[geeks] Re: [rescue] SLACKERS

[David Passmore]

On Tue, Jan 22, 2002 at 11:17:21PM -0800, Peter L. Wargo wrote:

> The question to ask is: What have you done to help prevent it?  Relying 
> on Scott, or anyone else in the industry is not enough.  I'm trying my 
> best to remove Microsoft from my life, I just need to find a better 
> browser for OS X than IE.

I've never bought a piece of Microsoft software. My desktop at home is an
R10K/250 O2. At work it was an Ultra 5. With that said, whereever I've
worked, I've generally had to use Office to some degree.

My chosen career path has taken me away from any position where I could 'do
something' about Microsoft other than not purchase their products. That's my
choice. Many of us fought hard to keep Microsoft out of @Home's
infrastructure even after they invested many millions of dollars in us and,
for the most part, we did.

No, my beef is really with people who don't seem to take the threat of
Microsoft seriously but yet are in a position to do something about it. Yep,
I don't believe Scott McNealy or Ed Zander really take them seriously. You
can't hurt them with rhetoric or boasts. You have to kill their revenue.
I've learned enough about business over the years to know at least that
much. Microsoft is not about Windows, or .Net, or C#, or MSN. It's about
Office. Office, Office. Office. You kill Office, and in this economy and
consumer atmosphere you will neuter if not effectively destroy Microsoft.
Not only is Office their biggest source of revenue, but it is the primary
driver of sales of Windows.

No one wants to pay $500 for an office suite. But StarOffice is not widely
used. Sure, it has some rough edges, but why? Mostly because people don't
know that it exists, or if they do, they don't know that it is a viable
alternative. I'm positive that part of the point of .Net is so that
Microsoft can break compatibility of alternatives to their software with a
single, transparent and unnoticed software 'upgrade'. When that happens, Sun
will have lost their opportunity because Microsoft will easily be able to
stay one step ahead.

David