Date:         Tue, 23 May 2000 15:23:55 -0600
Reply-To:     "Brush, John" <jbrush@HMGSL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         "Brush, John" <jbrush@HMGSL.COM>
Subject:      Re: MIME Message! (non-vw related)
Content-Type: text/plain

> BTW2 - And why should the internet look the same to everyone? Sounds
> boring.
>
         Ah Tim, you don't understand the issue. Standards allow EVERYONE to
use the internet, not just those who choose Microsoft. You may not believe
it, but there are tens of millions of people on the internet who do not use
a M$ OS. These people are getting squeezed out of the usage because of one
company's quest to dominate and rule the internet. If you consider that to
be fair, then there is no more to be said.

        The internet operates on standards the same as we have certain
standards for automobiles. Lucky for you, gasoline is a standard product as
it allows you to drive anywhere you want and use the car you choose. What if
the gas companies forced you drive a certain type of car for no valid reason
other than 'they can?'

        The idea of the internet looking the same to every machine simply
means that ANYONE can use it. If M$ was able change the communications
standards from TCPIP to something unique, then no one could use the internet
except windows users. (and they would do it if they could, but most of the
internet is Unix based)

        Again, if you think that is fair, there is no need for any more
conversation.

        People should be able to get email with a simple mail reader that
understands the internet standard of text. When one company dictates that
everyone send email via HTML, bandwidth suffers, slow connections suffer,
and some folks can't use the email programs of their own choosing.

        If you think that is fair, then there is no need for any more
conversation.

        Try to also recall that changing existing standards causes M$
windows to be completely open to viruses and malicious attacks. You don't
hear of too many Unix machines getting taken down by an email, do you? If
you want to know why, investigate why gates made windows so open to attack
and didn't even care. To this day, all the windows users hate that one kid
who sent the ILOVEYOU email, but continue to worship at the altar of bill
gates who is the man responsible in the first place.

        If you think that is correct, there is no need for any further
conversation.

        Its not a crusade, its simply a matter of wanting to have a choice.
Imagine living in a world where we wore the same stupid clothes, drove the
same ugly car, and lived in the same overpriced house. Its all about choice.

        Best Regards,


        John