[TriLUG] Microsoft buys Virtual PC for Mac & Rav Antivirus for Linux

[Joshua Bedick]

Hello Al,

I was wandering at the F-Prot website the other day and they have a notice
to RAV users that in light of the Microsoft buyout they will provide
competative upgrades to RAV users and a very low price.  I've been using
F-prot under Dos and Windows for years now and like the product.  I haven't
used it on Linux yet.  They supply the scanning enignes for F-Secure and
Command Anti-Virus.

Joshua

----- Original Message -----
From: "al johson" <alfjon at mindspring.com>
To: <trilug at trilug.org>
Sent: Saturday, June 14, 2003 1:40 AM
Subject: [TriLUG] Microsoft buys Virtual PC for Mac & Rav Antivirus for
Linux


> The following is an interesting article from Lockergnome's "Tech
Specialist"
> Newsletter ---Al Johnson
>
> Fishy Stench
>
> http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/06/11/HNrav_1.html
>
> We know Microsoft buys companies with regularity, and sometimes it's a
good
> thing for both parties. Great Plains might be one example, given their
track
> record for exorbitant pricing and inability to deal with smaller
businesses
> effectively. The Virtual PC purchase from Connectix is a little unsettling
> because it gives Microsoft control over a very popular Mac application
used
> to run Windows within a virtual machine.
>
> The latest buyout has me snarling, and I'm not so sure that the FTC
> shouldn't step in for a better look. GeCAD has endorsed Microsoft's check,
> handing over the keys to RAV AntiVirus, which is among the most popular
and
> highest quality packages available for Linux. Microsoft first step was
> fairly predictable... kill RAV. It's not difficult to connect the dots
here,
> and once you do, I'll bet it turns out to be the cute little Windows flag
> waving in the face of Linux. Fair enough, and not anything we don't
expect.
>
> This was an obvious strategic victory for Microsoft, and I certainly can't
> blame them for using a "business is business" defense, but that doesn't
make
> it any less offensive to the millions that are using the software. What
> Microsoft plans to do with the technology remains loosely inferred, but I
> would hope and expect that it will result in a genuine product, as opposed
> to buying a strategic advantage alone.
>
> As much as I want to despise Microsoft, it takes two to tango. What does
it
> say about a company that puts their time and effort into a product, only
to
> sell out when a big check comes along? What about the employees that have
> poured their heart into the work? Will they still have jobs? Customers
that
> have come to rely on the cost effectiveness of the software will now have
to
> find other, likely much more expensive alternatives. For a company that
> "supports" Linux, they sure have a funny way of showing it.
>
>
>
>
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