[AUUG-Talk]: [MEDIA RELEASE] OSIA to PC Vendors: WINE Will Set You Free

[Con Zymaris]

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OSIA to PC Vendors: WINE Will Set You Free

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Australia -- 14th September, 2004

The world's PC makers are hurting. Most turn meager profits from their
PC product lines. And some major players carry a loss each year. OSIA
has a solution which will assist both these hardware vendors and the
open source industry. We want the major PC vendors to contribute to the
completion of the WINE [1] Windows-compatibility layer which runs on
Linux. This will allow Linux to run most Windows applications and can
deliver higher margins and more control to the PC vendors.

By making WINE fully compatible with most major Windows applications, PC
vendors can remove the heavy burden of the Windows OEM platform licence
from their costs of production, yet still deliver a Windows-compatible
desktop into the market. Also, by not having to rely on Microsoft for
the desktop PC platform, hardware vendors will improve their strategic
position considerably.

"The IT industry has reached a maturation point whereby most of the
hardware is now a low-cost commodity," said OSIA spokesperson, Steven
D'Aprano. "This process of hardware commoditisation has been relentless
and greatly benefits Microsoft at the expense of all the hardware
vendors. Microsoft's platform and application software now costs many
times more than the hardware, giving Microsoft huge financial and
platform leverage advantages. As an example, Microsoft makes 84% margin
[2] on some products, while vendors like HP, IBM and Dell make crumbs on
their main PC lines."

Economics explains why WINE can help, through the well understood law of
substitutes and complements [3]. In simple terms, if all else is equal,
eliminating the cost of one of your product's components allows a
manufacturer to sell more of that product and make more money. A fully
realised WINE will allow Linux to be substituted in place of Windows,
allowing the PC vendors to both grow their markets while increasing
their portion of profit. By investing a modest sum into the WINE
project, major industry vendors can finally remove the yoke that holds
them back from higher profits.

"Windows would not have become the dominant desktop platform that it
became unless if could seamlessly run the DOS applications which
preceded it. It is for this reason that Linux must comfortably run all
the main business and consumer applications that users need today. This
can be achieved by making WINE 100% complete. Vendors like Sun, IBM, Red
Hat, Novell and HP all have a vested interest in the success of desktop
Linux. By injecting even a small investment of $10 million each towards
the completion of the open source WINE project, they can all benefit
substantially through a complete Windows-compatible platform that is
free of Microsoft's control," concluded D'Aprano.



References:

[1] WINE stands for WINE Is Not an Emulator, an open source
    re-implementation of the Windows API which can run on Linux,
    FreeBSD, MacOS X etc.
    http://www.winehq.com/

[2] http://www.microsoft.com/msft/download/FY02/Q02_4_financials.xls

[3] Substitutes and complements: How it applies to Microsoft software
    http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/StrategyLetterV.html

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About Open Source Industry Australia, Limited.

OSIA is the industry body for Open Source within Australia. We exist to
further the cause of Free and Open Source software (FOSS) in Australia
and to help our members to improve their business success in this
growing sector of the global Information and Communication Technology
(ICT) market.

http://www.osia.net.au/

Spokesperson/Contact: Steven D'Aprano
Phone: 03 9621 2377
Email: media at osia.net.au

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-- 
Steven D'Aprano 
Operations Manager 
Cybersource Pty Ltd, ABN 13 053 904 082 
Level 4, 10-16 Queen St, Melbourne VIC 3000 
Tel: +61 3 9621 2377   Fax: +61 3 9621 2477 
Web: http://www.cybersource.com.au 
_______________________________________________
Osia-announce mailing list
Osia-announce at lists.osia.net.au
http://lists.osia.net.au/mailman/listinfo/osia-announce

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