Microsoft vs. the World

[The One]

I have been doing some research on Bill Gates as some of you are aware is not my favourite person.Mr. Bill Gates wanted Windows in every PC, he got it.
He wanted Windows in every living room, he got it.
He wanted Windows in every bedroom, he got.
Not enough, he put Windows in cell phones, cars, toys, media players, in the kitchen, in the bathroom, in buses, in ships...
Not enough.. So what's next?
Maybe he's planning to install Windows in every kidney, every liver, heart, lung... Oh! Maybe every Human Cell, every DNA. And everything networked a la Microsoft. Microsoft in a short period of time have grown so big and dominated the market and it amazes me how they have been able to do this.

This might be old news but hey for all the wise people old news is good news (lets not forget)


http://www.around.com/microsoft.html James Gleick wrote this post back in 1999 so its quite old and some of the stuff mentioned back then what Microsoft were thinking about we have today

http://www.smartplanet.com/people/blog/pure-genius/bill-gates-mobile-health-technology-will-save-lives-help-overpopulation/4908/

[conk]

His financial support of the vaccination program is what convinced me about him. Evil.

[The One]

Me to conk

When he clearly states he will help overpopulation.We will have to wait and see whats next with Bill he's very good at putting himself in a good light.

[Fredkc]

There is a quote by Gore Vidal which I always think of when I think of "The Micro$not".

"It is not enough that I succeed. All others must fail."

[Butangeld]

I am a programmer and have coded for nearly every type of computer, from mainframes to the small annoying devices around today. I was excited the first time I saw Windows 95, I thought wow, this is slick. There was nothing essentially new in 95, just very well executed. It didn't take long before outrage replaced my awe. As a programmer I was used to being able to look at any part of a system, maybe not always the actual code, that was sometimes propitiatory and secret, but I didn't expect to be mislead and lied to about what the hidden code was doing. 95 was really only DOS (originally called Quick and Dirty Operating System by its creator) with a graphical interface, but with their later versions they replaced this central part with, which is called a kernel, like the nut, with one mostly created by IBM.

If Darth Vader were real, he would align himself with IBM. And I'd put the date of his arrival at around 1998.

I won't go into how crap the computer experience is compared to how it could have been without this belligerent force setting itself up to control computing, the internet and so the flow of information and knowledge. Suffice to say I have spent many hours of my life needlessly ranting on the subject.

I wouldn't describe Bill Gates as evil, I think he is seriously mislead by those he surrounds himself. He invests in all the wrong things and is basically a goof.

Microsoft might look successful and if money is success then it is successful. But I don't think the Microsoft project was really about the money. If it had truly succeeded then I wouldn't be writing on this forum right now, not unless Bill Ryan had the right funds and joined the right clubs. You see it's about control, not just making money.

The biggest threat to all this has come from a different place altogether. Today, collectively, the threat is called Open Source Software. Central to the philosophy of this is that knowledge is king and contains the value. Money is still made, but by adding practical value to the 'free' software at time of purpose. To the up until now dominant corporate model the problem of competing with an opponent that does not compete on financial terms, but on the accumulation of knowledge and ability, is a problem that becomes insurmountable without moving toward the same value model themselves. In other words they must compete on the same matter, knowledge. Microsoft has to pay for its knowledge, but everybody can have GPL licensed knowledge.

GPL (General Public License) is the key to this new model. It is sometimes called copy-left, whose opposite is of course copy-right. You get the same rights as the creator, with the one stipulation that you must pass on the same along with what you create. Microsoft could not employ enough people to compete and the internet is mostly run with GPL software. 1 nil I say.

I truly believe that Open Source and the whole GPL concept is and has been the silent revolution for which many have hoped. It has long since crossed over into many other areas of life and business and it is exactly as Microsoft described it back in 1999. They said it was a cancer in their industry and tried to have the GPL banned by congress, saying that this cancer would eventually threaten the economy.

If you want to find out more of this history then google Richard Stallman, I love the guy, a true hero, or google a book called The Cathedral and the Bazaar which explains what I have just tried to summarize and probably made a hack of. The book is of course licensed under the GPL and will be free for download!

[DawgBone]

Great post!

I'm also a programmer, and Stallman's work is a real accomplishment. Hackers in general value talent, intelligence, originality and excellence. You are what you can do, not how much money you have or who your parents are.

Very egalitarian. A good model for a better world.

[Kra]

Well said Butangeld i agree with everything you said. I'm a Linux user and part of the Open Source World i understand what you are saying... i've been using Linux for years (not a super guru). Most of the time i want to share with people (computer people) the wonderful things and knowledge UNIX / Linux & Open Source World has to offer but... there is a big conspiracy here (like in other areas) in which Microsoft / Bill Gates (and not only) are involved... and people are being fooled. I "corrupted" a number of people to break from Microsoft's reign though.