Don't Be a Sharecropper

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Posted by ryuzaki0 on Sunday July 13, 2003 @04:17AM from the stuff-to-read dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Tim Bray, best known as an XML Heavy, has an entertaining rant about why you should be developing for *n*x, OSS, or (especially) the Web. Because if you're on a proprietary platform, you're a "sharecropper"."

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If developing for windows makes you a sharecropper by LordOfYourPants · 2003-07-13 04:30 · Score: 5, Insightful

Then what does developing the cygwin libraries make you? A serf? A blockbuster?

Also, an inaccuracy in the article:

"Are You a Sharecropper? If you're developing software for the Windows platform, yes. Or for the Apple platform, or the Oracle platform, or the SAP platform, or, well, any platform that is owned and operated by a company. They own the ground you're building on, and if they decide they don't like you, or they can do something better with the ground, you're toast."

This doesn't even make sense to me. The analogy doesn't work. If I code a game made to work in windows 98, Microsoft can not (at this point) block your game from being run at the OS level (aka "taking away land") but really only through suing you to stop the game from being distributed.

Do I have this wrong? This doesn't sound like being a sharecropper, but living next door to a cranky neighbour who might sue you for keeping your lawn unkempt and lowering neighbouring property values.
We're all potentially... by LinuxInDallas · 2003-07-13 04:32 · Score: 5, Insightful

sharecroppers.

He gives the story of Watson vs Sherlock. But what if sherlock was someone's open source/free project. What is the difference from the viewpoint of the "sharecropper" between having the rug pulled out from under you by a new piece of software that gets added to windows and a free version that someone develops. To the end user, they both look free (as in beer of course.)
Browser is everything? by kabdib · 2003-07-13 04:32 · Score: 5, Insightful

All computer applications fall into one of three baskets: information retrieval, database interaction, and content creation...

Huh. So, when I'm fragging bad guys in Quake, is that "database interaction" or "content creation?"

Browsers are more usable because they're less flexible.

"Gosh, this ball and chain is great! I don't have to run anywhere near as fast as I used to in order to get the same amount of exercise!"

--
Any sufficiently advanced technology is insufficiently documented.
How many times has MS given something away???? by Anonymous Coward · 2003-07-13 04:44 · Score: 5, Insightful

How many times has MS given something away????

Let's see... should we start at the beginning?

Imbedded Tiny Basic into MS DOS - removing all language competitors

Included primitive Games with windows

Included Disk Compression, virtually putting Stacker out of business.

Included Lan management software into the operating system, causing pain to 3com, Novell, and others.

Gave away the browser, causing serious financial strain to Netscape

Bought Hotmail (free email), and gave away browser-based email.

Included a bazillion features into the office suite, eliminating lots of specialized software applications.

Gave away SQL for small apps, in the form of MSDE.

Microsoft has made a practice of eliminating competition by giving away software! Where have you been?
1. Re:How many times has MS given something away???? by blowdart · 2003-07-13 05:07 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Imbedded Tiny Basic into MS DOS - removing all language competitors
  Actually IBM put BASICA in the ROM of the XTs, Microsoft put GWBasic in with DOS. Of course, we're all stuck using GWBasic now, as no language competitors exist.
  Included primitive Games with windows
  That's right, we're limited to playing solitare. Damn those linux gamers, with their fancy Wolfenstein 3D that Windows users don't have. Damn microsoft for limiting us to minesweeper.
  Included Lan management software into the operating system, causing pain to 3com, Novell, and others.
  Damn MS for including SNMP, because no other operating system does that.
  Gave away the browser, causing serious financial strain to Netscape
  Damn MS, for killing netscape. There's no other browser but for IE, errr, and Netscape, and Mozilla, and Opera .... Oh, and damn Netscape for killing Mosaic.
  Bought Hotmail (free email), and gave away browser-based email.
  Damn Microsoft, Yahoo can't produce webmail and give it away free now.
  Included a bazillion features into the office suite, eliminating lots of specialized software applications.
  Damn Microsoft for adding features, because all I really want from Office is notepad with a different title bar. Text formatting and tables aren't important to me. And damn those cheeky open office people for doing the same thing, but claiming Open is good.
  Gave away SQL for small apps, in the form of MSDE.
  Damn microsoft, now there are no other database engines out there. Except for Oracle, and a few free ones I read about somewhere. But the free ones are for commies anyway.
  Microsoft has made a practice of eliminating competition by giving away software! Where have you been?
  Great, so lets stop people giving away software. It's obviously bad. Mr Torvalds, to the dungeon with you. Begin the Minesweeper torture!