Slashdot had an interesting article that likens developing for a closed source platform to sharecropping. The article rang true with several things about Microsoft that I have come across recently. One of these is Microsoft’s recent purchase of GeCad Software. Microsoft specifically mentions that it’s a purchase of intellectual property, and that they have no plans to continue to develop GeCad’s products. This is rather unfortunate, because GeCad’s RAV antivirus software is a wonderful Linux-based antivirus mail scanner product. I wonder if the prospect of destroying a Linux product had anything to do with Microsoft’s decision. If I was Symantec right now, I’d be very worried about Microsoft muscling in on territory that’s been fair game for years.