A Modest Proposal

aphelionaphelion
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
The nine hold out States have submitted their proposals for closing the loopholes in the D.O.J.'s sellout of the Microsoft case.



<a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/134375683_webmicro07.html"; target="_blank">http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/134375683_webmicro07.html</a>;



Interesting proposal. The part I like is putting Internet Explorer in the Public Domain as Open Source for all to use.



Any Comments?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 10
    mr.potatoheadmr.potatohead Posts: 99member
    Here I thought you were going to suggest we eat some children... <img src="graemlins/bugeye.gif" border="0" alt="[Skeptical]" />
  • Reply 2 of 10
    majormattmajormatt Posts: 1,077member
    &lt;putting away fork and knives&gt;



    shucks
  • Reply 3 of 10
    cdhostagecdhostage Posts: 1,038member
    That was a scary book. Damn scary. I know it was supposed to be comedy but... *shudder*



    I say make Microsoft pay $20 billion in cash to the 500 poorest counties in the nation, to spend as they see fit.
  • Reply 4 of 10
    aphelionaphelion Posts: 736member
    Well I thought an obscure literary reference would be quite close to Mr. Gates and Mr. Ballmer's reaction to the "proposal" put forth by the desenting States. They would no doubt rather eat their children than open the source code to Windows, and put IE into the Open Source pool for anyone to use. This would give OSX it's "own" web browser, built on the code for the OSX IE version.



    For my own part I think that the court should divest the Mac Business Unit from M$ and give it to Apple as restitution for the Monopoly practices which has forced Apple into the small corner of the World in which we currently exist.
  • Reply 5 of 10
    the toolboithe toolboi Posts: 557member
    Here I thought you were going to suggest we eat some children...

    I say eating the children would probably solve more problems. Then we should roast microsoft over a pit of glowing embers until that nice white win2k startup screen has turned a deep GPL brown. throw in some mint jelly and... well it would solve all our problems.

    Seriously though, imagine if they opensources Win2k!



    from that article

    [quote]Steve Ballmer has called the "open source'' movement a "virus'' that erodes intellectual property standards.

    <hr></blockquote>

    Why is it that whenever I see this guy he makes me laugh?

    <a href="http://www.ntk.net/ballmer/mirrors.html"; target="_blank">They</a> are right, he does look like an ape. I think that this alone is proof that Microsoft doesnt have much longer to live.



    [ 12-09-2001: Message edited by: The Toolboi ]</p>
  • Reply 6 of 10
    logan calelogan cale Posts: 1,281member
    Which one is the master, and which is the apprentice?
  • Reply 7 of 10
    andersanders Posts: 6,523member
    [quote]Originally posted by The Toolboi:

    <strong>Steve Ballmer has called the "open source'' movement a "virus'' that erodes intellectualproperty standards. </strong><hr></blockquote>



    Well then MS should have no problem with open source.



    Others would say that if "open source" was replaced with MS the sentence would make more sence



    [ 12-09-2001: Message edited by: Anders ]</p>
  • Reply 8 of 10
    cdhostagecdhostage Posts: 1,038member
    Microsoft is enormous. That's the only real problem here.



    They are extremely competitive. This was the way they;ve worked since the beginning. That means that now hthey;re on the top, they look like bullies.



    I liked the solution suggs=ested once best: split Microsft into 3 or 4\\companies, each with its own set of products.

    MicroGames

    MicroOffice

    Microsoft (makes all versions of Windows)

    MicroNet (Makes IE)

    Microwhatever

    The company will have to buy these names from whoever currently owns them. Unforunately, MS succesfully argues that IE is an integral part of the OS. I'd love to see MicroNet have to charge $1 every time a cmputer is released with IE on it in order to stay profitable.
  • Reply 9 of 10
    crawlingparanoiacrawlingparanoia Posts: 443member
    Then we'd just have 4 monopolies. What good would that do?
  • Reply 10 of 10
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    Splitting MS up or making IE open-source wouln't benefit us in any way. What good can come of an open source IE? Would it make it any more free or any less popular? Would that make other platforms more viable?



    Splitting up Ma Bell sure did us wonders didn't it?



    Stiff monetary penalties...simple, logical. Tey did something wrong, they should pay for it...in cash.
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