Message-id: <fc.0010c7b2005e044c3b9aca001cbef148.5e0455@capaccess.org>
Date: Sat, 05 Oct 2002 00:54:54 -0400
Subject: Re: an open letter to Geor
To: James.Bottomley@hansenpartnership.com
Cc: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, james.bottomley@hansenpartnership.com
From: "Rick A. Hohensee" <rickh@capaccess.org>
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reformatted a bit before replying ....
>
>I'm not interested in disputing or evaluating any of the allegations
>raised in your letter, I'll leave everyone to draw their own conclusions.
>However, I am curious about the consequences of what you propose.  In
>particular, your remedies.
>
>Let us assume that George Soros accepts your letter and withdraws funding
>from Transmeta.  What are the consequences for Linux and Microsoft?
>

I didn't explicitly suggest remedies, but you presume my drift correctly.
I prefer to leave the bulk of that to the interested public.

>Transmeta could easily collapse, thus throwing several prominent Linux
>developers out into the job market.  Worse, the resulting publicity about
the
>reasons would create a media circus that would be highly damaging to
Linux as
>a whole and the release of 2.6 in particular.
>

And what would the overall adverse effect of that be? Linux has been
getting steadily less interesting since 1.2.13, and has done close to
nothing for the end-user. rtlinux is something of an exception. I'd have
that as the default kernel by now. rtlinux is clever, and historic, but
even that I suspect may be over-complex. I seem to recall an available NMI
even with rtlinux. Zimple.

>Microsoft is bound to capitalise on this and sieze the opportunity to try
to
>displace Linux from the server and enterprise (the very places it
currently
>feels the greatest heat from Linux).  I don't claim it would succeed, but
it
>will certainly try.
>
>The net effect of your proposal therefore would be to cause a stall in
>Linux development and hand Microsoft an opportunity to capture the Server
>market and the Enterprise.  Is that really your aim?

If Microsoft ever comes up with a real server OS, they surely won't have
the only one. There are *BSD, Plan 9, Linux, etc. And the as-yet unseen.

>
>If you really hold true to the principles of openness, why not instead ask
>Soros for funding to create a company that will produce the OS you think
>Linux should be and compete directly with Microsoft in "the client" arena?
>At least that would be a positive remedy, intead of the wholly negative
>one you propose.  Perhaps it would even give you the opportunity to see at
>least one of your works proliferate?

I leave all that to Mr. Soros and similar. I am in fact quite sick of C
and everything-is-a-file at this point though. And hardware gets easier
every day.

> >James Bottomley > In private email a curious party noted that I have no
smoking gun. True.  (Although I'm of the opinion that the scorn of DSFH is
at least a warm gun.) A George Soros will be able to see what's going on
without one, particularly with the George Soros view of Transmeta.

Good questions. I'm surprised at the generally mature response to this.
Thanks.

Rick Hohensee


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