David Wolf

Bill Gates' Three-Dollar Barricade Against Ubuntu

Dennis:

I get Canonical's business model. What interests me is that for as log as I've been using Ubuntu, I've never had to pay a nickel.

You're absolutely right - the real question is "choice." What delights me about Ubuntu - and Red Hat, Mandriva, Linspire, and the host of other distros out there is that in the space of the last three years, we've gone from Linux being a hobbyists toy to a real alternative for your average personal computer user. Choice may be the point, but the recent qualitative improvements in Linux (and the evolution of OS X) mean that the choice is a REAL choice now.

Malkiel, you're right, Ubuntu has places where it is still challenged as a complete Windows substitute, particularly for computers used for multimedia. But with an evolution every 18 months, the gap narrows, and the gap with institutions is nearly gone.

As to Mac OS X, that's another discussion. Suffice to say that I run my business and my blogs on Macs, and spend most of my day in OS X.

And lest you think I'm just here to bash Microsoft, let me say that I'm using Microsoft Office - licensed and paid for on all of our computers - and my CFO runs XP on boot camp on her Mac when she has to. And when I'm in the U.S. this summer, I'm buying an XBox 360.

Microsoft does some truly wonderful and amazing things. But they make the second- or third-best operating system, they need to address that, and their best asset - Bill Gates - is off to pasture soon.