Quotes

Everybody is a potential partner

In our view, everybody is a potential partner -- until they shoot at us.

— Steve Case

AOL CEO, Information Week 11 March 1996 p10

Most articulate vegetable ever

Microsoft has a new version out, Windows XP, which according everybody is the "most reliable Windows ever." To me, this is like saying that asparagus is "the most articulate vegetable ever."

— Dave Barry

To the optimist

  • To the optimist, the glass is half full.
  • To the pessimist, the glass is half empty.
  • To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
  • To the plumber, any liquid in the glass is potential income.
— John Pettitt

and Ed O'Connell

Known generally for imitation

Microsoft is known generally for imitation rather than innovation. When Microsoft does something new, its purpose is strategic -- not to improve computing for the users, but to close off future alternatives for them.

— RMS

in response to criticism of the GPL by Jim Allchin, Group VP of Operating-Systems Develoment at Microsoft

Our advantage at Microsoft

That's our advantage at Microsoft; we set the standards and we can change them.

— Karen Hargrove

of Microsoft, quoted in the Feb 1993 Unix Review editorial

A million monkeys

We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true.

— Robert Wilensky

ILP 1996

Computers are useless

Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.

— Pablo Picasso

3.141592653589793

Instead of referring to pi as 3.141592653589793 at every appearance, the variable PI can be given that value with a DATA statement and used instead of the longer form of the constant. This also simplifies modifying the program, should the value of pi change.

— FORTRAN manual

for Xerox Computers

Transputer

The lack of these features merely serves to make systems programming for the the Transputer an interesting exercise.

— The Helios Operating System, Prentice-Hall, 1989

All others must submit an X.509 certificate

In God we trust -- all others must submit an X.509 certificate.

— Charles Forsythe
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