“They’ll get sort of addicted, and then we’ll somehow figure out how to collect sometime in the next decade.”

--Bill Gates

MICROSOFT appears to be 'pulling a Korea' in Malaysia -- a nation which is deploying OpenOffice.org and prescribing the use of ODF faster than any of its neighbouring nations [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. As usual, Microsoft disguises its selfish interests as 'goodwill' and this is not the first time that Microsoft abuses the Malaysian people [1, 2, 3, 4].

“As usual, Microsoft disguises its selfish interests as 'goodwill'...”The local press seems to be missing the complete picture. In one article, Microsoft is echoed without a balancing/counter argument: "Microsoft (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd will invest RM300mil in Malaysia over the next three years in a programme likely to give a boost to the local software technology scene, managing director Yasmin Mahmood said."

Yasmin Mahmood is disliked for the nonsensical propaganda she has been 'selling' the country, as well as her outrageous letters [1, 2].

In another news article, it's the same old PR-esque content. It's almost like a rewrite of a Microsoft press release, only with more casual language.

The articles above say nothing about Microsoft's intentions (to harm Free software). They even describe this as an "investment" and a "boost local software tech sector". It's like that BBC 'advert' from the other day.

Matt Asay has just commented about these Microsoft tactics, which capitalise on long-term lock-in, dependency, and predatory pricing.

Will it work? No. Good startups are always looking to save money, and will appreciate the "free production licenses for application hosting and management servers, including Windows Server, Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server, BizTalk Server and Systems Center and soon, Microsoft Dynamics CRM," as OStatic suggests. But they're unlikely to move to Windows from Linux, for example, because Linux is a long-term performance and cost choice, not a three-year "I'll use it because it's free...for now" choice (which is all that BizSpark gets new startups.

[....]

The two companies - Microsoft and Jive - arrived at very different conclusions as to what would drive sales for them. This will ever be the case, and it's what makes open source, in particular, so fascinating. One person's cancer is another person's freedom, as it were. The value of 'free' shifts and changes over time.

It has become increasingly important to keep an eye on Microsoft's chequebooks. Microsoft is beyond the point of charging for software. It's fighting Free(dom) software at all costs. ⬆

Shiny jewelery or shackles in disguise?