[This is the first in a series of related entries that I plan to post in the next few days. You may look at this post and the article to which it points as hyperbole and fluff. Let me assure you that closer examination of the issues leads me to a conclusion that this is anything but hyperbole - it is at the heart of the "Big Software War". ... Read on. There are many dimensions to this "war" other than the technical so if your interests and focus are primarily technical you may find yourself addressing issues which you hadn't actively considered before.]
In a world without fences who needs gates?
So runs the brightly punned slogan which is popular in parts of the Linux and open source world. The global nature of the confrontation implied in the slogan hints at some of the fundamental issues that lie behind what I think of as the "Big Software War". A term that I have used a few times in this blog and which I anticipate being a major ongoing focus of discussion.
I see the conflict between the traditional ABM (Any But Microsoft) versus NBM (Nobody But Microsoft) factions, primarily in the USA, as constituting the "Little Software War".
But global factors are beginning to come into play which will make the "Little Software War" look just that. Little.
The factors which feed into the "Big Software War" relate to global economic, political and demographic trends. I hadn't intended to tease these out in any detail so soon in this blog but have come across an article today which is an interesting introduction to the "Big Software War" although the term is never used.
The article is entitled Misery and Intellectual Property Rights - Trashing Free Software . It is written by a political activist in the third world so expect to see more than a little political polemic. However, it does touch on foundational issues in the "Big Software War".
Get what you can out of the article. Ask yourself questions like "How realistic is this?" or "How much of a threat are these trends to Microsoft?".
In the course of a series of accompanying entries I will attempt to dissect out the multiplicity of issues in a way which hopefully will help you to appreciate the forces that I believe are at work as the foundation of the "Big Software War".
If there are issues which you see as relevant but that I don't immediately mention please be patient for a few days. As I post I will try to tease out single dimensions of the "war" and of possible Microsoft responses to the "war". Hopefully by the time I have worked through several such entries you will begin to gain an impression of the multiple issues which apply here. Hopefully you will also begin to see aspects of the problem which are of interest to you discussed.
Hopefully you will also come to realise why I have stated earlier in this blog that Microsoft must become more Customer-centric and produce higher quality software. If I succeed in conveying the issues effectively you may also find yourself impressed by the inevitability of the "Big Software War", even if the outcome has yet to be defined.
Posted by Andrew Watt at October 10, 2003 08:09 PM