THE reason we have been writitng about the Gartner Group quite a lot recently is that they attack Free software very frequently [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. That's several times in a matter of weeks.
As Matt Asay puts it, there is not much money to be made
as an analyst in a world so saturated with Free software. It marginalises Gartner and one of its major clients/investors (notably -- although not only -- Microsoft), so its attacks on Free software are means of self defence.
It's a pleasure to see even the community manager of OpenSUSE
denouncing Gartner. Data Blankenhorn too has just
gone on the polite offensive.
In order to simplify and improve people's understanding of the Gartner Group, it's likely that some time in the future we will create a cohesive resource. Gartner is just one of the largest of its kind, but equally bad are smaller firms like Forrester, Burton Group, and Yankee Group, which serve virtually the same interests.
IDC, which owns
one of the most extensive media networks covering technology, is another serious problem. It's a wound in the fabric of seemingly independent media, which merely instructs trends through a Web of citations of itself and selected clients. For it's worth, it is the same in politics where public opinion is shaped by a consensus decided by interests-possessing 'elites', accompanied by policed media and curricula.
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Comments
AlexH
2008-11-28 10:41:55
Presumably it doesn't mean that Gartner's next pronouncements on "open source" isn't going to be ignored?
AlexH
2008-11-28 10:42:41
Roy Schestowitz
2008-11-28 10:51:58
AlexH
2008-11-28 11:02:24
(I'm not struggling with your criticism of them, but what action you're proposing, that's all).
Roy Schestowitz
2008-11-28 11:33:05
As for myself, I will dismiss Gartner no matter what they say and tune in to sources that can be trusted because there is no money on the table.
This does not indicate that I will abstain from mentioning Gartner's shilling-du-jour. Vigilance is crucial.
AlexH
2008-11-28 12:23:58
I'm just asking what you meant by the word "banned", which is implying that you're not going to write about them (to me, at least).
You say "we invite others to do the same" - do you just mean you want others to dismiss what they write, or is there some broader action you're asking for?
Roy Schestowitz
2008-11-28 12:51:54
Academic studies (before the increased commercialisation of universities) and industrial analysis are two totally separate animals because one strives to inform for fixed income, e.g. state funding, whereas the latter typically relies on relationships with companies (recent example that had us cited by ComputerWorld and InformationWeek). That's why many analysts have begun putting disclosures online, in attempt to defend their integrity in advance.
AlexH
2008-11-28 13:06:42