Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft Unleashes the Gartner Group to Sabotage Migration to GNU/Linux in Europe

Gartner Group Comes to Microsoft's Rescue, Again

Summary: Microsoft's brigadier Michael Silver helps foil Europe's migration to GNU/Linux, using lies

WHILE THE Web site was down (more details about it later) we had planned to publish what later on showed up on Slashdot. As it may seem like old news by now, we will take a somewhat unique angle on this and take a deeper look at those who are involved.



This whole thing began on Thursday night when Stefano Forenza got his hands on some really interesting documents, which he then translated into English before/whilst sharing the findings. The documents were not supposed to be seen in public because transparency is not truly a priority to those who are involved in heavy contracts where fairness is merely a luxury.

Here is what Stefano wrote.

An Italian EU deputy, Marco Cappato, had the guts to ask. The reply was they were basing on a study made in 2005. He asked to them to make it public, but his request was refused. Nobody believed he could get the EU to make it public. An well known Italian IT website even called that ‘a miracle‘.

I’m going no further, I’ll just translate Cappato’s post and attach here the document for the world to see. Up to you to judge how good it is.

(not that is that the document is still super-secret, but it has been disclosed very recently and I guess you won’t have many other chances to read it otherwise)


The following day it entered Slashdot's front page and here is the story's summary.

For 4 years MEP Marco Cappato tried to get access to the EU Council's 2005 open source migration study because he is a member of a responsible IT oversight committee in the European Parliament. His repeated requests for access were denied. Now they have finally been answered because the Council's study has escaped into the wild (PDF in French and English). Here is a quick look. It is embarrassing! Gartner, when asked if there were any mature public Linux installations in Europe, claimed that there were none. Michael Silver said, 'I have not spoken to any sizable deployments of Linux on the desktop and only one or two StarOffice deployments.' Gartner spread patent and TCO FUD. Also, the European Patent Office participated in the project, although it is not an EU institution.


The long discussion seen in Slashdot took place in many other sites. It's truly fascinating, yet typical.

Let us go through some finer details which may or may not have been caught by eyewitnesses who saw this document.

As Stefano put it, the "title of a user comment on the news [is] 'dirty pigs, just because it's up to us citizen to pay'." The original file [PDF] is in French and English. That, according to Stefano, is "the study the EU used to decide between Microsoft and FLOSS (a study they didn't want to make public)."

It was not so long ago that we wrote about a study like this which the EU had shelved and we also saw American Microsoft lobbyists deviously invading an EU panel on Free/Open Source software to completely ruin the study which came out. There are other such examples. We are still in touch with the Commission about it [1, 2], but they keeps finding excuses and procrastinating. It's truly comedy and they also violate transparency laws while using poor reasons to refuse or delay until the requester gives up.

Going back to Gartner, which we have proven to be corrupted by Microsoft [1, 2, 3], don't the European diplomats know that Microsoft commissioned Gartner for anti-Linux studies, which we know about because we have the receipts? Asking Gartner about migration to GNU/Linux is like asking the Pope if one should convert to Islam.

"Next time they'll ask IDC," Stefano jokes, referring to another Microsoft-corrupted analysts firm [1, 2] (their affair with Microsoft lives on at this very moment).

Anyway, looking at the document, we find that it's a familiar character in it. It's the infamous pro-Microsoft Michael Silver [1, 2]. Yes, we saw him many times before. One should skip to page 25 (onwards) to find Microsoft is all over it and also take a look at page 33, which reveals nothing but Windows. In page 39, for example, they also mock GNU/Linux.

"That's a document the EU didn't want to disclose," explains Stefano, "because disclosing may 'compromise our business agreements with Microsoft'." That's according to the Italian man from the EU parliament -- the man who fought the EU to disclose this study. Why was it done in secret anyway? Why was Microsoft involved? Well, now we know why.

Here are bits of the correspondence:



From: Silver,Michael [Michael.Silver at gartner.com] Sent: lundi 14 février 2005 13:55 To: BIANCHESSI Pietro Cc: Drakos,Nikos; MARIOTTI Jean-Marc (EP); TURPISZ Vincent (EP); LORA-TONET Pierre (EP); DiMaio,Andrea; Heyneman,Christine Subject: RE: references for site visit of OSS on workstations

Dear Mr. Bianchessi, Thank you for your inquiry on desktop Linux and open source office products. The organizations I mentioned in my presentation are in their infancy, if that, in their open source desktop deployments. I have not spoken to any sizable deployments of Linux on the desktop and only one or two StarOffice deployments. Here is the status of the ones you mentioned. -City of Munich – in the planning phase -City of Bergen (N) – this organization is not doing Linux desktop. I mentioned these people as an example of the Linux hype. There was an erroneous press report and since then the CIO has been trying to correct it, saying that they are doing servers, not Linux desktops. -Allied Irish Bank – Sun and AIB put out a press release last year, but Sun informed me a few months ago that AIB was not doing reference calls. You can ask your Sun representatives to connect you with a reference.

-NSW RTA – This is another Sun reference, but they are only doing StarOffice, not Sun Java (Linux) Desktop. Again, Sun should be able to connect you. I continue to work with my colleague, Andrea DiMaio, to find references at these and other government organizations. We will keep you in mind as we speak with other organizations that might be appropriate references and ask their permission to give you their contact information. Unless I hear otherwise, I will assume we are free to give them your information and ask them to contact you. I would be happy to discuss your Linux desktop plans with you on an ongoing basis if you like and I believe Ms. Heyneman can help you arrange a call with me. I recently spoke with a large bank that had been seriously considering Linux for a large portion of their users but found that staying with Windows would be less expensive. There may be other benefits that government organizations have considered that companies cannot (like economic benefit) and we can discuss that, but I cannot share this organization’s name or contact information at this time.

Regards, Mike Michael Silver Vice President and Research Director Gartner Hardware and Operating Systems 56 Top Gallant Road Stamford, CT 06904 ph. 203 316 1200 fax 203 316 6560 hwos@gartner.com Click Here for Gartner’s Latest Client Platforms Research http://www3.gartner.com/research/focus_areas/asset_57051_815.jsp From: BIANCHESSI Pietro [mailto:pbianchessi

Dear Mr. Silver,

recently I attended a Gartner presentation in Brussels by Nikos Drakon on OSS. I told him that at the European Parliament we would be interested in visiting one or more sites where OSS workstations are implemented on a large scale. He was kind enough to send me your presentation titled "Client OS and Office: is Open Source in Your future?". I find this presentation brilliant, and very useful. At the European Parliament we often receive questions from Members on "why have we not migrated our workstations to OSS?" and we are examining the possibilities. We definitely do not want to embark in a migration without having verified that others have done it successfully before us, and that the benefits would exceed the disadvantages. In this spirit, we would like to visit 2 or 3 successful sites, if any exist.

We have a base of 11.000 PC's (in the process of migrating from Win NT + Ofiice 97 to Win XP + Office 2003). The question is: can you help me obtaining the name and e-mail or adress of a contact person in some of the main Organizations that have installed, and are working with, OSS workstations ? I am thinking of the Organizations you quote in your slide: -city of Munich -city of Bergen (N) -Allied Irish Bank -NSW RTA and others: -Bundestag (Germany) -Ville de Paris -etc.

Regards Pietro Bianchessi head of Office Automation and IT support Division SUTI - DIT (Parlement Européen) tel 00352 4300 22185 fax 00352 4300 27108 email: pbianchessi@europarl.eu.int



On a purely factual level, Gartner is very wrong, but it is no surprise given the hypothesis delivered by the paying clients of Gartner, including Microsoft (Bill Gates is an investor in Gartner too). Regarding GNU/Linux deployments in Europe, how about French police? This success story alone boasts over 100,000 desktops/laptops running Ubuntu.

In other news, Gartner seems to be advertising Vista 7 after some negotiations with Microsoft regarding Windows Vista. Here is what they say:

The Gartner comments come with speculation rampant that Microsoft could ditch Vista in the wake of what appears to already be a groundswell of positive reviews from early users of Windows 7.


Like the bribed-for ones? As opposed to those whose reviewers got smeared for criticising [1, 2]?

One thing is for sure. We have just looked at 2 weeks of news about "Microsoft" (judging by the headlines). For "Windows 7" we get 56 matches and for "Vista" just 8 matches. Microsoft is trying to prevent discussion about Vista and have people talk about vapourware instead.

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

The US Government is Now in the Business (Literally!) of Saving Microsoft and Intel
This means that President TACO/Cheeto now has greater financial incentive to also prop up Microsoft and Windows
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
 
Gemini Links 23/08/2025: BaseLibre Numerical System and Back to Oldschool
Links for the day
"Deserved Victory" for "Women That Suffered"
"GNM defended its reporting as being both true and in the public interest and in a judgment on Friday"
Links 23/08/2025: onmicrosoft.com as Spam Cannon, The Cheeto-Intel Deal Is Official
Links for the day
Wired Complained About LLM Slop Only Days Before It Got Caught Doing That Itself
Never throw stones in a glass house
IBM "Value" Down 14.16% in a Month, Red Hat Layoffs Allegedly Discussed 12 Days Ago
"IBM is a dinosaur. Dinosaurs get extinct when the don't keep up."
We're Seeing More Countries Where Windows Isn't Even in Second Place Anymore (Third or Worse)
In a way, Microsoft can barely even hold onto second place anymore
Microsoft Workers on Canonical's Payroll
If you want something that's sort of like Ubuntu but is not controlled by Canonical, then look into Linux Mint, Debian, or LMDE
GNU/Linux Climbs to 4% in Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone isn't a very rich country (to say the least), but it's better off than some of its neighbours
The SLAPPS Run Out of Oxygen Because They're Abuse of Process
At the end of the day we plan to publish over 1,000 articles explaining what happened
The Register MS Gets Paid by the Employer of the Previous Editor in Chief to Promote the "AI" Ponzi Scheme, Which Does Considerable Damage to the Web and to Online Journalists
The Register MS can 'badmouth' slop all it wants; it gets paid to inflate this bubble. It's actively participating in it.
Soon It'll be Autumn, Time to Repair Things
Where they don't charge an arm and a leg
Doing Our Best to Cover Software Patents When the Mainstream Media Does Not
Even the FSF has its limits
Gemini Links 23/08/2025: August Questions and Network Solutions
Links for the day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, August 22, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, August 22, 2025
Microsoft Has Issues in Guyana
It's not just Guyana
About 25% of the "Linux" News/Results in Google News Today Are LLM Slop, Almost 20% From the Same Rogue Operators of Slopfarms
Google, which tries to market itself as an LLM giant, apparently fails to understand what's wrong with it
Harassing People on Holiday
There are "no-go areas"; but that assumes all laws firms have ethical standards
The Great, Undeniable Value of Paper Trail, Not Purely Digital Systems
Suppose you have nothing but bits on someone else's computer and "word of mouth"...
The Company Behind Ars Technica, Reddit and Wired Caught Publishing LLM Slop (It Also Admits It Now)
Condé Nast busted
Links 22/08/2025: Lagrange 1.18.8, Wired Magazine and Business Insider Caught Resorting to LLM Slop
Links for the day
This Saturday It's Gonna be 3.5 Years* Since Russia Invaded Ukraine. No Microsoft Protests Against Microsoft Having Provided Russia With Services.
Companies do not have consistent policies and enforcement of "corporate values" is somewhat of an egg salad
Slopwatch: Sites Gone Rogue, Google Promoting Lies, and DDoS Attacks by Plagiarism Giants
Charlatans and frauds engage in a war against artistic industries, mislabeling plagiarism as "AI"
Links 22/08/2025: Cisco Layoffs, LA Times Says "AI Hype is Fading Fast"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/08/2025: K for Kentucky and Caddy Versus LLM Slopbots
Links for the day
The "End Software Patents" Initiative of the FSF Explains "WHY [to] ABOLISH SOFTWARE PATENTS"
We hope to cover patent-related issues more and more as the big anniversary of the FSF approaches
Freenode Sniffing
The grown-ups left the building
The Only Thing Worse Than Misinformation is Misinformation Sold to Everyone as "Intelligence"
Misplaced trust is worse than none at all
The Register MS Now Openly Admits LLM Hype Does Damage, But It's Also Being Paid to Participate in the LLM Hype (With Paid 'Articles' and 'Webcasts' for Paying Advertisers)
The Register MS gets paid to do this
End of the Smartphone Era? No.
Maybe the media should focus on producing accurate, factual news
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, August 21, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, August 21, 2025
Enshittification of Airports, Airlines, and Airplanes
If people are willing to tolerate standard declines and enshittification (nowadays sold as "pivot to AI" or "replaced by AI" or "AI layoffs") they will pay for it some other way
Latest Is Not Greatest: The Case of "Foldable" Tech
don't be shamed into abandoning old things just because the "fashion industry" of Apple and Samsung tells you to
Airlines and Their Tricks That Only Work in the 'Digital Age'
People sceptical of the direction technology has taken are not "Luddites"
Open Source Initiative (OSI), Which Became a Propaganda Front of Microsoft and "Hey Hi" (Hype, Misnomer), Wants You to Forget These Scandals
A lot of these issues won't be set aside until there's a resolution
The Culture of Overnight Coding
An industry-wise push-back is needed
Windows Down to New Lows in Guinea Bissau and Many Countries Around It
If Android is accounted for, Windows is down to about 10%
Gemini Links 21/08/2025: Modern Dating, Debian 13, and Apache
Links for the day
Microsoft Has Had About 10 Waves of Mass Layoffs So Far This Year (Not Two as Mainstream Media and Slopfarms Endlessly Claim)
Notice how the MSM (Mainstream Media) never mentions the debt of Microsoft. It is a conscious, deliberate decision.
Links 21/08/2025: Covid Cases on the Rise, "Social Media Trolls", Russia's Attacks Intensify
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/08/2025: The Attraction of Back Alleys, Initramfs, and BSD ISPs
Links for the day
Links 21/08/2025: Stephanie Shirley Dies and "Groklaw Domain Hijacked?"
Links for the day
Search in 2025 (Age of DDoS Attacks Under the Guise of "AI" "Innovation")
One common concern when things go "live" is that any random bot out there can execute queries, pumping up RAM and CPU usage, as happened when we used MediaWiki and WordPress
Using Slop for Images Does Not Make Your Site Look Advanced or Witty, It Just Makes Your Whole Work Look Like Presumed Plagiarism
Lazy slobs and Serial Sloppers use the guise/excuse of "AI" to plagiarise and spam the Web
Financing of the "Hey Hi" (AI) Bubble by Those Who Profit From Planetary Destruction (Global Warming)
It's about personal gain, too
Richard Stallman Will Speak in Ethereum Cypherpunk Congress
it's good to see that the FSF pays considerable respect to it founder, who is moreover invited to speak at events
(At Least) Second Wave of Mass Layoffs in Microsoft This Month
This is not the first time this month that Microsoft has mass layoffs
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, August 20, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, August 20, 2025