Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft Honours Competition...... Not.

It can be frustrating to find that some people rely too heavily on what they read the press. They live under rock so-to-speak and as far as technology goes, they are actually unaware of Microsoft's true spirit.

The recent events in Massachusetts ought o have taught us (again) that Microsoft is a sociopath , as Sam Hiser repeatedly puts it. Nothing has changed. To warn people about Microsoft's approach towards Linux and OSI, one ought to remember the words of Cringely, who was interviewed just a fortnight ago.

Davidson: Which software company would you hate to compete against? What makes you single them out?

Cringely: Microsoft of course. They have the deepest of pockets, unlimited ambition, and they are willing to lose money for years and years just to make sure that you don't make any money, either. And they are mean, REALLY mean.

Davidson: Why do you think Microsoft is mean? Are you implying some kind of malicious intent rather than just ruthlessness?

Cringely: Maybe "mean" is the wrong word to use for Microsoft. "Ruthless" is good. The company is built in the image of Bill Gates and Bill is a guy who gets caught-up in the game of business and doesn't typically see its personal cost. To use what might seem to be an obscure example, just look at all the various partnerships and industry consortia that Microsoft has announced through the years that never produced a product or even a usable specification. There have been literally dozens of these operations that are intended solely to freeze the competition until Microsoft can figure what the heck it actually wants to do. To Microsoft its a PR exercise that helps them compete but to customers it is just a damned lie. That's ruthless. There are plenty of other examples I can give but you get the point. I represent the concerns of users, not vendors, and Microsoft doesn't really care about users.


To intensity these words and knock sense into an innocent observer's mind, perhaps the following quotes will do.

"I'm thinking of hitting the OEMs harder than in the past with anti-Linux. ... they should do a delicate dance"

             --Joachim Kempin, Microsoft OEM Chief

"Fucking Eric Schmidt is a fucking pussy. I'm going to fucking bury that guy, I have done it before, and I will do it again. I'm going to fucking kill Google."

             --Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO

"Linux is a cancer that attaches itself in an intellectual property sense to everything it touches."

             --Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO

"We should whack them [Dell over Linux dealings], we should make sure they understand our value."

             --Paul Flessner, Senior Vice President, Server Applications Unit

"I'd be glad to help tilt lotus into into the death spiral. I could do it Friday afternoon but not Saturday. I could do it pretty much any time the following week."

             --bradsi, Microsoft

"We need to slaughter Novell before they get stronger....If you're going to kill someone, there isn't much reason to get all worked up about it and angry. You just pull the trigger. Any discussions beforehand are a waste of time. We need to smile at Novell while we pull the trigger."

             --Jim Allchin, Platform Group Vice President

Good luck, Novell. You're going to need it.

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