Acer likes Linux for laptops (c|net)

> But it worked, right? No, it didn't. Firefox is the best browser out today and growing in
market share.

Well... Yes it did actually. Microsoft _won_. Netscape provided a threat because they sought
to provide a web-based platform for replacing the OS as the main factor in running
applications. Microsoft succeeded in holding back this evolution by about 15 years now, and
counting. 

Because of their control over how the web operates they manage to subvert all sorts of
network-based and cross-platform application technologies. Everything from effective
Javascript/CSS, Java applets, and Xul to X Windows. The 'best' thing that people have going is
f-ing flash.. because Microsoft allows plugins for their browsers. Nothing else is allowed to
penetrate Microsoft's desktop. They hold the gates to the internet for 95%+ people out there
and they are very careful about what they let in.

They can't hold it back forever, but so far cross-platform, network-based applications haven't
made much of a dent.

> The deal is the competition (Linux writ large) doesn't have to make any budget numbers and
can still continue. Slow and steady wins the race here. If Canonical or anybody else brings to
market software that is not ready it will be much more damaging than if they Do It Right.

If you look back on the history of computer software and hardware virtually every time quick
and cheap has won out over slow and quality.  The rabbit never sleeps on the race track when
billion of dollars is on the line.

They need to be quick and have quality. It's very very tough.

I believe that once Linux gets a market share between 10-20%, similar to were Firefox is now,
then that will be end of Microsoft's dominance. The monopoly will be broken and Microsoft will
have to compete on a nearly level playing field. Quite possibly start open sourcing
substantial parts of it's portfolio to stay competitive.

Of course I know this is a non-issue for the vast majority of people involved in Free software
and Open source. I am just talking in terms of OEM support and Linux on the desktop
initiatives.

-----------------------------


> Yeah but you're unrealistically ignoring the fact that R&D costs money that has to be paid
back. Sure MS can sell for $1 or $10 per copy, or they can pay you to take the OS. That kind
of dumping is a short-term marketing gimmick. In the long run they have to make money.


As long as they protect their core profit makers from Linux (business contracts and mainstream
PC sales involving the insanely profitable Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office) then they
can afford to give away their software for very little money for other things.  In fact it may
even be a requirement to keep their current markets to sell windows for cheap for these
'netbooks'.

It's a loss-leader. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loss_leader

They can maintain their profitable markets by selling to other markets at below cost.
Software, being software, it costs zero to make copies. It's like owning a money machine if
you can protect your core profitable markets from competition.

Right now you have all this infrastructure for Windows. Microsoft has schools at every level
training people on Microsoft software. They have Mom and pop computer stores and things like
Geek Squad that cover their support costs.  People regularly pay hundreds of dollars to have
other people reinstall Windows and their applications after a virus destroys their OS.

Businesses see very little upfront costs in training users... As long as they specify that
employees are required to have a college degree of some sort then those employees already paid
the money to get themselves trained for Microsoft software.

All this support, all this infrastructure at all levels of our society are geared at
maintaining Microsoft software and absorbing the negative costs of it. Microsoft is
effectively isolated from these costs.


What is there for Linux? No school, no Circuit City will fix your Linux box. There is no
support for it. Most of the software people are familiar with won't run on Linux without
headaches. Businesses have to absorb all the costs of training for Linux. Right now users are
forced to download, install, and maintain a complex OS in a way that they have never been
required to do for Windows. If I go to the local computer shop and show them a Linux system
and ask them to fix it they won't have a clue.

Microsoft will do everything they can, anything they can, to prevent Linux from getting any
sort of mainstream acceptance.

If these linux-based 'netbooks', and other extreme low-end systems, continue take off then
they will fail.. hardware fails, software has bugs. People will want to run the software on
the netbooks on their PCs and almost all of it is open source. 

This creates a economic demand for supporting Linux. Stores will want to hire people with
Linux skills. Small and medium businesses will start to see Linux and open source software for
the first time. Schools will have Linux systems, and students of all ages will see and use
open source software. 

That's it. Whatever Microsoft loses to Linux it will never get back. They know this. Like sand
through their fingers.


This is how Microsoft works:

When I started learning Linux the only place to get it was from the bookstore. I couldn't
download it, I didn't know anybody that used it for anything. The reason I started with it is
because I was working on a network administration degree and I couldn't afford the Microsoft
software to use at home. I got lots of junk PCs for free, but I couldn't afford the software.
I knew that the school wasn't doing a good job, so I was forced to learn most of this stuff on
my own. (and learning Linux worked fantastically)

Towards the end of my degree Linux was starting to get mentioned. We were all poor, all
students, and couldn't remotely afford the software that we were learning to use. Linux was
fantastically powerful system, but few people had any understanding of it.

You know what happened? Microsoft started a sweeping program to give students who were
enrolled in 'IT'-related degrees no-cost software. I went into the computer lab, filled out my
name on a piece of paper, and was handed cdroms and software keys by the handfuls. I got XP
home, XP pro, Windows 2000 pro, Windows 2000 server, Windows 2000 advanced server, Windows
2000 datacenter. I could get any development software I wanted, I could get software for a
entire LAN of computer and do a real-life active directory environment for zero cost in
dollars. I walked away with legal copies of probably 15-20 grand worth of Microsoft software
and it didn't cost Microsoft a dime.