[Sussex] NOW: So, who are the all-time greats? WAS Hello all

Geoff Teale Geoff.Teale at claybrook.co.uk
Wed Feb 12 09:16:01 UTC 2003


Before we start, I will post a challenge:

I hereby challenge anyone on this list to name one thing Bill Gates has done
that has actually changed the world of computing rather than the just the
logo we see when we start a program.

Please read the rest of the mail before answering this challenge.. it'll
save us all a lot of time.

> My criteria were:
> 
> - Most long-term influence on the course of IT
> - Open publication of what they discovered / invented

OK.  Yeah, that would make sense, given the names you chose.  I see why you
excluded the founders of Intel, Microsoft etc, and I realise it was _me_ he
bought the discussion of Mr Gates to the fore.  
 
> This is NOT about "who were the greatest programmers", but 
> who had the most
> influence. To say that Bill Gates didn't have influence 
> because he didn't
> write much code is like saying that Churchill didn't win the 
> war because he
> didn't fire a single shot....

OK *strapping on asbestos overalls*..

Hmm, well Churchill didn't win the war.  I don't think any one entity,
organisation or country can claim that.  Ultimately it is more realistic to
say that the Japanese lost the war by making the decisino to attack Pearl
harbour.  While Brits may hate me for saying this - it may not be true to
say America won the war, but we would have lost it without them (as my
family comes from Denmark - a country whose government surrendered before
the Germans even crossed the border - I have no qualms at all about pointing
oput the obvious).  

..and now back in the world of IT.  *straps on additional flame retardent
materials*

I should just say that none of the following is driven by any hatred for
Bill Gates.   Sure the man has broken the law in order to grow his company,
but that's not exactly unusual in modern business.  I don't even have a
problem with his products - I for one know that I have the choice not to use
Microsoft products and I don't, in the same way that I don't watch "Pop
Idol" or read the Sun, the Mirror or (worst of all!) the Daily Mail.  I will
even admit that they have produced some fairly good software - I.E. (out of
context of the importance of standards) is a nice little *ahem*, huge
browser.  Excel is a decent spreadsheet.  Hell SQL Server 2000 even works
quite well when it's not busy spreading viral muck all other the internet.
In terms of the use of Microsoft products in the workplace - well it's not
my decision, and I'm happy to support the idea that Microsoft Office is
still the best choice on the accounts department desktop (although this
arguement is considerably weaker than it was 2 years ago) - but, I have to
say that IT managers buy Windows NT/2000 for file, print and web serving, at
massive expense then they are either idiots or they are not doing their job
properly - that annoys me - but it isn't relevant to this discussion. 

None of this will affect what I am about to write.  I am simply being fair -
I have already said I doubt that Linus _really_ has any claim to be on a
list of greats because the most important part of what he did was release
his code under the GPL. So, what about Bill Gates? 

I intend to prove that while Bill Gates may be an important man in Business,
he is frankly unimportant in the world of computer science, and that to
suggest that his has been is like saying that Vidal Sassoon was a major
influence in the evolution of mammalian hair.

Bill Gates has only really influenced what brand of software we use, neither
the structure of the platform of the tools we use on that platform were his
idea.  

Sure the influence of Microsoft is everywhere, they restrict us, and
bludgeon us into paying them money to use computers - but I don't think they
advanced anything, and I don't think their platforms have really changed the
way we work with computers, and where they have done good work it was the
work of developers and scientist who work for Microsoft, _not_ Bill Gates.
Do we credit the directors of AT&T with the creation of UNIX?  Do we marvell
at how Dwight Eisenhower created the internet?  I think not.  Bill Gates as
the leader of the modern computing world is purely a result of his self
promotion - the victor is always the person who writes the history books!

Lets look at the advance we'd most commonly attribute to Gates - the "PC on
every desktop":

The whole PC revolution was driven by IBM producing a micro-computer with an
open architecture.  Because they _were_ IBM people were always going to pay
attention.  It wouldn't have mattered if the OS was CPM or DOS.  Ultimately
it was the availability of important business software (Lotus 123,
WordPerfect, DBASE) and cheap clones (Compaq!!) that bought the PC
domination.  Frankly, if the machine had been powerful enough to run UNIX
back in the early 1980's it probably would have been an even bigger succss
than it was.  Right up until the development of OS/2 and NT Microsoft was
just along for the ride - one of many DOS OS manufacturers.  The turning
point is where Microsoft go into out and out warfare with IBM (the people
who, afterall built Microsoft into a largeish company).  So yes, Bill has a
lot of sway in the industry and he _has_ changed the platforms we use, but
contrary to what the press (and not least Bill) would have you believe, it
was _not_ him who put a PC on every desk and he was _not_ the architect of
the modern computing world.

I repeat what I said at the top:

I hereby challenge anyone on this list to name one thing Bill Gates has done
that has actually changed the world of computing rather than the just the
logo we see when we start a program.

-- 
geoff.teale at claybrook.co.uk
tealeg at member.fsf.org

"Injustice is happening now; suffering is happening now. We have choices to
make now. To insist on absolute certainty before starting to apply ethics to
life decisions is a way of choosing to be amoral."
   - Richard M Stallman


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