Open Source leader? (was Re: Celebrity advice)

[Jacek Generowicz]

anton at vredegoor.doge.nl (Anton Vredegoor) writes:

> -If microsoft hadn't stalled progress in software development by
> hiding the algorithms used for their software we would *now* be
> there where we will be in twenty years.

I think that Microsoft has stalled progress, not by hiding any
worderful technology that they might have, but by making the vast
majority of users accept sub-mediocrity as the norm.

They have run a hugely successful advertising campaign for the whole
concept of sub-mediocrity; the desire for quality is what has
suffered. By doing so, they have greatly influenced the direction of
progress and of the meaning of "better". In the Microsoft mindset
"better" means that the bouncy paperclip moves more smoothly, and can
now do the cha-cha as well as the samba ... while it remains perfectly
acceptable to have to reboot the computer each time you want to
install a new piece of software.