RedHat & Microsoft (Score 2)

Most people don't fully understand why Microsoft is evil. It seems to me most Microsoft bashers are young techies, trying to vent their frustration at the most obvious target. I'm not arguing that Microsoft's products are good, or that the company isn't evil reincarnate. I hate Microsoft as much as the next guy. But it is most important to understand why Microsoft is evil (and the reason isn't because they make crappy software). Given this understanding, it's also much easier to see why RedHat will never become Microsoft of Linux world. The way I see it, Microsoft's products aren't targeted at the technically gifted. The programs are buggy and performs poorly. Despite the faults Microsoft's products are perfectly suited for most of their users, e.g. secretaries, middle management, pre-meds, etc.) Normal users don't mind rebooting every day or two, or having some unknown, cutting edge innovations muffled. They are happy simply having 90% of the things working 90% of the time. What makes Microsoft evil is the fact they want to perpetrate mob rule using their size. They try to corrupt open standards, stifle competition, and overall do its best to ruin the day for those of us who want rapid innovations, fierce competition, and to be at the technical edge. Microsoft was successful because they provided what the customer wanted, and now that other companies threaten to outdo Microsoft, it wants to use its size to compete, rather than the quality of their product. Now this becomes a problem for normal users and techies alike. Microsoft's actions ruin innovation that the techies crave, while at the same time keeping the prices high for normal users. However things are different with Linux, RedHat can't become a Microsoft because Linux is a GPL OSS. Unlike Microsoft RedHat cannot maintain tight control over their product. No matter what RedHat does, it is simple (relatively speaking) to create another distro of Linux, that is perfectly compatible with RedHat. No matter how big RedHat gets, they won't hold the monopolistic power held by Microsoft. Also remember that the "normal user" for RedHat is highly knowledgeably, technically savvy, unwilling to deal with the frustration of Microsoft-like bugs. So the bottom line is if RedHat makes crappy products, they'll simply go out of business, rather than dragging the industry down like Microsoft.