On Sunday 24 February 2002 06:56 pm, Terry Houle wrote: > Maybe we should get back to Linux? > With all due respect, the question of the methods and strategy used by large corporations in smushing smaller ones may well have an influence on the adoption of Linux, beyond the (to put it too broadly) the hobbyist community. Just to take an example: I understand that the new format for Microsoft Word is or is going to be XML. If their extensions/descriptions (and XML was made to be extended, of course; hence the name) are fully and publicly documented, that will be of a huge advantage to the adoption of things like OpenOffice.org or other open source word processors-- if they're hidden (my guess), it'll just be another example of Microsoft trying to "decommoditize" protocols, as documented in the Halloween letter. -- ------------------------------------- There's a widow in sleepy Chester Who weeps for her only son; There's a grave on the Pabeng River, A grave that the Burmans shun, And there's Subadar Prag Tewarri Who tells how the work was done. -------------------------------------