[CoLoCo] Microsoft's Bill Hilf Reveals Its Open Source Strategy

[Kevin Fries]

On Fri, 2007-11-16 at 13:28 -0700, David Overcash wrote:
> What they aren't saying is that you usually pay for that support,
> there is no guarantee in the software unless you purchase the support
> packages for your company.  And at that, they only real guarantee you
> get is that you can call someone who HAS to care because they're paid
> to rather than calling someone who doesn't care. 
> 
> I for one appreciate #ubuntu and ubuntuforums.org for reasons such as
> these.  :)

Yea, but you guys missed the really humorous part.

This just goes to prove that Microsoft truly gets it.  Well they
understand what the problem is and can state it clearly, they just don't
under stand the words they are spouting.  This interview explains the
problems at Microsoft better than any I have ever seen.

He talked about how customers want a more modular system.  They are
right.  How many people do you know that use Linux because they can use
whatever web server, database server, email server, etc they want.  I
know tons.  That is what is meant by a more modular system.  One size
does not fit all, so monolithic systems are doomed to fit nobody.  And
he acknowledged that.

Then in the next sentence, in order to prove Microsoft was listening,
did he talk about unbundling IIS with Exchange... no.  Did he talk about
allowing the use of Oracle behind SMS... no.  He talked about how they
are now making the system even more monolithic by allowing better
integration of PHP.

It makes you want to laugh and cry all at the same time.  How can a
company get it, and yet not all at the same time.  They get the fact
that they need to listen to their customers, then don't.  I think
Microsoft must be run by my ex-fiance, cuz she did not make much sense
to me either, lol.


-- 
Kevin Fries
Senior Linux Engineer
Computer and Communications Technology, Inc
A Division of Japan Communications Inc.