Re: 30 years ago & in a Galaxy far, far away..
found this amusing so will just paste it here
In a Galaxy Far, Far Away…](Clone the virtual machine in the Oracle VM VirtualBox [GUIDE] - Microsoft Watch)
If Microsoft isn't the Evil Empire, what should be? It's the 30th anniversary of Star Wars and easy enough to cast Microsoft as destroyer of the Republic. But what if Microsoft were the Republic?
For centuries, outsiders sought to bring down the Roman Empire. Roman authority brought order but also cultural, economic and military control. For centuries following Rome's fall, Europe looked to the past—and the lost glories of the empire—rather than to the future. And Rome started as a republic.
There are similarities to the computational universe, where Microsoft dominates but outsiders look to bring down the monopoly. But would they do better? In our Star Wars anniversary edition of Microsoft Watch, we cast Bill Gates’ company as the flawed Republic. The original Star Wars pitted good against evil along lines clearly drawn. But later Star Wars prequels portrayed a flawed republic, more an economic empire than manageable political entity.
Our Evil Empire search begins with the Dark Lord of the Sith and future emperor, Palpatine, and the legions he quietly leads. I preface by saying that I mean no disrespect to the people we will vilify today. You are merely cast in a role. Our candidates:
Tim Berners-Lee
The father of the World Wide Web brought great disturbances to the Force— Microsoft “standards”—that kept order in the desktop computational universe. His open-standards based approach to the Web browser and server led to the establishment of the Trade Federation (from Star Wars I) that threatens the stability of the Republic.
Linus Torvalds
Like a puppet master, Linux’s creator stepped back from his Frankenstein creation, other than his sacrosanct role as Lord of the Kernel. Meanwhile, hordes of open-source marauders destabilize the Microsoft Republic at every chance, with their talk of community development and cooperation. But there is chaos in the approach, until their Dark Master steps in to pull together the pieces in a tight hegemony of control.
Mark Shuttleworth
Ubuntu’s founder talks of a better world, of sharing, unity and cooperation. In Star Wars, Palpatine did the same until he was revealed as Darth Sidious and assumed role as dictator. On Monday, Shuttleworth blogged that “Microsoft and the Linux community will actually end up fighting on the same side.” Can you say Clone Wars—hordes of Ubuntu PCs fighting alongside Windows?
Jonathan Schwartz
Sun’s CEO seems like a helluva nice guy. He blogs and chats up the night with Sun customers. But he also took Solaris open source and in doing so brought great resurgence to the operating system and equally great disturbance to the Microsoft Force. Could he be the Dark Lord, or perhaps Darth Maul, which would make Schwartz follower of the Lord Torvalds? Either way, he belongs to the Dark Side. Gasp, in a recent blog he used “partner” to describe Microsoft.
Steve Ballmer
Palpatine acted as leader of the senate, all the while contemplating the Republic’s ruin. Could Microsoft’s CEO be the same? This week, he released four open-source projects for identity management. Open source! Ballmer also has advocated interoperability with open-source software and cut a licensing deal (e.g. trade agreement) with Novell for SuSe Linux. Surely, these are acts that undermine the stability of the Republic and Microsoft’s Force. If Microsoft loses control of standards, by what means can the Republic maintain order?
Steve Jobs
The Mac megalomaniac has amassed a cult of followers and uses hundreds of millions of iPods to brainwash new acolytes. The clever devices distract people from the ways of Microsoft’s Force and lead them down paths of Windows abandon. “Get a Mac” ads corrupt minds and lead people by way of fear, uncertainty and doubt to the ways of the Dark Side.
In the climactic computational battle scene between young Vista and Lord Panther, Mac OS X would ask Windows to join him and together rule the universe. And when Vista accuses Panther of killing his father, the retort: “Vista, I am your father!”
“Nooooo!” Anyone familiar with Xerox PARC and early Mac and Windows development should know the lineage.
The Google Twins
What’s that saying about two heads are better than one? Google founders and Berners-Lee disciples Larry Page and Sergey Brin claim that, “You can make money without doing evil.” But what if your Dark Side definition of evil is Microsoft and its Force? The Web 2.0 and new advertising economy ringleaders are secretive and control vast amounts of private information. Theirs is an empire in making, whose control would make the Microsoft Republic look like a little girl’s tea party. Meanwhile, their Web 2.0 movement pulls legions of developers and end users from the safety of the Windows desktop and Microsoft Force into Web browser allegiance. Are Google’s cofounders twin emperors in making or servants of Dark Lord Berners-Lee?
So now I ask: How would you cast the Star Wars roles? I put Microsoft in role of Republic, because so many people would choose Evil Empire. It’s an anticlimactic and fun approach. Please tell us how you would cast the roles. By the way, I left open the role of traitor Anakin Skywalker, on purpose. Have fun, folks.