Consider this item a minddump and please treat it accordingly.

Here is an article which you may find valuable if you ever make an operating platform choice. You ought to know that there will be many lies whose purpose is to limit your choice.

FUD Plays a Role

The study suggests that Linux’s market acceptance may be hampered by the use of fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) tactics directed at it by Microsoft.

For example, notes the paper:

“Such emotions were stirred in the Linux community by, among others, SCO, a small ‘vulture’ firm that had bought up the intellectual property rights to a particular version of Unix and was threatening Linux users with lawsuits over infringement of those rights unless they agreed to pay it substantial licensing fees. IBM, which was one of the prime corporate sponsors of Linux as well as the target of a lawsuit by SCO…alleged in mid 2003 that SCO was in cahoots with Microsoft.”

The study also quotes an interview with Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer, who used FUD in an effort to denigrate the reliability of OSS:

“Customers will never know what to expect from this product [Linux]. If the lead developer for this component chooses to do something else with his life, who will carry on the mantle for that?”

Yet, the study states, FUD has its limits. “Microsoft’s efforts to instill fear are to some extent offset by the users’ and developers’ concern that Microsoft may decide to raise prices in the future if it succeeds in derailing the progression of Linux.”

It is rather disturbing to see the extent to which fraud and disinformation play a role. But they do. And they make a difference.

I never liked any of these dirty tactics from Steve “Baboon Dance” Bullmer (sic) and co., who are both bullish and bullyish. They even pay people to spread the false word, without any disclosure. Astroturfers, Microshafter, and Microshatners are—and always will be—pants. They help create and defend the Big Lie. Slander is part of the daily corruption in newsgroups that attract those vermins. It becomes a storm in a teacup as they harp about it. Newbies or people who just ‘land’ on the archive would not see precedence justifying distrust.

To be a little poetic here, let’s address the personality of the people behind this dirty game. I woke up last night (quite immediately as a matter of fact). I thought I heard a chair flying. Steve Ballmer is on the other side of the globe, yet his chair is roaming and piercing through the curtains with that sound. It was quite thought provoking! If only it were real. But it isn’t quite so fictional. Just have a look.

Lucovsky said Ballmer threw a chair across the room and shouted: “Fucking Eric Schmidt is a fucking pussy. I’m going to fucking bury that guy, I have done it before, and I will do it again. I’m going to fucking kill Google.” Shortly after, he resumed trying to persuade Lucovsky to stay at Microsoft.

I cannot understand why people continue to buy software from billionaires who are so vain and malovalent. Nothing is perceived as too evil to this company. It works for the investors, so ethics are secondary. Microsoft could afford to open a Redmond datacentres whose sole purpose is merely to collect all available information from Windows and Internet Explorer 7 users. Everything can be logged (much like Google does). People get profiled by companies who can use it in any way that is desired. There’s a real danger here, as AOL’s leaked search logs have proven.

Yesterday Microsoft said that it liked DRM, rather than just accept it bitterly. It intends to use more of it. Escape Microsoft while you can. Vista has “high impact issues”, according to Microsoft.

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 10th, 2007 at 9:44 pm and is filed under Windows. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.