I think it's easy to forget how ruthless Bill Gates and Microsoft actually was, never mind the fact that they were convicted for antitrust violations. The history is littered with casualties from what started as well-intentioned partnerships with Microsoft.

So I think the feeling was not so much jealousy, but more that they didn't compete fairly. Especially in the Linux world (where Greenspun was from), and more so after the Halloween documents leaked.

That feeling was even more pronounced in 1998, when Microsoft dominated computing and it seemed like _any_ attempt to do it big in software would either have to mean getting bought by, or killed by the sheer hugeness of Microsoft.

Nowadays Gates has set up a huge charity, and Microsoft has stumbled on so many things that we kind of feel bad for them instead.