09.01.10
Microsoft is Said to Have Had an Anti-OpenOffice.org Seminar on Monday (Updated)
Summary: The Microsoft camp is attacking Oracle’s OpenOffice.org (OOOo) while pretending that Oracle is an “evil empire” (whereas Microsoft “loves” open source)
THANKS to Comes vs Microsoft exhibits, last year we posted Microsoft's blatantly anti-GNU/Linux (and highly confidential) presentation. it also covered and encouraged bribery (against GNU/Linux).
At the end of last year we also showed that Microsoft had begun hiring people to fight against OpenOffice.org adoption [1, 2, 3]. That’s how a monopolist works, by targeting any sign of competition and then derailing it or bribing those involved (see the Munich story for example).
As many people may know, OpenOffice.org is having an event in Budapest this week, but Microsoft too is said to be in town (same tricks used to steal ODF’s thunder). One commenter (not verified) wrote the following comment about Microsoft some days ago:
Nicer? Not really!
Here is an excerpt from an invitation for a seminar by Microsoft in Budapest/Hungary on 8.30.2010.“Program:
9:30 – 10:30 The art of selling against free, opensource Office competitors by Moritz Berger /
Enterprise Tech Strategist (in English)
10:30 – 11:00 Coffee break
11:00 – 12:00 Technical teardown of OpenOffice by Moritz Berger / Enterprise Tech Strategist”
Be aware that Microsoft proponents still use Oracle’s lawsuit and contrast that with some cocky remarks from Microsoft’s Paoli (the “love” nonsense [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]) to make Microsoft seem like a friend of “Open Source” while the steward of OpenOffice.org is the “new evil empire” (or something along those lines). █
Update: Regarding the OpenOffice.org conference in the same city, Rob Weir told me that “Microsoft (@moritzbe) [Moritz Berger] has a presentation scheduled for tomorrow “Building Bridges”.“
rhdunn said,
September 1, 2010 at 3:12 am
Did anyone involved with OpenOffice.org attend this? It would be interesting to get information on this — especially the “Technical teardown of OpenOffice”.
With that information the points could either be refuted or be used to create a list of enhancements.
Dr. Roy Schestowitz Reply:
September 1st, 2010 at 3:19 am
I am still trying to identify location/name of this event. I’ve asked a read of ours from Budapest, but he knows nothing about it.
Dr. Roy Schestowitz Reply:
September 1st, 2010 at 3:19 am
s/read/reader/
satipera said,
September 1, 2010 at 6:39 am
Industry players in any field pretend to welcome competition, it is expected of them as it fits with the Idea that the best and brightest will succeed against slower and inefficient incumbents.
Techrights is adding in its area of expertise to the overwhelming evidence that business success is skewed to the interaction between political power and money.
BTW thanks for photo of Hungarian Parliament, I had no idea it was such an impressive building.
Dr. Roy Schestowitz Reply:
September 1st, 2010 at 6:51 am
The thing is, Microsoft is not just competing here. There are special rules for monopolies (crushing entrants while they are small) or paying particular people to avoid alternatives or help crush these (c.f. AMD vs Intel).
Rob Weir has just posted a photo from Hungary: “@rcweir: Inside HU Parliament waiting for #OOoCon opening ceremonies to start. http://yfrog.com/ncq63j “
satipera said,
September 1, 2010 at 7:28 am
I agree with everything you said in your previous reply. I thought I had drawn attention to this without labouring the point.
Dr. Roy Schestowitz Reply:
September 1st, 2010 at 7:44 am
I think it’s nice to apply the same principles to governments. A lot of tyrannies control information and restrict access to opposition, which they then use to justify “popularity” (as in “Windows is popular”).
In the West, presidents/PMs can usually not serve for longer than 8 years, but parasites of the system don’t ever get elected. They exert power from outside the electable system; there are analogies in software too. Remember the 2008 trip Ballmer made to Hungary (never mind lobbying from Gates)…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S30WdoEHCH4