InfoWorld: MS masters NC mind-set

[ Thanks to Clay for this link. ]

Nicholas Petreley maintains that Microsoft has the thought-control rays turned on and pointed at the industry's head. How else to explain a centralized computing model like .NET's recent acceptance when network computing has been savaged in favor of PC computing for years?

"WAKE UP, open-source community. The battle is not for the desktop; it is not for the server; it is not for the operating system; it is not for the development environment; it is not about the GNU General Public License (GPL) vs. Microsoft's business model. The battle is primarily about who will control user-authentication services.

One of my favorite scenes in the movie Ghostbusters II takes place during the taping of a TV show, "World of the Psychic, with Dr. Peter Venkman." During the show, a guest named Elaine reveals how she found out the date for the end of the world, "As I told my husband: It was in the Paramus Holiday Inn. I was having a drink at the bar, alone, and this alien approached me. He started talking to me, he bought me a drink, and then I think he must have used some kind of a ray or a mind-control device because he forced me to follow him to his room; and that's where he told me about the end of the world." Bill Murray replies incredulously, "So your alien had a room at the Holiday Inn in Paramus?"

As humorous as that may appear, I have come to the conclusion that one of two things must be true: Either Microsoft has a mind-control device similar to the one mentioned above, or some members of the mainstream media are as gullible as Elaine. I can think of no other explanation why people are reacting so differently to Microsoft's .NET than they did to IBM, Oracle, and Sun's promotion of NC (network computing) a few years back."

Complete Story

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• O'Reilly Network: Why O'Reilly and .NET?(Jun 03, 2001)
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• The Register: All your data (and biz plans) are belong to Microsoft(Mar 30, 2001)
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• Community Column: What Does .NET on Linux Mean to Us?(Mar 15, 2001)
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