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Re: worth a read
Liran Zvibel wrote:
>
> http://www.linuxtoday.com/stories/616.html
>
> Even after reading too many Halloween articles, this one is worth reading.
>
> Liran.
It is interesting, but I disagree with the author's conclusion.
Microsoft *CAN* win this war by changing the game -- developing new
proprietary protocols.
They don't have to make it an official IETF standard -- they just have
to put it in Windows98/2000 or whatever. "Windows" can actually define
standards much faster than the IETF can. Just look at Microsoft
Networking (SMB). MS is trying to make it an official IETF standard, but
it is already so common, even UNIX is following with 'Samba'.
If they continue with this trend (remember their DNS address extensions
to PPP?) the OSS community will always have to play catch-up.
Until recently, the Internet was dominated by free software (Apache) and
software made by smaller firms (yes, Netscape is small compared to MS).
That's why Microsoft had to play by the rules and implement open
protocols and standards. Now, when they practically own the browser
market, they are moving to proprietary protocols -- they already have
their own Java extensions, DHTML, etc. 90% of all personal computers
(and that's probably understatement) already support these extensions.
In my opinion, the Microsoft's Halloween document is frightening!
--Nimrod.