>>> > > as things are going now, i would guess that transarc has a few years
>>> > > left before microsoft and cifs mow them down.
>>>
>>> Transarc, Sun and IBM. Yep. And it's too late now to do much about it.
>
>Oh, I left out Digital and HP.
And Netscape and Novell.
(misc comments suggest that my sarcasm went unappreciated. I'll blame the
new baby for the sleep deprivation. Begin flame...)
People said the same things about IBM for years, and sometimes it was true,
and sometimes it wasn't. Microsoft is now pulling some of the same
marketing stunts that IBM used to do, announcing products *years* before
they are actually available, trying to confuse the marketplace by announcing
things with misleading names (eg, DFS), controlling access to specifications
of propietary operating systems to prevent the success of competitive
products, etcetera, etcetera. I haven't seen Microsoft threatening not to
support their systems if a competitor's products are in place, to create a
"closed shop", but I suspect I will.
Peter, you're old enough to remember when and why the term "Open Systems"
was coined, and you must see the parallels between Microsoft's behavior now
and IBM's behavior then. The open question is whether the press and certain
segments of the
IT industry will wait until Microsoft is as powerful as IBM ever was before
they wake up and demand that Microsoft permit competition. Eventually, they
will do -- history is my proof. We'll have to wait and see how much damage
Microsoft's monopolistic practices do to the state-of-the-art in the
meantime, and on how many fronts they can successfully fight simultaneous
battles.
Let me be clear: our filesystems products are (for all but casual use)
better *now* than the products Microsoft is shipping *now*, and despite
Microsoft's hints and insinuations, our filesystems products will be better
than the products that Microsoft ships "WinEver". When I stop believing
that, I'll change my email address.
Now that the flame has gotten truly off-topic for the list (at least it's
not MAKE MONEY FAST, ok?), I'll get lost. Let's keep it in email.
--
Lyle
The Surgeon General warns that opinions may be harmful to your health.
Transarc, IBM, Sun, Digital, HP, Netscape and Novell have not sanctioned
this opinion. Use at your own risk.
