Subject: Re: IP: Wal-Mart PC, Operating System *Not* Included: $399 (fwd)
To: paul <pkdb1@attbi.com>
From: Greg A. Woods <woods@weird.com>
List: netbsd-users
Date: 02/21/2002 18:53:11
[ On Thursday, February 21, 2002 at 14:50:18 (-0800), paul wrote: ]
> Subject: Re: IP: Wal-Mart PC, Operating System *Not* Included: $399 (fwd)
>
> Greg A. Woods wrote:
> > 
> > I think it's somewhat funny for you to say that from "mac.com"!  ;-)
> 
> laugh all you like, Mac OS is UNIX now ;-) and I think the average 
> user will do better installing and maintaining Mac OS than the 
> Leading Brand.

No, that's not what I meant -- Apple doesn't even want to make OS X
available on PC hardware, even though it'll no doubt compile and run
just fine (even the proprietary bits not in Darwin), because apparently
they don't want to put a dent in their own hardware market (which
undoubtably they would if they supported OS X on i386).

In other words Apple's doing what almost everybody _but_ M$ have done
all along in this industry!   M$ has effectively had to resort to
nefrious business practices in order to convince the otherwise
independent hardware makers to lock buyers into using M$'s software.

Maybe if most of the "PC" makers were to do what Wallmart is apparently
doing then Apple (or some spin-off of its OS group, like Taligent was
IIRC) and M$ could compete on a much more even playing ground.  Maybe
then M$ could sue Apple for locking users into OS X on Apple hardware! ;-)

(I wonder why Wallmart doesn't just buy M$ in a hostile takeover?
They're probably one of the few companies that could!  :-)

-- 
								Greg A. Woods

+1 416 218-0098;  <gwoods@acm.org>;  <g.a.woods@ieee.org>;  <woods@robohack.ca>
Planix, Inc. <woods@planix.com>; VE3TCP; Secrets of the Weird <woods@weird.com>