Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2007 22:57:27 +0100 From: =?utf-8?Q?Dag-Erling_Sm=C3=B8rgrav?= <des@des.no> To: davids@webmaster.com Cc: Rob <bitabyss@gmail.com>, FreeBSD Chat <freebsd-chat@freebsd.org>, "Tedm@Toybox. Placo. Com" <tedm@toybox.placo.com>, Andrew Falanga <af300wsm@gmail.com> Subject: Re: Suggestions please for what POP or IMAP servers to use Message-ID: <868x3trnlk.fsf@ds4.des.no> In-Reply-To: <MDEHLPKNGKAHNMBLJOLKCELOIOAC.davids@webmaster.com> (David Schwartz's message of "Mon\, 17 Dec 2007 12\:59\:06 -0800") References: <MDEHLPKNGKAHNMBLJOLKCELOIOAC.davids@webmaster.com>
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"David Schwartz" <davids@webmaster.com> writes: > Dag-Erling Sm=C3=B8rgrav <des@des.no> writes: > > No. At the time (1995), Microsoft had no clue about what the Internet > > was and how important it would become. That was the year they launched > > their own dialup service modeled after AOL, and the year _The Road > > Ahead_, in which Bill Gates's ghost writer predicted that MSN would > > become the dominant computer network, was released (read the original, > > not the later revised edition which papered over the worst blunders). > > Microsoft expected to end up in control of client, network and content. > > It wasn't until 1996 that they did an about-face and bet, if not the > > farm, then at least a barn or two on the Internet. > So you're saying that long before Microsoft saw any importance to the > Internet, they felt that it was important to give away IE so they > could extort money from companies like Verisign to get their keys > included? If you don't see the Internet and ecommerce as important, > why would you think anyone would pay millions of dollars to get their > key in? Internet Explorer didn't get SSL support until 2.0 in late 1995. Even then, it wasn't until 3.0 in late 1996 that people started using IE. I was a staff member at a large IT event in early 1996 where Microsoft tried to hand out free IE 2.0 CDs; nobody wanted them. > In any event, your argument is contradicted by the historical record, > from US v. Microsoft: > > ""Certain statements of Microsoft executives proffered by plaintiffs > indicate that the company recognized the impending danger. For > example, Microsoft CEO Bill Gates stated that the Netscape/Java > combination threatens to "commoditize" the operating system. See > B. Gates 5/26/95 e-mail (PI Ex. 2). Following a 1997 meeting with > Mr. Gates, Microsoft's Ben Slivka described Java as "the biggest > threat to Microsoft" and wrote to Mr. Gates that "clearly the work the > Java team is doing has hit a raw nerve with you." SJ Opp'n Ex. 60. And > in an essay posted on Microsoft's Web site, Mr. Gates recognized the > potential of Netscape's browser to "become a de facto platform for > software development, ultimately replacing Windows as the mainstream > set of software standards." States' PI Ex. 3. Other Microsoft > executives recognized browsers as "alternative platform[s] to > Windows," B. Silverberg Internet Platforms & Tools Div. Mtg. Agenda > (emphasis in original) (PI Ex. 33), that might eventually "obsolete" > Windows. B. Chase 4/4/97 e-mail (PI Ex. 15). One Vice President warned > that "[t]he situation is threatening our operating systems and desktop > applications share at a fundamental level," and declared: "Netscape > pollution must be eradicated." J. Raikes 8/13/96 memo (PI Ex. 34)."" Java was little more than a toy in 1995, and Netscape did not support it until Navigator 2.0 was released in March, 1996. There was no way Microsoft could consider "the Netscape / Java combination" a threat in May 1995, because it simply did not exist. DES --=20 Dag-Erling Sm=C3=B8rgrav - des@des.no
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