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Paoli: Microsoft will engage with the open source and standards communitiesPaoli: Microsoft will engage with the open source and standards communitiesPosted Apr 16, 2012 8:40 UTC (Mon) by khim (subscriber, #9252)In reply to: Paoli: Microsoft will engage with the open source and standards communities by jcm Parent article: Paoli: Microsoft will engage with the open source and standards communities
We can approach everything Microsoft do with cynicism and skepticism - believe me, I used to do that (but I was young and naive) - or we can occasionally give them the benefit of the doubt. Never. This is a way to be royally screwed as I wrote before. It does not mean Microsoft's standard efforts are pointless. Just consider them as one-time gift, don't expect any further support (which may happen… or not) and especially don't expect that further developments will be available on the same footing as today's ones. Remember: you will be screwed when Microsoft will feel it'll be able to get away with it. No buts or ifs. Be ready for that! Microsoft singed to do something for five years? You can rely on this promise for about three or four years. Later it's time to think how you'll live when Microsoft will stop doing something. Think Apple's 1997 agreement: it gave Apple few years when Apple knew Microsoft will produce Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer which were vital for MacOS survival at the time. Five years later Apple become genuine threat and Microsoft was ready to sabotage Apple (Internet Explorer for Mac for neglected, MS Office 2008 for crippled by removal of VBA), but Apple wisely spent these years preparing for these [expected by now] developments: it introduced Safari (as a “full replacement”) and iWork (as “ declaration of intent”). It looks like Microsoft got the hint and returned VBA to MS Office 2011. This is the only way you can work with Microsoft: the question is not when or if it'll try to screw you, but how.
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