[plug] More micro$ stuff

[SweenyTod]

At 01:52 PM 17/08/2000, you wrote:
>Just saw this
>
>http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2000-08-16-011-06-PR-MS
>
>Now it doesn't mention linux, just porting internet explorer to 
>Unix...since it already is ported why sign a new contract to port it 
>again?  I know there have been a lot of announcements recently which would 
>pose a threat to M$.  AOL comes to mind.

I think that AOL announcement is the most significant.  AOL are looking, it 
seems, to build a black box to go into a house, and hook up to a tv/monitor 
and the internet, no other user interaction needed.  And they're hell bent 
on NOT running Windows on that box.  I'd bet MS could give AOL free copies 
for the box, and they'd turn it down.

That leaves Linux.  An appliance needs reliability, it gets plugged in, 
turned on, and left on for sometimes days at a time.  When was the last 
time your microwave or video recorder crashed?  They don't, ever.  Roll on 
Linux.  With a box, AOL can make sure it runs a known version of the kernel 
and other software.  They can even add a default firewall to protect the 
user.  Microsoft's MSN is hosed if they do this.

That's gotta put the willies right up Microsoft.  If 16 million AOL users, 
and remember AOL's blending with Time Waner too, if they all start using 
this box, then Linux is gonna see a lot of way cool multimedia type 
applications appear for it.  And people like Realaudio, Shockwave, etc, are 
going to want to run on AOL's platform, so the rest of us are going to 
automatically (please God) get the benefits too.

Who'd have thought AOL would actually be useful to the rest of th world.  :)




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Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd.    His skin was pale and his eye was odd.
Always trust an Australian with a razor.

http://www.sweenytod.com               Paranoid is normal, normal is good