Kerwin wrote: >Give the guy a break.
Just call me old fashioned. I wouldn't walk into a store and slip a shrink wrapped CD under my jacket, and I wouldn't pirate software simply because It's less risky. >MS Office is quite possibly the biggest piece of garbage ever written. That could be true, and I won't dispute it anyway. The emphasis of my post was on paying for something rather than stealing it. He tells me Nisus Writer works much better than Word, and I say fine, reward the writer by paying for it. My Honda doesn't make me feel nearly so warm and fuzzy as would a Masserrati, but I just get along with what I can pay for. >Spoken like a true Gatesian. Sounds like Bill's minions got to this guy, >eh? :) Good causes? Yeah, like buying out and running into the ground >smaller underdog companies that offer his only competition in this free >market economy of ours. That $200 million is called "I need to do >something for a tax deduction / to improve my public image, because I've >spent my life as a greedy no-good sunuvabitch with all that money that >clueless computer users keep dumping into my pockets by buying my >second-rate software." When I teach Economics classes, its interesting to discuss the pros and cons of inequality of wealth. The Di Medicis were ruthless tyrants, but they supported Michelangelo and other great artists while they painted the roof of the Sistine Chapel, carved the David, and produced other great and timeless works of art. In fact there is an exhibit of stuff by artists they supported in Chicago right now. Its shitty that they ran roughshod over their political rivals, but it would be even worse if they had not at least left us that art. The robber barons of the US like Ford, Rockefeller, Carnegie, etc. built libraries and other gifts to us with their ill-begotten fortunes. Of course if I was a startup software company that got run over by Gates, I wouldn't like today's monopolies. And I wish there was more competition so that I would have better and cheaper products to use. But it would be a hell of a lot worse if he wasn't choosing to be the biggest philanthropist of all time. But getting back to where we came in. If you detest Gates and his monopoly, then all the more reason to pay for Nisus Writer rather than stealing it. How do you expect these little guys to provide competition for the evil Gates if you steal their software? Bill McIntyre ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe send a mail message with a SUBJECT line of "unsubscribe" to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> or <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
