03.14.10

Michael Gartenberg’s AstroTurfing for Microsoft Takes ‘Entelligence’ Tag

Posted in GNU/Linux, Google at 6:33 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Summary: A Microsoft mole gets into Engadget and attacks Linux from over there

LAST WEEK we wrote about Michael Gartenberg’s latest attacks on GNU/Linux [1, 2]. He used to work directly for Microsoft and he is still serving the Microsoft Way as an “independent” person. Just how “independent” he really is one can tell based on his writings, which we sampled in:

Gartenberg has gotten himself a corner in Engadget, where he is slamming Linux (Android in this case), as usual. We point this out just to warn that Microsoft has minions out there in large Web sites.

“We point this out just to warn that Microsoft has minions out there in large Web sites.”In this one particular piece of FUD, diversity is being cast as “fragmentation”. It’s old FUD from the old scriptures. Vendors love choice because customers do too (individuality) and they can customise their platforms for added value to be offered. But under the ‘Entelligence’ keyword at Engadget expect to see a lot more spin like this. Microsoft’s PR campaigns are being merged into sites that used to be trusted and many journalists are now relying on Microsoft’s partner [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10], comScore, for numbers about Android and Windows Mobile. For the time being, Android (Linux) is winning, but Microsoft has a history of using its power over statistics firms to tweak the outcome when it’s possible to identify a favourable criterion/method. █

“Just keep rubbing it in, via the press, analysts, newsgroups, whatever. Make the complete failure of the competition’s technology part of the mythology of the computer industry.”

–Microsoft’s internal document for paid evangelists like Gartenberg [PDF]

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