Ballmer Wants to "Stomp Linux" Using MS community 557
StefMeister writes "According to this article on CNet, MS wants to fight Linux by using their community support (of course by community they mean the few guys they personally know and who make money using their MS knowledge). My favorite quote of the article is this one "Linux is not like Novell, it isn't going to run out of money--it started off bankrupt, in a way.""
Can someone say... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Can someone say... (Score:2)
I think Timothy is rubbing off on Chris.
Re:Can someone say... (Score:2)
What exactly are you saying here?
This is a wonderful argument... (Score:2)
Re:When Ballmer said... (Score:5, Insightful)
Did he mean fiscally bankrupt? As opposed to, um, someone else who is ethically and morally bankrupt?
Re:When Ballmer said... (Score:3, Interesting)
Did he mean fiscally bankrupt? As opposed to, um, someone else who is ethically and morally bankrupt?
Linux:
Total assets: $0.00
Total liabilities: $0.00
Good will: $3,200,000,000.00
Doesn't look "bankrupt" to me, either fiscally or morally.
Re:When Ballmer said... (Score:5, Insightful)
I doubt you'd get any of the former Enron employees to agree with you - or any of the investors, for that matter.
Well, I guess you'd be avoiding Micro$oft then... (Score:4, Informative)
Proposed HP Merger: Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) Found Not Independent and along with Barclays plays key Role in Microsoft Pyramid Scheme [billparish.com]
Inside Story on Microsoft and Enron [portlandtribune.com]
Senate Proposal Could Cost Microsoft Billions [theregister.co.uk]
Microsoft Circles of Influence and Enron's Collapse [billparish.com]
http://www.billparish.com/20010404americaonline.h
Buybacks Backfire, Microsoft Loses $8.4B Speculating on Own Stock [usatoday.com]
Microsoft Scheme Costs Seattle Its Largest Employer, Boeing [billparish.com]
"How Cisco Systems and Microsoft Avoid Tax" [theregister.co.uk]
Microsoft Financial Pyramid Summary [billparish.com] and Microsoft Financial Pyramid Summary Updated [billparish.com]
How Microsoft Pays No Federal Income Tax on Current Income [billparish.com]
Well... (Score:2)
And uhm.. after that? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:And uhm.. after that? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:And uhm.. after that? (Score:5, Funny)
Duhhhh (Score:3, Funny)
If they stomped BSD, then where could they get code from?
Duhh, they'll just keep copying the code of independent open source high school graduates which they get by reading their monitors via the secret cameras they have installed in everyone's house. Then the programmer dies in a freak accident/hate crime so he can't dispute the origin of the code.
Geez, I guess some people just don't pay attention to what their television tells them anymore...
Re:And uhm.. after that? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:And uhm.. after that? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:great for OS X (Score:3, Insightful)
Possibly it will be great for OSX. But in terms of revenue, that's not the MS competition. MS make most of their money from corporates, both desktops (more for Office licenses than Windows) and servers.
MS are facing two threats from Linux:
Linux (plus StarOffice) have a ready solution to all those problems, both in terms of price and stability and also in terms of a basis in standards (which is the rebuttal to the MS tax).
Yes, OSX is/can be many of those things too. Hell, I use it to run my network at home, providing all the basic network services to a mix of other OSs. But I'm not a 20,000 seat enterprise, and those guys ain't buying Macs for anyone outside their design/communications departments.
What's an MS community? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:What's an MS community? (Score:5, Informative)
Try: ActiveWin.com [activewin.com]
Re:What's an MS community? (Score:4, Funny)
Amazing! They even make grammatical errors in the editorials, just like Slashdot!
Re:What's an MS community? (Score:4, Funny)
"Does anyone know how to set a password on the background so my sister doesn't keep setting it as the Backstreet Boys?"
Re:What's an MS community? (Score:5, Funny)
From ActiveWin.com: [activewin.com]
-------------
#24 By cschweda
I installed Linux for a friend last week and Slashdot posted it as a headline.
Then a bunch of 14 year old zealots posted 345 comments about how (a) Windows sucked, (b) linux didn't, (c) CmdrTaco misspelled a word in the headline, (d) JonKatz sucked, (e) no he doesn't, you suck, (f) Natalie Portman is one hunka svelt flesh, (g) a beowulf cluster would be cool a thing to do, (h) Slashdot isn't like how it was in the old days, (i) yes, it is, STFU.
--------------
Kinds of says it all doesn't it?
Re:What's an MS community? (Score:4, Funny)
#2 By sodatwit [activewin.com] (6 Posts) at 9/25/2002 5:29:18 AM
This comment has been removed due to a violation of the Active Network Terms of Use.
When their editors mod you down, they mod you all the way down.
Re:What's an MS community? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:What's an MS community? (Score:5, Insightful)
Honestly, I don't understand the whole "religious wars" as I like to call them. I'm a huge supporter of Linux. Most of the reason is because I feel I can actually offer something in that scene. But I'm not entirely against Microsoft. I have a lot of respect for what both factions are trying to do. I am leaning most of my support towards the linux world though for two reasons: 1) I like to support the little guy and 2) even if Linux were the big guy, the profit to be made from open source is in support, not monopoly. This sorta puts in its own checks/balances -- something that I don't believe Microsoft has the benefit of. What it comes down to is "the right tool for the right task". You're not going to see me doing music on Linux any time soon. Most likely, MAC is still the best for that (throw your bottles now, but it's true from a professional level). For net development and servers, e-mail and so on, I choose linux. Joe-schmoe desktop user won't find home in Linux any time soon. Yes, it's getting there...but it's still far from idiot proof.
A little aside about Open Source vs. Closed Source: There are faults to both, but I believe the Open source model could potentially be much more beneficial to the computer world -- not necessarily to the individual company. That's not such a bad thing though. Anyhow, supposing there's a huge security loophole in a closed source project, the consumer identifies the problem, and the company has to spend time and money to fix the problem. However, that's part of overhead at that point, as the consumer has already paid for the product and a service contract, one would assume. Meanwhile, in the open sourced project, said consumer can report the loophole across the 'net. Someone using the product (not necessarily the company) might be able to fix the problem and offer his code to the company. However, said company should take measures to make sure that the code doesn't open another exploit put in there by the devious programmer (not to say it happens often, but it could).
Meanwhile, the chief benefit of Open Source? Your undies are hanging out in the breeze. So your product is no longer the software...its trust. Redhat, Slackware, Mandrake, SuSE, and so on...how do they earn their money? Trust. People trust them to check the submitted code. People trust their product, no matter how different or similar it is to someone else's product, simply because it's released by said company. That's where competition should lie, in my opinion. Quality, quality, quality. Don't like it? Use some other flavor of the same damn thing. The most will flock to that which has the most quality. Reinstall the uncorruptable medium for competition.
Now say it together: We Love Open Source!!!!
(Coplan needs to go relax now)
ActiveWin? (Score:3, Interesting)
A selection of topics that look like what an intern at MS's own PR department would pick, most of the fora empty, & the few fora that have any comments
degenerate within 15 minutes into Linux vs. Windows flamefest.
Someone even thought a car accident one month ago was worth an article on this site. It took me some digging (the way they link to stories suck) to confirm what I suspected: Heikki Kanerva, one of the victims in this accident, was an employee at MS. In other words, a story so poorly written a reader really had to work at to care about it.
There *HAS* to be a better pro-MS discussion forum somewhere. Any suggestions?
Geoff
Re:What's an MS community? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:What's an MS community? (Score:4, Funny)
By clicking this, you agree to do MS Community Service for the period of 1 year.
This includes so called "trolling" on "slashdot" and shouting your mouth off in channel "#Debian" on irc.openpro^K^K^K^K^K^K^K^K^K^Kfreenode.net
Re:What's an MS community? (Score:4, Funny)
Not a duplicate story (Score:3, Funny)
Umm... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Umm... (Score:3, Insightful)
chrisd
Re:Umm... (Score:3, Funny)
My life is a lie.
Re:Umm... (Score:2)
Re:Umm... (Score:4, Insightful)
What makes this really bad is the fact that it was CLEARLY pointed out [slashdot.org] yesterday that Ballmer and perhaps others were misquoted in the referenced article. On one hand you guys complain about the FUD Microsoft spews yet on the other you obviously have no problem doing the exact same thing yourselves. (Hint: Never take read anything from CNET or ZDNET literally - their articles are usually fluffed up).
Now on an ontopic note - MS' Developer community drawves the size of the Open Source community by at least a few hundred if not a thousand fold. They generally have a richer centralized repository of information and technical knowledge (MSDN) to draw from and their development tools are widely considered to be superior. They also sell a platform which offers the best chance for close to 100% market saturation.
Laugh all you want - but it sounds to me like the man has the right idea. Afterall its not like he said, "We are planning on leveraging the power of our preceived monoply to crush the oppositionary force known as Linux". No he actually said something along the lines of, "By continuing to foster a rich developer community as we have in the past we can make sure the bulk of the talent is writing code for Windows and not Linux".
Whine all you want but that sounds legal and fair in my book.
J
Re:Umm... (Score:3, Insightful)
I realize I'm preaching to one of the choirleaders, but as someone who switched away (a number of years ago) from being very involved with development on MS platforms, my perspective is that although MS does provide a lot of useful and well-organized material on MSDN, what they don't provide is not only telling, but can be crippling for a developer.
Microsoft goes out of its way to "strategically" hide and obfuscate things that it considers to provide a competitive edge, or things that it thinks may reflect badly on the company. It repeatedly and consistently takes action based on its own most narrow interpretation of its self-interest (forget about enlightened self-interest - a foreign concept to Microsoft).
I think what Microsoft has missed in the larger sense of assessing its own actions and policies, is that a software company like Microsoft is not like companies that sell other kinds of products. It relies on developers who commit large portions of their time to working intimately with their products. In a sense, every developer who uses Microsoft products should be considered an MVP, in the sense that they should be given access to information that helps them do their jobs without needless frustration and deliberate stonewalling and delaying tactics.
Microsoft is not the only closed-source software company that has problems in this area, but it's certainly the most prominent. In that position, it's in their own interests to try to do a better job. Microsoft showed no inclinations in this direction until open source began threatening its business model. What Ballmer is saying reflects the first time in a long time that Microsoft has actually said something that essentially translates to "we have to do a better job of providing real value to our customers".
Microsoft and its customers owe a tremendous debt to open source for that kick in the pants. It will be interesting to see whether Microsoft is actually capable of delivering the value it's talking about.
Yeah, we started out broke (Score:3, Insightful)
Started Off Bankrupt? (Score:5, Funny)
As opposed to Microsoft, which, of course, will simply end up bankrupt...
Re:Started Off Bankrupt? (Score:5, Interesting)
Wow... I've heard of confused paradigms and misunderstandings leading folks down the wrong path before, but this is amazing (and I think reflects a very deep fear and circling of wagon mentality coming from the top of Microsoft).
At a minimum, Balmer's comment here reflects a complete inability to grasp that the competition this time is different. It's not another Microsoft, another software company that they can pin a name to, use the same strategy and crush it through whatever mechanisms.
I just don't get it, Bill. I know there has to be an evil Linux conspiracy organization out there, but I can't find their headquarters. How can the Microsoft Storm Troopers 2.1(TM) infiltrate an enemy we cannot find?
It's intangible. It's an infectious meme. It'd be like King Charles I dismissing the threat of Parliment because they didn't possess a throne.
Not to get too esoteric, but I'd suggest Balmer read Milton's Areopagetica quickly. He might just learn the answer to all their inherent security problems, as well as the probable long term failure of the current strategy (which he apparently will ride to the ground given present thinking). Then again, maybe he shouldn't and business students can have a good case study of why closed source is a bad idea in the long run.
Closed source doesn't permit "grappling of truth and falsehood." It hides, obscures, conceals falsehoods (such as security problems or bugs) and relies upon official persons of the Microsoft kingdom to be allowed to discuss and determine what truth/falsehood is. Recent aggression with EULAs and service packs prohibiting public exposure of such defects nearly mirrors a sort of Star Chamber - a certification from Microsoft permitting one to speak (and those that criticize are not permitted).
Given the rapidly increasing defensiveness (much of which can be attributed to antitrust, I'd guess), I don't see an ability to change until its probably too late.
Re:Started Off Bankrupt? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Started Off Bankrupt? (Score:2)
Re:Started Off Bankrupt? (Score:2, Interesting)
Ballmer to the Walls (Score:4, Insightful)
What a FUDfest! Well, folks hopefully have seen the Register story on this. A couple of comments.
Technology like clustering would be better in Windows than Linux eventually, said Ballmer: "We will beat Linux on clusters. We can't beat them on price, but we have to add value."
Given the current market for Beowulf, I don't see MS competing on clusters, especially with "add[ed] value."
Asked by one lateral-thinking MVP whether Microsoft planned to offer applications software on Linux, Ballmer said no, adding that the big issue was a reluctance to accept legal liability for open-source software.
"We do not anticipate offering software on Linux," said Ballmer. "Nobody pays for software on Linux." Even StarOffice, sold by Sun, was originally a free product, he said. And IBM, arguably the No. 1 player in the Linux market, promotes Linux to big users, but does not actually sell Linux: "It's weird. IBM says 'Hey British Aerospace! Buy Linux...from SuSE.'"
StarOffice did not start out as a free product, iirc. And as for IBM promoting Linux, how is that any different from HP and Dell promoting Microsoft. And does the first paragraph, as the Register asked, mean that Microsoft accepts liability for their own software?
Re:Ballmer to the Walls (Score:2)
Thats just the funniest part about this whole OS/CS business. The CS folks have their lawyers ensure they are never liable for use of their software, and then turn around and bash OS because theres no legal liability.
I suppose b2b contracts for software might contain certain 'performance metrics', meaning companies can back out of contracts if the software doesn't perform up to spec, but do they usually include legal liability for malfunctions, etc? Can anybody tell me this? Doesn't it just come down to the ability to pass the buck? I mean, by now, "Well, we thought we were okay because it was an MS product" is nearly an allowable defence for IT projects gone wrong.
You can't say the same thing with OS because nobody is making the $$ off of it to be the figure^H^H^Hscapegoat that you can claim should have been a good choice because gee, they make tons of money, and that means good products and culpability gosh darnit!
Balls to the walls (Score:5, Insightful)
*laugh* Ballmer only seems to see things in terms of money. It should be painfully obvious that Linux didn't start off "bankrupt", it started off free, which is hardly the same thing.
Quoth kalidasa: StarOffice did not start out as a free product, iirc. And as for IBM promoting Linux, how is that any different from HP and Dell promoting Microsoft.
It isn't, of course -- well, there's one crucial difference. MS doesn't get any money out of it.
And does the first paragraph, as the Register asked, mean that Microsoft accepts liability for their own software?
They keep dancing around that issue. They have, one the one hand, tried with EULAs and so on to get out of liability -- but they are also starting to realize that that lack of responbility has meant that they release shoddy software and have no immediate need to fix it. But now their reputation for less-than-good software is starting to come around and bite them in the *ss. A symptom is all the buzz that Linux and UN*X is getting. So they are starting to acknowledge *moral*, as opposed to *legal*, liability for their software products ("Trustworthy Computing").
Which could be dangerous, 'cos you can't have it both ways, really. Eventually someone's going to start suing the bejeezus out of them, once some NT-based thing goes blooey and costs someone a fortune...
Cheers,
Ethelred [grantham.de]
Re:Ballmer to the Walls (Score:4, Funny)
Is that what they're calling the BSOD these days?
"Added Value"?
clustering (Score:5, Interesting)
clustering area because they realize that they
really can't beat the price.
But -- how would a 100 node microsoft cluster have
any better value than the same cluster running some
linux clustering sw? The microsoft system would
be around 100 times more expensive, and the
licensing would be outrageous.
Imagine you want to add 20 nodes to your cluster.
With linux -- no problem, cable it up and go.
With microsoft, well, you probably have to get
some more licenses, and another 20 copies of
windows to install. That's around $3500 just
for the os software.
And finally, there are lots of linux clustering
installations running today, and many of those
have been using clusters for years and have a
history of upgrades and improvements. I really
doubt these people will be interested in
switching to a microsoft monolithic cluster.
More and more, microsoft is getting desperate.
Re:clustering (Score:2)
Re:clustering (Score:5, Insightful)
Note: I do not disagree with you that the cost is going to be much much much higher in a Windows cluster.
Re:clustering (Score:5, Funny)
Re:clustering (Score:3, Insightful)
"Check this out! It's an active-active SQL2K cluster! It actually works!", said the highly ecstatic SQL Server admin. "That's nice.", said the unimpressed Oracle DBA without looking up from his latest copy of -insert favorite magazine here-.
That was quick... (Score:2)
can we at leat try not to slant the headlines? (Score:5, Insightful)
Life is more than business (Score:3, Insightful)
They have to turn everything in life into a business.
"In a way they started out bankrupt"
You have to have debt in order to go bankrupt.
A social movement is not a busness. There is no way it could have been bankrupt. Stop trying to spin business terms where they don't apply.
Microsoft probably started more bankrupt than Linux. They were a business, and they probably had alot of debt. This is how most businesses start out. You get a little funding to start (if you can't pay it back.. you're bankrupt).
Re:Life is more than business (Score:5, Insightful)
And linux is not a social movement, it's an operating system.
Seriously, I'm sick of all the lame typecasting based on what OS happens to be on my box at any particular time.
Right now I'm running Windows 2k, working through some bugs in a custom DCOM object. So I guess I'm a corporate sheep. In an hour or so I'll be working through some fortran code in unix. Then I'm a greasy peace loving hippy.
If you want to brand yourself, go ahead. Keep me out of it. It's just as lame as the 'nintendo vs ps2 vs xbox' crapfests that 12 year olds have on irc.
Re:Life is more than business (Score:3, Informative)
"Society - A group of humans broadly distinguished from other groups by mutual interests, participation in characteristic relationships, shared institutions, and a common culture."
Linux users would be a society, having their muterial interests be Linux.
Re:Life is more than business (Score:4, Insightful)
And linux is not a social movement, it's an operating system.
Are you kidding me? Thousands of developers worldwide spontaneously volunteer millions of hours into a collective pot, the fruits of which eventually rival the biggest software companies on the planet. Sounds like a social movement to me.
Right now I'm running Windows 2k, working through some bugs in a custom DCOM object. So I guess I'm a corporate sheep. In an hour or so I'll be working through some fortran code in unix. Then I'm a greasy peace loving hippy.
Straw man. No one is making judgements about users based on what OS they are running on their desktop. The claim is that you can't try to discuss the development model of Linux based on terms that only make sense for businesses (such as "bankrupt") since they simply don't apply (there is no entity involved that can have assets or debt).
Bad examples (Score:5, Funny)
Right now I'm running Windows 2k, working through some bugs in a custom DCOM object. So I guess I'm a corporate sheep. In an hour or so I'll be working through some fortran code in unix. Then I'm a greasy peace loving hippy.
Although I agree about not subscribing to archtypes, you need to pick some better examples:
Can do without the editorial comments (Score:2, Interesting)
I think we all could have gotten the point of the story without the editorial. I'm not talking about censoring the guy, I'm just saying that it detracts from an otherwise decent story.
Developers, developers, developers, developers (Score:2, Funny)
All I have to say (Score:5, Funny)
Re:All I have to say (Score:2)
Balmer and RMS (Score:5, Funny)
-Sean
Energy focussed in the wrong places... (Score:5, Insightful)
RIght now they are focussing their energy in stomping both consumer (DRM) and market rights, stomping competition, and stomping whatever or whoever dares to say something bad against them. This is such a waste of energy only a PR departement with too much staff can afford.
Stupid yet annoying bug to give ONE example out of probably 1000+ that people could bring up:
Since windows 95, when I'm dragging a huge folder, explorer STILL doesn't display the remanining time correctly, saying example 2 minutes remaning, and then 388432 minutes (and going down by 600 minutes every 2 seconds), I mean, for god's sake, 5 years later, 3 service pack later, windows 2000 *STILL* has that bug. This is one dumb example, but imagine all the bugs that you don't directly see.
So please microsoft, don't focus on the few users you don't have, focus on making your current userbase HAPPY so that they aren't bleeding off to your potential competitor as soon as they get a chance or get too fed up, because THIS will cost you.
MS Certification Exams exposed! (Score:5, Interesting)
M$ shift Strategies. (Score:3, Interesting)
"We have to compete with free software on value, but in a smart way. We cannot price at zero, so we need to justify our posture and pricing. Linux isn't going to go away--our job is to provide a better product in the marketplace."
M$ knows that it has to make a better product than Linux to survive. I think they have a long way to go.. **Evidence**that people/community can shake huge corporations!!! C'mon M$ is afraid of /.
Bankruptcy (Score:2, Redundant)
Microsoft will always be morally bankrupt.
So, "in a way", hasn't Microsoft always been bankrupt?
Deja Vu like a..... (Score:3, Insightful)
Wasnt the link [com.com] in this [slashdot.org] Slashdot article essentially saying the same thing?
From the I've got some growing up to do dept. (Score:3, Insightful)
We'll stomp on Linux!
I'm taking my ball and going home!
How embarassing for Microsoft, their CEO sounds like a ranting 3 year old. Time for a timeout.
Stop the madness (Score:4, Interesting)
(of course by community they mean the few guys they personally know and who make money using their MS knowledge)
Are you kidding me?
Want to make some cash?
Get a group of guys together who have MCP's and MCSE's, maybe an A+ and Cisco guy for cool logos to put on your business cards.
Go around 'consulting' networks for the local small businesses for $60 an hour, $120 an hour for the SE's
If you can find the business and there's not much competition, it's like taking sugary treats from an infant.
Good (Score:2)
Bankrupt?? (Score:3, Insightful)
Better fit, don't you think.
Problem is the MS community is the Linux community (Score:2)
Everytime MS tries this... (Score:3, Interesting)
If Microsoft would put out something that works better than Linux then I would use it. It's that simple. They haven't so I won't. We're deploying more and Open Source here in my defense agency corner of the government. Why? Because we can do more with it.
Services not platforms Ballmer.
After all these unsuccessful, goofy misguided attempts to kill Linux they still haven't figured out the futility of just bullying? Haven't they learning that bullying just galvanizes the open source community more?
They really DON'T get it do they? I, for one will just do more to insure they don't get stronger here because I make decisions at that level. Yes, I am biased. They have screwed up that badly with us and I will not waste tax dollars on crap.
The genie is too far out of the bottle now.
a whopping 1200 MVP's (Score:2, Interesting)
95% market share and all they can come up with is 1200 people?
Where is the article which shows actual facts (Score:2, Insightful)
But, its been 2 days since IDC came up with the server figures for 2001. None of the Linux sites have mentioned it. As usual they seem to live in an anecdotal world like Mac zealots where everybody & their grandma uses Mac/Linux but fail to register a blip in the marketshare radar
Looks like Microsoft is winning in the server side too & everybody is having their heads buried in the sand
Raarghhh! (Score:5, Funny)
"Linux... making me angry... can't... contain... emotions... third-person... narration... taking... over... RAAARGHHHH!!!"
*Ballmer transforms into a giant, green-skinned version of himself, tearing his clothes and exposing his enormous gut*
"BALLMER STOMP LINUX!!! RAARRGHH!!! DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS!!"
Re:Raarghhh! (Score:3, Funny)
Oh, wait...
Clarification (Score:2)
MS reaps what it sows (Score:3, Interesting)
Getting desperate (Score:2)
M@cr$s&ft must be getting pretty desperate if they are going to start adding value to their products.
United, with who? (Score:2, Insightful)
Sounds to me like M$ is getting a taste of their own medicine.
MVP? (Score:2)
I've never taken this guy seriously since he came hunkering across the stage like a deranged orangutan.
Bankrupt? (Score:2)
I have a one question for you, Ballmer. What's it like to have so much money and yet do so little for the good of mankind?
Ummmm... Not really (Score:3, Informative)
Well, actually, Star Office started as a commericial product from a company called Star Division. The company was eventually aquired by Sun who in turned offered Star Office as a free download and then open souced a version of it and has now gone back to selling branded versions of the open source project (wheww!!!).
favourite quote (Score:2)
I'm sorry but whem has anyone tried legal action against M$ for selling you duff software. There's a big disclaimer in the license if I remember correctly. Something along the lines of
"If you lose data and your business suffers financially as a result, Microsoft accept no liability for any errors in our sofware. Tough"
Or am I wrong...???
Nobody pays for software on Linux. (Score:4, Insightful)
I guess I am the only one out there who paid for Oracle on Linux, can't imagine why Oracle keeps producing the new versions.
How about "We won't be porting our apps to Linux because that will kill sales of our less than useless OS" isn't that a bit closer to the truth?
Novell, huh? (Score:4, Informative)
With products like DirXML, Netmail, Zenworks for Desktops, and yes, even Netware, trust me, they're going to be around. A Netware 6 cluster offering native Netware, NFS, Apple FS and CIFS support is pretty amazing. So are products like Account Managment, which lets you sync AD and eDirectory users, as well as Unix accounts, IBM mainframe user accounts, etc. Probably doesn't mean much to the usual
Sure, it's not always flashy, but you can get real work done, which is what those of us getting paid to do IT work should be focusing on.
Oh jeez. (Score:5, Insightful)
Because even though it's in the article headline, Ballmer is never QUOTED as saying it in the article. It is just the author's interpretation of what Ballmer said.
Ballmer gave a very calm, non-confrontation argument (pro-Microsoft, yes, but what did you expect?).
Come on, people would be up in arms if a Slashdot headline wrongfully said "FSF says 'fuck you' to those not using GNU/Linux".
If anyone needs me, I'll be tearing my hair out...
Jesus, you morons did it again! (Score:5, Insightful)
Follow these steps for shoddy journalism: (honestly, can someone please explain the difference between
- C|Net gives a title to an article about Ballmer that uses the word "stomp" as if Ballmer had said it. They don't quote him saying it.
- /. picks up the story (again) without reading it, and further butchers it by altering the title again and attributing a quote that's entirely fictitous but sounds really inflammatory and good, presenting it as fact.
- People who angrily point this out get modded -1, Panties In A Twist, and they disappear into the Troll Pits, and the site is run by those who remain and who don't give a fuck. Repeat from step 1.
Like the demise of Wired all those years ago, it's just really sad. This place used to be a great source of information. It's fallen a long, long way.MCSEs of the world! (Score:3, Funny)
Ballmer is right! (Score:5, Funny)
Steve almost has a clue. Linux has very little money, no central base to be attacked or bought, and it's massively distributed into residential basements and dark corners of IT departments.
This has to be Microsoft's worst nightmare -- an enemy that doesn't care about money or "winning" market share. An enemy that takes Microsoft's "clone and lowball" strategy and turns it back against them. Indeed, Linux is the Viet Cong of the internet.
I find it fascinating to watch Microsoft fumble and bumble with ineffective strategies against an enemy that they truly don't understand. When Microsoft decides to concede the OS battle and tries to take over the Linux desktop, then I'll be worried about the monopoly being perpetuated. They keep denying any intention of porting Office to Linux, so maybe it's Microsoft that will run out of money.
Parallels with the 'war' on Terrorism (Score:3, Insightful)
With both you have a large seemingly unbeatable force with money to burn that believes it can outspend the competition to maintain a monopoly. This monopoly is widely loathed yet many people cherish the stability it brings. Meanwhile you have a DIY group of individuals who are trying to bring down said monopoly with ingenuity and far less funds.
Not that I think Linux hackers are terrorists IN ANY WAY, likewise I am not condoning terrorists either. I just find it interesting as a comparison.
Thoughts?
Re:Arrgrgrgrgrghhhh! (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Arrgrgrgrgrghhhh! (Score:5, Insightful)
Who was he speaking to? MS MVPs.
So he's saying that MS CORP and the MSMVPs need to unite, and that after they are united they will stomp on linux.
First problem: Uniting the MS MVPs to MS.
Second problem: Getting MS and the MVP to do some stomping (regardless of what is being stomped). That would imply that MS and the MVPs would somehow be "in-step". I wonder how many MVPs will actually dance that dance.
Third problem: Stomp on Linux? Are they going to download distros and pile them in the street and physically stomp on them? Ahh, of course not, it's figurative. They are going to fight them. But how? Are they going to buy them out? Nah. Are they going to try to make their system so much better that linux will seem to be the "worst" alternative? Yes. That's what they meant. But what does that really mean, making their systems so much better? I think it means compete. So microsoft is saying that it will compete against Linux and the developer community behind it. But what does that mean? I mean, Microsoft the monied MNC needs help from MS MVPs to compete against a non-business run by a bunch of volunteers?
This brings me to my point. Ballmer essentially feels directionless. MS is financially directly being impacted by the GNU/Linux operating system and the various distributions. Yet there is no one company to compete against. There is no company to compete against. There is no way to underprice linux until they can't pay their devs and go BK. There is no way to advertise better than linux since MS can't buy word-of-mouth, and word-of-mouth is the best form of advertising. So in effect MS is losing sales and there's nothing they can do about about it.
But MVPs can. They can do the word-of-mouth. These people recommend solutions to large and medium customers. MVPs are are consulting comapnies, solutions providers. They can be the MS advocate and Linux bad-mouthers.
Except that there are more Linux Zealots (and I use the term endearingly) than MS MVPs.
So in fact ballmer hit it on the nose. Together they will stomp on Linux.
Of course, Linux will stomp right back... But that's another story altogether. Goodnight children.
Re:Arrgrgrgrgrghhhh! (Score:2)
(Hunkering down for an offtopic mod.)
Re:Arrgrgrgrgrghhhh! (Score:2)
Did you ever see the video of Ballmer 'stomp'ing around a convention stage, almost tripping over himself and hyperventilating at the end ? If you did, you can't read any Ballmer quotes without picturing him stomping around like some sort of wanna-be-silverback gorilla in mating season.
Re:Arrgrgrgrgrghhhh! (Score:2)
of course by community they mean the few guys they personally know and who make money using their MS knowledge
Few?!? I think someone is in denial.....
Re:Arrgrgrgrgrghhhh! (Score:3, Informative)
that implies he said it.
-1 RTFA.
In the title of the article (Score:4, Informative)
Another option is to use the 'Find' feature in your browser (be it IE, Lynx, Mozilla, Galeon...) and search for 'stomp'. It worked for me.
I Saw This Show In Vegas (Score:4, Funny)