Bill Gates, World's Geekiest Knight

"LONDON, England (AP) -- Proclaiming himself "humbled and delighted," Microsoft founder Bill Gates has received an honorary knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II."

Well, Bill (and the CNN.com article specifically said I don't have to call you Sir Bill), hats off to you.

I am a fierce proponent of Linux. This sets me at odds with His Gatesness. However, there are several sides to this man who so vigorously opposes the principle and practice of open-source software.

If Gates hadn't revolutionized home computing, someone else would have. Is he abusing his position as the most powerful individual in the software industry?

Microsoft’s draconian practice of forcing system updates upon those who have not yet volunteered for XP SP2 rubs many the wrong way, myself included. In addition, its relentless pursuit of software pirates has made XP and the most recent releases of Office very difficult systems to deal with.

You see, adding or replacing too much hardware forces you to call Redmond to get permission to proceed.

And that, folks, rubs independent spirits like myself the wrong way.

Add to that the fact that tech support personnel (again, like myself) now will deal with XP’s seriously side-affected security patches whether we want to or not, and well . . . you get the picture.

However, there is another side to the geeky royal.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has donated astronomical sums of money to charitable causes worldwide. It has single-handedly built libraries, donated classroom computer systems, and helped the needy more than nearly any individual foundation in the last few years.

So, Your Highness, congrats on your title. You’ve earned it through your generosity.

I’m going to feel bad when the open-source movement makes expensive yet security-plagued operating systems obsolete.

NOT!