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LinuxWorld: Propaganda du jour: The Linux community grows a thick skin

Stamford, CT-based Gartner Group raised hackles, eyebrows,
and blood pressure recently with a series of marginally-informed
“reports” on Linux-related matters. But in return, the Linux
community raised something of its own: the quality of its response
to this latest rash of bad press…

“We must be developing a thicker hide as we weather each
assault. It’s only been a year since the Halloween documents put
the Linux community on alert. ESR was our Paul Revere, signalling
as he came: one if by C, two if by LAN. But since then have come
the Mindcraft “benchmarks,” their “validation” by PC Week Labs, the
Gartner Group reports, and the “Linux Myths” thing.”

“Whatever the cause, the responses I’ve seen to Gartner have
been well-reasoned and even witty. Even yours truly refrained from
sending off an obscenity-laden missive via email to Gartner Group
asking how much Microsoft paid for those reports. Don’t get me
wrong — I did ask how much Microsoft paid to commission the
reports, but I was ever so polite about it.”


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