Nuke Redmond!

From: John Tinker <jtinker_at_coin.org>
Date: Mon Jan 15 21:28:23 2001

Richard Erlacher wrote:

> So ... aren't there things that you want? You certainly can't blame MS, as
> a corporate entity, for doing what it does in order to get what it wants,
> can you? Why do you think you should make what MS wants YOUR problem? They
> haven't done that. You have.

I just don't get why you are so into defending a company that engages in
vicious, predatory and generally uncivil behavior. It is obvious that Microsoft
has violated what many people consider norms of decent behavior, even as applied
to corporations. That they have violated the spirit of the law seems fairly
clear by now, but we're not sure what is going to be done about it.

Why not let these criticisms air, and stand on their own merits? The best you
seem to be able to answer is that other companies are as devious. I don't deny
that, but I fail to understand why it is being offered as a justification. It is
not a justification, although it might be an explaination. However I don't think
folks on this list need explainations about it. People are pissed, not
bewildered. I think we should expect companies to be decent, and should be
outraged, to some degree, when they are not.

I agree generally with the observations you have made about putting ones money
where ones mouth is. I just don't understand your defense of what seems to me to
be indefensible behavior. Are you opposed to making moral or ethical arguments,
per se? When you suggest that nothing a corporation does to "get what it wants"
can be blameworthy, you seem to take such a position.

-- John Tinker
Received on Mon Jan 15 2001 - 21:28:23 GMT