04.09.08
The 451 Group Visits Microsoft
Microsoft mindset: “We come in peace, then take the piss”
This is just minor observation and by no means a suggestion that The 451 Group has betrayed any principles.
On Free software matters, some of the more trustworthy commentary out there comes from The 451 Group. Recently, however, the group’s founder has been including .NET projects and Microsoft’s ‘open source’ links in his digests. The group hardly ever blogs about it, but it’s apparent that it at least keeps an eye on Microsoft. Fair enough.
Watch this mystifying new statement from Mark:
The 451 Group’s Raven Zachary recently used this slide at an address in Redmond during Microsoft Open Source Day.
We wrote about Microsoft’s “Open Source Day” very recently. The event was almost unheard of (unbelievably low-profile). It was covered nowhere except for some Microsoft blog/s on the face of it.
We have many reasons to be suspicious and skeptical about trips to Redmond (e.g. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16]). Microsoft usually buys love, inviting people for free and expecting something such as acceptance and publicity in return.
As pointed out earlier, Matt Asay’s reluctant-but-noticeable affairs with Microsoft’s so-called open source people (namely those whose role is to change the definition of “open source” and snatch all software away from GNU/Linux) continues to show. Someone really ought to reminded of Redmond’s true intentions. Asay too should know better because he has definitely seen it already. █
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.
Raven Zachary said,
April 16, 2008 at 2:14 am
Hi Roy,
Just two quick comments on this…
1) As an analyst, I need to understand what the movers and shakers in the industry are doing with open source - Microsoft is an important vendor to watch in this regard for many reasons - Windows Server positioning, interoperability, ISVs, document formats, etc.
2) No principles were betrayed. I was invited to speak and I accepted. Who could turn down the opportunity to talk about open source at Microsoft?! As is customary, the organizer paid for travel expenses.