[ale] OT: newsflash: Microsoft is still the devil...open source beware

[Jonathan Rickman]

On 7/30/07, John Wells <jb at sourceillustrated.com> wrote:
>
> Every member of this list should read the following article:
>
> http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20070730120109643
>
> Scary how keeping up with Microsoft is like reading Machiavelli...
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> http://www.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
>


That reads like the paranoid rantings of a "shooter on the grassy knoll,
Bush planned 9/11, foolsball is the debbil Bobby Bouche" lunatic. How this
person maintains any credibility is beyond me. Having taken a step back from
the Linux community for the last two years or so, I can now see very clearly
what people are referring to when they speak of Linux and FOSS advocates as
a bunch of barking moonbats. Now, I certainly do not ascribe altruistic
motives to anything Microsoft does. After all, their job is to deliver value
to their shareholders and customers, by hook or (in unfortunately far too
many cases) by crook. But at the same time, I do not automatically brand
EVERYTHING they do as some covert attack on Linux or open source software in
general, because frankly...they probably have better things to be concerned
with...like improving their products, which, over the last 3-4 years they
have  had tremendous success doing, as any objective observer will admit.
Perhaps the open source community would be better served to do likewise,
rather than spending so much time and energy fighting an imaginary battle
against an opponent that is half heartedly engaged at best.  Personally, I
like having their offerings available at the big software buffet and don't
care to much for the idealistic vision of an all FSF/GPL world. I have Linux
and Windows playing quite well together, primarily through the efforts of
Microsoft developers, in a great twist of irony.

Finally, remember this is computer software people. Just computer software.
The sun will rise tomorrow. Relax.

--
Jonathan "misses the old days when it was about the software" Rickman
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