03.20.08
Sentimental Blackmail for OOXML, Thy Name is Bill Gates
OMG. Think about the children!!!!!!11
Where have we seen it before? Using AIDS to sell Vista PCs? Lying in parliament as means of justifying more offshoring of jobs (supposedly “good for the economy”)? Whatever it is, this is happening again and several bloggers have addressed Bill Gates’ argument that OOXML is beneficial to families.
It seems to be nice to have politicians as Brian Baird ask you staged questions, so you can elaborate on your own business agenda and the public benefit of your commercial activities. Watch Mr. Gates speak on OOXML.
Trying to sell Vista, OOXML and to sell out American workers using blackmail is one thing, but another is the use of blackmail to change laws, thereby essentially ‘illegalising’ Free software, Microsoft’s number one competition.
Advocates of open source software and open standards and rightly (or leftly) pissed off. Behind closed doors, the Microsoft Manipulation Machine keeps very busy. Should this not be a transparent process?
I don’t know what took place in the meeting, because I wasn’t there, but it seems Microsoft certainly pushed hard to justify the case for OOXML and why Malaysia should change its vote from “Abstain” to “Agree”. I don’t think the ‘other side’ needed to do much; the evidence is right infront of everyone’s eyes. If PIKOM represents the industries view, and Microsoft is just a mere member in its roster, then the consensus is blatantly clear.
It remains to be seen what happens at the end of the month. If OOXML, especially in its present state, is made an ISO standard, this would be a first-class fiasco. To Microsoft, this is “war” [1, 2]. █
“It’s a Simple Matter of [Microsoft’s] Commercial Interests!”
–Microsoft’s Doug Mahugh about OOXML in the fast track
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.