LinuxPlanet: .comment: Why Windows Users Should Oppose the Settlement (and Other Notes)

“Yes, I’m going this week to hammer again at the
proposed settlement in U.S. v. Microsoft. There are a couple of
reasons for this. The first is to remind you that the time is
running out — you must file comments you wish to make under the
Tunney Act provisions of the case by January 26. The second is to
point out something little noted: Even Windows users — perhaps
especially Windows users — would benefit from a far stronger
penalty than the puny one contemplated in the settlement as it
stands.

Why address Windows users in a Linux column? Simple. From my
email I learn that many readers use Linux at home, but work in
Windows shops. Many of those are IT professionals who have sought
unsuccessfully to insinuate Linux into at least part of the
companies for which they work. I hope to arm those readers with the
ordnance necessary to get their companies to take a stand, even in
the form of an officially sanctioned comment or, better, in a
reconsideration and comment by the CEO, COO, CTO, or whatever
three-character character carries weight.

The argument I propose to employ embraces the entire political
spectrum — it’s something that fits in nicely with anyone’s
philosophy of choice. In the vernacular, it’s a “no brainer,”
except that “no brainers” are people who unquestioningly use
whatever came on the machine, or who fall victim to the smooth talk
of the Microsoft sales department. (If recently published internal
Microsoft memorandums are legitimate, then my worst suspicions
about the company are overly conservative — Microsoft is truly
reprehensible. I have several excellent books about reptiles here,
but the Brian Valentine appears nowhere in any of them, apparently
an oversight; then again, I like reptiles, but Valentine’s words
make my blood run cold. Send the National Geographic to sort it
out.)”

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