Q: Is Linux (an open-source operating system developed by volunteer programmers worldwide) going to kill Microsoft?
A: Linux is not going to kill them, but Linux is going to force them to compete, and I think it's going to rob them of their monopoly. There are examples of where open-source (software) has just killed them. Apache went from nothing to 85% share, just wiped Microsoft off the face of the Earth.
Linux is a better product than Windows (Microsoft's operating system). From a data-server standpoint, Linux is much more reliable, easier to manage. I think Linux is certainly going to win the server war. (Servers are back-end computers that run networks.) Not that Windows will be wiped out. But Microsoft has very formidable competition in front of it in the form of Linux.
And you'll see Linux on desktop (PCs). The interesting thing that I'm watching is all over China, all over India, people want to use Linux on the desktop. And it's very healthy that that monopoly will be taken away from (Microsoft).
Microsoft hasn't gotten any less aggressive (since a federal judge ruled it illegally protected its Windows monopoly). They bundled the browser with Windows. Now they're bundling the media player. "Make it free with Windows" is their standard way to use one monopoly to get another one.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/techinvest ... over_x.htm
