APOLOGY: Re: "Piracy" (was: Unauthorized copying

I just read the letter... first time I ever have. I found two things that make me go hummmm: 1: MS Software is probably one of the highest pirated groups of software out there (no figures to back this up, its a wild assumption based on the fact that I know lots and lots of people that have various versions of Windows and/or MS Office, and haven't paid for all the copies they are running. Compounded by the vast market share, it seems that there is a good chance they rank at or near the #1 spot). Yet despite this, Mr. Gates seems to have done pretty well for himself. Actually, I have often wondered, if MS Software didn't get pirated, and every copy that every company and person ran was a fully paid for copy, would MS have the market share they have today. So it seems to me at least that MS has had a piracy problem from the get go... and it didn't really hurt them in the least. 2: His parting line in the letter: "Nothing would please me more than being able to hire ten programmers and deluge the hobby market with good software ". I just have to laugh when I read that. Well, he got the deluge part right. :-) (Disclaimer: Yes, that is a clear MS bash statement, but it is tongue in cheek... yes, I personally don't care for MS software over many of the alternatives... but in the long run, most of their stuff really isn't THAT bad... its just fun to say it is). -chris <http://www.mythtech.net>