Wow, Bill ain't so bad afterall

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/TechNews/Michetti/2003/12/01/273886.html

Who says that the rich are greey bastards? All depends on the person...

that's great to read, nice one bill

I read somewhere that his philanthropy is down to his dad, saying to him one day that he should do something useful with his stockpiled multi-millions. I gather his dad in fact administers his philanthropic activities.

This may not be true. I'm reporting it here as pure scuttlebutt.

yeah, this guy does some great work. he was on a tour on africa with his wife recently, and they had just donated towards the development of a malarial vaccine. supposedly, both of them do their homework pretty well, and they read up on all the science issues and stuff. then again, he has never really been one for attention, just an easy target for ridicule and hatred. figures.

they had a thing about this on a news program a while back...it's actually run by a board chaired by Bill and his wife. there's a foundation that filters the massive number of requests and researches potential charities and then brings them up to the board for discussion and ultimately agreeing on yes/no and how much. I think they meet once every month or so....

Kinda like Carnegie in a way...after abusing and stepping on the backs of his workers to make billions in 19th century money, he felt bad in his later years and built all kinds of things in the Pittsbrugh Area such as museums and libraries which today are some of the best in the country.

I dunno - I give away over a third of my income to a charity every year.

I don't mind the guy at all, giving half a chance which one of us would not have pounced on the opportunity to make that kind of bank?

damn right you would, and you would'nt care who you stepped on to get there either.

Fact is, he does give away ALOT of money to a whole raft of decent causes.

not a bad guy in the end.

I thought giving money was love these days...

Well...Mr. Gates' time is so valuable that he would actually lose money if he bent over to pick up a hundred dollar bill. Given the fact that he's dedicated and must spend most of his time making sure that Microsoft destroys all competition, instead of building houses for Habitat for Humanity (something retired Jimmy Carter can do) he simply pays for the materials for HfH or pays for something that can go a long way and help out in whatever way he can.

Without the donated scratch, none of these charities could do jack shit.

Actually I think Bill's workers are treated pretty nicely too. At least the ones that I've known. Bill Gates bashing should be exposed for what it really is- business bashing. The guy started in his freaking garage for christ's sake. I'm not going to say that Microsoft doesn't have it's flaws, but the man created an operating system that was easier to use than any other, and more functional for the home and business user. Why everyone bashes him for creating the world's most popular software is beyond me. And don't even start with that monopoly crap. Anyone at any time could roll out their platform and put it out on the market next to Bill's. He and is wife have been giving and giving for years, cheers to them.

I think the only people that say that are the poor. You did mean greedy, right?

i love how the wife always gets credit for giving all that money away. im glad that the money is going to good things but christ, it would just sit there getting taxed otherwise. you can only spend so much.

Um yeah , he BOUGHT his first operating system...amd then what?..created Windows?..whoopdie-shit! Now it's as easy to use as a Macintosh.

Although I do laud him for his philathropic ways

When Linux misses a ship date it's like a tree falling in the forest. Nobody knows or cares. Strange.

Because they already have a functional, well-written piece of software. If it ain't broke..

Wonder if this writer gets kick-backs for every pro-MS word he writes?