this post was submitted on 16 Apr 2026
703 points (99.4% liked)
Programmer Humor
31019 readers
1219 users here now
Welcome to Programmer Humor!
This is a place where you can post jokes, memes, humor, etc. related to programming!
For sharing awful code theres also Programming Horror.
Rules
- Keep content in english
- No advertisements
- Posts must be related to programming or programmer topics
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Is this actually morally bad? Unless MS had promised otherwise, isn't it just competition?
Admittedly, the morality of this particular point probably relies on further context. On its face, I suppose you’re correct. However, it’s worth pointing out that for instance the only reason DOS was chosen is because Bill Gates’ Mom was on the IBM board (also because the owners of Digital Research blew it, but that’s a story for another time). Further, IBM had funded Microsoft pretty heavily to help development of the NT kernel with super cushy terms because of the aforementioned relationship with the board. So while, yes, on the one hand you could classify this as competition and it’s a little hard to feel bad for giant corporations, on the other hand this was Bill Gates being a twat and taking advantage of what was essentially a favor. There’s a reason the movie about him and Steve Jobs back in the day was called “Pirates of Silicon Valley“.