Bonum Certa Men Certa

Where Do Gartner's and Fortify's Attacks on Free Software Come From?

“Analysts sell out - that’s their business model… But they are very concerned that they never look like they are selling out, so that makes them very prickly to work with.”

--Microsoft, internal document [PDF]



WE RECENTLY showed Microsoft's attacks on NC, as demonstrated very clearly using internal communication. This was practically done by the Gartner Group at Microsoft's behest and with Microsoft's invocation.



There are many other such cases where Microsoft uses the Gartner Group against Microsoft's rivals (including GNU/Linux), typically using Microsoft funding. Gartner also negotiates its coverage of Microsoft products... with Microsoft. We gave plenty of examples like these before, but the following new example sure resembles the group's attack on NC, which is a paradigm shift (away from the 'desktop') that Microsoft simply cannot allow. Is the following man yet another 'attack dog' of Microsoft?

Analyst: SaaS and open source ‘won’t happen’ in 2009



Software as a service, the model by which software is hosted and delivered over the network, “will not happen” in 2009, according to Gartner research director, Andrew Rowsell-Jones.


Was this opinion bought? Did he truly believe what he said with a subconscious bias?

Another known 'attack dog' of Microsoft is Fortify, a Microsoft ally that's currently attacking messengers who promote Free software, including the conservative party in Great Britain.

Microsoft's past talking point was that Free software is more expensive, but having realised that the public no longer buys this FUD, the company and its partners proceeded to attacking using "security" as ammunition, not "cost". Here is some more analysis which contradicts the latest FUD:

First, Conservative shadow chancellor George Osborne no less put out another chapter in his tech emerging manifesto, extolling the wonder of open source and berating the Government for its inability to see the light. His job is to berate governments, which tend to be easy targets, and open source software makes a hard bat.

That, predictably, prompted one vendor with an axe to sharpen, Fortify Software, to remind the media, to remind the media of a report released last July by the company that found security patching fault in 11 Java packages. Disclaimer: Fortify sells software assurance products.

Inevitably, a number of sources have slated Fortify in turn, and one, Coverity, has even come up - hey presto! - with its own report showing that, on the contrary, open source programs had fewer flaws than closed source, not more.


It sure seems as though Fortify was lying or bending truths to promote itself and vilify its ally's nightmare. It's easy to make up supportive numbers while hiding the rest [1, 2, 3].

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Report About February Mass Layoffs at Microsoft (Third Wave of Microsoft Layoffs in 2025) Comes Back From the Dead
Yesterday we wrote about an article in CRN (reporting Microsoft layoffs) being removed without any reasons specified
Links 21/02/2025: Myanmar Scam Centre and Disruptions at USPTO
Links for the day
gbhackers.com is Not Hackers, It's LLM Slop Outputs (Fake 'Articles') That Attack 'True Hackers'
A site called linuxsecurity.com keeps doing this and now we see the slopfarm gbhackers.com doing the same
linuxsecurity.com Continues to Spread Lies or Machine-Generated FUD (Microsoft LLMs Likely the Source) About OpenSSH and Linux
this LLM problem is global
People Who Came From Microsoft Demanding Removal of Articles About Them, About Microsoft, and About Microsoft GitHub is "Generous" (According to Them)
Imagine choosing a law firm that borrows money in the same year just to avoid overdraft in the bank!
 
Hype Watch: Weeks After Microsoft Disappointed Investors With "Hey Hi" It's Trying Some "Quantum" Hype (Adding Impractical Vapourware to Accompany This Hype and Even LLM Slop in 'News' Clothing)
Remember "metaverse"? What happened to media hype about "blockchain" and "IoT"?
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, February 20, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, February 20, 2025
Gemini Links 20/02/2025: Law of Warming and Cooling, Health, and Devlog
Links for the day
Links 20/02/2025: Microsoft Infosys Layoffs and IRS Layoffs (Good News for Rich Tax Evaders)
Links for the day
IBM Layoffs in Europe Already Happening or Underway (UK and Spain). They Try Not to Call These "Layoffs".
"CIO" in particular was repeatedly mentioned lately, as was Consulting
Possibly a Third Round of Mass Layoffs at Microsoft in 2025 ("Cloud Solution Architects, Customer Roles"), Report Removed or Censored
This is literally the top story for "microsoft layoffs" right now
Instead of 'DoS Protection' Cloudflare is Allegedly Conducting 'DoS Attacks' on Users of Browsers Other Than Firefox and GAFAM's DRM Sandboxes (Chrome, Safari and Others)
If you value the Web, you will avoid Cloudflare
Mixing Real With Fake in One 'Article' (by "Director of Content, Help Net Security")
From what we can gather, he got machines to generate some slop for him
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, February 19, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, February 19, 2025
Gemini Links 19/02/2025: FreeDOS abd Botfloods
Links for the day
Microsoft Has "Made the Customer the Product."
it's very likely this comment was made by a Microsoft employee
GNU/Linux and Android Trump Microsoft in Saudi Arabia, Bing Down Since the LLM Hype/Hysteria Began
Microsoft leaves a lot of money on the table
The Interplay Between Free Software and Journalism Based on Truths, Suppressed Facts
Honest people can be transparent. Dishonest, rogue people rely on a lack of it.
FSF Talk: "Free Software Teaching Materials" by Dr. Miriam Bastian
Software Freedom is rooted in philosophy but it's about technical solutions
IBM's CEO Has Become a Stochastic Buzzword-Generating Machine
The current CEO is extremely unpopular
Chicago Transit Authority Has Dumped Twitter (X), As Did Many Others Without Announcing It (Due to Fear of Right-Wing Mobs)
If you don't have an account in Gab, then you probably should not have one in "X", either
How-To Geek Sort of Supersedes MakeUseOf (MUO) for GNU/Linux Coverage
some writers from MakeUseOf (MUO) have been migrated to a sister publication
New Year's Resolutions Scoreboard
The goal is to improve clarity, accessibility, speed, and accuracy
Sites Reporting Crimes and Getting Harassed for Reporting Crimes
you cannot just ignore those who constantly seek to harass
Links 19/02/2025: Science, Hardware, and Digital Restrictions (DRM) Striking Again at eBooks
Links for the day
Zizian, transgender, Google & Debian open source extremist cult phenomena
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 19/02/2025: The Forgotten USB Competitor and Pope's Bilateral Pneumonia
Links for the day
Gemini Links 19/02/2025: AuraRepo and Offpunk
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Wayne Williams is Making Up for His Workers' Slop Party, LinuxSecurity.com Still Publishes Fake Articles
We must identify and call out the culprits
“Open Source” Really Does Miss the Point, We Can Do Better Than That
We need to reject groups of people who promote Microsoft GitHub (proprietary) and call that "Open Source"
Red Hat's Bluewashing to be Further Completed This Year
Do not wait for some announcement from redhat.com - it's already covered by IBM
Links 19/02/2025: Organisations Quitting Social Control Media, Windows TCO Illustrated Some More
Links for the day
The Free Software Foundation is More Financially Independent From Large Corporations Right Now
Money that comes with strings attached to it is always problematic
The Free Software Foundation's Position on IBM Taking Red Hat Enterprise Linux 'Private' is Articulated Almost 2 Years Late
The Free Software Foundation finally spoke out about this issue
Techrights Publication Topics
One thing we'd like to do more of is Software Freedom advocacy
Springtime Layoffs at IBM (2025) and Statement From IBM European Works Council
It's about cost-cutting, even if such cuts doom the company
Microsoft Paying People Who Harass and SLAPP Techrights, Demanding Censorship
At this point the money trail leads directly to Microsoft
It's Not Even Hidden Anymore: Microsoft is Passing Bribes for Media to Publish Puff Pieces About Itself
GeekWire is paid by Microsoft to publish many puff pieces (even outright lies) about Microsoft
Dr. Andy Farnell on a Death to Efficiency and Cash
Cash is not the same as "digital cash", which isn't even remotely the same
Links 19/02/2025: Political Roundup and Halifax Wants to Dump Twitter ("X")
Links for the day
Gemini Links 18/02/2025: Beginning Meditation, Poison as Praxis, and Blogging
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, February 18, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, February 18, 2025