Re: Supporting MS, or not

[Milton Ponson <level.seven@setarnet.aw>]

Steve Cohen wrote:
> 

> You replied to Chris, but it may as well have been me.
> My answer is "yes."  My life would be degraded in the sense that I'd have a lot
> harder time
> finding a job.  If I could somehow manage to get around that, I might have more
> fun.  But the
> only jobs I've been able to land were because I could program for the Windows
> platform.
> I have applied for jobs on unix platforms - I'd even prefer it, I think - but I
> don't have the
> experience and my resumes get into the circular file.
> 
> Recently, I got to put the GUI and the MFC aside for a little while and work on the
> guts of the system my employer sells.  Just dealing with algorithms, logic, down
> and dirty C++.  What a
> liberating relief it was!  But the point is, I'm not in full control.  You may be,
> and if you are, I envy
> you.
> 
> I think constantly about what a hold one company has on me.  That's why I do what
> 99.9% of
> the population would consider a self-indulgent waste of time - participating in
> this discussion,
> among other things.  I do it because I want to change these conditions.It isn't a
> question of what system I buy.  After all, I buy a system no more often than every
> four years.  And except for the "one developer at a time" thing you mention above
> it doesn't make a
> damn bit of difference in the scheme of things.
> 
> You almost sound as if you blame people like Chris and myself for perpetuating
> Microsoft's monopoly.  But hey, there's a lot of us in this boat, and you're not
> going to get anywhere by alienating
> us.
> 
> You can use Microsoft OS's and even Microsoft tools on a daily basis and still be
> committed to ending their monopoly.  I know I am.

Dear Steve,

I used to be a programmer years back when DOS ruled supreme.
When M$ cornered the market with Windows 3.x and later Win95 I bailed
out and started doing different things.

I started my own publishing company and later added web content
publishing.

This is the market Gates has NOT yet cornered and never will.
Content publishing is platform and system independent.

Why not consider programming for the web?
There are thousands of people like myself who know about publishing but
don't want to spend their time learning all the coding required to make
real good pages.
This type of work is much more satisfying and the web will soon see a
lot more services like chipcard online commerce applications and other
new services.

Progammers can move ahead and escape the trap of MS programming.

If sufficiently large numbers of programmers team up with content
publishers and help push platform independence, we will have Gates and
M$ not be able to take control of the web.

Remember the old motto of the Star Trek series, "to seek out new
frontiers, to boldly go where no man has gone before".

Gates has never created a new market, he has always followed suit.

Milton Ponson

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