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Microsoft Targeting Indian Developers
Pranjal writes "An Indian Business magazine, Business World is reporting that in it's war against Linux, Microsoft is taking the battle to the Indian developers. The logic is simple. India has 10% of the developer population of the world. If a significant number of these developers commit to work on MS platforms then the number of developers working on Linux platforms can decrease significantly and thus the number of applications. As Dilip Mistry, a director at Microsoft India's Bangalore office puts it, "This country can affect our (Microsoft's) destiny." [Quote From article] Local linux user groups are trying to counter this threat by targetting school and university students and increasing the awareness about development on a linux platform. Read the full story here. [Nice cover don't you think?]"
Guess what? Most of the programming shops in the US specialize in Windows too.
"The defense of freedom requires the advance of freedom" - George W Bush
Jesus, this is low for even slashdot.
The guy and his wife are pledging 100x what most countries gave to the African AIDS epidemic (Italy: 1.3million). And somehow you have to tie this to some sort of anti-linux campaign.
Get real. The linux community over values itself if it thinks gates is going about eroding linux support by saving lives and preventing epidemics.
You think the $250+ million he dumped into Africa was to squash the burgeoning Linux user groups starting to take hold in Kenya?
Learn to draw the line guys. From early on the Gates Foundation has been doing about 50% of its donations to Global Health. So far that's like 2.7 billion. You don't have to like him, but you certainly don't have to belittle his philanthropic work.
-malakai
-Malakai
A Dragon Lives in my Garage
A year or two? Gates has more than a billion shares - if their stock goes up 10 cents he makes the money back.
Parent comment is total flamebait, as far as I'm concerned.
Bill Gates, via his foundation, has given more money, and more earnest attention, to public health issues like AIDS, tuberculosis, and vaccination, that any living human. He does this out of what I regard as a genuine thoughtful concern for the best way to make his enormous wealth do good in the world.
He doesn't have to do this - he could be like Larry Ellison and just dick around with his money. To say he's fighting AIDS in India solely to make a market for Microsoft products is rude and inaccurate.
But no, I haven't dug up any photos of him with the tika. I'd pay to see it, though.
four nine eighteen twenty-7 thirty-nine forty-7 fiftyeight sixty-nine seventy-9 eighty-8 one-hundred-and-nine one-twenty
Here is the reasonning:
If Indian programming shops are in majority unable to take up Linux-specific programming tasks, this weakness will be an opportunity to slow the leaking of programming jobs outside western countries. The US and European IT pros will, conscienciously or not, move to a configuration more favorable to their job security, and lead an evolution that will increase the value of their more versatile know-how. Hence tend to ditch windows. Already many politicians in Europe are aware that an OSS based infrastructure brings more jobs to their local service industry.
Gates has a history of philanthropy... just do a Google search for the Gates Foundation.
I suppose he's trying to follow Andrew Carnegie's example - be a ruthless businessman, but do some good with the money you earn.
The facts:
Bill Gates himself goes on a trip to a country that has recently started to develop significant Linux precence including cheap Linux devices for the masses. Bill's action can only be interpreted as an act of desperation.
Slashdot (and unfortunately most Linux communities) have been infected by Microsoft FUD, it's no longer funny:
Fear, Uncertainity, Doubt:
"Hopefully this won't have a large effect on it." (Translation: Whine, whine, whine, I'm so afraid, uncertain and doubtful.) Just read a few more posts, most contain similar statements. Yes, this is FUD by its finest.
By now we have even reached a point where it is no longer allowed to have optimistic points of view. It's considered obscene and strange if you do. When Eric S. Raymond said that Linux will gain massively on cheap computers, he was called crazy, a freak and whatever in the accompanying Slashdot-thread. (Of course Walmart and Gericom have already proven that Linux sells on cheaper computers - of course nobody realized that. When announced, everybody was afraid, doubtful and uncertain about the Linux-PC's success. (Would Walmart really sell a losing product for over half a year? Would Walmart extend their commitment twice? - They went from clean PCs to Lindows-preloaded, then later added Mandrake.))
Currently we live in a situation where almost everybody, even many Linux-supporters spread FUD (in the literal sense: "Fear, Uncertainity, Doubt") about Linux.
Such massive anti-propaganda would have killed almost any commercial product within only few years. Would anybody buy Windows when Bill Gates would constantly say stuff like: "Hopefully Torvald's speech on Linux-Expo won't have a large effect on our sales"? Of course not.
The FACT that despite this hostile environment, KDE/Linux is not only surviving but growing - in terms of development as well as in terms of marketshare, is the biggest proof that Linux is here not only to stay but also to become the standard platform on all mainstream computing markets within this decade.
The sad part is that most slashdotters don't seem to realize what they are doing - that they are spreading anti-Linux FUD.
Or to put it in another way: The FUD spread by Bill Gates in India (or anywhere else) can't be worse than the FUD spread by Linux-supporters on slashdot (or elsewhere).
"We are paranoid someone is going to come along and take away mindshare from developers. We're paranoid something out there is going to be more exciting to developers."
Lets see, a closed system with low quality, where they use proprietary protocols they don't want you to alter and then they change them, stop support and force upgrades, v.s. an open system of high quality that you can actually make better and costs almost nothing.
"No, we don't want to tell you how this works, and we don't want you to touch it" is not an attitude that creates mindshare.
I can see why it might be exciting to use Microsoft, but that type of excitement would reduce mindshare.
Geez. He has about $30 billion in stock options. Typically, when he makes a donation, he donates stock. The only tax write-off he gets is equivalent to the value of the stock he gave up - so it's as if he never cashed out those options.
You're a cynical fool if you believe he's getting a tax advantage out of donating money to charity. Read some of his comments on the subject of charity. He is worth about $43 Billion. He realizes he's never going to be able to spend that money - that's why he's giving it away - and having the stock price go up doesn't help him because it's still too much money for him to ever be able to use.
Mmmm.. Donuts
Why don't you atttack leaders like Sadda Husein then? He has an "insane amount on money", palaces all over Iraq, many with swimming pools yet he uses his money to bolster his military weapons programs, provide water for the gradens and pools around his palaces and tests biological and chemical werapons on his own population.
/. loves to cheer for the little guy facing unblievable odds, regardless of the facts.
Oh, I forgot. Since he's the target of a US and UN investigation, he's the underdog and
You go ahead and belittle Bill Gates donations but don't forget to check you own bank account and learn how little you actually provide to those in need.
To the detractors: You know, if you hate businesspeople that much; especially those who try to give back; you need to find a country where you don't need that dollar a day in order to survive. Even communist states aren't that simple.
I am the first to concede that Microsoft got to the top and then started knocking other people off the top by abusing their power. There is probably NO WAY to tell whether or not other powerhouses like Apple and IBM would have done the same -- on the other hand, there may be - Don Imus was talking about a book by a former IBM CEO the other day (but he was also mentioning that it seemed to be written in a vacuum; with no discernible mention of the worldwide sociopoliticeconmical situation at the time period; which is apparently the early 80s).
It just so happens, WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT, that Mr. Gates is very very rich. And you know what; even if 98% of what his company does is wrong; getting there was not as wrong as you think. And that man worked hard to get where he is; and deserves an ounce of your respect for that. There are two sides to a coin; and the very fact that he gives back in areas that many others do not or would not donate time or money towards is laudable.
As far as "the memo" is concerned... you/we/they ARE the competition. Every Pro-Linux gathering has plans to defeat the competition that is Microsoft - or corporate greed or whatever your noble cause du jour is. So do it!
Give Microsoft competition; give 'closed source' competition; don't just spew mindless immaturities - "Waaaaah, he gots a lollipop and I don't". Remember to ask yourself how you are going to make money giving something away for free - and DAMN you if you make only the first one free because that is the same practice you detest. And before you break out more immaturities; I use them all - Solaris, Windows, Linux - because each one has their uses depending on what or whom I'm working for. If you can get it in front of the multibillion dollar corporation and get them to adopt it as their baseline OS; then that will be my next job. I am less worried about the kind of systems I will be supporting than whether said support position will be funded next year.
I think with the interesting people, their lives can't possibly be wrapped up into a nice little package.
Indians suck at manufacturing & are hardly innovative in any other field
Really? You seem to have a very low opinion of us. I might mention though, that we have other ideas.
As for open source route, we don't have to make open source software. We should use it. No need to pay big Bill a Big bill. right?
(btw, that's called Yamak alankar in Hindi. if you remember any of it, that is.)
The generation of future Indians are at the hands of the developers. Dont drive the only thing which you can produce to a zero value system.
Aww, come on. Since when have software developers
started shaping the future of countries? Most of em' have trouble shaping their own future! Let's not have grandiose visions, shall we?
Just let us be.
And how, pray tell, is this a boon to Linux? It may be a boon to your yankee job, but Linux improved in India is still improved.
Please, this is slashdot, let's have OS prejudice not race and nationality prejudice. On purely humanitarian grounds, parochial protectionism is no boon to the third world.
My Karma: ran over your Dogma
StrawberryFrog
Roshan,
Indians would be just fine at manufacturing if it weren't for the high tarriffs. When the govt reforms those tarriffs, you may see a huge upswelling in manufacturing, and that would be a damn good thing.
Actually, I think OSS will eventually lead, but not by itself. I think commercial companies using OSS methods to develop their software will be the end-all be-all. In fact, all Microsoft has to do to lead the pack and wipe Linux off the face of the earth would be to switch to this joint development methodology. Protect their IP with sensible IP laws, yet allow developers to improve upon existing code or provide new functionality to works in progress. Benefits provided, of course (such as free software, or employment for the most active and best contributors).
All software development is best done by small teams of developers. Even open source is best when led by a small team of devoted people. The benefits of commercial companies is obviously money. The developers can rely on stable income to support them while they devote all their time to the projects they work on. The benefits of OSS is obviously lots of eyes looking at the code. By combining the two, you provide the ability to create extraordinary products by funding the core development team, but allowing outside parties to contribute their ideas as well.
+1 Insightful, -1 Troll. What can I say, I'm an Insightful Troll.
Someone has to write the code and you have the most programmers in india, this = $$
Someone has to write serious government apps and people would pay money for this.
Open Source does not mean Free as in beer.
Open Source is Open Source.
You can sell programs, but the source code is free, you sell the compiled code, most people when they buy a game dont know how to or dont want to spend days compiling it, they want a CD, they want to pop it in, and have it work.
If you use Linux, please help development of Autopac