03.28.08
Microsoft is OSBC’s First Sponsor Ever (Updated)
Maybe a coincidence, but here is what we know
Having just gone through responses at Digg.com, I found that Matt Asay responded to a submission of mine. He said:
What is ironic, Roy, is that Microsoft was the first sponsor ever for OSBC…and yet it hasn’t capitulated after five years and 7-8 events. Maybe it *is* possible to talk without being swayed. It is for me, anyway.
So, Microsoft was the first to offer money to make this open source conference possible. That would seem to indicate that Microsoft wanted OSBC created. In relation to the “business” slant of this conference (that’s the “B” in OSBC), the following publication, once cited only by Asay, comes to mind again. At the time, we suspected it could have been sponsored by Microsoft. It had fingerprints on it.
“That would seem to indicate that Microsoft wanted OSBC created.”The thesis speaks about commercialisation of open source software, which is exactly what Microsoft wants because it’s easier to monetise and exploit (e.g. with software patents), all at the expense of old-school Free software. I am also reminded of Asay’s anti-Stallman blog posts, not to mention the many slurs against Linux on the desktop and the GPLv3. I’ve been reading Matt’s blogs quite exhaustively for about two years, so I feel eligible to comment on this.
I also found the following bit of text among Andy Updegrove’s links just a couple of hours ago:
Microsoft’s Brad Smith Tries To Make Nice With Open Source Community
Andrew Updegrove, a partner in the law firm Gesmer Updegrove LLC, was a member of a panel following Smith’s talk and asked, “Wouldn’t it be a great step to assert that no patents will be used against Linux?” Smith responded, “That would be saying, ‘Hey, if you create the Linux kernel, you get a free pass.’ .”
Unsurprisingly, the bit above was selectively quoted by Andy. Who wouldn’t find it a tad shocking?
We last wrote about OSBC yesterday afternoon. You are strongly encouraged to read this post if you haven’t.
Earlier this night I received another E-mail asking about OSBC. Specifically, it was an inquiry in relation to that horrific talk from Brad Smith. I later asked: “I suppose you know who invited Brad.”
The response was interesting:
Who? Matt Asay?
Is this guy pro-Microsoft?
I have the impression he is responsible for the Microsoft hijack of the open source term, and the recent MS-OSS licenses.
Maybe he is bought already.
[...]
When it comes to patents, Microsoft might be in the top3 worse companies.
This response comes from a European expert on software patents. It gets very difficult to trust people these days. As a note of clarification, I do not believe Asay wishes to help Microsoft but I maintain my position that he is being used, probably without even realising it.
He is promised fame and glory, but he may be manipulated (a condition upon which this reward depends). And ironically enough, this reminds me of a particular Vice President from Novell, who once pursued a job at Microsoft. Instead, shortly after the job interview, he created a competitor to KDE, thus leading to fragmentation and duplication of effort. █
Update: I have just come across this writeup from Linux expert/journalist Sean Michael Kerner. It seems to concur in places. Have a look:
Microsoft’s Open Source Business Conference
CoolGuy said,
March 28, 2008 at 2:08 am
matt does the dirty laundry for m$
tell m$ to use gpl license if they want to learn to inter operate.
CoolGuy said,
March 28, 2008 at 2:13 am
Matt does the dirt laundry for Microsoft.
He is not to be trusted. Thy wolf in the sheep’s clothing.
Microsoft as I know is today obsolete in IT. No one needs them, no one care about them – they have become irrelevant. Their technology sucks.
zoobab said,
March 28, 2008 at 2:27 am
The top1 worst company on software patents is probably Philips. They were the most aggressive during the software patents debate, the most vocal to push EPLA, and also the only company that supported criminal sanctions (!!!) for patent enforcement. They are behind the use of criminal procedure by Sisvel at the recent Cebit. They have used freeze of bank accounts against Princo in Italy.
Roy Schestowitz said,
March 28, 2008 at 2:28 am
@Cool Guy:
Hey, not so fast with accusations please. As I stressed before, I believe he is just being used. I have told him this for quite some time, but he refuses to see it. I am hoping that by aligning evidence he will be able to understand this better. There are many other recent stories one can add, such as the podcast gig with Dan Lyons.