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Salesforce CEO: Microsoft is “Somewhat Disgusting”; Microsoft Smears of Free Software Carry on

"Microsoft allowed us to [remove Internet Explorer from Windows] but we don't think we should have to ask permission every time we want to make some minor software modification. Windows is an operating system, not a religion."

--Gateway Computer Chairman Ted Waitt



Summary: Tough words about Microsoft's fight against anything other than its own software that it controls entirely

THE previous post was evidence of the fact that Microsoft not only sues rivals for competing; it also uses extortion to prevent Amazon.com from offering GNU/Linux servers at a reasonable price. In a meeting that took place last week, the CEO of Salesforce.com called Microsoft names for its removal of all platforms other than Windows.



Marc Benioff, chief executive of cloud-computing company Salesforce.com, called Microsoft "somewhat disgusting" for its fixation with the Windows operating system, and went on to spread around disdain for SAP and IBM.


A hopeful pacifist might suggest that Microsoft is fine with Free software -- or any software for that matter -- as long as it runs on Windows, but that's not true (ask Netscape or Mozilla, for example). Jason from The Source has just done an excellent job finding and dissecting Microsoft's OpenOffice.org FUD material that everyone can view:

Back in the dark ages of the early 2000s, Microsoft ran a misleading FUD campaign against Linux under the “Get the Facts” banner.

It looks like “Why Microsoft” is the not-much-anticipated sequel, where – in concert with a blog running cutting edge 3.5-year old software – Microsoft will again FUD, mislead and distort as it attacks alternatives to its proprietary lock-in-rich offerings – including some Open Source contenders like Open Office.org.

The Present

As the Gentle and Return Reader knows, one of my favorite past times is pointing out fallicies, distortions or downright lies. The entire “Why Microsoft” site is chock-full, but let’s just look at a few from the “So, You’re Considering OpenOffice.org” PDF Microsoft offers.

[...]

More of the same, of course. Present tactics are the same as the past tactics, save that Microsoft has gotten a little bit more clever in concealing its intentions.

This is just another example of Microsoft FUDing an Open Source competitor. I guess that’s alright if you are involved in a bit of FUD against OpenOffice.org yourself, but personally I don’t approve.


Microsoft has also been scheming to use software patents against OpenOffice.org. So for those who think that Microsoft is tolerant of competition, it's time to wake up.

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