Very Worried at MS .net

[John Peter Tapsell]

On Tue, 17 Jul 2001, you wrote:
> MJ Ray <markj at cloaked.freeserve.co.uk> writes:
> 
> > I'm more concerned about these developments in another way: why does
> > GNU feel the need to play catch-up to a Microsoft attempt to play
> > catch-up to the free tools we already have?  We should continue by
> > better integrating the free tools and polishing them, not by this
> > silly action.

As a hacker, an FS enthusiast, and hard core linux guy, I agree 100%.
However, looking at it from a more business side, I have to disagree.

We are years and years behind MS.  It doesn't seem it, and we seem sooo
tantatlilisingly close, but MS have the infrastructure we don't.
More then ever we need to go back and fill in that infrastructure (/me is
thinking of examples such SMB etc), but doing so would make us appear to stand
to still.  It is all political.  It is the politics that will make or break us
- not the technical side.  (Or is this very statement being disproved by linux
- I cannot tell, I have nothing to compare it against in history)

If MS has, and pushes .NET, it _does not matter_ if we ourselves would never
use it / dislike it / get round it, if businesses use it.  
Imagine if businesses use a passport system for every bit of email, when
surfing, when talking to each other.

Now you come along, and they ask you to implement a nice email server.  Fine
says you, and whips out your nice sendmail server, and configure it
perfectly... ah except it won't authentificate against MS certificates, and make
the companies email 'secure'....  

Or more relevent to what you were saying, your linux clients are unable to
check the authenticity of sites, emails etc.. rendering them useless to the
security-conscious MS-trained phb's...


I'm sure you can think of more ways...

> 
> I cannot help but agree with this. In particular, I'm wondering what
> advantage supporting .NET has to us other than making it easy for
> people to use Microsoft's products on free operating systems, and I'm
> bemused by the degree of support within the free software community
> that .NET has received in comparison to Java. 

Java is dead.  MS killed it, and are being sued for it - but it was worth the
suing.  (/me is thinking of MS's java version that was not cross platform)



JohnFlux

Always think how will _companies_ like this, not how do _i_ like this.
[this is flamebait - ignore it]

JohnFlux

> 
> If I were forced to choose between them, I'd rather be programming to
> Sun's APIs than Microsoft's---but I'd rather be writing code in a
> language I like which will compile to native code and not force me to
> abandon fifteen years' existing work by the community. Certainly,
> compiling to bytecode means that binaries compiled once can be run
> anywhere---but who cares, when we distribute the source? Why use JIT
> when you can compile properly on installation?


> -- 
> Adam Sampson <azz at gnu.org>                  <URL:http://azz.us-lot.org/>
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