Subj : Re: Windows vs Linux
To   : poindexter FORTRAN
From : tenser
Date : Fri Apr 29 2022 13:25:54

On 27 Apr 2022 at 06:53a, poindexter FORTRAN pondered and said...
 
 pF> -=> tenser wrote to Nightfox <=-
 pF> 
 pF>  te> It's not your father's Microsoft since Balmer retired.
 pF> 
 pF> There's an old school mentality that's now become dated. Ballmer had the 
 pF> benefit of momentum at Microsoft, but didn't provide much intertia, IMO.
 pF> He  was focused on "beating" the competition with a full stack of
 pF> offerings -  OS, browser, instant messaging, office apps and more.
 pF> Revenue was guaranteed  through programmed obsolescence and support
 pF> lifetimes.
 pF> 
 pF> The problem with exclusionary strategies is that you limit your market
 pF> base.
 pF> 
 pF> Better still to separate your apps from your OS, especially as other
 pF> OSes  gain market share. Move from a big, possibly unneeded upgrade
 pF> every couple  of years to monthly billing...
 pF> 
 pF> Companies are still going to buy your OS, and you still have the Intel
 pF> home  market locked in - so rely on volume licensing and OEM deals.

Absolutely!

And now that the "cloud" and ubiquitous Internet access has
rendered a lot of the "home" experience irrelevant, the OS
is shifting from generating revenue to a cost center.

I remember telling people 20 years ago that as the cost of
hardware goes asymptotically towards zero, software costs
would start to dominate, thus driving the rise of FOSS.

Google has O(10^7) discrete machines in its data centers,
distributed globally.  The cost to license the OS for all
of them?  $0.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
 * Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

.