On Wed, 26 Sep 2001 05:27:48 -0400 (EDT), Thomas Mueller wrote: > I've wondered if Bill Gates' philanthropy was honest, or if it was a > public-relations ploy to buy favor with the government.
It also buys favor with the public. Many people in my area are grateful to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for giving over thirty thousand dollars of computer equipment to the local library. Of course the new equipment runs Microsoft software and the new catalog is slower and more cumbersome to use than the old text based Unix system it replaced. Within five years the library will be faced with upgrading to remain current and compatible and what choice will they have then? Microsoft, Microsoft or Microsoft? Some philanthropy! It's another example of Gate's genius for assimilation and conversion. Microsoft will end up owning the market for library catalog software and whatever they choose to do will become the defacto standard, making it almost impossible to do anything except pay Microsoft license fees forever. Sam Ewalt Croswell, Michigan, USA -- Arachne V1.70;rev.3, NON-COMMERCIAL copy, http://arachne.cz/
