Summary: John Sullivan shows how/why Apple is being dishonest about its relationship with “Open Source”; a glimpse at how perception management at Apple and Microsoft actually works
APPLE is not a friend of Open Source. Apple has exploited Open Source a great deal (so has Microsoft), but it's not the same as befriending it. Apple is suing Android/Linux and threatening Theora (links a the bottom), to name just two recent examples.
John Sullivan (FSF) accuses Apple of saying "things that aren’t true" (i.e. lying). He names
one example:
This is one, from http://www.apple.com/opensource:
As the first major computer company to make Open Source development a key part of its ongoing software strategy, Apple remains committed to the Open Source development model.
Not only is the overall statement false, but so is each component.
Apple and honesty do not go hand in hand. It is a company of
fake hype which relies heavily both on grassroots and on fake grassroots (i.e. AstroTurfing). Microsoft's own
AstroTurfing campaigns are greater in terms of scale (e.g. number of AstroTurfers) and severity, so they just happen to get a lot more attention and scrutiny.
A moment ago we found out that Microsoft's AstroTurfer which it gives schwag to in exchange for his trolling (under multiple fake names) in Free software and GNU/Linux blogs is still receiving schwag. "My MVP Award Kit arrived today, gosh its gorgeous! :) Got a bit choked up,"
said Andre Da Costa, whose relationship with Microsoft we have covered in:
Andre Da Costa is just one AstroTurfer among very many, so we merely use him as an example. There are probably thousands like him.
"Nice,"
says OpenUniverse, "I remember, although I forgot how they bribe people with laptops." We gave
many more examples when the
Vista 7 AstroTurf began. OpenUniverse
also asked, "out of curiosity, how do you prove it's the same guy and not two or three?" Well, Andre Da Costa has already admitted this when proof was presented to him (posing as "Mr. Dee" and "Lucy").
Apple, for example, has Daniel Eran Dilger, who is also
attacking Android/Linux/WebOS as long as it suits Apple's agenda and they, in turn, give him 'special access' to the company, by his very own confession.
Microsoft and Apple fan sites are often built by people who are compensated for their effort by the companies they glorify. This corrupts trust.
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Apple on Theora:
