D&C GLug - Home Page

[ Date Index ] [ Thread Index ] [ <= Previous by date / thread ] [ Next by date / thread => ]

Re: [LUG] Ballmer screws over Nigerian schoolkids

 

Rob Beard wrote:
> Just seen a post about this on the Ubuntu-UK mailing list...
> 
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/11/01/mandriva_ceo_posts_open_letter_to_steve_ballmer/
> 
> It makes me even more determined to help get Linux into the community.
> 
> Rob
> 

Two years down the lane the Nigerian Government will realise just how 
much of a mistake they have made and the opportunities that they have 
missed.

Sad that they can not see it now, but hopefully they will learn from 
their mistakes. Unfortunately there is no legal impediment to the 
practices that MS must have deployed in order to sweeten the deal, my 
only regret is that the Nigerian Government does not have a freedom of 
information bill like the US. If this where available then someone could 
request details of the transaction.

Ethics are rarely applied in the world of big business, and for big US 
business ethics has even less of a fighting chance.

Of course the Nigerians might be quite clever, after all they are 
probably one of only a few people who have actually got "money for 
nothing" out of MS. The other example that comes to mind was a certain 
London based Local Authority that got a good "consultancy" package paid 
for my Microsoft after threatening to go the GNU/Linux way.

How that got past the Audit Commission without an eye brow being raised 
I do not know.

Tom.


-- 
The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG
http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list
FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/linux_adm/list-faq.html