“If Microsoft is broken up into two to three separate companies,
Linux would no doubt benefit from the newly found competition.”
“The media loves a good David and Goliath story, which is
why you’ll find Linux so frequently mentioned in stories covering
the Microsoft antitrust trial. Ever since Judge Thomas
Penfield Jackson issued his findings of fact in November, there has
been talk of a Microsoft breakup and what it would mean for Linux.
Now it seems some sort of company restructuring is more than likely
as a remedy is handed down. And this could be good news for
Linux….”
“Clearly, the proposed Windows OS company would not, as a direct
competitor, grant Linux any favors. Windows server operating
systems, NT and 2000, already face stiff competition from Linux.
But Linux on the desktop remains woefully behind Windows in market
penetration, due for the most part to the lack of polished
applications available for the open source OS. That’s where the
separate Microsoft applications company comes in: unencumbered by
company loyalty to its own OS, the new company would want to
increase market penetration as much as possible. Surely, it would
be in the new company’s self-interest to port applications such as
Office, which includes Excel, Word, and PowerPoint, to Linux.”