Re: Linux News...

["Mike List(catPrompt)" <troll@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Bruce Smith wrote:
> 
> Microsoft says linux making gains on windows
> 
> September 28, 1998
> 
> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Reuters [BR] via NewsEdge
> Corporation : Microsoft Corp. said Friday in a filing with the
> Securities and Exchange Commission it expects its Windows
> operating system to have more competition from rival operating
> systems such as Linux.
> 
> ``Over the past year the Linux operating system has gained
> increasing acceptance, and leading software developers such as
> Oracle and Corel have announced that they will develop
> applications that run on Linux,'' Microsoft said in its annual filing
> with the SEC.
> 
> Linux is the free version of the UNIX operating system that runs
> on Intel-based PCs and Internet servers. It was developed by
> volunteers around the world who coordinated their efforts using
> the Internet. It is the most well-known of the so-called
> ''open-source'' software which proponents hope will help bring
> down prices for commercial software.
> 
> Microsoft faces a trial Oct. 15 on a federal complaint that it has
> abused monopoly power over operating system software for
> personal computers, using that monopoly to compete unfairly.
> Microsoft denies that it holds a monopoly.
> 
> In a news release earlier in the day, the ``Project to Promote
> Competition & Innovation,'' a strong critic of Microsoft, said
> that about 90 percent of personal computers run on Windows
> and ``97 percent of PCs are shipped with the Windows operating
> system on board.''
> 
> Jim Cullinan, a spokesman for Microsoft, replied: ``Our products
> are very popular and many companies see the benefits of
> Windows. We don't comment on specific market share.''
> 
> The critics said ``a visit to any computer store'' will dispel the
> assertion that Microsoft does not hold a monopoly.
> 
> ``The sales personnel will show you many brands of personal
> computers, but unless they brand is Apple they will all run on
> Windows,'' the Project to Promote competition said in a
> statement.

Wotta kick in the pants, for Microsoft to use of all things, Linux to
prove it doesn't hold a monopoly, or that its monopoly isn't a damper on
choice.
-- 


-Mike List