Microsoft isn’t really out to get Linux, according to this
column. Rather, Microsoft is out to get IBM because “IBM provides a
formidable adversary with 350,000 employees and the resources that
could turn Microsoft into the next Banyan Vines.” Maybe it’s not
quite so either/or, but in any case the column also addresses how
we respond to FUD and takes issue with the less constructive
approaches some take.
Consider the parody below of Franklin Roosevelt’s
speech to Congress the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor by the
Empire of Japan in December 1941.“Yesterday, May 3rd, 2001 — a date which will live in
infamy?-the Free Software Foundation and associated groups was
suddenly and deliberately attacked by disinformation of the Empire
of Microsoft. The attack followed months of subtle disinformation
activity by Microsoft against Linux.”Microsoft feels no threat from the Linux community. Microsoft’s
Information War has IBM in its telescopic sight. IBM provides a
formidable adversary with 350,000 employees and the resources that
could turn Microsoft into the next Banyan Vines.