Everything has an end. Everybody dies.

[kenweill]

What if Bill Gates & Steve Ballmer die? Will it be the end of Microsoft?
Will it be the end of Microsoft Windows?

What if Linus Torvalds die? Will it be the end of Linux?
What if the founders of OpenSource die?
What do you think will happen?

[BarfBag]

Microsoft is definitely going to die eventually. However, if Bill Gates and/or Steve Ballmer were to drop dead tomorrow, it would still stick around. It's a large company. They'll just find a new CEO.

If Linus and/or Stallman were to drop dead tomorrow, Linux wouldn't die either. The community would step up.

[kenweill]

Who will take the lead?

[daynah]

That's totally from Doctor Who. Talking about Cassandra right?

[mouseboyx]

I wish everything would just be for Linux based kernel instead of anything else free/open source is always better. :)

[Anthem]

Microsoft is definitely going to die eventually.
What makes you say that? There's literally nothing that would cause Microsoft to die. Worst-case scenario, they could get out of software entirely and go into banking.

Windows will eventually die, but not Microsoft.

[steven8]

What makes you say that? There's literally nothing that would cause Microsoft to die. Worst-case scenario, they could get out of software entirely and go into banking.

Windows will eventually die, but not Microsoft.

You mean loan sharking? :lolflag:

[DoctorMO]

Everything that Starts, Ends. such is the nature of the world. although you can take heart in the fact that the starts and ends are not always close by.

[karellen]

" Everything has an end. Everybody dies."...wow, that's deep philosophy ;;)

[fenian]

Everything that Starts, Ends. such is the nature of the world.

More like the nature of western philosophy/mysticism,some people believe that life and death are part of a cycle and that the nature of life is not linear but circular with no begining and end but only a now.

[Dragonbite]

We're born ... we live ... we die, and that provides substinance so that others may live. Eventually we turn to dirt that the worm eats, which is then eaten by the bird, which is then eaten by the cat, which then ends up in chinese food! :lolflag:

Eventually all of them (and Steve Jobs too!) will pass away, but hypothetically:

Bill and Steve (sounds like a cheesy movie) would leave behind a company. The company would find a replacement for them and will probably make additional mistakes and slide in its position in the industry until all of the "old school" mentality are run through or the company is buried.

One may say it could resemble Apple after Steve Jobs left (kinda a scarey sight).

Depending on who they get to fill the position, Microsoft could also end up in a stronger position with wiser leadership or one that isn't as meglomaniac!


Linus would leave behind a legend. Due to the displaced, uncentralized nature of Linux, it would continue on. There may be a lot of in-fighting as people see the opportunity to sieze Linux and make it something more along their vision of what it should be, but due to the nature of Linux nobody will succeed.

If a centralized figure or a consensus cannot be found, then we run the risk of forking. A lot will also depend on the current status of I think RedHat, Novell, Ubuntu and some of the outside influencers (Sun, HP/IBM, Microsoft and even Apple)

Open Source Founders are justthat.. founders. George Washington was a "founder" of the (USA) Nation but obviously it survived past his demise!

I think Open Source has grown into its own lifeform already or nearly so.

Apple, I'm sorry to say, would not fare so well when Steve goes UNLESS he has or begins now to groom a replacement.

Either way, I'll be following what's going on because whatever happens, it's going to be one heck of a show! :popcorn:

[daynah]

I found the Doctor Who quote. "Everything has its time and everything dies." Then he blows up some alien butt. Boom!

Come on, Buddha has a lock hold on this philosophy ages ago. That was so 2 millena ago!

[DoctorMO]

Linus would leave behind a legend. Due to the displaced, uncentralized nature of Linux, it would continue on. There may be a lot of in-fighting as people see the opportunity to sieze Linux and make it something more along their vision of what it should be, but due to the nature of Linux nobody will succeed.

Linus leaves functionality, RMS leaves a legacy which has effected more people that people like to think; in the end prinicples that your willing to sacrifice for are what leave the legends.

[buuntuu!]

More like the nature of western philosophy/mysticism,some people believe that life and death are part of a cycle and that the nature of life is not linear but circular with no begining and end but only a now.

that reminds me of bill murrays "groundhog day".
terrifying!!
i freed myself from window$, and i definitely intend this NOT to be a CIRCULAR development ;)

[EdThaSlayer]

Even if Bill Gates dies he still has his sons and (I believe) daughters that can take over the company or they can just give a new CEO a job. I do think that Microsoft wouldn't be as strong anymore. Linux wouldn't die when Linus Torvalds dies, just look at the Linux kernel today, its code is more than 95% from other developers. Nice theory though, I wonder if it will come true.

[me1on]

What if Bill Gates & Steve Ballmer die? Will it be the end of Microsoft?
Will it be the end of Microsoft Windows?

What if Linus Torvalds die? Will it be the end of Linux?
What if the founders of OpenSource die?
What do you think will happen?

Open source will never die. The code will always be there, and there will always be somebody to improve it.

[buuntuu!]

Open source will never die. The code will always be there, and there will always be somebody to improve it.

unless the industry cuts us off from our hardware. watch out for TCPA (http://www.lafkon.net/tc/)

[Steveire]

Hit by a Bus!

People don't seem to like answers in these type of threads. This is a common thing to discuss. The 'bus factor' of a project or feature is the number of people who would have to be hit by a bus/leave for the project/feature to die. If there's only one person who understands the project, the bus factor is one. That's why commenting and coding conventions are important.

Here:

http://www.usemod.com/cgi-bin/mb.pl?RightToFork
http://www.python.org/search/hypermail/python-1994q2/1040.html
http://www.crummy.com/writing/segfault.org/Bus.html

[IYY]

What if Bill Gates & Steve Ballmer die? Will it be the end of Microsoft?
Will it be the end of Microsoft Windows?


Bill Gates already does very little work for Microsoft; his death would not have any effect at all. Ballmer is a horrible CEO, and when he goes, the company will be better off. It will certainly not be the end of Microsoft or Windows.



What if Linus Torvalds die? Will it be the end of Linux?
What if the founders of OpenSource die?
What do you think will happen?


Linus only develops the kernel, and the kernel is already at a very mature stage. There are also plenty of other talented kernel developers who would be able to take his place (though Linus himself is truly the best).

If Richard Stallman (the founder of the GNU) dies, you will not see many effects since the movement has already started. The code is in the hands of the people, and the philosophy of Free software is accepted and understood by many.

That's the whole point of Free software: it no longer depends on one person or one company. It belongs to the people!

[andrew.46]

Hi,

Read your comment:

" Everything has an end. Everybody dies."...wow, that's deep philosophy ;;)
Not deep philosophy just someone who has watched 'The Matrix' far too many times.

Andrew