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by josephg 1011 days ago
Genuine question: Why would we want Microsoft to go out of business?
2 comments

Because this would create an environment where an ethical alternative could appear. Although, looking back at the history of Google, a cynic in me says the users will lose in the end anyway.
>Because this would create an environment where an ethical alternative could appear.

That's exactly like saying "if we remove this dictator form this middle eastern warzone, a peaceful and ethical leader will naturally replace him".

No mate, you'll get no ethical alternative, instead Google and friends will immediately take over the power vacuum left by Microsoft before any start-up can even begin hiring.

Nah, your analogy would be replacing that dictator with multiple federal or city governments. Sure, it will not magically make things better, but having changes/competition get started at smaller scales is much easier. So having multiple "google and friends" is preferable over just one.
Do you think there are no alternatives to Microsoft’s products? In what area do they have no competition?
Sure, there are plenty of alternatives, many are superior, but because of inertia and policies it's difficult to eradicate Microsoft variants. That's why many of us have to put up with broken products like Teams on a daily basis even though everybody (i.e. users, middle management, top management) know they're broken and half-useful when compared to competition.
Changing Operating systems is not a small feat. Also there are MANY enterprise applications that depend on windows, windows server, or Microsoft SQL server. It is not an easy task to migrate away from those. That is why companies pay Microsoft $$$$$$ in licensing.
to be fair microsoft are head and shoulders above the rest when it comes to openly treating their paying customers like shit.
Oracle and Adobe are highly competitive in this space as well.
Anything that involves lazy executives that prefer bundling and shaking hands with one account rep that gives out free dinners and booze.
And why an ethical alternative can't appear in the world where Microsoft exists?
Because of a "dominant market position". Nobody says "can't appear" or says anything about a literal monopoly or literally not exist (or whether butterflies are made out of butter); that is just short hand and how language works. The point is that any alternative, ethical or not, is much too easily stifled in the current environment. Allowing competition to actually happen would be better.
Because the whole history of Microsoft is based on the EEE paradigm. And now because of inertia it's almost[0] impossible to move away from it for any org that has been using their products for years.

[0] "Almost", because I know some large orgs that finally managed to break away, but it wasn't easy at all.

>Because the whole history of Microsoft is based on the EEE paradigm.

As opposed to the likes of Meta, Apple, Google who operate on the peaceful cooperation and charity paradigm?

Does it look like to you that the other companies got so dominant by not using EEE?

It does not appear to me that Google does EEE, no - certainly not in the way that Microsoft did.
Their entire Android / Play Services maneuvers were textbook EEE.
"appear"
"an ethical alternative"

Define "ethical". Depending on the definition, none of the current big companies are ethical, so Microsoft going out of business wouldn't even matter.

And you really need to understand how the world works. Ethical never matters, money matters.

> Ethical never matters, money matters.

I was thinking about this recently as someone suggested it might be an American thing. But I don't think so - there are plenty of unethical companies in Europe, too. They often manage to exploit some loophole in the law and, say, sell expensive things to old people under some apparently legitimate guises. Or they'll fake car engine tests.

But ethical (=ethically neutral) companies definitely exist, and there are many of them.

more "proper" software and games on linux because it would gain the vast majority of computer OS market share overnight is one reason
Linux user here I am not sure what kind of limitations I even face today (based on the fact that I don't use Adobe either way)

Nearly all games on steam just work, most modern software just works and the alternative tools never stopped getting better either.