MailBag - Letter to the Editor

ENT, Jan 20, 1999

A Lesson in Psychology

I just read Greg Scott's Dec. 9 column titled "A Lesson in Psychology" and have to say it is one of the best written and thought provoking articles I've read in a long time. Anyone in this volatile industry can relate to it.

Frank Palmeri

Database Programmer/Analyst

NYS Dept. of Tax and Finance

Albany, N.Y.

Victim Nation: We Disagree

The issue with Microsoft is that it has too much power. This makes us all nervous: individuals, enterprises, and governments. Our instincts drive us to find a way through the courts or otherwise to limit Microsoft's power. If you argue [Bill Laberis, Dec. 9] that they have been benign, even benevolent, it matters not: the raw power is scary and who knows what they will do tomorrow?

Bill Gates should get proactive: Break Microsoft up before somebody else does it.

Phil Hurzeler

Senior Database Developer

System Resources Corp.

PHurzeler@compuserve.com

This is in response to Bill Laberis' Dec. 9 column. I am generally pro-Microsoft, but I do believe that they have stepped over the line when it comes to monopolistic behavior, especially with regards to the Internet.

Microsoft is clearly in a position to stifle innovation if it won't allow a company to become a big player. After all, Microsoft can just pick someone else's standard to be Microsoft's [standard].

Microsoft has allowed me to stay employable, and it has made major contributions to the world, but that doesn't mean that when they do bad things, that it is OK.

Louis Perlman

Systems Consultant

New York, N.Y.

Dw_40@Yahoo.Com

I read your column in ENT, and I will be sure to heed the call. Someone commented that Microsoft has built a "better mousetrap" and should be left alone.

Microsoft has not built a better mousetrap. It has copied others' mousetraps, and then turned around and prevented those inventors from selling their mousetraps. That's immoral, should be illegal, and should be stopped.

The computer industry is developing the wrong way. Given the proper standards, we could get to where any hardware could run any operating system, which could run any application. Microsoft is in a great position to lead in that direction, but they won't. So there should be competition.

Steven White

I-S Analyst

City of Bloomington

Bloomington, Minn.

Swhite@Ci.Bloomington.Mn.Us

[Sent request for permission to run on 1/4/99 - Al]

I guess all the other big software houses that are full steam on supporting Java across their product lines are doing it for fun? Get real. You and Microsoft are in denial if Java is not already on the radar. Microsoft does feel deeply threatened, otherwise ask yourself why the company is out to sabotage it.

Kurian Mayhew

Pk115@Hotmail.Com

[Sent request for printing on 1/4/99 - Al]

Your words, "witch hunt," and the crippled use of "Victim Nation" are in opposition to "write government leaders" and "in today's political climate it's all pretty much the same."

A person would be extremely foolish to rely on those same people to help you. It is a bogus mind-set to believe that Sun, Oracle, and Netscape should not use the DOJ. Because these companies will not fall in line and follow the Microsoft trail, you squeal "Victim Nation!"

The world of Windows 2000 comes crashing down by your own words, "once the bugs are ironed out." The heat and pressure required for that kind of ironing will not happen in the hands of Microsoft dominates.

Sam Bonham

Sbonham@Cheyenneweb.Com

Victim Nation: On Target

Thanks for writing the "Victim Nation" column in the Dec. 9 issue of ENT. At last somebody had the guts to stand up and pose the obvious questions that seem to be so politically incorrect to mention these days.

Andrew Torry

President

Software Research Inc.

Richmond, Va.

Sriandrew@Email.Msn.Com

Sometimes I agree with Bill Laberis, sometimes not. Your Dec. 9 piece titled "Victim Nation" is your best column I've seen. You echo my own views to a T.

I'm not a big Microsoft supporter, but it pains me to watch other companies sick the big bully on them. There are so many people - intelligent people at that - that just don't seem to get it. It is frustrating.

Shayne White

Systems Analyst

Boston, Mass.

Whites2@Vuser.Vu.Union.Edu

With all the bad press about Microsoft from the cry-baby victims out there, you bring up some good points. Java didn't take over, then the NetPC failed, and now Larry Ellison is talking about his "Raw Iron," a platform that doesn't yet exist.

Nobody gives Microsoft credit for creating an operating system that is supposed to run on all hardware and continue to run after installing third party applications that muck-up the DLLs. Then the system is turned loose on end-users who mess things up even more. The OS gets blamed no matter how marginal the hardware design is or how bad the drivers are!

Let's see some numbers on how many people are working thanks to Microsoft and how much Microsoft pays in taxes each year!

I'd rather have [the dominant operating system built] here at home than a "SonyOS" or some other Far East-created standard.

Joe Minuni

PC Support Specialist