Summary: The latest FUD from Forrester and who's behind it; more on IBM's Power PR and why it should not be taken at face value

AS we showed in previous years, the marketing company (masquerading as "analyst") called Forrester is Microsoft's go-to entity for Free software bashing and GNU/Linux FUD. Microsoft literally pays Forrester to produce reports that belittle GNU/Linux. It's just a real damn shame that Forrester gets caught doing this and Microsoft's red-handed actions have them red-faced in the international press.

As one who spent many years working with statistics (common tool in computer vision) I am quite familiar with ways of cheating and Forrester [via [1]] seems to be cheating again [2], in pretty much the same way that IDC cheapted for Microsoft several years ago. If one looks carefully enough at who Forrester has surveyed, it is "a survey of 155 Forrester clients with responsibility for those investments." Who are those clients and what are their relative roles? It doesn't say. Forrester is gleefully generalising based on this biased sample (geographically, economically, etc.); classic tactic. 'Disclosure' without even names.

ZDNet, the vile tabloid which gave Forrester a blog (conflict of interest), already covers this paid-for propaganda as though it is factual and also "news" [3], claiming (in the headline even) that "Microsoft Office fends off open source OpenOffice and LibreOffice" (no attribution to Forrester even).

"Forrester is gleefully generalising based on this biased sample (geographically, economically, etc.); classic tactic."Really? Says who? Says Forrester. So is Forrester registering billions of users' computers and then doing a census? Of course not, see the methodologies. It's bogus, but Forrester tries to pass it off as "professional". Well, professional FUD it sure is because it is penetrating the press and is proving effective (FUD well worth the money). Microsoft-friendly press puts that forth as some kind of universal fact, not even scrutinising the methods, the messengers, the funder, the polled population, etc. That's not real journalism, it's simply PR relayed via Forrester.

Taking into account what Rob Weir (of IBM) says this week [4], "[t]he OpenOffice brand is strong and growing. Over 30% of consumers surveyed had heard of it. Of those who had heard of it, 67% had given it a try." He also says that "[o]f those who tried OpenOffice almost 78% continued to use OpenOffice."

Sounds pretty decent, but the IBM-dominated Apache OpenOffice is not to be trusted either. IBM in general is not worth trusting, definitely not with it comes to "trusted computing". Regarding IBM Power investments, which have had a Linux-themed PR campaign, some say that it's partly about the NSA: [via Gary Edwards]

The Other Reason Why IBM Throws A Billion At Linux (With NSA- Designed Backdoor)

[...]

Then another boon for IBM. Experts at the German Federal Office for Security in Information Technology (BIS) determined that Windows 8 is dangerous for data security. It allows Microsoft to control the computer remotely through a “special surveillance chip,” the wonderfully named Trusted Platform Module (TPM), and a backdoor in the software – with keys likely accessible to the NSA and possibly other third parties, such as the Chinese. Risks: “Loss of control over the operating system and the hardware” [read.... LEAKED: German Government Warns Key Entities Not To Use Windows 8 – Links The NSA.

Governments and companies overseas paid rapt attention. They’re big customers of our American tech heroes – and they’re having second thoughts, and some are cancelling orders. Tech companies are feeling the heat. A debacle IBM apparently decided not to let go to waste.

This is a story worth exploring in isolation.

What are the true numbers behind OpenOffice and LibreOffice adoption? It's hard to tell without a census. Free software is being spread vertically and unless it's improperly designed it also discourages spying that's needed to count the number of active installations. If Forrester claims to know how OpenOffice and LibreOffice are doing, then it is lying; but on whose behalf? My wife uses OpenOffice at this very moment while I'm typing this. She uses a Live CD, so how can the likes of Forrester count it? They can't. They can only pretend to be able to. ⬆

Related/contextual items from the news:

1. Office Productivity Software Is No Closer To Becoming A Commodity | Forrester Blogs





2. Office Productivity Software Is No Closer To Becoming A Commodity





3. Microsoft Office fends off open source OpenOffice and LibreOffice but cloud tools gain ground

   Nine out of 10 firms simply give staff the installed version of Office, with only six percent offering some or all employees a non-Microsoft alternative, according to a Forrester survey.





4. The Power of Brand and the Power of Product, Part 3

   The OpenOffice brand is strong and growing. Over 30% of consumers surveyed had heard of it. Of those who had heard of it, 67% had given it a try. That number is changed little. This is an opportunity for Apache OpenOffice marketing volunteers to improve both of these numbers. Of those who tried OpenOffice almost 78% continued to use OpenOffice. This is a modest increase, but there is certainly room to improve here. Put it altogether, and the estimated user share, the percentage of US internet users who use OpenOffice “sometimes” or “regularly” is 16.1%, nearly a 50% improvement year-over-year.