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osOpinion: Drugs, Microsoft and .Net

[ Thanks to Kelly
McNeill
for this link. ]

“Lets assume you used .net for a short term (perhaps just as a
means of software experimentation), but later decided that you’d
rather change to open office and Linux. Because Microsoft now has
your data, you can’t just grab your documents off the net and start
using star office to convert them as easily as you might have do so
before.”

“This is because users of Microsoft’s upcoming .net service are
required to pay for each file copy he/she makes. In essence, users
of free software would actually be required to pay money (to
Microsoft of all companies) thus eliminating advantages associated
to the free software market.”

“If one were to look at Microsoft’s new strategy as well as the
illegal drug industry, one would find some interesting
parallels.”

Complete
Story

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