I think the above statement generalizes too much. The small people inside Microsoft of course have a small responsibility, which is to do their job well. They really don't have a resposibility for the overall economic strategy of Microsoft.
The men and women we are talking about are small bits in the big machinery, who in the end just want to earn a living. You can't make them responsible for the strategy made by upper departments they've probably never been in.
Let's face it: Should someone try to work against his own company, sooner or later he or she will get sacked. Would *you* want to risk your job, good, honest money and security in life for a philosophy you can't do anything about?
Another thing: Consider your statements before you say them. If I transfer my argumentation to the Nazi-Germany example, would *you* want to get shot for not following the dictated leadership? I mean being sacked is bad, but being shot is a completely different question.
This could lead to a historical discussion, which I, being from Germany, won't continue here. But be sure to pay attention to both sides of the medal before you, so to say, judge a whole nation.
Going back to Microsoft: Everyone has responsibility, maybe. But certainly not everyone has the duty to do things things about it, if it means losing your job.
I think Slashdot.org is doing the right thing right now: It points to the problem and makes others realize what Microsoft is doing. By getting other news media to report about this, I think Slashdot.org has already done alot of what they can do. If they can take more, the better. Spreading the news and making people think about it is the right weapon.
I think the gouvernment wouldn't do it all at once, they'd probably wait until they need an new system anyway and so gradually increase the amount of Linux/whatever systems.
And I've seen the average Joe not being able to use Windows like he could, either. And other Joes just doing fine with Unix/CDE. It's a matter of configuration of the admin.
Maybe they will be downloaded as.DLL's. But the important thing about this plugin-idea is that Linux users can write their own plugin's. And we all know that the Linux community is able to do that for themselves. Coding plugins is certainly a better option that code a whole browser with a graphic engine from the scratch.
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I think the above statement generalizes too much. The small people inside Microsoft of course have a small responsibility, which is to do their job well. They really don't have a resposibility for the overall economic strategy of Microsoft.
The men and women we are talking about are small bits in the big machinery, who in the end just want to earn a living. You can't make them responsible for the strategy made by upper departments they've probably never been in.
Let's face it: Should someone try to work against his own company, sooner or later he or she will get sacked. Would *you* want to risk your job, good, honest money and security in life for a philosophy you can't do anything about?
Another thing: Consider your statements before you say them. If I transfer my argumentation to the Nazi-Germany example, would *you* want to get shot for not following the dictated leadership? I mean being sacked is bad, but being shot is a completely different question.
This could lead to a historical discussion, which I, being from Germany, won't continue here. But be sure to pay attention to both sides of the medal before you, so to say, judge a whole nation.
Going back to Microsoft: Everyone has responsibility, maybe. But certainly not everyone has the duty to do things things about it, if it means losing your job.
I think Slashdot.org is doing the right thing right now: It points to the problem and makes others realize what Microsoft is doing. By getting other news media to report about this, I think Slashdot.org has already done alot of what they can do. If they can take more, the better. Spreading the news and making people think about it is the right weapon.
I think the gouvernment wouldn't do it all at once, they'd probably wait until they need an new system anyway and so gradually increase the amount of Linux/whatever systems.
And I've seen the average Joe not being able to use Windows like he could, either. And other Joes just doing fine with Unix/CDE. It's a matter of configuration of the admin.
Maybe they will be downloaded as .DLL's. But the important thing about this plugin-idea is that Linux users can write their own plugin's. And we all know that the Linux community is able to do that for themselves. Coding plugins is certainly a better option that code a whole browser with a graphic engine from the scratch.