[ Thanks to Jorge
Restrepo for this link. ]
“…Microsoft’s relationship to its users is that of
the blue whale to krill. Our only purpose is to breed, feed and get
squeezed against its giant tongue until every last drop of money is
released. There was a slight diminution in the aggressive,
monopolistic feeding frenzy last year when, let us not forget, the
company was found guilty of abusing its position. Now that Bush is
in power, Microsoft is right back in those fertile Antarctic
waters. Not only does it act in a way that suggests it doesn’t care
about the cries of pain from its customers, it barely registers
that such cries exist. Now it has 90 percent of the corporate
market, it will hunt its users to extinction before it notices
anything wrong.There are alternatives, which in a healthy capitalistic
marketplace deserve exploration. A consortium of companies who pay
most to Microsoft could fund an open-source development project to
take Linux and turn it and its applications into a true replacement
for Windows and Office. They know what they want, it would cost
less to make such a package than it does to subscribe to Uncle
Bill’s club, and they’d end up having control of their own
business-critical software for a change. The lock-in factor, where
the pain of changing software is greater than the pain of paying
the Microsoft ransom, would be reduced because the people writing
the alternative would have the migration uppermost from design day
one.But there is another option. Companies, like individuals, have
the power to disobey. An embargo of Microsoft products, of buying
them, licensing them, paying fees due or any other action that puts
money in Microsoft’s bank account, would do the trick. Of course,
Microsoft would withdraw support–as if anyone would notice–and
could take some people to law, but even the mighty behemoth
couldn’t drag everyone through the courts. And what if the US
Justice Department was in on the boycott? Unthinkable–until you
think it. Of course, once .Net is in place MS will potentially have
to tools to turn off your software at a moment’s notice. Nice idea,
huh?”