Comment Articles

Why Microsoft was right about Linux

Charles Cooper, CNET.com CNET News.com

Published: 30 Jan 2003 16:30 GMT

What do you know? Microsoft was right about Linux all along.

Back in 1998, when lawyers for the software company tried to debunk the federal government's monopoly charge against it, they argued that the dynamics of an operating system market were inherently fluid.

That was good for a chuckle.

Then Microsoft's attorneys began to talk about the competitive threat posed by the Linux open-source operating system as proof the government was talking out of its hat.

That brought the house down.

Cynics dismissed the argument as a transparent ploy to convince a doubting judge. The thrashing then being meted out to Microsoft by lead government attorney David Boies came close to constituting a crime against humanity. Any argument was worth a shot, but this one was the equivalent of a "Hail Mary" pass in the waning moments of a game.

However with the passage of years, it's clear that -- whatever the original motivation -- Microsoft's strategists had more insight into Linux than most of the critics.

Linux on Intel-based computers is now likely to become the dominant platform in corporate datacentres, according to a recent report from investment bank Goldman Sachs. That puts even more pressure on Microsoft to persuade Unix users to stick with its Windows operating system on Intel systems rather than move to Linux. (That's no easy feat these days.) Indeed, if it fails to stop the groundswell, Microsoft may be forced to radically rethink its strategy as none of the company's server platform products now run on Linux. One scenario offered by analysts at First Boston has Microsoft switching gears and supporting Linux on key subsystems like Exchange and SQL Server and the .Net framework.

And then there's the IBM factor to consider.