Re: HBS WK: Who will win Microsoft or Linux?

At 04:50 PM 6/6/2005, Seth Gordon wrote:
>Once the country becomes richer, all the people who run Linux and have 
>experience using Linux become part of the market for Linux-based 
>applications and tools.  All the people who run pirated copies of Windows 
>and have experience using Windows become part of the market for 
>Windows-based applications and tools, *and furthermore*, they (or their 
>employers) have enough money that Microsoft can start enforcing their 
>copyrights.

and

At 10:08 PM 6/6/2005, Stephen J. Turnbull wrote:
>Once the country becomes richer, all the people who run Linux and have
>experience using Linux become part of the market for Linux-based
>applications and tools.  All the people who run pirated copies of
>Windows and have experience using Windows become part of the market
>for Windows-based applications and tools, *and furthermore*, they (or
>their employers) have enough money that Microsoft can start enforcing
>their copyrights.

Very much on target! An interesting bit of history on this:

I was in a meeting about a year ago where a MS Vice President, allegedly 
quoting Gates w.r.t. software piracy in China, said "Just as long as their 
stealing *our* software" implying that they wanted to be entrenched by the 
time the country was rich enough to buy.

MVA