“Like a fledgling political party celebrating its first
victories in the national elections, the Linux community must now
decide how to best exploit its limited success in the mainstream
market.The most obvious danger is that this new challenge to the
existing power structure will encourage Microsoft and its allies to
fight Linux and attempt to erase those modest gains. (If the
stories about Microsoft having formed an “anti-Linux” team are
true, then the battle’s already been joined.) The more subtle, but
also more serious, problem is that Linux’s open-source license and
the lure of profits will entice IBM, Corel, HP, or even Microsoft,
to co-opt Linux by producing a version that more closely meets
their needs in the mainstream, as opposed to those of the current
community.”
“The Microsoft camp would love to see mainstream computer users
believe that Linux is a cross between a toy and a techno-fad, a
binary mood ring that will entertain us for a few minutes and then
become shelfware when we all come running home to Windows. It’s
clear to me that this won’t happen; Linux is far too robust and
capable to be passed up for certain jobs. About the only way that
Linux will fail in the server and vertical market segments is if
the kernel developers suddenly come down with a horrendous case of
the stupids. No one should bet on that happening before the sun
burns out. Microsoft will no doubt fight Linux tooth and nail, as
all good capitalists should when faced with a formidable
competitor. In essence, this part of our scenario comes down to a
race: In the perception of the mainstream, can Microsoft make
Windows as robust as Linux before everyone working on Linux can
make it as usable and as well supplied with applications as
Windows? Linux has the technical advantage, but Microsoft has a
huge economic and incentive edge. Still, I certainly wouldn’t bet
against Linux.”