InfoWorld: Future of open source (Predictions for 2002)

“More Fortune 1000 managers will finally agree with the
notion that it is better to use software designed to empower the
user than software designed to empower the software vendor. As big
wheels grind slowly, this tendency will be revealed gradually over
time and without great fanfare.

The amount of FUD — fear, uncertainty, and doubt — generated
in Redmond, Wash., regarding open source will increase in 2002.
(Yes, I know this is a bit like a psychic claiming, “There will be
an earthquake in China this year,” but every soothsayer needs at
least one easy pick.) Open source represents Microsoft’s only real
competition on a mass scale, so the heat will be turned up again,
especially if the corporate world wises up and fights the XP-.Net
lock-in that Microsoft has in mind for it.

And here is something I predict will not happen: Unless forced
by government agencies, Microsoft will not release Microsoft Office
on Linux. Such a move would threaten Microsoft’s current lock-in on
the desktop. If the government does force a port, I’m not sure I
would want to trust my business to what would be produced by
Redmond as a result.”

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