“Microsoft Corp. chairman Bill Gates said today he foresaw only
a limited role for Linux, the free computer operating system seen
by some as a threat to Microsoft’s dominant Windows platform.”
“”There are different things that people have done to the kernel
which affect application compatibility,” he said. Gates said, for
example, that there were five different windowing systems written
for Linux but that they were unable to exchange data with each
other.”
“Microsoft was taking Linux seriously, Gates said, but
ultimately did not expect it to become a significant threat.”