On Wed, Jan 16, 2002 at 09:30:22AM +1100, Paul Copeland wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> Yesterday I had a "friend" really get stuck into me regarding Linux v
> Microsoft. I am curious does anyone know of a web page or web pages
> which spell out some of the questionable practices of Micosoft over the
> years. I have already seen www.mslinux.com , but I need something a
> little more factual.
if you're a fan of the old paper based web sites, have a read of
"Microsoft Secrets" by Cusumano and Selby (HarperCollins, 1995) which
rosily documented their practices. Chapter 3 "Competing with Products
and Standards", (megalomaniacally subtitled "Pioneer and Orchestrate
Evolving Mass Markets"!), champions bold PRINCIPLES like:
"Push volume sales and exclusive contracts to ensure that
company products become and remain industry standards"
This book is a goldmine of dubious business practices. It also brushes
over the early history of the antitrust case against Microsoft, which
was initiated in 1990, and predicts Microsoft's invulnerability.
Oh, here's a more current rant about their approach to public relations
and computer security:
"Honestly, security experts don't pick on Microsoft because we have
some fundamental dislike for the company. Indeed, Microsoft's poor
products are one of the reasons we're in business. We pick on them
because they've done more to harm Internet security than anyone else,
because they repeatedly lie to the public about their products'
security, and because they do everything they can to convince people
that the problems lie anywhere but inside Microsoft. Microsoft treats
security vulnerabilities as public relations problems."
-- Bruce Schneier, CRYPTOGRAM Jan 15, 2002
http://www.counterpane.com/crypto-gram-0201.html
Of course, the antidote to all this is not to simply bash Microsoft and
wish the legal system was in a better position to defend the industry
from their practices, it is to create and promote the use of better,
free software and open standards.
btw. I heard that Evolution is now easier to use and more powerful than
Outlook?
Conrad.
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