[ic] Re: AOL in negotiation to buy Red Hat

[Cory James Trese]

> I know why AOL wants to buy Red Hat.  They want to get out from under
> Microsoft's thumb.  On the other hand, I don't see how their strategy is
> going to work.  The reason Microsoft's OS is on everyone's desktop is
> because computers ship that way, and that's where the desktop applications
> are.  How is AOL going to get everyone to switch to Red Hat Linux without
> the computer vendors shipping with it, and without the wide range of
> applications?  Unless they are going to get into the software business, I
> don't see how they can do it.

They will leverage their install base.  'Still Running Windows '98 and
tired of crashes?  Is Win2K too expensive?  All you want to do is run AOL
... well we have a solution for you ... and the CD is in your mailbox!'

 
> The good news is, this is all open source.  We can all take our source code
> and go elsewhere.  That gives me a lot more piece of mind than a situation
> where this was closed source.

Lol, no doubt.  If AOL was about to buy my closed-source server OS I'd be
running for the hills right now.