I think competition can make you really do your best if you know that the opponent is doing their best too. That would be what we could call a “genuine” competition and not just a war by all means including scheming and all kinds of shady activities.

I realize that “competition” against Microsoft therefore may not be the best thing to motivate our growth.

However I have to acknowledge that, regardless of whether this is really desirable or not, animosity towards Microsoft has significantly helped fuel the motivation behind the growth of the Free Software movement. And as Ballmer continues with their threats, in people who believe in Free Software this does provoke a reaction that Ballmer probably doesn’t like.

When saying that Microsoft will self destruct there are implications of reasons why would that happen, and I would pose that this would happen exactly because of the adverse reactions to Microsoft’s arrogant moves, which is basically what my point in this blog entry was.

However I agree that this animosity and competition in general, regardless of how useful it may sometimes be, should not be the main driving force. We should be motivated by the desire for freedom and all the exciting things that come out of being a free human being able and allowed to pursue his dreams without someone’s unfair intrusions.

Reptiler, you’re quite right about “illusion vs delusions”. I think that’s a very good point too. I would actually myself defend “dreaming” and imagining, living in an illusion for certain moments..

Of course, what I meant was “delusions”.

About Ballmer, I think the guy certainly has a brain, just perhaps not the one functioning the way a brain of a good CEO should be.

I think he is just extremely temperamental and quite a bit arrogant. Why is he like that should probably be left to psychologists to determine…

Cheers!

I’d say:
“And as Microsoft’s leader, in all his glory and backed by all his delusions about the power that lies beneath him,…”

Illusions are basically dreams, which are a good thing. Don’t we all dream of a free future? And isn’t this so far not much more than only a dream, an illusion?
But delusions on the other hand are a strong believe in something that’s definitively wrong, which is the case with Mr. Ballmer.
Having seen a few clips from his shows about Windows, I actually am worried that MS deliberately has put a total lunatic (just look at the photo on the linked site) at it’s top. And if he’s not a lunatic then there must be something seriously wrong with his brain (given that there is one). We all know the 70s were a different time, but if you do too much of something it can really damage you…

Okay, back to the topic.
I don’t think that MS will ever really have a chance to bring out that “almighty hammer of god” and just crush Linux and all FOSS. Even the most stupid politician (which represents a level of stupidity nobody with a right mind would ever be able to comprehend) has to see that total monopoly just cannot be good.

I do sincerely hope (but not really believe) that the US decides to make software unpatentable again and declares all currently valid software-patents as void.
Then Senior Embalsamero (a little joke for our Spanish speaking friends) finally has a good way to use all that paper; he can wipe his … with it!
But if this would really happen (which would be about right after hell froze over) this could really set a mark for other nations, which considered making software patentable, because of the big american idol…

Well, I could go on and on like this, but then it would get insulting…

I would argue that competition isn’t necessarily the greatest motivator. The problem with competition is that all you have to do is beat the other guy; you don’t necessarily have to do your best. Moreover, you divide effort into groups, so people often have to reinvent the wheel because others won’t share previous work. How dumb is that? It’s Microsoft’s way.

Cooperation is what makes FOSS work, using what’s already out there, building on it, fixing what’s broken or awkward, and doing your best work for the joy of making something fine and useful and, often, beautiful.

Personally I think Microsoft will self-destruct with Vista, driving otherwise complacent, apathetic users to seek other options as even the least interested people begin to realize how badly they’re being ripped off and abused. The timing couldn’t be better, with the release of Ubuntu 7.04, and now 7.10. Finally, a distro that a non-geek can use without much hassle - no more than installing Windows on a machine, anyway…