Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2008 10:28:06 -0500 (EST) From: David-Paul Niner <dpniner@dpniner.net> To: freebsd-advocacy@freebsd.org Subject: Fwd: Microsoft-Yahoo-Offer Message-ID: <1766076.71202743686721.JavaMail.root@cosmicrays.dpniner.net> In-Reply-To: <2734164.41202743608932.JavaMail.root@cosmicrays.dpniner.net>
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Sorry, this should have been sent to the list.
DP
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: "David-Paul Niner" <dpniner@dpniner.net>
To: "Karel Miklav" <karel@lovetemple.net>
Sent: Monday, February 11, 2008 10:26:48 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: Re: Microsoft-Yahoo-Offer
----- Original Message -----
From: "Karel Miklav" <karel@lovetemple.net>
To: freebsd-advocacy@freebsd.org
Sent: Sunday, February 10, 2008 4:31:24 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: Re: Microsoft-Yahoo-Offer
Konrad Heuer wrote:
> Knowing what happened when M$ bought Hotmail - FreeBSD was gradually
> replaced by Windows - I fear that one very famous commercial user
> (and sponsor?) of FreeBSD will move away from FreeBSD.
I don't really know, but...
1. the last Microsoft OS experiment didn't end that well. Their
process is rigid and costly.
2. the satellite commercial BSD project OS X is a success.
3. Microsoft is trying to enter the UNIX market.
4. Microsoft is trying to reap the benefits of the open source
community.
5. FreeBSD has a very corporate-friendly license plus skilled
and handy community.
6. every major IT company has their free pet by now, but there
seem to be a thorn in Microsoft / Novell relationship and it
is GPL 3.
7. the FreeBSD Fundation is "Providing legal support on issues
like understanding the GPLv3"...
It could go in either direction, if it's for the better depends
upon your expectations.
------
First, I don't honestly believe Yahoo! wants this acquisition to go through. While these are big numbers MS is proposing, it would basically spell the end of the Yahoo! culture. MS is inherently unable to understand that there are wiser ways of doing business. They would force Yahoo! to comply w/ their ideas and it would implode.
The upside to this is that I can't imagine all the real technical talent at Yahoo! wanting to work for Microsoft. That would make ripe pickings for Google, the only other game in town. What better scenario for those folk.
There have been rumblings that this is merely Microsoft's way of getting their hands on a lot of BSD talent, in hopes of either developing their own Unix-like product to improving the interopperability(sp?) of Windows. If the former is the case, it will be moot. Windows typifies Microsoft's idea of what an OS should be, UNIX would be far too great a paradigm shift for them to ever be successful, unless they somehow ousted Balmer (A very real possibility in my eyes, I believe he's becoming less popular internally as time passes). At this point in time, Bill Gates is no real threat to anyone and would probably align himself with the better technology if given the chance. He's a coder at heart, after all.
At any rate, a formal alliance w/ Google might mitigate the MS threat. Google is the immovable object.
DP
--
Regards,
Karel Miklav
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