At least Microsoft is consistent

I’m not sure how I forgot this classic ditty from Bill Gates, but it does show a certain consistency in Microsoft’s thinking…stretching over the last 31 years:

As the majority of hobbyists [open source developers] must be aware, most of you steal your software…[Y]ou…prevent good software from being written. Who can afford to do professional work for nothing? What hobbyist can put 3-man years into programming, finding all bugs, documenting his product and distribute for free? [Red Hat, MySQL, JBoss, Alfresco, Zenoss, etc. etc.]…I would appreciate letters from any one who wants to pay up…Nothing would please me more than being able to hire ten programmers and deluge the hobby market with good software.

The irony is palpable.

I’m sure there’s a memo floating around Microsoft right now that says something like this:

>> I don’t see Microsoft threatening hobbyists – I do see Microsoft spending a lot of time sitting down and talking to businesses who make money distributing Linux about intellectual property Microsoft’s shareholders paid for and own – and doing so in a reasonable and constructive manner. As a Microsoft shareholder (& employee) I think it is entirely right that Microsoft does this, indeed I think Microsoft executives have a duty under law to do this.

Somewhere, someone at Microsoft got the idea that it wasn’t being paid enough for its intellectual property:

I don’t know about you, but I kind of thought $44 billion would be enough for most people. But then, Emerson is right:

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.

31 years and a lot of cash later, Microsoft hasn’t changed. It has shown a remarkable propensity for squeezing money out of the world, and that is (mostly) to its credit. But now its business model is in jeopardy, and that is precisely why Microsoft has gone on the patent offensive.

This isn’t about IP. It’s about Microsoft’s “right” to a business model under siege; a business model that serves the vendor, not the customer.