[ Thanks to scott_R
for this link. ]
“The company believes that Linux solutions appeal to different
organisations for different reasons. For some, especially
price-sensitive SMB organisations, the low cost of purchase and its
ability to function on comparatively low cost hardware platforms
appear to be major attractions. For others it may be the ability to
configure OSS in a bespoke fashion that is the prime
attraction.“When discussion turned to which platforms Linux is currently
gaining share from, opinions were divided. Microsoft believes that
the major movers behind Linux (in its opinion IBM and Intel) are
using the OSS movement as a means to disrupt the Unix market and
that Unix systems comprise the major source of movement. Others
present proposed that organisations are migrating from both Unix
and Windows to Linux.“Ballmer was candid when he was asked about the current
attention that the company is now paying to Linux when compared to
its former stance of apparent unconcern. He simply smiled and
responded that ‘we were neither unconcerned nor unaware of Linux;
we just tried not to show it…!'”