[X Newbies] OS stability - was Re: [X Newbies] Crashing of text editor?

[Alex]

On Wednesday, Mar 31, 2004, at 07:29 Canada/Eastern, Charles Martin 
wrote:

>> From: Steven Rogers <srogers1 at austin.rr.com>
>> [...]
>> Kind of like when states pass laws that declare Pi = 3.0
>
> You have, of course, documentation of which state has passed such a 
> law ...

Easily available. Simply check the history of House Bill no. 246, 
introduced in the Indiana House of Rep's by Rep. T.I. Record in 1897. 
(Incidentally, it wasn't 3.0 -- a little more complicated, but equally 
preposterous).

> [...] It actually wasn't the "government" (ie the executive or 
> legislative branch, the part of the government that passes laws) that 
> did that, it was the court system [...] and yes, the courts establish 
> facts and enforce the law based on those facts.

Perhaps we should stick to Mac issues. Because, when it comes to 
politics, apparently some have missed their citizenship classes (or 
whatever they're called in the US). Consulting 
<http://bensguide.gpo.gov/3-5/government/branches.html> might help.

As to courts establishing facts, here's what the US District Court for 
the District of Columbia found as fact in Civil Action No. 98-1233 
(TPJ):

    "[...] the package of hardware and software comprising an Apple PC
     system is priced substantially higher than the average price of an
     Intel- compatible PC system. Furthermore, consumer demand for
     Apple PC systems suffers on account of the relative dearth of
     applications written to run on the Mac OS.[...]"

I hope in future, as a good citizen, you won't ever again debate these 
facts.

> [...] Where I think you might be confused is in the notion (unstated 
> by either me or the courts) that being a monopoly is itself illegal. 
> It's not. ABUSING your monopoly, on the other hand, is.
>
> That, in a very broad nutshell, is why Microsoft is in trouble whereas 
> your local electric company probably isn't.

Actually, in my opinion you confuse (1) the difference between the 
colloquial, technical, and legal definitions of terms such as 
"monopoly", and (2) the distinction between de facto and de jure 
monopolies. If your local electric company has a monopoly but isn't in 
trouble, it's not because it doesn't abuse it, but because it is a 
legally established (de jure) monopoly.

f