12.29.07
Quick Mention: Prelude to Microsoft’s Control of Governments
A few days ago we showed how Microsoft control Europe. Andy Updegrove has just published the fourth chapter of his eBook, which concentrates on Massachusetts. Of interest:
Finally, and most fatefully (as they would learn), while overhauling the State’s IT systems would benefit some large and powerful IT vendors, by definition it would also take business away from others. Those vendors not only had lobbyists, but plenty of money to spend on them. As Peter Quinn in particular would later learn, rocking the government procurement boat was not something to be undertaken lightly.
In the coming week, we’ll show how Microsoft keeps its Asian governments leash in tact. There are many references to work on, so it might take a while. For those wondering why a site about Novell winds up discussing Microsoft and politics, well… they are all inter-connected. To quote again what was posted just an hour ago:
“Gates met Noorda briefly in San Francisco to discuss the merger […] before the merger could go forward, he said Novell had to drop its plans to buy Digital Research. […] when Noorda raised the possibility that the Justice Department might try to block a merger between the first and third biggest software companies on the planet, Gates responded, “Don’t worry, we know how to handle the federal government.” […] Gates denied every saying such a thing”
We have yet to get to the bottom of this. The government and the IT industry remains inseparable. Both need to be understood better. █
“The danger is that Microsoft is using strategic monopolistic pricing in the education market, with the government’s assistance, to turn our state university systems into private workforce training programs for Microsoft.”
–Nathan Newman
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.