Microsoft Calls AdTI "Study" an "Unhelpful Distraction" (Microsoft FUD Goes Thud)

www.groklaw.com ^ | Monday, June 14 2004 @ 11:49 PM EDT | Pamela Jones

[shadowman99]

Microsoft Calls AdTI "Study" an "Unhelpful Distraction"

Monday, June 14 2004 @ 11:49 PM EDT

Well, friends, we've won the Alexis de Tocqueville FUD war.

It's official. In the face of a united community's repudiation of Ken Brown's "Samizdat" attack on Linus and Linux, Microsoft told the Wall St. Journal's reporter, Lee Gomes, the report wasn't helpful, leading Gomes to end his report, "Recent attacks on Linux come from dubious source", like this:

"With growing numbers of businesses turning to Linux, its pros and cons are fair game for debate. But cynically manufacturing confusion isn't debating. Even Microsoft didn't like the way this report turned out, though it indirectly helped subsidize it. A company spokesman called the study, 'an unhelpful distraction from what matters most -- providing the best technology for our customers.'"

That is the cherry on top that dooms the report to the junk bin. I doubt that it enhances a "think tank's" reputation to be called an "unhelpful" "dubious source".

Do you think they'll put that quotation up on their web site?

I wish to commend Microsoft for repudiating this "study", which they were at least indirectly responsible for. No. Really. There is no need to be cynical today, although I'm sure we can all admit to plenty of subsidiary reactions, including a definite reaction to claiming "the best technology". But this is a day to just rejoice and let a few things slide for now.

I have a further suggestion for Microsoft, since they followed my advice about repudiating Samizdat: learn to play nice with others, distance yourself from SCO, drop what we believe are your patent-pool attack plans on GNU/Linux, actuallly work on providing the best technology instead, and you may find your company has a future after all. It's the Information Age now, you know. The old ham-fisted, muscle techniques will have to go, because they don't work in broad daylight, and that is exactly where you are.

I'm only kidding about them following my advice -- I have no knowledge that they followed or even knew about my previous suggestion. We've had a huge upsurge in trolls since I began highlighting the AdTI story, so maybe they did, but that isn't proof positive. If I were AdTI, I'd put out a press release, but I'm not, so I'll acknowledge it's only suggestive. They could be AdTI operatives, or SCO's, after all. Still, it was good advice. And so is this.

You can read Gomes' story on the Wall Street Journal, if you have a sub, on page B1 (or search for Gomes off the home page), or via Google, which directs you to the AP, which has picked up the story.

So, as weird as it feels, we can now add Microsoft to our list of those offering rebuttals to Samizdat.

Don't forget, SCO has another teleconference Tuesday.

  

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[Golden Eagle]

He wrote it. From scratch. Using ideas gleaned from book.

If he used a book, it wasn't from scratch. At least in my opinion, "from scratch" means with basically nothing pre-existing. According to his instructor Tannenbaum he used the existing Minix file structure, so it wasn't "from scratch", per my understanding of what that means.

[ShadowAce]

Then nothing you say, think, do, read, etc is from scratch. You can't even bake a cake "from scratch," since you'd be taking the knowledge and know-how from a recipe, or from the instruction of another.

Wanna know something else? All those programmers you claim to manage--they're all stealing someone else's code,or at least their ideas. Do you actually permit that?

Should I call the authorities and report you for plagiarism since you are using words someone else "invented?"

[Golden Eagle]

How about the distro name? Red Hat, SuSE, Debian, etc.

Because there's nothing common between those names when you want to speak of them collectively. Right now, "Linux" is it, if you want that changed, I'd suggest going with the existing movement to call it "GNU/Linux".

[TechJunkYard]

.. in my opinion, "from scratch" means with basically nothing pre-existing.

Another common term re-defined.

So when your wife bakes a cake "from scratch", does she

• mill her own flour
• extract her own sugar from the cane
• get the vanilla beans from the garden in back yard
• churn her own butter
• go out to the henhouse to get some eggs
• etc...
• and never, ever, consult a cookbook; after all, those things are copyrighted y'know...

[Golden Eagle]

You can't even bake a cake "from scratch"

Sure you can, because baking is referring to the elements used, none were pre-mixed, all raw. Torvalds used an existing product to make his - the exact same ready made file system from Minix, or at least according to Tannenbaum, although I'm personally not that trusting of these guys over in Europe who clone US products and give them away for free.

[Golden Eagle]

To be truly "from scratch", that's about what it would take, raw elements. My grandmother used to pretty much do all that except for the sugar. And that's the only way to get all the preservatives and other crap they add to things nowdays out of there - to literally make it from scratch.

[shadowman99]

Let him have it his way. Using Golden Eagle's logic there could be no more software patents and no more copyrights. Because nobody acually creates anything, it's all learned from somewhere else.

This means Microsoft hasn't created anything either. After all, everyone who has ever worked for them went to school. Read Books. Studied other people's code. It's all so dirty!

Everyone who ever learned something from somewhere else is unable to exclusively claim ownership of invention.

Damn, Golden Eagle! You're quite the little commie!

[TechJunkYard]

Not one computer program in the universe has ever been written "from scratch" then.... because all them programmers have had that thar booklearnin'.

[Golden Eagle]

Damn, Golden Eagle! You're quite the little commie!

I think you know you got that one wrong, LOL! I just don't see what the big deal is, very few operating systems were independently created, yet the Linux crowd has an aneurysm over admitting Linux is based on Unix, Posix, Minix, whatever. It obviously was, even Torvalds admits it, so you're right about one (1) thing, definitely time to move on!

[Bluntpoint]

Bump to read later after the next "Star Trek" convention.

[Golden Eagle]

Hard to know. We do know this:

http://uptime.netcraft.com/up/graph/?host=www.dnc.org

http://uptime.netcraft.com/up/graph/?host=www.johnkerry.com

http://uptime.netcraft.com/up/graph?site=www.rnc.org

http://uptime.netcraft.com/up/graph?site=www.georgewbush.com

[Liberal Classic]

What relevance does this have, if any? FR runs on Linux. Certianly, you're not suggesting the management here are leftists or agents of the Chinese?

[Paladin2]

Note that computer languages are a derivatives of general human languages and we know that the sources of language are manifold. Lately we have found that even some species other than humans have language. Perhaps GE is descended from apes or birds (--> dinosaurs).

All of human IP may actually belong to many extinct species. Where does that leave M$ in claiming to have invented or, more likely bought the rights, to all al-gore-rithims known to (wo)man.

For a poster who has actually used a formula to explain a point, I believe that GE just likes to play dumb (uneducated, stupid etc.) for some, as yet unknown, purpose.

To be so pedantic about the use or non-use of of the word "invent" wrt to computer code is ridiculous.

Our task is to flush out the reason (not that it could possibly BE reasonable OR rational) for such behavior (maybe he's on the staff at AdTI as Brown's research assistant?).

[Paladin2]

This point has been raised before without any response. IT is always met with silence or a change in subject.

[Knitebane]

And Golden Eagle has since admitted that, despite claims to the contrary, has never climbed Mt. Everest, and has recently freely admitted that fact to be true.

Why should we believe ANYTHING he has to say?

[Huntingtonian]

I just installed Red Hat 9.0 AS 3 on an SMP machine for personal desktop use. I had installed RH 6.0 a while back but reverted to Win 2K when I had problems with application availability. But the new RH comes with enough bundled apps to keep most desktop users VERY happy (open office is an excellent office/productivity package). Unfortunately you do need to hunt around on the INTERNET for Linux compatible DVD, MPEG-2 and MP3 software but thats a small price to pay for an incredibly stable and efficient OS! KDE and Gnome offer some pretty amazing customizable features too. I've embraced the penguin!

[Golden Eagle]

What relevance does this have, if any?

He asked what software might world leaders be using, I showed him what the next President of the US is using, whoever that may be.

Certianly, you're not suggesting the management here are leftists or agents of the Chinese?

Of course not. Doesn't mean I don't wish they would switch to Solaris or another brand of Unix. Hopefully they will, they are some of the greatest people in the world, and I'd prefer to see them on something else. Like, say, what the RNC and GWB campaign is using. Nothing wrong with wishing that is there. Obviously not my decision though, nor do I presume it to be.

[Golden Eagle]

Perhaps GE is descended from apes or birds (--> dinosaurs)

If this is all you have to chime in, you might as well keep it to yourself. As to the rest of your post, it was ignored, being certainly worthless, anyway.

[Golden Eagle]

Unfortunately you do need to hunt around on the INTERNET for Linux compatible DVD, MPEG-2 and MP3 software

Mainly because that stuff is pirateware, isn't it? If not Red Hat would be carrying it in their complete distribution of GNU/Linux, don't you think?

[TechJunkYard]

No, it's because Red Hat doesn't want to violate any patents.