[mdlug] Mark Shuttleworth on MS patent threat

[Michael Rudas]

On 5/21/07, Michael Corral wrote:

> I think the Canonical/Ubuntu founder is confused:

Or being canny (see below).

> "I have high regard for Microsoft. They produce some amazing software, and
> they made software much cheaper than it ever was before they were around."

He's got a billionaire's mindset; sometimes this is a good thing.
This is NOT one of those times.  Before Microsoft was around, most
software was free or "part of the package"-- so he's simply wrong
there.  As far as retail software goes, it was mostly VisiCalc and
some early word processing software that predated Microsoft's entry
into the market;  I'm not sure on the pricing for those.  This is
making me look for scanned pages of early computer magazines,
though... I lost mine in a flood about 25 years ago (many issues of
InfoWorld, Kilobaud, and BYTE).

For that matter (considering the Dell deal), he may also be trying to
curry favor with Gates and Ballmer.

-- Mikey