From: Adam Flinton 

Joe Barr wrote:

Ouch. So many things come out of this...

A) Linux on the desktop is becoming a real competitor.

B) Free really does play well in the market. Good enough got MS where it is
& ...live by the "good enough" sword....

C) If you're a monopolist......you can't play by small guy in the market rules.

D) Wait for all the comps who've paid top dollar for their s/w &
imagine how frosty the reception for the MS rep will be next time. "so
if we'd said we were considering Linux......then I could have bought a
yacht?"

E) Very bad news in the EU. We have anti-predatory pricing rules. E.g.
Supermarkets set up garages to sell petrol at a discount to get the punters
into the supermarket...quick court case from the normal garages re
supermarket petrol sales being "cross-subsidized.....".....no go
said the EU...

e.g.:

 > Allan said that according to European law, discounts should not be
 > exclusionary - "liable to exclude competitors or restrict their
 > expansion," he said. Discounts should also not differentiate "without
 > objective justification" among customers, Allan said. .
 > "If the European Commission has to take a formal position in relation to
 > any case," Allan said, "it states quite dogmatically that
market-dominant
 > companies may only offer long-term discount schemes which are
justified by
 > cost savings or other countervailing benefits." .

Yup.....


Adam

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