Warp wrote:
> completely dependent on the software, proprietary formats and restrictive
> licenses of a third-party company who we have absolutely no guarantees
> about and who could one day change any software and licensing to anything
> they want on a whim.

Sure. And tomorrow, the government might pass a law saying that what 
you're doing is illegal or heavily taxed. It's just a calculated risk. 
Betting that you'll be able to get your data out of Microsoft format 
faster than Microsoft implodes is probably not a bad bet, business-wise. 
No worse than buying equipment from a company that could be bankrupt and 
no longer making parts to repair it the next day - Actually quite the 
same thing, really.

Now, using Windows for something like military operations or running a 
space ship or something is IMO a horribly stupid idea.

But if it's just money? Sure. People make those sorts of decisions 
wisely every day. They're betting on business inertia, that MS isn't 
going to go bankrupt without a whole lot of people knowing well in 
advance. They're also betting that Microsoft wouldn't be a huge 
successful software company without learning how not to change their 
licensing at a whim to prevent everyone using their software from 
continuing to use their software, for example.

Plus, of course, formats change. You can have the most open format in 
the world stored on 9-track tape, and you're going to have a heck of a 
time reading it back in 2020. Moving away from Microsoft formats isn't 
going to be a whole lot different than moving away from punched cards.

When you think about it, in *this* respect, the fact that MS *is* 
monopolistic is a good thing, in much the same way that smugglers can 
offer better prices on their wares. :-)

-- 
   Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
     "That's pretty. Where's that?"
          "It's the Age of Channelwood."
     "We should go there on vacation some time."

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