__/ [ Ray Ingles ] on Friday 31 March 2006 20:22 \__
> On 2006-03-31, Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>> So is Redhat or Suse or maybe the backers of Ubuntu paying him to post
>>> messages 24x7 in comp.os.linux.advocacy?
>
>> The University equips its students and staff with a newsserver as means of
>> communicating with the world and sharing ideas. Why is this bothering you?
>> I just do this as a hobby. If you don't like my posts, kill me. That's
>> what the kill file is for.
>
> Flatfish is trying to draw a parallel between yourself and the
> wintrolls, who are often theorized to be on Microsoft's payroll. Of
> course, it's been documented that Microsoft has, in the past, used those
> very tactics; I'm not aware of any such cases documented for any Linux
> vendor. But apparently there is a thriving practice in similar
> activities:
>
> http://www.penny-arcade.com/news/show/21589
> http://www.penny-arcade.com/2006/02/01
>
> And, of course:
>
> http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/02/10
>
> In any case, I don't think the wintrolls on COLA are on the MS dole,
> really. Too little benefit for the expense. There are forums where such
> tactics would have a much better payoff. I suppose it's *possible* that
> they use this forum as a way to test various FUD approaches, but I've
> certainly not seen any real evidence for that.
http://worldcadaccess.typepad.com/gizmos/2005/11/2_grassroots_an.html
,----[ Quote ]
| "Some years back, Microsoft practiced a lot of dirty tricks using
| online mavens to go into forums and create Web sites extolling the virtues
| of Windows over OS/2. They were dubbed the Microsoft Munchkins, and it
| was obvious who they were and what they were up to. But their numbers
| and energy (and they way they joined forces with nonaligned dummies
| who liked to pile on) proved too much for IBM marketers, and Windows
| won the operating-system war through fifth-column tactics"
|
| Mr Dvorak wonders if Microsoft is today using reverse-dirty-tricks
| to promote the Xbox 360: pay people to create Web sites that slam the
| gaming computer in order to provoke a barrage of defenders.
`----
|
|
