It's really a shame...
|
| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| caitlyn Jun 06, 2009 9:53 PM EDT |
It's really a shame that Microsoft was able to convince or bribe or stong arm Asus into all but dropping Linux. The spectace of the CEO having to apologize for showing an EeePC with a Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU running Andriod at Computex was truly pathetic. The author is right (and so are the authors of the articles he links) when they say that the original EeePC 701 that launched the netbook craze was hot for a lot of reasons. One of them was the fact that it was the first successfully mass marketed Linux system. Accoding to Mr. Shih (the CEO) 30% of EeePC sales last year were systems preloaded with Linux. For Asus to turn their back on Linux makes dramatically clear how strong the Wintel near monopoly still is. I also agree with the author that we don't really need Asus anymore. He links the David Williams article that makes the point the HP and Dell will be the big beneficiaries. Both companies are expanding their Linux offerings, something they wouldn't do without real customer demand. Having said that, I think the small, upstart manufacturers and OEMs who are bringing sub-$200 netbooks to market, mostly running ARM or MIPS chips, in the original EeePC form factor (or even slightly smaller/lighter) are really going to benefit the most. One of them could very well have the next EeePC and be the next Asus. |
| purplewizard Jun 07, 2009 10:40 AM EDT |
Do you have evidence that Microsoft used its dominance to alter the business of Asus? That would be (the evidence) something to hand over to market regulators as anti competitive. I'm disappointed in Asus because over the years I've generally preferred them with my mother board business amongst other bits. But the real story here as usual is the one about big business being divergent from best serving public interest. Why would/should it serve public interest? Because we (societies) allow through legislation special recognition and treatment of it (as being in the best interest of society). The sad thing is the majority of the public treat business just as their attitude to politicians "it's them and there is nothing we can do about it". Or even worse they don't even pause (let alone stop) and think about which of these choices is best for them short, medium or for their families long term. So they buy what they know, the brand they have been indoctrinated to or for food (the most essential thing you can spend on) the cheapest. The real story is that software and consumer choice is in fact politics and is in fact the province of every member of society; who should have an understanding of the implications of their choices. And I think (true of me) that everyone who believes cooperation to achieve goals is best and that choice on relevant merits is best tends to reason Free Software as the best option to real progress. We just had elections in the UK (and EU) and for at least one political party Free Software support and endorsement was an issue. So it makes me wonder if the real progress with software will be when it acquires a label for goods that is the equivalent to "Fair Trade" or Soil Association certification as meeting their organic standards. |
| tuxchick Jun 07, 2009 1:16 PM EDT |
purplewizard, I'm skeptical that any regulatory body cares about Microsoft's blatant collusion with and control of hardware vendors. It's been going on since their inception, and both the US DOJ and the European Union insist on nattering about bundling Web browsers, as though that mattered to anyone. I doubt that it would be very difficult to build a case, it looks to me like they simply don't want to. |
| bigg Jun 07, 2009 5:26 PM EDT |
We really know nothing about what the current administration's antitrust policies will be. Supposedly they will be much stronger, but we have to wait and see. |
| hkwint Jun 07, 2009 10:14 PM EDT |
Why is anyone blaming ASUS now even ARM-execs confirmed Android is not ready for netbooks? http://www.pcworld.com/article/166256/android_doesnt_threate... Maybe Android _does_ stink as a netbook-OS? Sure, Microsoft and Intel were involved, but if Android really stinks as a netbook-OS they only saved Asus' back; and we should thank MS / Intel for stopping Asus from distributing 'lame' / defect Linux-products. We should blame Asus for not offering Moblin, Xandros or Ubuntu* I guess; not for its refusal to ship an OS which doesn't work on their hardware. *Apart from the Android / Qualcomm story, that's exactly what people are doing now. I must have been confused or so. |
| jdixon Jun 07, 2009 11:07 PM EDT |
> ...but we have to wait and see. Given their priorities, that will probably be wait, and wait, and wait.... |
| hkwint Jun 07, 2009 11:41 PM EDT |
Quoting:Given their priorities, that will probably be wait, and wait, and wait.... They need some public pressure, awareness by the general public (voter?) and some consumer union(s) and angry bloggers / journalists helping them from time to time. Maybe some refund suits for the court. Same here in EU; what else is new? |
| Sander_Marechal Jun 08, 2009 3:15 AM EDT |
Quoting:We just had elections in the UK (and EU) and for at least one political party Free Software support and endorsement was an issue. Many parties, in fact. It was in the program for the Greens coalition and quite prominent even. The Greens were the ones who shut down the last attempt of IP landgrabbers trying to get software patents in the EU, by the way. All national parties in the Greens coalition had free and open standards, free software, digital privacy and net neutrality in their programs (in The Netherlands it was "Groen Links") |
| jdixon Jun 08, 2009 6:31 AM EDT |
> They need some public pressure... To be fair, the current administration has far more important things (in their mind, at least) to worry about at the moment than their antitrust policy. The still ongoing financial problems, health care reform, and the wind down of current overseas conflicts are a few examples. |
| hkwint Jun 08, 2009 10:23 AM EDT |
As far as I understand 'antitrust' is a matter of the DoJ, and financial problems, health care and overseas conflicts are not.Quoting:The Greens were the ones who shut down the last attempt of IP landgrabbers IMHO it's not fair not to mention GEU/NLG as well. You might remember Erik Meijer from that party (SP) together with Toine Manders (liberals) were the only ones to personally answer my e-mail concerning software patents those days, and Erik Meijer was actually very busy on the topic. He was the one having posed the most questions in general as well. Never heard anything from The Greens (GroenLinks). |
| jdixon Jun 08, 2009 11:17 AM EDT |
> As far as I understand 'antitrust' is a matter of the DoJ... The Attorney General is the head of the DOJ. He's directly appointed by the president and considered part of his staff. And right now the President has what he considers more important things on his mind. Like I said, it's a matter of priorities, and right now antitrust is probably fairly far down the priority list. I'm not saying if that's a good thing or not, and doing my best not to allow any political considerations to enter the discussion. |
| Sander_Marechal Jun 08, 2009 11:30 AM EDT |
Quoting:IMHO it's not fair not to mention GEU/NLG as well True. But their election program doesn't mention anything like that. The greens seem quite focussed on things like preventing software patents and spreading foss and open standards. |
| bigg Jun 08, 2009 11:46 AM EDT |
This is a good read if you are curious about the administration's antitrust position: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/12/business/economy/12antitru... Of specific interest to this discussion is Quoting:The administration is hoping to encourage smaller companies in an array of industries to bring their complaints to the Justice Department about potentially improper business practices by their larger rivals. Some of the biggest antitrust cases were initiated by complaints taken to the Justice Department. |
| caitlyn Jun 08, 2009 12:26 PM EDT |
I'm with jdixon on this one. Yes, that's rare on anything even vaguely political but he happens to have hit the nail on the head. I also think that what little we have heard from the administration, as bigg points out, is promising. A fair number of Linux distros, including Ubuntu, have been ported to ARM. ARM based netbooks do not have to wait on Android. I honestly hope they don't. I trust Google about as much as I trust Microsoft. |
Posting in this forum is limited to members of the group: [ForumMods, SITEADMINS, MEMBERS.]
Becoming a member of LXer is easy and free. Join Us!