SPUG:Microsoft: Open source threatens our business model

[Marion Scott Warner]

I have been using Linux exclusively for the past 5 years.
Windoz NT is on that other disc somewhere, but I've sort
of forgotten about it. Does Microsoft make a stable & secure
Operating System yet? Like I really care at this point.
I sort of view MS like the little boy who cried wolf too many times,
and their customers look rather much like the crowd in the story
the Emperors New Clothes.
I seem to recall at my last employer when yet another
Windoz virus showed up everyone seemed to stop working.
I never seemed to have that problem. I never seemed to
experience that other phenomena known as the
BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH either.
IMO, you're really your own worst enemy when you emphasize
marketing over product quality. Linux really shines in that
release dates are not set by a marketing department.

Chuck Langenberg wrote:

> > Now, as far as the argument "Microsoft makes money now, so any
> > other business model is wrong" -- this is obviously absurd.
>
> It's not what I want -- it's what I don't want -- and I don't want
> to be insulted. It really annoys me when MS tells half a story and
> infers that I'm only interested in saving money. They conveniently
> omit the other part of the story...
>
> I was very happy to pay them for every release of their software.
> But then they demanded that I register Windows XP & Office XP. To
> police me, they disable these programs after 50 times unless I
> consent to their bully tactics & register via phone or Internet.
>
> But I did not give in. I loaded Linux and www.OpenOffice.Org on that
> PC. And I use www.OpenOffice.Org every day on my Windows PC (which
> reads and writes Office 95/97/2000 files). MS won't be getting
> anymore money out of me, as I proceed to phase them out.
>
> Honest, I wasn't out looking for free software. But I feel like MS
> drove me away with a stick. They gave me an ultimatum -- and I gave
> them the finger.
>
> My solution is to NOT pay for any software, from anybody, anymore.
> Not because I'm trying to save money. But because free software is
> the only kind that doesn't screw with me.
>
> Chuck Langenberg
>
>
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