[openbeos] Re: Sunday amusement
- From: "Peter Willis" <p.willis@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <openbeos@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 29 Jan 2002 08:12:50 -0800
>
>I think the problem would not arise for at least a couple of years -
>OBOS distros start doing well, and Palm sinks lower than it already is
>(financially, that is). Then they might look at it to raise some
>capital from those distributors.
Palm is going to do just fine with wireless handhelds.
Palm doesn't care about desktop operating systems.
We are not MS, nor will we *ever* have that kind of
market clout. We are obscure. Palm uses MS-OS as
the desktop standard. If OBOS becomes a big market,
I'm sure that Palm will be quite happy to have the use
of our IR header drivers to sell *PALM TOP COMPUTERS*.
>Or picture this, someone takes the OBOS code, modifies it, and then
>starts selling PDA-like devices with it, or even just licensing it to
>hardware manufacturers. Something out of the control of OBOS,
>BeUnited, all of us. These devices directly compete with Palm. Palm
>would suddenly care. Where would they attack? Directly at the heart
>of the matter - those that "reverse engineered" _their_ IP - OBOS.
By the time this happens OBOS will be a completely different OS with
only a minor history of being associated with BeOS. Time and
hardware march on. In 2 years time we will all be booting 64 bit PCs
and the whole OS will be completely rewritten from the ground up.
Same with anything that Palm currently makes.
Let's also remember 'OpenDos' who were never sued,
the arrival of windows and the unsuccessful Apple suit against MS.
If your logic holds true, then Apple should have sued Gassee's butt
as soon as the whole BeBox thing started over the PPC platform.
I think you over estimate:
A.) The presence of OBOS in the general market place.
B.) The long term usefulness of the source code, to Palm, as it
quickly becomes dated by changes in technology.
C.) Palms interest in the BeOS. There is none, they wanted engineers who
could code for handhelds. Be Inc. was a good supply of those.
>AOL is just now asking for monetary damages from MS for Netscape.
>Apple didn't get around to sueing MS until far after Windows came out
>later - Xerox to Apple even longer than that. They won't care until it
>matters to them in their pocketbooks.
>
Apple *LOST* the look and feel case. The legal precident has already been
set.
Peter
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