[oclug] Sat evening rant

[David F. Skoll]

On Sat, 17 Feb 2001, Chris Herrnberger wrote:

> Perhaps some are not aware but Linux is in for a rough ride over the
> next few quarters.

That's true.  Microsoft is getting quite upset.

> MS is just starting to pull out it's vast arsenal of skullduggery and
> once unleashed will strike at the heart of the opensource
> movement. Make no mistake the objective is clear. The US economy is
> slowing, UCITA is continuing to make head way in the largest markets
> and standards continue to be manipulated in an effort to gain
> commercial dominance in a sector. This is only some of the serious
> shit that will prevent further penetration and market share for open
> source based technologies in the immediate future.

I'm more optimistic.  First of all, Microsoft's FUD and ranting is quite
transparent.  No-one believes them any more.  Secondly, a slowing economy
is *good* for Linux.  Suddenly, the cost of the OS (which Microsoft
advocates always dismiss as "insignificant") starts hurting a little.

> DND has just set the wheels in motion after 17:00hrs today to sole source a
> 50K seat desktop upgrade from win95 to MS2000.

The Canadian government is a total writeoff, at least for the next few
years until the current crop of bureaucrats retire and new people take
over.  MS can wine and dine underpaid public servants (who by nature
are fairly conservative and try to keep their own little worlds stable
and comfortable) in a way that Linux people cannot hope to match.  I attended
a Linux meeting sponsored by CGI a few months ago, and there was a rep from
the federal government there.  He asked questions in such a way as to ensure
that Linux would not be an option for what he wanted, and that he'd have to
use Win2K.  Basically, once people have made up their minds, it's pointless
to argue.  Just wait a few years for the Win2K infrastructure to bog
down. :-)

My strategy is to get Linux into businesses, generally small- and
medium-sized ones, because they are more flexible than governments.
Eventually, the government will see the light, but why waste your
energy now?

--
David.