Monolithic software A key component of the Unix design philosophy is that it avoids monolithic programs and instead aims for simple programs that can work together. The three key features of this is 1) interoperability, 2) flexibility to user needs and 3) simplicity in the programs. All of these are anaethema to the Microsoft model because 1) interoperability damages their monopoly position 2) economic buyers of MSFT software are different from its users in corporations and 3) its harder to churn users through upgrade cycles if programs are simple. For these reasons, it's wrong for Linux to recreate the MSFT desktop and imperitive that Linux recreates the MSFT desktop. Ahhh technology.