06.03.09
Troll Warning: Bill Snyder, IDG, Microsoft Investor
Summary: Another writer in IDG writes a lot about his pocket’s opposition, and negatively of course
Bill Snyder writes for IDG, which is in Microsoft’s pocket [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. But Bill too is in Microsoft’s pocket, almost literally. You see, Bill writes a great deal about Microsoft and open source, but secretly he is also an Apple and Microsoft shareholder. He admitted this once. It’s the same situation with Net Applications, which IDG loves citing for a distorted world view. See the details in:
- Net Applications: the Big Lie, Boosted by IDC|IDG et al
- Microsoft and Apple Pay Net Applications (Hitslink)
- Net Applications Has Former Microsoft Employee, Also a Microsoft Investor?
- Microsoft-Influenced Net Applications Won’t Share Its Data
That’s just a fact of life. Publications have their heart where the paychecks come from. To totally ignore this would just be rather foolish.
Just look at the most recent articles from Bill Snyder. Let’s look only at the open source articles. We have:
“Why Moblin won’t save the netbook from Microsoft”
“Does a court ruling raise the risks of open source?”
“Enterprise IT: Open source deadbeats”
And on it goes. That last article in this list bears exactly the same messages as his latest where he calls open source users “leeches”. IBM’s Vice President of open source had already responded angrily to this FUD from Bill Snyder and so did Brian from the Linux Foundation. They wrote blog posts exclusively for the purpose. If provocation is Bill’s intent, then he sure gets a lot of attention (good for his job security). He also scoops up selective supportive evidence from months ago, which shows a certain lack of convenience in writing — a desperation and great craving for something that agrees.
This is not the first time Bill Snyder puts such bait in IDG. We developed a habit of just ignoring him because we’ve been watching him for years and it’s part of a pattern. Now was a suitable time to point this out in a blog warning, as we only occasionally do (e.g. IDG's Shane O'Neill) for particular ‘repeat offenders’. Preston Gralla is another IDG writer who publicly attacks GNU/Linux for personal gain, even if his understanding of this platform is zero. █
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