06.22.10
The History of ‘Paul Murphy’ Defaming Linux
Summary: A look back (8 years ago) at what “Paul Murphy” was doing to GNU/Linux, leading to the thread “Rudy de Haas’ Defamation”
Our previous post dealt with pseudonym “Paul Murphy”, whose fake nickname must have indicated an escape from some past or some shame (sincere people needn’t hide their identity), even predating the SCO case. A reader has sent us a pointer to this old message which refers to IDG (LinuxWorld):
—–Original Message—–
From: John Alvord [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Tuesday, May 28, 2002 5:17 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: Rudy de Haas’ DefamationOn Mon, 27 May 2002 19:33:01 -0400, “Post, Mark K” <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:>I thought quite a while before deciding to write this note. I finally
>decided that it was worth the trouble and risk of being ignored.
>
>Rudy de Haas’ (aka Paul Murphy) latest and final article in his series on
>Linux/390 was really too much to have to deal with in what should be a
>reputable publication such as LinuxWorld. Inferring that the subscribers
of
>the Linux-390 mailing list are the same as gullible members of a religious
>cult is crossing the line of responsible journalism into territory that I
>don’t even know how to categorize.
>
>In his zeal to criticize IBM and the Linux/390 platform, he seems to be
>unaware of one possible explanation for all the things he can’t understand
>about the platform and its supporters: they might be right and he might be
>wrong. In his last column he makes the comment “The list members know
>what’s going on, most of them have daily access to Linux on the mainframe
>and can see its costs and limitations far more clearly than outsiders can.”
>Which is true. In his mind, though, that just makes them deluded cult
>members, as opposed to intelligent professionals who know a good thing when
>they see it.
>
>If Mr. de Haas had actually listened to the responses he got, instead of
>taking them as further evidence of a collective delusion, he might have
>avoided libeling thousands of honest, hardworking IT professionals.
>Instead, he chose to drape himself in the mantel of self-righteousness and
>proceed in his own delusion.
>
>To use a British turn of phrase, bad show, both on his part, and yours as
>well.
>
>Mark PostMaybe some people here should author a rebuttal and see if LinuxWorld
would publish it.john
The SCO case is practically over, but the usual suspects — Rud^H^H^H^Hrphy included — keep flogging a dead horse. It’s important that people don’t pay attention to them. █
“Maureen O’Gara said she was going to call them so it looks better coming from her.”
