[TriLUG] Microsoft buys Virtual PC for Mac & Rav Antivirus for Linux

al johson alfjon at mindspring.com
Sat Jun 14 01:40:50 EDT 2003


The following is an interesting article from Lockergnome's "Tech Specialist"
Newsletter ---Al Johnson

Fishy Stench

http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/06/11/HNrav_1.html

We know Microsoft buys companies with regularity, and sometimes it's a good
thing for both parties. Great Plains might be one example, given their track
record for exorbitant pricing and inability to deal with smaller businesses
effectively. The Virtual PC purchase from Connectix is a little unsettling
because it gives Microsoft control over a very popular Mac application used
to run Windows within a virtual machine.

The latest buyout has me snarling, and I'm not so sure that the FTC
shouldn't step in for a better look. GeCAD has endorsed Microsoft's check,
handing over the keys to RAV AntiVirus, which is among the most popular and
highest quality packages available for Linux. Microsoft first step was
fairly predictable... kill RAV. It's not difficult to connect the dots here,
and once you do, I'll bet it turns out to be the cute little Windows flag
waving in the face of Linux. Fair enough, and not anything we don't expect.

This was an obvious strategic victory for Microsoft, and I certainly can't
blame them for using a "business is business" defense, but that doesn't make
it any less offensive to the millions that are using the software. What
Microsoft plans to do with the technology remains loosely inferred, but I
would hope and expect that it will result in a genuine product, as opposed
to buying a strategic advantage alone.

As much as I want to despise Microsoft, it takes two to tango. What does it
say about a company that puts their time and effort into a product, only to
sell out when a big check comes along? What about the employees that have
poured their heart into the work? Will they still have jobs? Customers that
have come to rely on the cost effectiveness of the software will now have to
find other, likely much more expensive alternatives. For a company that
"supports" Linux, they sure have a funny way of showing it.







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