The Rampantly Unofficial Linus Torvalds FAQ 16728

on June 17 2005 billwg

What has your hero worship of Gates got to do with COLA. You ask do I have some kind of point to make. Well in that eulogy to Gates you asked what was the secret of his success and wasn't he just some fun loving computer geek who would much rather be hacking if only those nasty people at the anbreastrust courts would let him.

What was the secret you asked. Well the record is there for anyone to see. Lied cheated and plotted the destruction of his compebreastors-partners is how. Being economical with the truth is one thing, telling outright lies in Court is another. Do you or anyone else expect us to believe that Gates was not heavily involved in forming the strategy to cut off Netscapes oxygen supply. Going on what we know went on in the destruction of Netscape is this a suitable candidate for here worship?

TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE HONORABLE THOMAS P. JACKSON WASHINGTON, D. C. OCTOBER 19, 1998 (A.M. SESSION)

.. THE RECORD OF THIS CASE WILL SHOW .. THAT MICROSOFT'S EXECUTIVES .. LACKED THE SAME RESPECT FOR BUSINESS NORMS AND LAWS BY WHICH MOST COMPANIES OPERATE.

MR. BOIES: THAT buttERTION BY MR. GATES THAT IN JUNE OF 1995 HE HAD NO SENSE OF WHAT NETSCAPE WAS DOING IS A CRITICAL PART OF THE DEFENSE THAT WE HAVE HEARD FROM MICROSOFT .. IN MR. GATES' WORDS, AT THE TIME THAT THESE THINGS WERE GOING ON, HE DIDN'T HAVE ANY UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT NETSCAPE WAS DOING.

.. THIS IS A MEMO FROM BILL GATES. AND IT IS FIVE DAYS BEFORE JUNE OF 1995. AND THIS IS ABOUT THE INTERNET TIDAL WAVE. AND MR. GATES, AND WHAT THE RECORD WILL SHOW AND THE EVIDENCE WILL SHOW, YOUR HONOR, IS THAT THIS IS A ONE OF A SERIES OF DOCUMENTS AT ABOUT THIS TIME FROM AND TO MR. GATES IN WHICH MICROSOFT, AND MR. GATES PERSONALLY, IS DIRECTLY CONCERNED WITH A THREAT THAT NETSCAPE POSES. AND THERE IS A QUOTATION -- ON, I THINK ABOUT THE FOURTH PAGE OF THIS DOCUMENT IN WHICH -- AND THIS IS MR. GATES WRITING: A NEW COMPEbreastOR BORN ON THE INTERNET IS NETSCAPE. THEIR BROWSER IS DOMINANT WITH 70 PERCENT USAGE SHARE, ALLOWING THEM TO DETERMINE WHICH NETWORK EXTENSIONS WILL CATCH ON. THEY ARE PURSUING A MULTI-PLATFORM STRATEGY WHERE THEY MOVE THE KEY API INTO THE CLIENT TO COMMODITIZE THE UNDERLYING OPERATING SYSTEM. AND THE THREAT THAT NETSCAPE WAS GOING TO, IN MR. GATES' WORDS, COMMODITIZE THE WINDOWS OPERATING SYSTEM BY MOVING THE KEY API'S INTO A POINT WHERE THEY COULD BE WRITTEN TO ON A CROSS-PLATFORM BASIS AND ERODE THE APPLICATION'S BARRIER TO ENTRY, WAS EXACTLY WHAT NETSCAPE WAS DOING AND IS EXACTLY WHAT MR. GATES KNEW BACK IN 1995 THAT THEY WERE DOING AND WHAT CONCERNED HIM SO GREATLY.

(VIDEOTAPE PLAYED AS FOLLOWS:) QUESTION: AS YOU SIT HERE TODAY, DO YOU HAVE ANY RECOLLECTION AS TO WHAT YOUR UNDERSTANDING WAS BACK IN JUNE 1995 AS TO THE PRINCIPAL PURPOSE OF THE MICROSOFT EMPLOYEES' MEETING WITH NETSCAPE?

ANSWER: I WASN'T INVOLVED IN SETTING UP THE MEETING .. .. MAY 31, 1995, FIVE DAYS AFTER THE INTERNET TIDAL WAVE MEMO, MR. GATES WRITES TO PAUL MARITZ, BRAD SILVERBERG, DAN ROSEN AND OTHERS, SUBJECT, NETSCAPE DISCUSSIONS. AND HE BEGINS BY SAYING, I THINK THERE IS A VERY POWERFUL DEAL OF SOME KIND WE CAN DO WITH NETSCAPE ..

.. THIS IS THE LAST LINE OF THAT MEMORANDUM FROM MR. GATES. "I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO SEE SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPEN," WITH TWO EXCLAMATION POINTS. NOW, TESTIFYING NOW IN THE CONTEXT OF THIS TRIAL, HE SAYS HE WASN'T AT ALL INVOLVED IN SETTING UP THE MEETINGS WITH NETSCAPE. BUT LOOKING BACK AT THE WRITTEN RECORD, IT IS ABSOLUTELY CLEAR THAT THESE MEETINGS TOOK PLACE, NOT ONLY WITH THE APPROVAL AND THE ENCOURAGEMENT, BUT AT THE EXPLICIT DIRECTION AT THE VERY TOP MANAGEMENT OF MICROSOFT.

(VIDEOTAPE EXCERPT PLAYED AS FOLLOWS:)

QUESTION: DO YOU RECALL AS YOU SIT HERE TODAY, APART FROM JUST READING THESE E-MAILS, ANYTHING THAT WAS REPORTED BACK TO YOU BY ANY OF THE PARTICIPANTS FROM MICROSOFT AT THIS JUNE 21ST MEETING?

ANSWER: I THINK SOMEWHERE ABOUT THIS TIME SOMEBODY SAID TO ME THAT -- ASKED IF IT MADE SENSE FOR US TO CONSIDER INVESTING IN NETSCAPE. AND I SAID THAT THAT DIDN'T MAKE SENSE TO ME. I DIDN'T SEE THAT AS SOMETHING THAT MADE SENSE ..

MR. BOIES: MR. GATES HERE IS AGAIN TRYING TO DISTANCE HIMSELF FROM ONE OF THE PROPOSALS MADE AT THE MEETING WHICH WAS THAT MICROSOFT TAKE AN EQUITY POSITION IN NETSCAPE AS PART OF THE DEAL. AND HE SAYS, IT DIDN'T COME FROM ME; WHEN I HEARD ABOUT IT, I THOUGHT IT WAS A BAD IDEA. AND, IN ANY EVENT, NOBODY BROUGHT IT UP UNTIL AFTER THE MEETING.

LET'S GO BACK TO THE EXHIBIT WE WERE JUST LOOKING AT. REMEMBER, THIS IS THE MAY 31, 1995 MEMORANDUM FROM MR. GATES HIMSELF. AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE: OF COURSE, OVER TIME, WE WILL COMPETE ON THE SERVERS, BUT WE CAN HELP THEM A LOT IN THE MEANTIME. WE COULD EVEN PAY THEM MONEY AS PART OF THE DEAL, BUYING SOME PIECE OF THEM OR SOMETHING.

.. THESE DOCUMENTS DEMONSTRATE THAT THIS WAS NOT SOMETHING THAT THEY WENT OUT AND DID ON THEIR OWN WITHOUT AUTHORIZATION, WITHOUT APPROVAL OR, IN MR. GATES' WORDS, AGAINST COMPANY POLICY. THIS IS SOMETHING THAT THEY ARE BEING DIRECTED BY THE VERY TOP MANAGEMENT OF MICROSOFT TO DO. .. THIS IS A JUNE 1 MEMORANDUM. THIS IS THE DAY AFTER MR. GATES' E-MAIL. AND THIS IS A REPLY BY PAUL MARITZ TO, AMONG OTHERS, BILL GATES, DATED JUNE 1, 1995. AND HE BEGINS BY SAYING, DAN -- AND THAT'S DAN ROSEN -- BOB AND I -- AND I IS PAUL MARITZ -- MET YESTERDAY TO REVIEW OUR RECENT DISCUSSIONS WITH NETSCAPE AND FORM OUR NEXT FEW ACTION ITEMS. DAN IS MEETING WITH JIM BARKSDALE, THEIR C.E.O., SHORTLY.

MICROSOFT WENT TO NETSCAPE AND MICROSOFT WANTED A BOARD SEAT, NETSCAPE TO ANNOUNCE THE NETWORK AS A PLATFORM, NETSCAPE TO DISCLOSE ALL PLANS TO MICROSOFT, NETSCAPE TO LIMIT ACCESS TO API'S. AND IN RETURN, NETSCAPE WOULD BE MICROSOFT'S SPECIAL PARTNER, GET INSIDE INFORMATION, AND IF NETSCAPE DIDN'T DO THE DEAL, MICROSOFT WOULD CRUSH THEM. THAT WAS THE CONTEMPORANEOUS RECOLLECTION OF THE NETSCAPE PEOPLE OF WHAT THEY WERE BEING TOLD. NOW, LET ME SEE IF I CAN GO TO WHAT MICROSOFT SAYS.

THE THING THAT IS REMARKABLE, YOUR HONOR, IS THAT WE HAVE THREE CONTEMPORANEOUS DOCUMENTS, ONE FROM NETSCAPE, ONE FROM AOL, ONE FROM MICROSOFT, AND THEY ALL SAY ESSENTIALLY THE SAME THING.

THIS IS A MEMORANDUM ON JUNE 22, THE DAY AFTER THE MEETING, FROM DAN ROSEN TO BILL GATES AND OTHERS.

SEVEN OF US MET WITH JIM BARKSDALE, C.E.O., AND OTHER EXECUTIVES OF NETSCAPE FOR FOUR HOURS. OUR GOALS GOING INTO THE MEETING WERE, IN PRIORITY ORDER, ONE, ESTABLISH MICROSOFT OWNERSHIP OF THE INTERNET CLIENT PLATFORM FOR WINDOWS 95. LATER ON, MR. ROSEN REPORTS, CHRIS JOE, OR CHRIS JONES SUMMED UP THE PURPOSE NICELY.

QUOTE, WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND IF YOU WILL ADOPT OUR PLATFORM AND BUILD ON TOP OF IT OR IF YOU ARE GOING TO COMPETE WITH US ON A PLATFORM LEVEL.

THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT THEY DID, YOUR HONOR. THEY WENT IN AND THEY SAID, WE WANT TO GET YOU OUT OF THE WINDOWS 95 AREA AND BROWSERS. IF YOU DO, WE'LL GIVE YOU A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP. IF YOU DON'T, WE'RE GOING TO CRUSH YOU. AND YOU HAVE GOT TO TELL US. ARE YOU GOING TO COMPETE WITH US OR NOT?