From: Tim May <tcmay@got.net>
Date: Mon, 29 Dec 1997 07:02:28 +0800
To: Patrick May <cypherpunks@cyberpass.net>
Subject: Re: Why I Support Microsoft
In-Reply-To: <v0310280db0c2f8195048@[207.167.93.63]>
Message-ID: <v03102801b0cc797c0c9d@[207.167.93.63]>
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At 1:53 PM -0700 12/27/97, Patrick May wrote:


>The President should issue an executive order mandating that all
>government agencies immediately remove all Microsoft operating systems
>from their machines, to be replaced with Linux.  All Microsoft
>products should be eliminated as well.  The standard text format
>should be LaTeX.  All businesses receiving money from government
>contracts should be required to use the same tools.
>
>     This would cut down dramatically on the money spent on software
>by the government, eliminate compatibility problems between users of
>different versions of Microsoft products, encourage enormous growth in
>the Linux software market, and guarantee that Microsoft would never
>again be considered a monopoly.  All this without ever entering a
>courtroom.

Much to be said for this "free market solution." Certainly the Justice
Department has no business screaming "monopoly!" if it's still
"standardizing" on MS products.

Though I don't know just how pervasive Microsoft products are within the
government and military offices, I'd venture that MS products are indeed
pervasive.

I don't believe there are any requirements that documents sent in to
agencies be in some proprietary MS format, and certainly none that
citizen-units only communicate with the gubment in approved Excel or Word
language. Though this could be coming, as the lines between government and
industry are further blurred.

(E.g., Microsoft agrees to unbundle Explorer in exchange for the USG
requiring all paperwork be done with Microsoft Office. Not likely, but a
scary thought.)

On the other hand, requiring _any_ language, program, or OS is probably a
mistake. If the Arctic Cartography Office wants to keep using its Macs, why
should some bureaucrat force them to scrap their Macs and use Linux?

(Yeah, yeah, a form of Linux, MK-Linux, runs on Macs. But Adobe Photoshop
doesn't run under Linux. And Mathematica doesn't run under Linux for the
Mac (last I checked). And so on. The point is, why standardize at the end
of a gun?)

--Tim May

The Feds have shown their hand: they want a ban on domestic cryptography
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
ComSec 3DES:   408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA  | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Higher Power: 2^2,976,221   | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."