[ale] M$ gets record fine

[Geoffrey]

Robert Reese wrote:
> *********** REPLY SEPARATOR  *********** On 2/27/2008 at 2:49 PM Bob
> Toxen wrote:
> 
>> M$ simply will raise prices to Europeans to ensure the same
>> excessive profit margin.
> 
> Not so fast.  If they did, it would simply drive the adoption of
> Linux by Europeans even higher, faster.  We all know that virtual
> machines are the future, consisting mostly of *nix systems, driven by
> customization and stability.  Microsoft knows that.
> 
> Open Source is the "Chinese Finger Puzzle" of the business world.  It
> is counter-intuitive, much like gun toten' to liberals.  For those
> people that believe that less guns means more safety, they cannot
> understand how arming potential victims (like college students of
> today) can actually increase safety and security.  Microsoft,
> similarly, cannot fathom how to compete with Open Source even when it
> seems obvious to the rest of us.  Even so, Microsoft is not
> completely clueless when it comes to business, and driving people to
> those enigmatic alternatives by raising prices isn't good business
> sense.

The wonderful thing that I see is that Linux is getting into the hands 
of folks at a much younger age.  My daughter attends a Magnet program 
and was telling me about a discussion a handful of students were having 
at school one day.  It was more then the usual, 'have you heard of this 
thing called Linux?'  They were actually discussing the pros/cons of 
specific distros.  Now grant it, this is a Science and Math Magnet 
program, but still, the discussion included Freshmen through Seniors.

It was quite refreshing.

-- 
Until later, Geoffrey

Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little
temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.
  - Benjamin Franklin