Re: [DotGNU]Microsoft & Mono

[Barry Fitzgerald]

Kent Nguyen wrote:
> 
> On Monday 16 July 2001 15:09, you wrote:
> > for ximian, as far as i can tell there is no evidence of microsoft
> > helping them, merely "informal talks". this, in my opinion, is merely
> > taking the spotlight off the real danger: microsoft passport.
> >
> > the xp release in the us proved that people arent comfortable with the
> > passport idea yet. distracting consumers is their goal. and to do this
> > *can* potentially even give away some real help. but so what if you "run
> > officeXP on linux". it will still connect to a passport before it will run.
> >
> 
> Microsoft already holds 92% of the desktop market.  They pretty much is
> apathetic if it doesn't run Office on Linux.
> 
> In my previous email titled "The purpose of .NET", I asked what is Microsoft
> after.  I guess it's time for me to answer the question.
> 
> Apache enjoys 63% of the web server maket share.  What Microsoft want is this
> market.  They want to dominate this market by increasing it to 92% like  they
> did with the desktop market.  The way to do it, is to port .NET to Linux and
> BSD.  Most apache webserver runs on Linux, Solaris, and/or BSD.  What Mono is
> doing is playing right into Microsoft hands and helping Microsoft achieve
> that goal.
> 
> What I'm confused is why is Ximian all of a sudden focus on "server-side"
> market.  I thought they are writing software for the desktop.
> 
> --kent


The answer's simple:

The server side market and the client side market are intertwined.  This
is now a network centric world - it wasn't always that way.  But, the
evolution has been occuring and Microsoft is late to mutate.  Think of
this from Ximian's perspective for a second.  Eazel's dead, leaving
nautilus to the community.  Ximian is a natural company to pick up where
the nautilus services were about to go.  Not to mention Ximian has red
carpet and evolution.  So, the desktop advantages to leveraging a
C#/CLI/CLR environment/interpreter are clear.  Ximian may intend to sell
network based services.  

However, for Microsoft the game is more grave.  Microsoft's goal is to
stay where they are now - or grow larger.  To hold the desktop market,
Microsoft must hold the server market now.  Without the server market,
technologies like GNU/Linux and Java will ultimately kill MS over time
by bleeding it to death.  Simply to match the Free Software development
model in speed, Microsoft has to invest VAST amounts of resources.  So,
if you can't beat em - join em - sort of...

Even if 63% of all of the web servers out there are apache, these
servers - using .Net compatible services - could further leverage
Microsoft's position on the desktop by running Microsoft centric
architectures over Free Software.  This it why dotGnu is the real danger
to Microsoft.  Mono is a necessary component to some extent.  

        -Barry