Tim wrote:
Jeff Vian
It is a Microsoft problem as we see stated in the article, "Linux
evangelist John H. Terpstra told me: "Microsoft has used its market
dominance to coerce OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) and
resellers not to sell competing products and services."
Mike McCarty:
co.erce - v co.erced, co.erc.ing v.t. 1 To constrain by force,
law, authority, or fear; compel 2 To bring into subjection or
under control by superior force; repress 3 To bring about by
coercion: to /coerce/ obedience - v.i. 4 To use coercive
measures, as in government. See synonyms under COMPEL.
Please state what, exactly, is this "coerce" that MicroSoft has
done.
Isn't that the cases where Microsoft has done things like:
If you want the information you need to make your device Windows
compliant/compatible, you have to agree to our terms. The same tricks
they'd did with ISPs about if you want "help" in some way, you have to
agree not to support non-Microsoft products.
If you want the right to say Windows compatible (or the rights to use
similar logo stamps of aproval on the box, etc.), the same sort of
thing.
Please point out where the coercion is. I still don't see any.
More specifically, where are the "force, law, authority, or
fear"?
Oh, so MicroSoft has done such a good job of porting its software
to many different hardware platforms, that it is difficult for
others to do as well? MicroSoft has risked so much capital
in purchasing the documentation on how to use some proprietary
hardware that others who are unwilling to do so have a problem
competing?
Have they really? What other than bog-standard PCs do you see Microsoft
Windows running on? And with the huge profits they have, and the almost
I thought I regularly see lists of hardware which "Linux supporters"
should avoid, because the h/w i/f is proprietary, and so the
driver writers for Linux can't/wont get the info necessary to support
the new video chips etc. because they can't/wont afford the price
it takes to buy the docs. Yet Win.. runs on everything I've seen.
To put it another way, what PCs do you NOT see Win.. running on?
I don't see mail echoes where a FAQ is "Does Win.. support this
or that laptop or whatever" whereas I *do* see this for Linux.
complete monopoly they have of the market, how much of a "risk" are they
really taking to expand their market even further?
They *purchase* information. Why doesn't the "Open Software Community"
make the same purchase?
Mike
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