Sun To Sell Linux PCs

Rubbersoul writes "Reuters.com is reporting that in "a bid to undermine arch-rival Microsoft Corp" Sun is going to jump into selling low cost Linux PCs. The article is a bit low on technical details, but is interesting none the less. Also if you take this new news with a story from yesterday about Sun pushing StarOffice for schools around the world, you really start to get an idea that sun wants to beat MS like a red headed step child ..." An editorial in the WorldTechTribute argues that Sun's education-market giveaway is exactly the sort of behavior that Microsoft has been attacked for in the past.

Comments

It's not illegal until you're a monopoly

[pjrc]

From Scott McCollum of the World Tech Tribune:

After years of protestation and lawsuits against Microsoft giving away IE for free, is Sun hypocritically hoping to create an illegal monopoly of their own by giving StarOffice 6 to students for free?

Obviously Scott hasn't paid much attention to the FACT (as estabished in court and held up on appeal) that Microsoft has monopoly, but Sun does not.

Sun's bundling their entry to the productivity software market with low-end PCs would be illegal, and hypocracy, if Sun has a monopoly in low-end PC hardware.

Last time I checked, Sun did not have a monopoly in low-end PC hardware. In fact, nobody has any market share in PC hardware that even remotely resembles a monopoly.

Scott ovbious likes Microsoft a lot (or rehashed some press material to meet a deadline...) For example:

Consumers want quality products like Microsoft Office XP, but they'd buy Sun's StarOffice 6 in a heartbeat if it did all the same stuff for $400 less.

The article goes on trashing Sun... they're losing money, they might not be serious out the productivity software because they sell hardware (yes, fear, uncertainty and doubt... pure speculation), Sun's throwing away 5.7 billion by giving it away for free.... how many people outside software, music labels and movie studios really believe that all those people who accepted it for free would have paid full retail ??

Criticizing sun for giving things away...

[sterno]

An editorial in the WorldTechTribute argues that Sun's education-market giveaway is exactly the sort of behavior that Microsoft has been attacked for in the past.

Yes, because THEY ARE A MONOPOLY.

If Microsoft wasn't a monopoly, the scrutiny placed upon their moves would be far less significant. If any move they make may be extending their monopoly or leveraging it, then they are game for criticism. If Sun wants to give StarOffice away, fine, they aren't a monopoly.