06.23.07
BlueHost CEO Disgusted by Patent FUD, Boycotts Microsoft
On several occasions, backed by facts, we said that Microsoft’s actions did it more harm than good. Here is one individual example. It comes from the CEO of BlueHost, which is a very large Web host.
Microsoft has also been pushing their patent garbage a little too heavily on the Linux community as of late. They have been claiming patent infringement for a little over a year with no proof. They won’t show infringing code yet they demand monetary compensation.
This is what I really wanted to say in my blog. I WILL NEVER EVER IN 1,000 YEARS USE A MICROSOFT PRODUCT FOR BLUEHOST! NEVER! We will never do windows hosting, we will never do Exchange hosting (Using a Microsoft product), and we will never use Longhorn server or advanced server.
Microsoft whores out its customer experience at every turn. They have completely thumbed their nose at what their users need and have lost touch technically with the internet community at large. I can’t preach about the customer experience for Bluehost users and then do business with a company that clearly violates everything I believe in. I wanted Bluehost users to know why I felt this way. I also wanted Microsoft to know that there are consequences for their despicable treatment of their customers. I have never been a Microsoft fan, but I was never their enemy. Now they have lost me forever as a client and I am sure many others will follow. Enough is enough, and now I am voting with my wallet. Goodbye Microsoft and good riddance!!
Matt Heaton / President Bluehost.com
This certainly looks like the ‘SCO effect’ all over again.
Highlight: Novell was the first to acknowledge that Microsoft FUD tactics had substance. Novell then used anti-Linux FUD to market itself. 
Highlight: Xandros let Microsoft make patent claims and brag about (paid-for) OOXML support. 
Highlight: Linspire's CEO not only fell into Microsoft arms, but he also assisted the company's attack on GNU/Linux. 
Highlight: Microsoft craves pseudo (proprietary) standards and gets its way using proxies and influence which it buys. 
Highlight: The invasion into the open source world is intended to leave Linux companies neglected, due to financial incentives from Microsoft. 
Analysis: Xen, an open source hypervisor, possibly fell victim to Microsoft's aggressive (and stealthy) acquisition-by-proxy strategy.
gpl1 said,
June 24, 2007 at 12:03 am
Link to direct posting for the future…
http://mattheaton.com/?p=90
Roy Schestowitz said,
June 24, 2007 at 12:51 am
Oh, thanks, I’ve fixed it. A friend sent this URL to me, but I didn’t use a permalink.
Crazy Penguin said,
January 26, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Perhaps if Matt “The Rat” Heaton would spend more time caring about Bluehost customers and less time bitching about what other companies are doing, Bluehost might be a decent hosting company someday.
Bluehost Blues!