vendors)...We're not going to do product bundles in a way that would be disadvantageous to them. We are not going to incent the sales force in some way that would be a big problem for them. We've needed to go out and talk that through. In most cases they already competed with the company we bought. It wasn't some new competitor but it was a competitor that would have the Microsoft name.

In our history as a company, on the Windows platform, we've always been both a platform provider and, in many of the key categories, a competitor of people building on Windows. That worked well for Windows. I don't think we've lost many, but boy, it means it's very important for Microsoft to be out there talking to people, explaining where we are going, what pieces go on the platform side, what pieces don't go on the platform side. I had a concern about that. So far it's turned out to be less of an issue than I expected.

Lots of people want Microsoft to do something on the antivirus front, and you guys have said you are going to do that. At the same time, the role of securing Windows as a platform is not something Microsoft wants to tackle on its own. The Symantecs of the world want partners, but that seems like a really tough relationship to balance as you enter those markets.
Gates: I don't think so. The history of Windows is that we do something in the platform and then there are some things missing that sell in high volume as add-ons. If a broad set of people want the thing, then in some future version (we add it). We're very clear; we show people, we tell them and then we build it in the system.

The history of Windows is that we do something in the platform and then there are some things missing that sell in high volume as add-ons.

People used to buy TCP/IP stacks. People used to buy basic backup software. People used to buy fonts. At least nominally, people paid for browsers...When you come into the world of software you know that if you are up at a higher level and you have something superimportant, it's going to move down, down, down and eventually be part of every copy of the operating system if it is something superimportant.

Security is a very broad topic. There are so many different pieces of security, which creates immense opportunity for people like Symantec--if they keep innovating. There will be some things that they do that will move into the platform. We're very open with those guys. We talk to them every day, massively....We will get the benefit of the platform getting better and those partners continuing to add value.

More Newsmakers

Software NEEDS to be paid for?

We're in a time of knowledge and information, who says software ALWAYS needs to be paid for?
Students are designing their own processors, compilers, databases, and operating systems everyday in colleges all across the world.
It's inevitable that we have a science book called linux. That's the heart of Open Source.
Is it that hard to understand programming in terms of volunteer work??
M$ needs an attitude adjustment. That's their problem. that and their software is garbage.
Ever heard of an antivirus program taking over other OS's like OSX or linux?? I wonder why that is. :)

[BazNZ]

Yeah, I do wonder why

Yeah actually, I do wonder why. I don't actually get it. I dabble in what I guess you'd call high-level programming, so I barely scratch the surface. I know that there's the argument about Microsoft software being more persuasive, but then to a cracker, I would have though "breaking" a Linux system would have been more of an ego boost, if it's that hard to do. And I know they hire good people. I also would have thought that their team environment would be tighter, too. I can understand it maybe ten years ago. When I first started at a company, in 1994, where everyone one had a computer, they didn't have a firewall or virus software. It was only starting to become an issue. I guess part of the compromises can be attributed to that, the fact that everyone is more connected, which seems be how these breaches spread and the fact that their software is often feature-rich (more doors to smash open), but other than that, I'm kind of at a lose. I happen to like Microsoft's software and don't go in for that WinTel Vs Mac, Google Vs Yahoo! crap. You use what works for you, but when there is compromise after compromise, it does tend to leave me a little disillusioned. Disappointed, too.

[David Arbogast]

Who said that?

<<who says software ALWAYS needs to be paid for?>>

Nobody. But more to the point, not Bill Gates anywhere in this interview.

But if the software you want is not available for free, using it without paying for it is theft. Plain and simple stealing.

[paulej]

Software is business

Software is the product of hard work and, as such, has value. If a company or group of people choose to write software and give it away for free, that's OK. I enjoy using Linux, too.

However, if we took this approach in every kind of business, the economy would go down the toilet. The world cannot run on "free".

The cost of developing software is very high and the people who do it for a living deserve to be well compensated for their effort.

You suggest that Microsoft's products are garbage, but I take exception to the claim. They have been the target of a lot of attacks due to popularity, but by and large, Microsoft's products perform as well or better than competitors and most certainly any open source products.

Linux is most certainly not impervious to attacks-- in fact, they are attacked (successfully) every day. The reason Windows gets the spotlight is because that is the OS used by most people and where it has the biggest impact on business when a worm, virus, or other such software is introduced.

I'd strongly suggest that you consider an attitude adjustment, otherwise you should consider a life of bartering chickens, growing your own food, and making your own clothes.

Science books are open source?

i wonder where you get that idea? as far as i know someone has to pay for them. they cost the schools money and in turn cost me money in tuition, librarys have to pay for books which in turn is passed to the consumer or the tax payers.

Software NEEDS to be paid for?

i guess it depends on the software. if it was sold or made for profit then yes it needs to be paid for. to do otherwise is theft. if it's opensource i guess it would depend on if you wish company level support for your product or not.
inovation is a great thing! many of the students you speak of will go on to write software that will earn them lots of cash (which in the end is why many of us go to school, to learn skills to profit from) oh and Linux is not the heart of opensource UNIX is for the most part. Bell Labs distributed the source code for UNIX for free to others long ago, several versions of UNIX sprang from that as well as Linux.
to say MS software is junk is a little extreme they have been around for a long time and have earned there place in history (not bad going from a Harvard drop out to one of the richest men in the world!) and as for the AV program taking over the OS, what AV are you speaking of and why blame MS for something the AV manufacturer did (by the way did it cross your mind that it might have been developed that way to enhance the function of the AV and OS?) can't say i've seen anything but viruses or maleware mess up a Linux machine or a Mac. although sometimes i've seen Linux trash a system or two on it's own if it isn't set up just right. keep in mind the average computer user doesn't have the time or understanding that many of us have. comand line OS's are a pain to most people (not saying they are not good! just complicated for the average person) as for Mac's why buy a system that you can only get replacement parts and software from one source? i like to mix and test out new things with my system (Athlon 3500+ running winxp pro, winxp pro 64 bit, and RedHat Fedora core3 x86_64) with a Mac i can't go to my local PC parts supplier and grab a NVidia 6800 video card and just pop it in, i have to buy it from Mac.(if it's availible and at a much higher cost i might add). something else to keep in mind is that MS products are used by many more people and business world wide (i know! you don't want to hear that!) so they are going to be a bigger target for most crackers just because the products are much more common in many workplaces and homes so it makes sense for the "bad guys" to look where the best chances to get the most access are. a true hacker on the other hand might spend the time it takes to hack you UNIX machine just to say he did it. (there is a difference between a hacker and a cracker. crackers are the scum of the earth to most people.)
i guess in the end you might want to lighten up a bit. instead of complaining about MS and it's flaws why not put your expertice to work and beta test some stuff to help make it better? funny thing is that is how most problems get solved with any piece of software or hardware!!
have a great day!!

[dennisbaker2003]

Buisness Solutions Department

Mr Gates
You need a big name created with your solutions program to market from.

Heres my reality check:

We are in a situation where I believe I have shown that :
1) the planet will shift its rotation to achieve a new position of
dynamic balance when the Polar Ice Caps melt.
2) the Shift in rotation will include gravitational fluctions that way
well leed to the extinction of humans.
3) Human Excrement + Nuclear waste = Hydrogen is a viable exportable
technology that may well be the only option to prevent #1 and #2.


So lets get a representative of your end, meet with me and see if we
can not do what is in the interest of all humans.

Dennis Baker

Please, "incent" is not a word

"...We are not going to incent the sales force in some way that would be a big problem for them..."

Please, "incent" is not a word, neither is "incentivize". Do a Google search on "define:incent". Just because Dick Gephardt and Bill Gates use it, does not make it a word, admittedly it is creeping into everyone's vocabulary. Can't we just say "motivate"?

[Davross]

Yes "incent" is a word

I guess if you don't find something in Google it doesn't exist? Information can be found elsewhere, for instance... <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=incent" target="_newWindow">http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=incent</a>

Let's not limit ourselves to Google as the end all be all for everything.

[yobtvoya]

And leverage is not a verb...

"Leverage" is a noun, yet many Americans use it as a verb. It's even listed as a verb in some online dictionaries (although the Compact Oxford English dictionary lists it only as a noun). In traditional English, the correct usage would be "to provide leverage", instead of "to leverage".

I think that, to many Americans, English is more of a tool to massage to fit your needs than it is a standard to follow closely. That's why we see lots of "verbing the noun" going on, like "incentivize". Don't be surprised to see it in an online dictionary someday soon. I'm not defending the practice, just pointing out the reality (or should I say, realitizing).

[Stomfi]

incent is a new English word

Just like fabulous means from a fairy tale, or chaos means the universes raw material having equal parts of order and disorder, so the new americans add more meaning to English, that wonderfully extensible language, thats made up from so many others, adding new words by the day.
Maybe I could use "extens" instead of extends, or "gated" instead of insecure.
Its sic ain't it.

Please, "incent" is not a word

funny thing about the english language, new words are created every day. do a google searh for "slang" and see for yourself.

Proprietary vs. True Science

If M$ would put more of its money into complying with science instead of trying to make its own proprietary system, maybe they'd be in a better place than they are now.
Examples: ActiveX, .NET, NetBIOS, etc.
You can't forget that they broke Java with XP.
They should rebuild their OS with C instead of C++ and Java. Or wait, UNIX already did that. If you're going to invent your own protocol or design language, at least make it secure. M$ has been digging its own grave since NetBIOS.

Proprietary vs. True Science

in case you had not noticed MS is in the busness to make money stop compairing apples with oranges and let it go alright?

MicroSoft's plans

Are WAY behind the rest of the industry. Linux (aka rip-off of unix) is gaining a lot of ground through government facilities, small businesses, and the only thing Linux is really useful for-the server market.

OS X is an OS of the Gods. The next release (10.4) is going to be phenominal and I can guarantee Apple's next move in software will be a push on the business side. Why not? Microsoft is already failing at its own promises.

Hell, there must be THOUSANDS of full-featured apps for the OS X platfrom that ARE free, I went to ZDNET and couldn't find a SINGLE ONE for XP to enhance Net Send. Ol' Bill and his programming cohorts need to start developing free stuff, methinks.

[David Arbogast]

Hmmm

&lt;&lt;Ol' Bill and his programming cohorts need to start developing free stuff, methinks. &gt;&gt;

When Microsoft released IE for free, it completely dominated the market and pushed other companies out of business. Do you REALLY want Microsoft to release more software for free? How will that help OpenSource? How will that help Microsoft? How will that help developers? How will that help the economy?

M$ has always missed target dates.

They have never delivered a product on schedule.

[ajaikarran]

Ignorant comment

I'm a Microsoft fan! To say that Windows or Office is junt is plain ignorant! Wordperfect did not innovate. They were complacent and satisfied with their market dominace. Microsoft has continued to innovate and offer high quality user friendly products. Why are there so many security issues? Simple, when you are number one people will be gunning for you. If linux becomes number one how long would it be before virues pop out of nowhere?

Aack!

But, AJ.. it's more than just that. There's fundamental design
issues with the Windows platform that are plainly just not there
on a Unix-type system that help viruses spawn. Clear
separation of admin (root) and non-admin. Clear and simple
system design (everything is a file). Less is more approach. Ask
most non-savvy computer users whether they'd enjoy stylish
computers with whiz-bang features or a bare basic one that
simply keeps their private data is secure, and I'm sure they'd
take the latter.

You can argue that being #1 is the reason Window is such a
target--that may be true. But with that popularity comes
responsiblity to "do the right thing", and that means profits
come second and your customer's safety and security come first.

Additionally...

I disagree wholly with Microsoft creating "user-friendly"
products.. I truly believe that the Windows interface is an
abomination. Cluttered, offensive colors, text that doesn't scale
proper, poor file system management, horrid searching
capacities....I could go on and on.

Apple is probably "gets it" the most: it's the interface, dummy!
But no computer today is "user friendly", and unfortuantely both
Apple...and moreso Microsoft are draggin their feet.

Your really have no clue.

WordPerfect did and still does innovate, but M$ got PC manufacturers to pre-load Office. Buy the way, there is a free office suite available, it's known as OpenOffice. It runs on many platforms. Go to openoffice.org and check it out.

"they're ignorant"

You're beginning to sound a lot like Michael Jackson.
Your argument is about as weak as a 12 yr old boy.

[ajaikarran]

idiot

If Microsoft products are garbage it would not be number one. You are saying that people who buy Microsoft are dumb. Consumers are smart. If they don't like a product they will not buy it.

[Jon N.]

Say what?

C'mon Aj, you know as well as I do, that it's not just that the software is "good". Its also about market share. If all my neighbors have a Windows machine, &#38; run Windows software, my job has a Windows platform, &#38; runs Word, then even though it might not be the best software on the market, I "have" to use it, because I "must" use this software to communicate with other systems. The problem now, is that M$ software is so universal &#38; pervasive, that if you are even thinking about importing or exporting a document, its either Word (.doc) or PDF. It's sometimes about what is needed, NOT what's popular. If that were the case, OpenOffice would have a much greater share in the workplace. It's free, has a great translator, &#38; is not a target of hackers...yet. I am impressed with the inroads that M$ has attempted in making their software more stable, but they will have a long, long way to go to get to the stability factor of either OS X or *nix systems. Just remember that Windows XP is going to go thru another major revision BEFORE Longhorn is released. Hummmmmmm...Isn't that special !

Say what?

Can you say pre-loaded agreements? That is why M$ is on top. Nothing they make qualifies as "best of" in any category. And by the way, consumers are stupid because they believe anything that BG says.

me the idiot?

where do i start? yes, most consumers are dumb when it comes to computer science. yourself included.
currently M$ is the MOST POPULAR, a term I haven't used since High School. It truly seems like popularity is M$'s true approach to innovation and marketing, which should mean that hopefully M$ is just a fad that will soon fade away.
If you're going to make analogies, don't do it based on popularity, it just makes you look stupid. But, don't worry, life without a start button isn't that scary.

[ajaikarran]

point taken

However, you miss the point. Microsoft may have a "legit" monopoly but it does not sit on it's behind and enjoy the profits. They INNOVATE! Consumers have lost in ake of the goverment suit against Microsoft. I just an HP machine. Office 2003 came as a trial version. Wordperfect is offered for free. I have to pay fot Office. When I bought a Dell 5 years ago offcie was bundled and no additonal cost. INTEROPERABIITYis the key to OpenOffice. It is compatible w/Office. However, consumers overall find Microsoft products better. Windows updates...or course yoi have to release updates now and them. Revamping XP into longhorn is needed. Microsoft is not perfect. Hackers have proven that. MORE IMPORTANTLY why are we not blaming hackers for our Windows woes...they commit criminal acts. No one should ever forget that!!!!!

[Steven N]

How about this...

Yesterday my sister-in-law calls me, she has a worm problem on her PC. A MS Messenger worm to be more precise. I told her half a year ago not to use it because of M$ poor security record.
Her answer: "...but everyone uses it..."

It's junk, plain and simle.

We'll see in a few years when Linux has a good consumer desktop offering.

[feranick]

better products?

quoting:
"consumers overall find Microsoft products better"

You are kidding right? People don't use MS products because they are better, just because they are the standard, if they want to communicate with others. Thant is why Mac users needs to use MS Office for mac. If they could chose they would use anything else. MS are just not better. Some products are nice, but not better. For my part i haven't seen a product buggier than MS Office 2003. It crashes every single day. I am forced to use it. So much for ""better"" products...

Are you a complete idiot?

Do you work for, or have stock in M$. Your comments are totally out there. M$ doesn't innovate, they purchase other companies to eliminate the competition. They stole the whole Windoze scheme from Apple!

wow

this guy sure knows how to ramble without any good point. I will agree with him that Windows is not perfect, actually I couldn't agree more.

point mistaken

I really have to disagree with you Aj. MIcrosoft only innovations are in the realm of legal chicanery. Is it an innovation that MS Office is preloaded on your computer? Is it really an innovation that a major patch to fix problems that Microsoft denies the existence of actually renders about a fourth of the XP platforms unusable?
Don't blame the hackers, blame the crackers, crashers and script-kiddies. Blame Microsoft also.
If the bank employees leave the vault standing wide open, the front door propped open and and all go home for a long weekend, they should not be too surprised if they return to find the vault cleaned out. And I guarantee they will be seriously looking for a new job.
I recently read a report that indicated there are over 300,000 malicious programs (virii, trojans, worms and the like) for Windows. The count for Macintosh OSes is somewhere in the vicinity of 200(with many being Word macro virii), and for Linux, the count is about 30.
There are several reasons for the difference in numbers. Microsoft often puts software on the market before it's ready. look around on any windows computer and check the dll references with quickview, and you will find numerous calls to test and debug versions of the libraries. These should not be in the final verion.. ever.
Then there is the security issue. Windows and dos date back to a time when the idea was "One user, One Computer", and no networking or centralized data. In fact, Microsoft's early TELCOM terminal program was broken by design to the point of not being able to tansfer binary data at all. (I am old enough to have actually used telcom. )
Unix, of which Linux is a blackbox clone, was developed along with and on top of TCPIP and ethernet networking. So network security was built into the infrastructure of unix. By default, in the case of windows and unix (or linux) the basic installation is not generally configured for security, but securing windows seems to be a lot more difficult, due largely to the fact that default user has full privileges in Windows and is effectively the administrator.

[ajaikarran]

how 'bout this...

Blame the ciminals who created the virus!

[David Arbogast]

hear hear!

The manufacturer of the lock on my door is not at fault when a criminal breaks in. No matter how shoddy it may be.

Which virus?

Windoze is a virus, and it is best to stay as far away from it as possible. Try something else, something that actually works, like an Apple or even Linux. Try writing about something you actually know.

[Jon N.]

Sounds good to me!

I've been saying this all along, Aj. Yes, these are criminals. Yes, they are reaking havoc with the entire windows community (&#38; sometimes Linux users, too). Well, now that Ms. Bono has pushed through legislation to punish those who send any type of malware, at $2000.00 fine for a first offense per item, maybe we'll have a small break from the attacks. I just don't see it, though. They have to catch the cyber-jackasses first. 9 out of 10 crackers &#38; hackers don't get caught. Nice thought, though.

[feranick]

comparison...

I am driving my new car out of the dealer. At the certain point a hole road destroy my suspension. A small stone crashes my windshield. Yes right I should blame the road administration! Oh wait, cars from different manifacturers work fine in the same road! It must be my car then. So the manifacturer is responsible for it, and the warranty should take care of it. Oh wait, I need to wait few months because the fixes for my suspensions are not ready yet. They will included in a future "service pack". In the meantime If I want to drive safely I need to go for "non-original" parts, or not drive at all.

This was the reason people bought Japanese cars. This is the reason people shouldn't buy MS products.

P.S. I wonder what Nader thinks about this issues

You make sense!

I couldn't agree with you more. That massively bloated piece of **** known as Windoze needs to be eliminated. And the sooner the better.

comparison...?

interesting... in reality the insurance company would say you were at fault for not looking where you were going on the suspension issue. as for the stone in the windshield you would also be at fault for following to close.
by the way many cars are subject to product recall almost daily most of those recalls do not happen untill after someone gets hurt.
as for waiting to get service packs would you rather have untested software right now or give them the chance to test it out first? MS and others are not god and cannot see every possible attack that they might come under so be realistic and give them a chance alright? they could say "hey your on your own untill someone out there fixes it" (like Unix and Linux) part of the cost you pay for software goes into researching and fixing problems that come up. as consumers demand more out of there computers OS's get more and more complicated therefore harder to keep secure. very inteligent people work to make the product the way many people want it and equally inteligent people work just as hard to mess things up. last time i checked no one was perfect so like i said in other posts if you don't like MS products use your freedom of choice and pick something else or maybe do something usefull like beta test software to help make it better? (hey!! there's an idea!!!)
Have a great day!

[Earl Benser]

It's a free choice world...

A person's choice of an OS is their business. Maybe they think
the OS is truly great. maybe it just came on the computer they
bought. Maybe some friend talked them into it. Whatever. It is
the person's choice, and he is free to make whatever choice, for
what ever reasons, he wants. No one can legitimately onject to
that choice, no matter how stupid, or wrong, or misguided that
choice may seem to be.

And as many have said, for most people, the wrong choices will
eventually become apparent. Other's may never notice a wrong
choice - in which case, was that choice really wrong?

[Gayle-Edwards]

But, It Isn't a CHOICE if---

Boy, some people really ARE, ...BLISSFULLY IGNORANT.

For those that really don't know any better... Microsoft has been REPEATEDLY FOUND GUILTY of ILLEGALLY-SUPPRESSING this so-called, "...free choice" (...in American State-Courts, ...in American Federal-Courts, ...and in numerous Foreign-Courts).

Microsoft has always done everything in their 'power' (legal, or NOT) to ELIMINATE such, alleged, 'CHOICES'. Towards this end, Microsoft has even gone so far as to publicly, FALSELY, claim that...

-selling a computer without an 'operating system' is "ILLEGAL",

-using a "non-Microsoft Operating System" is most "probably-ILLEGAL",

-replacing a "pre-installed Microsoft Operating System" is "ILLEGAL",

-and even that, ...simply 'communicating with a "Microsoft Operating System-component", without their [Microsoft's] permission, is "ILLEGAL".

Furthermore, Microsoft HAS flat out THREATENED 'computer manufacturers', 'government agencies', and even 'consumers', with numerous "...disincentives" (I.E. illegal PUNISHMENTS), if they "...choose" to produce/use non-Microsoft products.

And, this doesn't even begin to address Microsoft's repeatedly creating intentionally-exclusionary 'proprietary-standards' (and willfully "...polluting" established 'standards'), ...solely to FORCE the use of 'Microsoft-products'.

...In the military there is a saying... "They can't MAKE you do something. But, They can SURE MAKE you WISH you HAD".

Some CHOICE...

[Earl Benser]

All too true...

... but as long as people act like they are too stupid to reject the
marketing BS that MS lives on, they deserve to have the very
worst. And peopl in general are that stupid about most of the
technology fields. So they believe self appointed experts, who all
too often attempt to redefine ethics to meet their needs.

And Ol' Bill's second skill was marketing.....

[davidj7738]

Free Software is an oxymoron

English is an evolving language and dictionaries only enter words when the word is used often enough to actually be defined. Did the word 'google' exist 10 years ago.. i.e. google n. internet search engine v. to seach the internet using a search engine preferably google.com's search engine.

Science is free.. balderdash.. tuition was only 1/3 of my total education budget.. 2/3's was for books! Which in most cases had to be purchased new from the bookstore (not used the previous semester) and the bookstore would not buy them back as not being used by the 'next' course.

Why unix/linux is more secure than windows. Simply because in windows most users run at the 'root' level of access.
Apple did not invent the gui.. sort of believe that the palo alto project (xerox) had a hand in there before Team Macintosh..

The best will rise to the surface.. not neccessarily true.. Beta vs VHS... MCI vs PCI.. OS/2 vs MS Windows..

A virus writer usually goes after the largest audience.. who would know if someone wrote a virus/worm that attacked only sparc workstations that ran a proprietary O/S.

Point of fact. ATM's are switching from OS/2 to Windows XP (going from a non supported software to a larger supported software base) and use a form of VPN to connect to the bank (maybe using the internet as a transport layer) vice a more expensive dedicated line.. banks have to look at the bottom line..

As far as the hosted software issue goes.. gadzooks, that reminds me of the old mainframe/dumb terminal days with a twist.

Software is one of the few items that can be purchased that you NEVER own. You only own a license to use said sofware depending upon the EULA (end user licensing agreement)

People can't see the trees because of the forest..

A computer is only a tool.. if it does what you want then it is good.. otherwise change it. But also remember another cliche 'a carpenter never blames his tools for a bad job!'

Free Software is donated time

First of all, the books you speak of are *mostly* written by college professors, who simply explain pre-existing and open technology in there own words. You're paying for the "features" of the book, not the technology itself which is described. The best analogy to the situation, is obviously paying for feature-rich software. The idea of booting and commands and configuration files is obviously common and open technology.
Therefore, I think your analogy is inacurrate.
Also, you say you can't ever "own" the software if you didn't personally write it. This is wrong too, because you can download source code and do whatever you want with it within your own network. It's at the point that you make it available to the public in some form, free or not, that you have to deal with licenses.
Innovation DOES NOT always cost money.

Free Linux with every Windows !

Torrents at <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://home.btconnect.com/chrisandcarolyn/torrents/" target="_newWindow">http://home.btconnect.com/chrisandcarolyn/torrents/</a>
do things like <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://home.btconnect.com/chrisandcarolyn/suse-for-windows.png" target="_newWindow">http://home.btconnect.com/chrisandcarolyn/suse-for-windows.png</a>
or <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://home.btconnect.com/chrisandcarolyn/knosci.png" target="_newWindow">http://home.btconnect.com/chrisandcarolyn/knosci.png</a>
or
<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://home.btconnect.com/chrisandcarolyn/ubuntu-hoary/virtual-warty.png" target="_newWindow">http://home.btconnect.com/chrisandcarolyn/ubuntu-hoary/virtual-warty.png</a>
. Some people have reasons other than 'sell the zeros and ones' for providing software; in my case it's 'teach my children' and 'be in a position to take responsibility for it'.
Make me some better ones, feed back, and I will thank you.
In the one corner, the kid with PlayStation, LookingGlass 3D, OpenOffice.org, and the idea that you should replicate your DNA whenever you choose. In the other, the grown-up with the worm, the virus, the lawyer, and the idea that the Penguin should go the way of the Dodo. The problem is, the kid can program computers, and the lawyer can't.
It's a bit one-sided :-)

watch; anybody wanna buy a watch

Here Microsoft is: selling OSes and making a good penny at it.

Next we see them hawking everything from T-shirts to game systems to development platforms.

Enough already, get back to work on OSes.

[fmcgowan]

Why does MS complain about Linux...

when BG says "People used to buy TCP/IP stacks. People used to buy basic backup software. People used to buy fonts. At least nominally, people paid for browsers...When you come into the world of software you know that if you are up at a higher level and you have something superimportant, it's going to move down, down, down and eventually be part of every copy of the operating system if it is something superimportant."

The FOSS people can just reply "People *used* to by the OS; when you start at a very higher level, and you have something superimportant, it's going to move down, down, down and eventually become a no-charge utility..."

Both sides are right !

Hey Guys,

I took the time to read most of the posts on this article and I am here to say your both right. Open source is a valuable resource with the main idea that the more programmers involved with perfecting source codes that better the end results, which is true. Microsoft is also a valuable resource to so many people but more focused on the user and application, keeping the code to be used exclusively by their programmers and thats ok. The idea of hackable code can be debated from both sides of the fence till the cows come home

Now to the conversation on cracked versions of Microsoft software by end users, I read just the other day an article that went on to say that illegal copies of Microsoft XP are being installed on new computer systems imported from foreign countries. Most of our computer giants have exported our jobs of building their systems to achieve what they call their end result, that being $$$$. Maybe that end result isnt what it seems&lol.

I think the bigger question with Microsoft asking what it feels is a fair price for its use of the software, is what can the end user afford? Corporate America has shipped the majority of the jobs out of the U.S. to countries where workers are paid wages that are a fraction of the price sought after here in the states.

The idea is to bring this product back into the states to make a profit with lower costs goods. Its actually boils down to common sense, if you take a worker that is employed, he or she will spend that money back into the economy buying goods. Now take that same worker that is now unemployed or working at a minimum wage now becomes faced with trying to just make ends meet, with little extra to buy any product.

OK Corporate America, I hate to be the gloom and doom person to tell you that you have basically taken a course of wiping out your market share of people having the ability to purchase your product here in the states. Even the ability to come up with new ideas (R&#38;D) is being farmed out. Short term&money maker for you, long term& better look for market shares from other countries in order to continue operations.

End result is the average users including educational students are now faced with the dilemma of where to come up with the extra money to purchase the software. If we continue in this direction, I feel Open source will win out only because its affordable (free).