What is it with linux dissing in this newsgroup 4571

On Fri, 26 Aug 2005 11:56:11 -0700, Keith Keller

I second that motion for sure. As I have reported over the last few years in some other newsgroups, Microsoft has a division which has the mission of defeating other operating systems. I choose to call it "Microsoft Division X" for want of a better name.

If you read some of the very dense trial testimony from the monopoly trials you will see that MS has ALWAYS had an active effort to disparage, defeat, infiltrate and otherwise lessen the market share of other operating systems.

The first breath of this actually came around during the huge IBM OS2-Warp wars on CompuServe and Prodigy. Too bad you can't get those old postings using Google, since it doesn't appear CompuServe or Prodigy archived anything from the open forums.

Anyway, from the start of Warp's pre-sale publicity, there was an active bunch who called themselves "Team IBM" and operated under a whole lot of different user ID's. Team IBM's strategy was to f*** with clueless new users of Warp until they dropped off the net in frustration. Any question posted about Warp was met with a diatribe against the questioner. This war continued up until around 1996 when MS realized at that time they had end Warp. Not that OS2 didn't have it's warts, like any other system.

If you visit the QNX groups you will many times see commentaries directed towards a new user about how QNX is only suited for embedded ROM systems, and so forth.

BeOS, of course, died a painful rest -- and many BeOS folks feel it was a liquidate rest -- when the craven senior executives of BE essentially sold out. Note that a bunch of them are now working for Redmond.

Linux has ALWAYS been a threat to Windows. I am sure that Linus had no intention of building a Windows Buster, he at the time of creation was too naive and egalitarian. Once the first X Windows capability became a reality, Linux wold forever after be under attack.

I first saw Linux running on a laptop used by a member of the Cypherpunks at an Offshore data facility. That was in early 1994 I think ... It was impressive then as it is now. When the Cypherpunks had their first convention on the island of Anguilla, just about everyone was running Linux on their laptops by that time. My first fling at Linux was in 1996 and it was fun ... I was running Mac based audio mixing and digital recording stuff at that time and hence didn't see a "need" for Linux.

Where I am going with this story is that if you look at any corporate war, there are ALWAYS sub-rosa activities going on. Call it corporate espionage, or anything else, it is a form of warfare.

If you use Linux today and are a Linux advocate you are a foot soldier in battle.

HTH, YMMV

Dave