[ros-general] Browsers

[KJK::Hyperion]

At 19.15 05/02/2004, you wrote:
>So even if the user installed IE via Office, I think its definitely still 
>in the gray area as far a legality goes,

Microsoft would like to define "legality" according to their own standards. 
Unfortunately for them, laws are still made by legitimate governments, and 
most of the governments we're likely to be involved with recognize both 
unlimited freedom to individuals as long as the rest of the society isn't 
harmed and a free market driven by fair competition. Requiring a Windows 
license to make use of Office using Internet Explorer as an excuse violates 
both principles: Microsoft can neither dictate what use you make of the 
licenses you bought from them (as long as you don't harm them, but we'll 
assume you've purchased the right number and kind of licenses) nor force 
you to buy their products in a bundle; plus, the limitation is clearly 
imposed in bad faith, since it's arbitrary, with no factual basis, and the 
very existence of ReactOS and Wine will prove this

That said, Internet Explorer sucks. Being able to run it will be merely a 
test of strength for ReactOS. Otherwise, it's just more of the usual 
Microsoft shit: ad-hoc, idiosyncratic, driven by greed rather than good 
engineering. We should stay clear away from it