[Reader-list] .Net / Hailstorm Initiative

[Menso Heus]

On Wed, Jul 04, 2001 at 10:04:36AM -0700, Neeraj Sharma wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> recently, one of those business channels was talking
> about MS Office Xp. One of the things that were
> constantly underlined was that in a bid to prevent
> piracy, from Xp onwards, users would have to register
> (online) before they can start using the s/w. "One
> registration, One user. End of piracy", claimed one MS
> employee, adding "...Big step forward...".
> 
> End of piracy, all right, but they also announced with
> pride that in future, upgrades (and patches) will be
> available online only, the rationale being integration
> of a variety of services like instant messaging,
> mails, money central, search etc, by logging in just
> once.
> 
> Well, to me, this **logging in just once** is the
> catch! I suppose that this logging in would require
> the user to go through 'passport' authentication
> server, meaning whatever you do, you are moving
> through a particular company's servers. No apparent
> problems on that either, but what would stop the
> company from charging on a monthly rental model, when
> a substantial user base is achieved, when the right
> dependence is created? Imagine paying for every search
> you made!

Imagine somebody cracking the system and suddenly having
access to, not only your hotmail, but also your money, 
instant messaging and whatever other services they might 
implement in the feature. Microsoft is known for a lot of
things, one of them being that their security isn't half 
as tight as it should. 
 
The point that I'm not really getting is: why would I 
access the net through their servers? I can log in to 
their system, sure, but it's not like it's functioning 
as a gateway.

> Nothing against MS, but surely a lot against
> dominance/monopoly. MS isn't in a position to really
> expand its desktop market. (they already captured
> majority of it). So how do they make $$? Simple, start
> dominating the net. The net, which has been known for
> its open-ness and 'free' nature, might just be the
> entry point for 'yet another struggle for dominance'.
> And this is fairly visible in the ongoing MSN vs AOL
> battle. Hotmail already has some 100 M users. Addition
> to this base through MSN and .Net / Hailstorm
> initiative might just prove be the telling blow, God
> forbid.
> 
> Can we, the alternate OS users / non proprietary
> people, make sure that monopoly practices don't kill
> the fun out of the www, can it be made sure that the
> net, does not end up being just .Net?

Well, the 'alternate OS users' could start of by building
things that work. I like FreeBSD for a server but I don't
feel like recompiling a kernel just to get a bloody soundcard
working, neither will 99.999% of the users out there.

Build other stuff that doesn't have anything to do with 
Microsoft stuff and resist the temptation when they're telling
you "You see that truck there? It's got 40 million dollars in 
it and three like that one are on their way"

I don't know, it's kind of scary not being able to install software
unless it's registered. Then again, the security is client side, in
other words: useless!

Menso "Don't think it's gonna go that far that fast" Heus

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