Gates Heads Back to School in Open Source Spat
Dan Ilett,
Silicom.com,
May 10, 2005
Microsoft so misses the point in its response to the leak of a recent report advocating the use of open source in British schools. "Competition in the software market is good for customers because it ensures that they get a good deal as it drives choice and innovation," writes a Microsoft representative. "There are some 5,000 third party applications available to run on Microsoft Windows operating system but only a handful of applications supported by the open source community." This may be true, but (a) schools don't need 5,000 applications, they need only a few good ones, and (b) almost all the 5,000 applications cost money, while the open source applications are free. There's more, but the main point here is that Microsoft is (and has been for some time) misunderstanding the value drivers in the educational market. Via Graham Attwell.
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