07.19.11
Gemini version available ♊︎Bait Headlines Cause Harm to GNU/Linux, Help Microsoft
Summary: Commentary on journalists who trick people into reading articles that say the opposite of what their headlines say
THERE IS a new pattern of Linux FUD this week. Well, actually, it is not so new and we addressed it a couple of years ago. It’s to do with Microsoft’s proprietary-boosting patches for Linux, which Microsoft managed to sneak into Linux through Novell (which was paid hundreds of millions of dollars by Microsoft). Rather than delve into the FUD with some sources and links to the bait headlines from The H, a few others that followed, and Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, aka SJVN (who admitted to me he was link-baiting), we will just link to the following older posts [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8] and advise against feeding those who bait (it typically goes something along the lines of, “Microsoft a top Linux contributor”).
What we prefer to deal with in Techrights is not PR spin but Microsoft’s patent attacks on Linux, especially in light of older Linux FUD that Jun Auza summarises in this timely new post which opens as follows:
rom the buggy-yet-popular Windows 95 to the god-knows-what-it-is and upcoming Windows 8, Microsoft has come a long way. Unlike the 90’s, they aren’t just making computer software, today they manufacture almost anything your tech-savvy mind can dream of. But after all these years, what hasn’t changed is the fact that Microsoft is still a company full of uptight nerds who think that attacking their competitors is what makes them no 1.
Microsoft’s long war against Linux, Android and all things related to Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) is something that can’t be ignored anymore.
It cannot be ignored, so Microsoft is actively attacking, along with Apple (more on that in imminent posts that are longer). Speaking of bait headlines, we sometimes write about articles whose headline says the opposite of the body of the article says. We gave numerous examples over the years and SJVN himself yields many new examples these days, especially when he writes for ZDNet (we truly hope he will stop doing this). Over at IDG there is also a new piece titled “Why enterprises will skip Windows 8″ (we have a wiki page about the vapourware). This is supposed to sound like bad news for Microsoft, but it starts with “Enterprise IT had a good business case for moving off the nearly decade old Windows XP operating system and onto the more modern Windows 7.”
A little promotional, no? We’ve seen that before. Here is how “Homer” addressed this in USENET several hours ago:
> Why enterprises will skip Windows 8
>
> http://blogs.computerworld.com/18634/why_enterprises_will_skip_windows_8[quote]
Enterprise IT had a good business case for moving off the nearly decade old Windows XP operating system and onto the more modern Windows 7.
[/quote]Really?
That statement will come as a surprise to the ~74% of businesses still using XP.
[quote]
Make of this what you will, but according to Microsoft, some 74 percent of businesses are still running Windows XP, an operating system now two generations old.That number comes from Tammi Reller, CVP of Microsoft Windows, who stated as much during the company’s Worldwide Partner Conference this week. What Reller didn’t do, however, is view this negatively.
According to Reller, this statistic just means that Microsoft is in a great position to capitalize on would-be converts to Windows 7.
[/quote]http://www.maximumpc.com/article/maximum_it/microsoft_74_percent_businesses_still_run_windows_xp
“Great position to capitalize” … LOL!
Back to the original article:
[quote]
Vista introduced moderate changes to the UI that forced a jarring adjustment upon some enterprise users.
[/quote]“Moderate”?
My, my. The spin doctors are out in full force, aren’t they?
Vista was a freakish alien from another planet compared to XP. It looked totally different, it behaved totally different and it was largely incompatible with existing Windows software. /That/ was why it was universally slated and ignored by consumers, and why Vole central had to rush a new release out the door in a panic. About the only thing Vista had in common with XP was its bugs and malware. And Vista 7 is just a scam to hide the fact it’s just Vista with a new name.
“Moderate” my ass.
[quote]
Windows 8 will be far more challenging.
[/quote]No shit Sherlock. It’s a bloody phone OS, for goat’s sake. I can justsee server admins trying to keep their servers going by shuffling tiles around on a touchscreen. Yeah, that’ll work.
[quote]
No doubt IT will be asking why enterprise desktops and laptops need touch right now.
[/quote]ROTFLMFAO!
Is this guy on prozac, or what?
Yes, well… this is probably an example of articles we wrote about — those that try to attract Microsoft sceptics while in fact doing some pro-Microsoft whitewash. Thanks, IDG, but no thanks. █
ᶃ Gemini Space
This post is also available in 
Content is available under CC-BY-SA
Needs Sunlight said,
July 20, 2011 at 1:00 am
I had thought that the bait headlines were the fault of the editors. They’ve definitely been a growing problem for close to a decade now. It’s a practice that is counterproductive and inappropriate. Authors should apply pressure for it to stop.