How it goes . . .

Microsoft swat teams pounce on customers threatening to move to Open Source. If customer plays hard ball - they get free licenses.
Extorting Microsoft for free licenses becomes popular sport. Moves on to hardware subsidies, because "our current servers can't run .NET server, but they can run Linux".
Trade rags start openly speculating about "Who squeezed how much out of Microsoft".
That $40 Billion starts to dwindle.
Microsoft changes policy - no more free licenses. Companies caught in the middle of free license negotiations are forced to actually go ahead with the Open Source conversion.
Forced OSS conversions prove successful and economical.
That $40 Billion continues to dwindle.
Microsoft stock hits the skids, holders of stock options cash in, and the $40 Billion is gone.

It's no wonder all those columnists at InfoWorld are repositioning.

Post #66,080 by Andrew Grygus 12/2/02 11:36:24 AM Reply	How it goes . . . Microsoft swat teams pounce on customers threatening to move to Open Source. If customer plays hard ball - they get free licenses. Extorting Microsoft for free licenses becomes popular sport. Moves on to hardware subsidies, because "our current servers can't run .NET server, but they can run Linux". Trade rags start openly speculating about "Who squeezed how much out of Microsoft". That $40 Billion starts to dwindle. Microsoft changes policy - no more free licenses. Companies caught in the middle of free license negotiations are forced to actually go ahead with the Open Source conversion. Forced OSS conversions prove successful and economical. That $40 Billion continues to dwindle. Microsoft stock hits the skids, holders of stock options cash in, and the $40 Billion is gone. It's no wonder all those columnists at InfoWorld are repositioning. [link\|http://www.aaxnet.com\|AAx]
Post #66,230 by folkert 12/2/02 6:37:23 PM Reply	One word to explain my feeling: WOW! `[link\|mailto:curley95@attbi.com\|greg] - Grand-Master Artist in IT [link\|http://www.iwethey.org/ed_curry/\|REMEMBER ED CURRY!!!] Your friendly Geheime Staatspolizei reminds: Use your computer, we'll sample your DNA and imprint your eyes. SELECT * FROM politicians WHERE iq > 40 OR WHERE ego < 1048575; 0 rows found`
Post #66,557 by Ashton 12/4/02 2:14:44 AM Reply	In the immortal words of Capt. Jean-Luc Picard, Make it so!

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