Bonum Certa Men Certa

The History of 'Paul Murphy' Defaming Linux

ZDNet



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' Defamation

On 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 Post

Maybe 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."

Microsoft's "smoking guns"

Recent Techrights' Posts

GNU/Linux Estimated at 8% "Market Share" Today (in statCounter)
Days ago it said 7.1%, then 7.3% or 7.4%
IBM Stock Collapses and It's Only the Beginning
Will GAFAM soon follow and will any executives be arrested for the accounting fraud insiders have long cautioned about?
 
Who Next After IBM? (Bubbles Don't Last Forever)
the demise of companies with "ai" in their name/domain
EPO "Cocaine Communication Manager" - Part XIV - "Not One of Us" (How the Group Dubbed by EPO Insiders "Alicante Mafia" Pushes Out Talent, Replacing It With Friends)
misuses the EPO's budget like it is a fountain of money for his friends
LibreTech Collective Abandons Microsoft GitHub and All Other Proprietary Software
Each time a project eliminates control by a hostile party it stands to gain
Links 15/07/2026: US Regime "Cuts Two Utah National Monuments by More Than 90%", "Hormuz is Less Crucial Than It Was"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 15/07/2026: Old Computer Challenge, "Trial by Fire", LLM Slop Destroying Companies
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, July 14, 2026
IRC logs for Tuesday, July 14, 2026
Heshan de Silva-Weeramuni Becomes Program Manager at the Free Software Foundation (FSF)
Heshan's addition means that the FSF is growing after a solid financial year (best in years)
Michael McMahon Explains Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Attacks on the Free Software Foundation (FSF)
The real solution is a curb on botnets. A mitigation strategy, however, would involve going static.
Matters of Public Safety
"Police say Ann Widdecombe killed in 'targeted attack' as motive investigated"
The Register MS and Its Promotional Microsoft Content
It's not too hard to see what the business model of The Register MS is
IBM: From $306 to $212 in 7 Days, IBM Won't Go Up More Than 50% to Where It Was at 'Peak Vapourware'
There's a limit to how much or how long a company can fake its performance and its potential [...] Early this morning a few insiders ("traders") cashed in on their "pump-n-dump"
Red Hat Staff Needs to Start Looking for the Next Job
Workers can conveniently lie or deny it to themselves, but waves of PIPs ("silent layoffs") will sweep over more and more units or teams as the company runs out of money to play with
IBM the Next Bear Stearns
IBM cannot recover if all it has to show is vapourware
I'll Be Extremely Difficult for Microsoft to Sell Any XBox Consoles Now
Microsoft understands this
How Software Freedom Would Benefit Everybody
A society that denies control by greedy companies would do a disservice to monopolies and improve all services to citizens
Links 14/07/2026: Harsh But Also Fair Criticism of Hey Hi (AI) Slop, 'Open' AI Shuts Down Its Own Products as Funds Run Out
Links for the day
Gemini Links 14/07/2026: Old CD Binder and AWK
Links for the day
In Defence of Physical Tickets
Tickets are not some "app" and not some "code" on some "screen"
Microsoft Layoffs Not Limited to XBox (False Narrative in the Mainstream Media)
Microsoft is becoming less relevant and workforce reductions won't end any time soon
Links 14/07/2026: Plagiarism Spun as "Training", Zelensky Announces Leadership Shuffle
Links for the day
The Register MS Has Just Published "AI" Webspam That Mentions "AI" 54 Times. It Was Paid to Do This.
Who pays for all this "AI" hype or "buzz"?
Gemini Links 14/07/2026: Self-Advocacy Online; "The Internet Is Dead: How the Web Lost Its Human Soul"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, July 13, 2026
IRC logs for Monday, July 13, 2026
Modern Technology Harms Women More Than Men (Because the 'Tech Bros' Who Dominate STEM Have a Poor View of Women)
“Privacy protects us from abuses by those in power, even if we're doing nothing wrong at the time of surveillance.”
Internet Relay Chat Trolls Are Not Expressing Opinions, They Are Saboteurs
For the record
Links 14/07/2026: "The Freedom of Information Act Is in Serious Trouble"; Irish Datacenters Use Up Almost 25% of Total Energy
Links for the day
The Register MS: "AI" Puff Pieces for Sale, Not Journalism at All, Just "Webspam"
The Register MS isn't the sole culprit
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, July 12, 2026
IRC logs for Sunday, July 12, 2026
How We Do Techrights (and What's Changing Next Week)
Many former news sites no longer yield much non-meaningless news (not anymore); there's a gap to be filled