Craig Burton: Free Advice to Jim Allchin: Get a Clue, Get a Plan

[ Thanks to Phil Wiggins for this
link. ]

“A recent article entitled “Microsoft Executive Says Linux and
Its Kind Threaten Innovation” published some comments from
Microsoft’s Jim Allchin. In the article Jim is quoted as saying
“Open source is an intellectual-property destroyer. I can’t imagine
something that could be worse than this for the software business
and the intellectual property business.” This is such a ludicrous
statement that it deserves strong comment. As a matter of fact, it
is so bizarre that it compels me to actually personalize my
comments–which I never do–when analyzing the infrastructure
business.”

“One of the effects of the open source movement and the success
of Linux is the commoditization to some of Microsoft’s intellectual
property: Windows. Linux is a commodity already. It will force at
least Windows servers to be commodities. It will have an impact on
the value of the Windows desktop. Microsoft doesn’t like it. Jim
doesn’t like it.”

“While this email debacle is totally moot at this point–(thanks
to Web)–I use it to demonstrate the two-faced position Microsoft
has taken in the past and continues to take now. This is what
makes Jim’s position so laughable and his statements so incredible.
The open source movement is no threat to the software industry or
to intellectual property. It is threatening to Microsoft and its
protectionist practices of the past. The reason Jim doesn’t like
the open source movement is because it is doing the same thing to
Microsoft that Microsoft does to other companies.”

Complete
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