Tuxnews

Tux News... from the front

In recent news, the United States Army has put out messages to it's personnel to return the free copies of Microsoft Office 2003 that Microsoft has been sending out en' masse to the armed forces. This makes me giggle tremendously... on the one hand Bill himself has stated while at Harvard and during his tenure at Microsoft that there is no profit in giving away free software, yet he's distributing free copies of his new 2003 Office software?

The US Army has taken an anti-drug dealer stance on this, and advised it's personnel that, "Receiving gifts of a value in excess of $20.00 from a vendor or company that has an established working relationship with is unethical." Of course, we can always count on free copies of Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player... since there's still competition in these areas. Is Open Office that big of a threat? Is Office 2003 that big of a bomb Bill?

Michael Robertson the former CEO of MP3.COM and current CEO of Lindows is experiencing a different havoc from the software giant Microsoft all together... this morning in Michael's Minutes that was sent to me, he unveiled Microsoft's current tactic... they're approaching countries and trying to ban Lindows from selling it's software in foreign countries. Currently they are seeking fines of $128,000.00 a day for every day that the Lindows website is available to Dutch citizens. Despite the fact that three other countries have already turned this decesion down, their pursuit continues... and they only have 189 more countries to go! What makes this bad is that Microsoft sneaked around to find a country willing to accept such a lawsuit without telling Lindows... doesn't get much dirtier than that.

Also revealed this week was the fact that Microsoft infused nearly $86,000,000.00 to SCO (Santa Cruz Operation) for it's battle against Open Source software, and Computer Associates sold out for an undisclosed amount to avoid a battle... Yes, they use Linux. Had not SCO received such an infusion... they would have become dotcom'd bankrupt.

Getting back to Bill... "Giving away free software makes no money!" Ok, Bill please explain to me Internet Explorer and Windows Media PLayer? For that matter please explain your 2003 Office stunt? Your Office software is about $500.00 and Open Office is free... Let me think about that one for a moment... are you really worth it?

Funnier yet, is the fact that Steve Ballmer and Bill have still not accepted my interview requests. Hey Steve, and Bill... we still have questions! Call me please! (619) 546-5024 After 4PM PST. I promise to be politically correct, and to give you a chance to convey your thoughts... My line is open. If you want, I'll even put you on the radio in San Diego!

William M. Nett

Writer