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Re: [ba-ohs-talk] Re: Rethinking Licensing


John-    (01)

But it is the core 11% -- based on controlling a 90%+ OS share and a
90%+ key office application suite share which just about every other
application rests on. That other 89% is for the most part playing
catchup to Microsoft and jumps through whatever hoops Microsoft holds up
-- either technical or legal.    (02)

Also, Microsoft owns probably at least 80% share of the software
developers tools market.
  http://news.com.com/2100-1001-836235.html
> According to the most recent study from researcher IDC, the C++ and Visual
> Basic languages are most popular among software developers. More than 3
> million developers use C and C++ as their primary language for writing
> software, followed by 2.3 million using Visual Basic, 
> and 1.2 million using Java, IDC reports.    (03)

Admittedly, Linux and Java have nibbled at Microsoft's dominance, and
have been increasing.     (04)

What part of "monopoly" (as agreed to by the U.S. Department of Justice)
am I not conveying? Why doesn't that word have any negative connotations
anymore? Why is it now what everyone aspires to be as we honor Bill
Gates because he is rich and because he controls a standard of dubious
historical technical merit? I say dubious since QNX around twenty years
ago did more stuff more elegantly (load/unload all drivers, transparent
network access of all devices on all machines, real time control) than
the latest version of Windows does even today.    (05)

Let's look at this another way.    (06)

Total worldwide IT market spending is about $1.24 trillion dollars. 
  http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/175829.html    (07)

So, putting your figure together with this figure, if for some reason
all packaged software worldwide was to be forced under law to be put in
the public domain, there would still be a robust 85%+ of present day
money to be made in IT ($1065B). Should we sell our freedoms for that
14% extra revenues to be made? Is the force of innovation really served
here as far as where the majority (85%) of IT dollars are spent (in
house)?     (08)

Sorry, I don't see how the numbers by themselves support any argument
for the economic significance of proprietary software, other than the
fact that by controlling the OS, core application suite, and key
development tools, one company has IT professionals worldwide tightly
under its influence.    (09)

Grinding through the figures again, we see that by controlling the right
1.5% of core IT spending in part through what the U.S. Justice
Department has said are illegal monopolistic practices, Microsoft has
put itself in the position to set the ground rules for how most
programmers do their job and define the knowledge almost all programmers
must learn to remain employed.    (010)

Are programmers as individuals better off when their core knowledge is
defined by Microsoft as opposed to an open community (such as if all
code were under the GPL)? The current situation for programmers is like
if 90% of lawyers could only practice Microsoft law, using Microsoft
controlled stationery and forms, which Microsoft changed whenever it
suited itself, with little regard to whether this would impact lawyer's
productivity or their ability to win current cases. Would lawyers stand
for this?    (011)

Why are many programmers defending this sad state of Microsoft dominated
affairs? Well, in part because many programmers have already learned the
Microsoft way of doing things, and have a stake in keeping those skills
valuable by getting others to use Microsoft products, making the
Microsoft monopoly sadly even more entrenched. It is true many
programmers upset with Microsoft domination jumped onto the Java
bandwagon -- unfortunately since specially early on much of Java was
just hype (compared say to Smalltalk which had long delivered and still
delivered) when reality caught up with hype (and greed), Java momentum
stalled, and Microsoft moved in with .Net, the next thing 90% of
programmers will need to learn to remain employable.    (012)

If marijuana is illegal, why should not Microsoft software also be
illegal, since it is apparently a far more addictive substance used by
programmers often to their own and society's long term detriment?    (013)

-Paul Fernhout
Kurtz-Fernhout Software 
=========================================================
Developers of custom software and educational simulations
Creators of the Garden with Insight(TM) garden simulator
http://www.kurtz-fernhout.com    (014)

John Maloney wrote:
> 
> Hi -
> 
> Newsweek, 10/29/01 --
> 
> Microsoft has 11% of the $175B w/w packaged software market.
> 
> That share doesn't seem to meet the classic description of a monopoly or
> even a very scary bogeyman.
> 
> It is a healthy, well-earned chunk of a vibrant, competitive and
> wealth-producing global industry.
> 
> Others, too busy to worry about MS, are earning the other $155B.
> 
> That's all.
> 
> -jtm
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-ba-ohs-talk@bootstrap.org
> [mailto:owner-ba-ohs-talk@bootstrap.org]On Behalf Of Eric Armstrong
> Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2002 6:26 PM
> To: ba-ohs-talk@bootstrap.org
> Subject: Re: [ba-ohs-talk] Re: Rethinking Licensing
> 
> Well, I can see that this is a hot button issue.    (015)