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Is it just me?
Has anyone else noticed that MS does business backwards? Every other company that sells software to businesses and the general public almost always charge businesses more. They call it a corperate edition or charge heavily for 24x7 support or something, but businesses pay more. MS, even with the Licensing 6 extortion program, charges companies significantly less PER SEAT for the OS and office package than you could evey buy this stuff for at Best Buy or CompUSA. Could it be that they want every business in the world beholden to MS so the users pay through the nose to stay with what is comfortable? Could it be that our compaies and governments are doing something reletively smart in staying with MS on the desktop, but we the consumer are getting royally screwed? Could it be that business economics and home economics are vastly different and we are fools for not seeing it sooner? Could it be that the real reason MS has forced so many OEMS to load only MS is to lull us into staying in this comfort zone without examining it too closely for as long as possible? Could it be that if only we would save all word processor files in .rtf and spreadsheet files in .cvs that we have access to the open formats NOW to free ourselves from this vicious cycle? RIGHT NOW?

Something to think about anyway.
Posted by: Mack DaNife   Posted on: 03/09/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use
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dictate procurement practices that disadvantage proprietary software  NemesisNL | 03/02/04
Commodities  wploger | 03/02/04
Err... Hmm. Cost Savings?  Max Llamaton | 03/02/04
I have three computers....  wploger | 03/02/04
I think the point he was making...  Mark Miller | 03/07/04
Re: Err...Hmm. Cost Savings?  Mack DaNife | 03/09/04
my post...  wploger | 03/02/04
I Agree  coffeenite | 03/03/04
you're right  ryusen | 03/03/04
A bit late to the party...Proprietary == Open Source  Fred Fredrickson | 03/08/04
Let them eat straw?  Robert Crocker | 03/02/04
I *agree* with John's points, I think?!  jim_oflaherty_jr | 03/03/04
I disagree with one aspect  Chad_z | 03/02/04
If Windows was value for money MS wouldnt be giving local discounts  jellyclock | 03/02/04
John doesn't want to admit that  Bobby Sskcat | 03/02/04
Local discounts  Ardian Daka | 03/02/04
yes  Hanover Phist | 03/02/04
No!  CDarklock | 03/04/04
You describe drugs very well  voska | 03/04/04
This is called "capitalism".  CDarklock | 03/03/04
Software has a differnt angel though  voska | 03/03/04
Lock-in  CDarklock | 03/04/04
That's not really the Lock In I'm thinking of  voska | 03/04/04
I don't call that lock-in.  CDarklock | 03/05/04
Is it just me?  Mack DaNife | 03/09/04
Well this article really takes the cake  Aphelion | 03/02/04
The King's taster...  techboy_z | 03/02/04
Fallacy of Four Terms  rp518dan | 03/02/04
Very well done!  John Le'Brecage | 03/02/04
Why it isn't so  OleAndersen | 03/02/04
I couldn't have said it better!!!  nachokb | 03/03/04
The GPL is Just Plain Bad for the Computer Industry  P. Douglas | 03/02/04
But that's exactly the point  rapson | 03/02/04
Wrong industry  Robert Crocker | 03/02/04
Re: GPL Bad or Good for the Industry  criderja | 03/02/04
In the words of Ed McMann.....  Ployd_Farker | 03/02/04
So, I agree the GPL is bad for that small segment of the computer industry  NemesisNL | 03/02/04
Re: GPL Bad or Good for the Industry  P. Douglas | 03/02/04
You answered you own question  voska | 03/03/04
as the innovations just wouldn?t be there  NemesisNL | 03/02/04
Re: Biggest drive for MS to innovate there is  George Jay | 03/02/04
innovation?  mdibergi | 03/02/04
It's one reason I don't use IE  voska | 03/03/04
Odds that this person never used a tabbed browser?  hlampert | 03/05/04
I have.  CDarklock | 03/05/04
This is the reason for my initial interst in Linux  k12linux_z | 03/02/04
Innovation comes from need  voska | 03/03/04
Very insightful  John Carroll ZDNet Moderator | 03/04/04
intellectual property...  Not average Joe | 03/02/04
ibm's doing just fine, so's hp  hipparchus | 03/02/04
Myths, Fallacies and innacuracies  k12linux_z | 03/02/04
No competence??  nachokb | 03/03/04
Are you as upset with people posting free recipes on the net?  voska | 03/03/04
Open source is PC Industry's Father  NoDough | 03/03/04
Re: Open source is PC Industry's Father  P. Douglas | 03/04/04
Re: Re: Open source is PC Industry's Father  NoDough | 03/04/04
You don't understand the GPL  Fred Fredrickson | 03/08/04
Re: The GPL is Just Plain Bad for the Computer Industry  Mack DaNife | 03/09/04
Re: Cake analogy  criderja | 03/02/04
Cake is essentially zero  voska | 03/03/04
John, why don't you write a piece on...  ordaj@... | 03/02/04
I'm not a programmer, but I take advantage of source code.  Michael Kelly | 03/02/04
John Carroll - too much money-care to see a bigger picture.  Vily Clay | 03/02/04
Yawn, not this again John  hipparchus | 03/02/04
Extremely boring  zd-spam | 03/02/04
Preaching to the bakers?  No_Ax_to_Grind | 03/02/04
Not really  Robert Crocker | 03/02/04
Doesn't makes sense  voska | 03/03/04
Hey I used to be a baker  voska | 03/03/04
Newsflash: Carrol allegory ignores history.  John Le'Brecage | 03/02/04
Poor analogy  dcarrera | 03/02/04
A Better Analogy  CT_z | 03/02/04
Even cake is open source  billmason | 03/02/04
Ingredients are not the recipe  voska | 03/04/04
Like it or not  qu1j0t3 | 03/02/04
Excellent  John Carroll ZDNet Moderator | 03/03/04
Good luck!  John Le'Brecage | 03/03/04
Yes...  John Carroll ZDNet Moderator | 03/03/04
that explains alot  ryusen | 03/03/04
man i bet your dying....  JoeMama_z | 03/03/04
Me too it seems  JoeMama_z | 03/03/04
nog...  ryusen | 03/03/04
Man, that was painful  Eggs Ackley_z | 03/04/04
Analogy applies to RMS only - NOT to open source  Eggs Ackley_z | 03/03/04
What is going on here?  r0ckflite | 03/03/04
A very workable analogy  voska | 03/03/04
couldn't agree more  fosterd42 | 03/03/04
Open Source Vs. Proprietary  JoeMama_z | 03/03/04
More like civil disobedience....  NemesisNL | 03/04/04
Very nearly.  CDarklock | 03/04/04
John Le'Brecage is correct, but John Carroll means well...  awaretek | 03/04/04
The Passion of RMS?  hlampert | 03/05/04
Yes, intersting comments...  awaretek | 03/05/04
To those who care  John Carroll ZDNet Moderator | 03/05/04
Moving the goalposts again?  Robert Crocker | 03/08/04
only from john (NT)  JWatson77 | 03/05/04
Using a bad analogy doesn't prove your point  hlampert | 03/05/04
Good analogy happy  Mark Miller | 03/07/04
Open source radicals  msulli27@... | 03/12/04

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