Canonical won't complain to EU about Microsoft, like Opera did

[Emil]

Canonical, a company that sponsors many free software projects and is tightly knit with the Ubuntu Linux distribution, says it will not file a complaint against Microsoft for anti-competitive behavior to the EU, like Opera did. Canonical is readying the release of Ubuntu 10.10 for download this Sunday, claiming it is the company's most consumer-friendly release to date. Ubuntu continues to struggle against Windows in the consumer market, and the fact that Microsoft is hundreds of times bigger than Canonical certainly does not help.

"There's no doubt Microsoft is dominant in the industry and has much more marketing muscle than we do," Steve George, vice president of business development at Canonical told PC Pro. "I don't think we've ever considered it. The improvements we're making to Ubunutu... are a better route for us to reach out to users and get a bigger user base. The strength in Ubuntu is our community and reach - through advocates who can spread the message. We have to find different ways of getting our message out."

Opera complained to the EU about Microsoft's anti-competitive behavior in regards to bundling Internet Explorer with Windows, back in December 2007. Microsoft offered a browserless version of Windows 7 in Europe, but that wasn't enough.

Microsoft ended up having to offer a browser ballot to appease EU regulators. The ballot randomly sorts the five most popular browsers (IE, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Opera) and lets users pick which they want to install. Opera said it saw an increase in downloads after the ballot launched but the browser maker's market share remains miniscule.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/40590-canonical-wont-complain-to-eu-about-microsoft-like-opera-did.html

 

[Leeky]

The story is the same for every other Linux distro.

Microsoft have a huge market share, and its going to take a lot for anybody to change that.

The Linux community has come along in leaps and bounds over the last few years though.

 

[Emil]

Leeky said:
The story is the same for every other Linux distro.

Microsoft have a huge market share, and its going to take a lot for anybody to change that.

The Linux community has come along in leaps and bounds over the last few years though.

Yep, but the thing is, so has Microsoft. Windows 7 has really upped the bar.

 

[Jesse]

Good for them, though. That's a great approach to take. With an attitude like that, they will continue to make a stellar product and will win support and market share based upon that, not based on how big their marketing budget is.

 

[Emil]

prismatics said:
Good for them, though. That's a great approach to take. With an attitude like that, they will continue to make a stellar product and will win support and market share based upon that, not based on how big their marketing budget is.

I agree completely. I get quite annoyed with the **** Opera does.

 

[Leeky]

Yep, but the thing is, so has Microsoft. Windows 7 has really upped the bar.

I don't really view it like that to be honest.

Microsoft produce a good OS in Windows 7, but Slackware 13.1/Ubuntu 10.04(10.10) are equally good, but in different respects.

Its important to realise the difference a multi billion dollar budget makes as well.

I think Ubuntu's popularity is because they essentially appear kind natured, don't spit out there dummy every 5 mins (que in Opera!), and have many hundreds (maybe thousands) of dedicated, hard working devs really prepared to make a difference.

I also genuinely believe it shows in the product they release.

All credit to Microsoft though, Windows 7 is very, very good. In all seriousness, if it wasn't for W7 I'd have completely moved over to Linux.

 

[Guest]

Someone needs to explain just what in the hell is supposed to be the "news item" here.

First off: Canonical is not "tightly knit with the Ubuntu Linux distribution." It is the main project that they fund development and distribute. In fact, it is the ONLY significant thing they have to offer.

Second: What possible logical basis is there for a complaint of anti-competitive behavior by a company distributing a free product against a corporation who SELLS hundreds of commercial software programs?

I mean, really! How in the hell does a free product "lose" any value when a drastically more visible and successful commercial product sells more copies than they give away? This is all bullshit.

It is akin to AVG complaining that Symantec sells more of their commercial antivirus than AVG gives away. How does that injur them at all. Remember

Stupid, ridiculous and NOT NEWS by any stretch of the imagination.

 

[Gars]

if i have 20 years old company
ill have hard times to deny Symantec

so, dont put the AVG and Symantec in the same basket

i was nicely surprised from MS
they just give their MSE for free for the small companies
im looking for 20+ license
but im still impressed

i think they are changing their policy about security
- give free security tool (AV) to the mainstream
- cut the complains about the security with 50 even 70%
- you are corporate user? - look at the above - we have corporate "vision" too

so, for me, MS are on the right direction with that
looking ahead to see how this will evolve

 

[Gars]

gars said:
if i have 2

...
looking ahead to see how this will evolve

i made a wrong post
sorry

 

[Lokalaskurar]

It appears to me that Opera's effort really didn't make a difference around here, across the Atlantic.

Perhaps Canonical made a good decision not arguing with Microsoft. For example, if Ubuntu doesn't get more internet-compatible (especially with DHCP), it will continue to be a rarity. And if Canonical would have stirred up some sand in front of Microsoft, thus stealing the show, people could theoretically skip things such as Ubuntu because they would realize its weaknesses.

However, Microsoft has an interesting future up ahead.
And Canonical will probably be part of it.

 

[Guest]

Canonical has no obvious basis to file an antitrust compliant. Opera does. Having a monopoly is not illegal. Abusing it to restrain competition is. Canonical is pandering to the uninformed.

 

[Fred Bacha]

Microsoft says it will not release SP2 for Windows 7. From other things I read, seems they are trying to abandon it and force people to upgrade.

Time for us to seriously spread the Linux word. it is not just for uber-geeks anymore! Now real people can load and use it too!