Re:Microsoft takes .NET open source and cross-platform
by cwyers on Wednesday November 12, 2014 @12:56PM
(#8596989)
I think the world is probably a worse place if every computer user was given a command prompt and asked to use wget over FTP to get themselves a web browser. Or worse, if they had to go to Best Buy to buy one on DVD. Like, I can and will make a joke about having to try and put the DVD into the smartphone, but seriously, that sounds worse for pretty much everybody.
Re:Microsoft takes .NET open source and cross-platform
by jacquesm on Wednesday November 12, 2014 @01:04PM
(#8597048)
Ok. So let's standardize on Firefox (or Opera), get rid of all the others by default and let users enable IE/Firefox/Safari and so on if and when they desire to do so.
And all three heavyweight gorilla IT companies could support FF/Opera with a clean conscience by donating (just like google does already, points for them).
Re:Microsoft takes .NET open source and cross-platform
by yuhong on Wednesday November 12, 2014 @03:27PM
(#8597919)
Personally I feel this is not worth the effort. Though this reminds me of Apple's attempt to push users to use Safari, which I agree is a bad idea.
Re:Microsoft takes .NET open source and cross-platform
by jacquesm on Wednesday November 12, 2014 @03:30PM
(#8597930)
And googles attempts to get people to switch to chrome. That button really got on my nerves. As if it should matter to google what browser I use to view a website. Oh, wait, it does.
> Netscape's business model would have held the internet back significantly. If Microsoft was forced to provide IE on a CD and sell that CD for $40 then frankly it could have held the internet back at least five years.
You can't make statements like that. This is the reality we live in, there is no undo/redo/replay so we only have data about this reality. What would or could have happened if things had not gone the way they did is immaterial, for all you know we'd have moved faster rather than slower. We just do not know. What we do know is that Microsoft engaged in illegal anti-competitive behavior, and that they continued this for quite a while after they were already convicted using their lobbying power to get-out-of-jail free.
People were downloading files long before browsers were commonplace.