Anthony wrote:
> Really Sun's decision making in this matter baffles me.
They probably ran some projections, and the numbers for the Mac fell
short. How short is anybody's guess.
>compete against Apple on the desktop at some point?
That is quite possible.
If microsoft^1, by some miracle^2 wins their current linux lawsuits,
then the OS options are: Windows, Mac, *BSD, and Solaris.
Sun might not have foreseen the Linux lawsuits five years ago. What
they could see is that Linux users were buying Macs.
Mac is both a hardware and software competitor to Sun. perhaps not a
significant one, but its presence is noted.
> MS is their true competition
Five years ago, Sun was working with microsoft. It wouldn't surprise
me if making OOo open source was merely a way to disassociate itself
from any inroads on microsoft that they [ Sun ] made. The
disassociation being needed to keep their "friendship" with microsoft,
at least "cordial". [Things didn't stay that way, once Sun realized
that microsoft had embraced, and out-extended Java. ]
Now, OOo can be seen as way to out-extend Office.
Unfortunately for Sun, very few other companies have devoted
programming effort to OOo. In that respect, their gamble hasn't paid
off.
> unless Microsoft intends to drop support for Office on the Mac
a) Microsoft more or less announced that a year or two ago. Apple
convinced microsoft to at least provide Office for a few more years.
b) Apple does not support FLOSS. Apple has never supported FLOSS. It
violates their business model.
Notes:
^1: I'm claiming that microsoft has a controlling interest in SCO, and
SCO is merely acting as a front for SCO.
^2: A major miracle I'll grant. Any reasonable judge would have
dismissed all the cases with prejudice, fining them for filing
frivolous lawsuits. But given the strange behaviour, and bizarre
twists, it is possible.
xan
jonathon
--
Monolingualism is a curable disease.
Carlos Fuentes
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
