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____/ Chris Ahlstrom on Friday 30 January 2009 21:56 : \____
After takin' a swig o' grog, Sermo Malifer belched out
this bit o' wisdom:
Chris Ahlstrom wrote:
After takin' a swig o' grog, Sermo Malifer belched out
this bit o' wisdom:
Roy Schestowitz wrote:
Maybe. Present a hypothetical context under which it's any less
derogatory.
There's no need to. I was being generous. You need to prove it
happened in any context.
Why?
To prove it's true.
Bill Gates is well known for saying far worse stuff.
IOW, even worse stuff has been attributed to him without any proof he
ever said it.
He's a legendary potty mouth.
When will reality catch up with the legends?
How is it a legend, reading attributions from a biography?
Even Microsoft's own people have admitted that Gates is a bully.
http://blog.tomevslin.com/2007/05/microsoft_memor.html
So you're in there presenting your product plan to billg, steveb, and
mikemap. Billg typically has his eyes closed and he's rocking back
and forth. He could be asleep; he could be thinking about something else;
he could be listening intently to everything you're saying. The
trouble is all are possible and you don't know which. Obviously, you
have to present as if he were listening intently even though you know he
isn't looking at the PowerPoint slides you spent so much time on.
At some point in your presentation billg will say "that's the
dumbest fucking idea I've heard since I've been at
Microsoft." He looks like he means it. However, since you knew he was
going to say this, you can't really let it faze you. Moreover, you
can't afford to look fazed; remember: he's a bully.
http://boycottnovell.com/2007/11/11/novell-vanity-2/
This is something that I actually cover in my personal blog. The Gates
Foundation is being used to control media outlets (through investments), which
then give shape to a positive image and paint Bill Gates as a Saint. The
reality is far from that. Judge Gates’ character for yourself, based on those
who know him personally, as opposed to those watching what journalists say in
the press. These are journlists whose fundnd source include the Gates
Foundation (investor) Microsoft (advertiser/partner).
Microsoft Memories
At some point in your presentation billg will say “that’s the dumbest
fucking idea I’ve heard since I’ve been at Microsoft.” He looks like he means
it. However, since you knew he was going to say this, you can’t really let it
faze you. Moreover, you can’t afford to look fazed; remember: he’s a bully.
Here is another example.
My father, in his travels, has met Bill Gates. I don’t think I’d be
creating a problem for him now (as he recently retired) by saying that he was
unimpressed. Apparently Gates was rude, he was distracted, and when he sat, he
rocked back and forth in his chair, an action which reminded my Dad of people
with dementia.
And another from Joel Spolsky (on software).
In my BillG review meeting, the whole reporting hierarchy was there, along
with their cousins, sisters, and aunts, and a person who came along from my
team whose whole job during the meeting was to keep an accurate count of how
many times Bill said the F word. The lower the f***-count, the better.
[…]
Four,” announced the f*** counter, and everyone said, “wow, that’s the
lowest I can remember. Bill is getting mellow in his old age.” He was, you
know, 36.
Later I had it explained to me. “Bill doesn’t really want to review your
spec, he just wants to make sure you’ve got it under control. His standard
M.O. is to ask harder and harder questions until you admit that you don’t
know, and then he can yell at you for being unprepared. Nobody was really sure
what happens if you answer the hardest question he can come up with because
it’s never happened before.”
How about this one [PDF]?
From: johnfi; Wed Mar 14 11:18:49 1990
To: RichAab; RussW; SherryR; c-JanetC
Subject: H-P New Wave
Date: Wed Mar 14 10:56:42 1990
A few issues … Got a call from Gary Perez (our OEM HP Acct Mgr) this
morning. They are telling HP that they wil NOT be part of this launch and that
BillG has said “fxxk HP (all divisions) if they won’t sign a Windows license.”
There are many more examples, including Gates’ request for anti-Linux patents
and making ACPI not work with Linux. For now, the above examples ought to
suffice.