http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=6697
Linux is Microsoft's biggest competitive challenge ever Belluzzo spills the beans By Paul Hales: jeudi 12 d�cembre 2002, 08:55 WHEN RICK BELLUZZO left the number three job at Microsoft, to later become chief cheese at Quantum, rumours arose suggesting it was strife at the hands of Steve Ballmer that forced him from Voledom. Beluzzo, in an interview, doesn?t deny his approach was "different" from the typical Microsoft executive, but avoids dishing the dirt on Ballmer. Instead he evidently finds a certain liberation in being able to talk about Linux. If "someone raised the subject of Linux, I didn't jump up and scream. I said, 'Talk to me about why you like Linux, and let's talk through this.' That was a different approach than the norm," he says in a revealing interview at computerworld.com. "I wasn't a believer in Linux at Microsoft -- I couldn't be a believer at Microsoft. But Linux is clearly the biggest competitive challenge that Microsoft has ever faced. It's unlike anything before -- there's not a company behind it. It's very elusive, in a way," he says. Though he doesn?t see Linux ousting Windows on the desktop, Beluzzo says he sees the open source alternative tipping up in @ new appliances and new segments, "which means it could" really affect Microsoft through prevention of Microsoft from moving into new segments effectively." Asked if he?s now a Linux advocate, Beluzzo responds: "I consider myself an advocate of whatever allows us to achieve our goals most effectively. And today, for us, that certainly is Linux because it's free; it has a good modular design; you can modify it to meet your needs. There is nothing else that can meet our needs like that." Belluzzo believes the combination of Linux and something like IBM's WebSphere pose a real threat to Windows hegemony. "It's not Linux that's the threat, as much as the layer of software that's being built above that, like WebSphere, and some of these other new tools and new development environments that can interact with virtually any technology below it. That allows for the operating system to be less relevant. So, in that environment, there's Linux and WebSphere vs. Microsoft, which is Windows from top to bottom." "So that's the debate," he says. "Is Windows going to grow into a broader application development environment, or is IBM going to be successful with something like WebSphere? Microsoft has a lot of work to do to make Windows as powerful and flexible as the combination of Linux and some of these other tools." � -- Nicolas Pettiaux Association �lectronique libre pour la promotion des droits de l'Homme dans la Soci�t� de l'information (AEL) - www.ael.be _______________________________________________________ Linux Mailing List - http://www.unixtech.be Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://www.unixtech.be/mailman/listinfo/linux Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] IRC: efnet.unixtech.be:6667 - #unixtech
