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Disagree or not, I admire Bill Gates greatly, as much as I "hated" him and Microsoft in the 90s and early 2000s. They made money with monopoly over certain mark

Disagree or not, I admire Bill Gates greatly, as much as I "hated" him and Microsoft in the 90s and early 2000s. They made money with monopoly over certain markets, and used bad practices to fend off competition. And yet, most of his wealth is now being used to try to solve important problems for the world. You know what? I'll take this deal. I'd also pay greatly to have a full day with him, on his little chalet on the island, to talk about everything and be able to ask him anything. I'd even pitch him my own crazy idea of "the city of the future", a small obsession of mine since I was a kid.

sam_lowry_ 6y ago
He is paying off his debt to the society, obviously.
- dvfjsdhgfv 6y ago
  First, I don't think he ever admitted what he was doing was very wrong. Maybe he feels that inside, but I haven't heard many public statement about the actions of MS being morally wrong to the society. Second, this debt is enormous, and is getting larger. When you buy a PC, most often you still pay the "Microsoft tax". This is the result of Bill's actions from the past, the famous FUD campaigns, calling another operating system cancer, sponoring a long lawsuit against Linux and so on. He will still have to do a lot if he wants to repay all that.
  - yread 6y ago
    Bill hasn't called Linux cancer, that was Steve. And he was talking about GPL which admittedly is kind of like cancer - if your code touches it, it has to be GPL'ed as well
    - dvfjsdhgfv 6y ago
      > And he was talking about GPL While he was referring to the GPL, he actually uttered these words [0]. Gates was a chairman then, it's difficult to believe they had different opinions on this issue and many others. Especially when you consider the Halloween Documents were from Gates' era. More importantly, it was Gates himself who would routinely visit various heads of states lobbying for MS contracts, especially when Linux was considered. The consequences of that will live with us for many decades. Fortynately the web revolution changed many things and there is some hope the future would be more Microsoft-free, but for many years to come all goverments and most businesses and individuals have to pay Microsoft tax, for one reason or another. https://www.theregister.com/2001/06/02/ballmer_linux_is_a_cancer/ https://www.theregister.com/2001/06/02/ballmer_linux_is_a_ca...
      - yread 6y ago
        The complete quote is Linux is not in the public domain. Linux is a cancer that attaches itself in an intellectual property sense to everything it touches. That's the way that the license works. So, he was talking about the license (it would also make little sense to say that an OS kernel is cancer). > Gates himself who would routinely visit various heads of states lobbying for MS contracts Gates was trying to sell his software to potential clients? What a terrible human being! :) Much worse were the anti-competitive agreements with OEMs, performing super strict license checks on business dealing with Linux and so on.
        dvfjsdhgfv 6y ago
        > Gates was trying to sell his software to potential clients? What a terrible human being! Well, it depends on how you see it. We're talking not just about Europe, but mainly South Africa and many other developing countries that have to pay Microsoft to this day because of of their previous politician gave in to Gates and agreed to prolong a government contract. Many of these countries are the same he is helping now.
    - LargoLasskhyfv 6y ago
      Who cares about that linuxoid mess? They sabotaged the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRON_project https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRON_project !1!! Imagine where we could be now when that would have been 'the industry standard'?
plantain 6y ago
What about those who's wealth he denied with those anti-competitive practices - in the end don't they deserve the credit for the good deeds done with that money, not Bill? It's similarly irritating when known tax-avoiders become philanthropists - that was societies money anyway, you don't get kudos for being the one who decides where it's spent regardless of where you decide.
- Swenrekcah 6y ago
  I get where you’re coming from but I don’t think this is a practical or helpful attitude. He should get kudos for doing societally useful things with his money instead of lobbying the government for more tax breaks.
  - tarboreus 6y ago
    Yes. I think he has done a ton of damage and set computing back at least a cumulative decade. But it's also better that he does something decent with his money. Both can be true.
    - Swenrekcah 6y ago
      I have no opinion on his computer legacy. What I mean is that it’s not helpful to bash billionaires for sincere altruism and for investing in societally useful activities. It can be helpful to bash government for shitty policies that don’t tax wealth properly or something like that. It can also be helpful to bash billionaires that don’t carry their weight. If you’re angry at the students that don’t show up to class, don’t yell at the ones that do.

sam_lowry_ 6y ago

He is paying off his debt to the society, obviously.

dvfjsdhgfv 6y ago
First, I don't think he ever admitted what he was doing was very wrong. Maybe he feels that inside, but I haven't heard many public statement about the actions of MS being morally wrong to the society. Second, this debt is enormous, and is getting larger. When you buy a PC, most often you still pay the "Microsoft tax". This is the result of Bill's actions from the past, the famous FUD campaigns, calling another operating system cancer, sponoring a long lawsuit against Linux and so on. He will still have to do a lot if he wants to repay all that.
- yread 6y ago
  Bill hasn't called Linux cancer, that was Steve. And he was talking about GPL which admittedly is kind of like cancer - if your code touches it, it has to be GPL'ed as well
  - dvfjsdhgfv 6y ago
    > And he was talking about GPL While he was referring to the GPL, he actually uttered these words [0]. Gates was a chairman then, it's difficult to believe they had different opinions on this issue and many others. Especially when you consider the Halloween Documents were from Gates' era. More importantly, it was Gates himself who would routinely visit various heads of states lobbying for MS contracts, especially when Linux was considered. The consequences of that will live with us for many decades. Fortynately the web revolution changed many things and there is some hope the future would be more Microsoft-free, but for many years to come all goverments and most businesses and individuals have to pay Microsoft tax, for one reason or another. https://www.theregister.com/2001/06/02/ballmer_linux_is_a_cancer/ https://www.theregister.com/2001/06/02/ballmer_linux_is_a_ca...
    - yread 6y ago
      The complete quote is Linux is not in the public domain. Linux is a cancer that attaches itself in an intellectual property sense to everything it touches. That's the way that the license works. So, he was talking about the license (it would also make little sense to say that an OS kernel is cancer). > Gates himself who would routinely visit various heads of states lobbying for MS contracts Gates was trying to sell his software to potential clients? What a terrible human being! :) Much worse were the anti-competitive agreements with OEMs, performing super strict license checks on business dealing with Linux and so on.
      - dvfjsdhgfv 6y ago
        > Gates was trying to sell his software to potential clients? What a terrible human being! Well, it depends on how you see it. We're talking not just about Europe, but mainly South Africa and many other developing countries that have to pay Microsoft to this day because of of their previous politician gave in to Gates and agreed to prolong a government contract. Many of these countries are the same he is helping now.
  - LargoLasskhyfv 6y ago
    Who cares about that linuxoid mess? They sabotaged the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRON_project https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRON_project !1!! Imagine where we could be now when that would have been 'the industry standard'?

plantain 6y ago

What about those who's wealth he denied with those anti-competitive practices - in the end don't they deserve the credit for the good deeds done with that money, not Bill? It's similarly irritating when known tax-avoiders become philanthropists - that was societies money anyway, you don't get kudos for being the one who decides where it's spent regardless of where you decide.

Swenrekcah 6y ago
I get where you’re coming from but I don’t think this is a practical or helpful attitude. He should get kudos for doing societally useful things with his money instead of lobbying the government for more tax breaks.
- tarboreus 6y ago
  Yes. I think he has done a ton of damage and set computing back at least a cumulative decade. But it's also better that he does something decent with his money. Both can be true.
  - Swenrekcah 6y ago
    I have no opinion on his computer legacy. What I mean is that it’s not helpful to bash billionaires for sincere altruism and for investing in societally useful activities. It can be helpful to bash government for shitty policies that don’t tax wealth properly or something like that. It can also be helpful to bash billionaires that don’t carry their weight. If you’re angry at the students that don’t show up to class, don’t yell at the ones that do.