[Fsf-friends] Battle for the developer's mind?

Frederick Noronha (FN) fred@bytesforall.org
Fri Mar 4 03:19:29 IST 2005


What seems to be a very significant flame-war has broken out at the 
Linux-Bangalore mailing list, involving a Microsoft-influenced "focus group" 
that is keen to study how Free/Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) works.

 	This was the initial posting that came from
 	http://groups.yahoo.com/group/linux-bangalore-non-tech/message/4789
 	and had this to say:

> From:  Swaroop C H <swaroop@s...>
> Date:  Wed Mar 2, 2005  3:39 pm
> Subject:  Want to talk to Microsoft (India) about Linux?
> Hi,
> Are there any students on this list? If so, and you are interested
> to have a discussion with Microsoft about Linux and why OSS rocks or
> just plain want to tell MS why they suck, then please reply me
> off-list.
> For more details, please see http://lfg2005.cjb.net/
> P.S. I don't work for MS. I work for Y! and I'm very much a OSS
> person. No flames, please.
> Thanks,
> =====
> Swaroop C H
> Blog: http://www.swaroopch.info
> Book: http://www.byteofpython.info

 	Atul Chitnis' reply is at
 	http://groups.yahoo.com/group/linux-bangalore-non-tech/
 	message/4799

It raises a number of issues, one of which is:

> Before anyone gets majorly excited here...
> The actual URL of this page is
> http://linuxpaneldiscussion.europe.webmatrixhosting.net/
> Why is this buried in a frame like that? And why is there no actual
> reference to this event on the Microsoft site? A hotmail email address as
> a contact address? In fact the Microsoft connection is *buried* there, as
> if someone is deliberately trying to hide it, making Sheila Gulatti almost a 
> visiting guest speaker.
> I did some digging, and sure enough, here we go:
> http://groups.msn.com/BDotNETStudent

 	In another post, the students organising this event
 	vouch for their independence. See
 	http://groups.yahoo.com/group/linux-bangalore-non-tech/
 	message/4813

Atul comments elsewhere (message 4799):

> Microsoft has been trying to chip away at the interest and goodwill that
> Linux and FOSS have been building up in the student community for many
> years (remember MS speakers at LB?), and what better way to identify who
> the "afflicted" ones are by getting them to come and and reveal themselves 
> in public by speaking about Linux and Open Source?

Another post comments:
> Thirdly, you probably have not had as much exposure to Microsoft tactics
> as many of us have, so you probably do not know *how* you are influenced.
> For that matter, neither do I. But when a company goes around in schools
> and colleges and establishes a formal "ambassador" system that is
> primarily aimed at influencing others, then please pardon me when I yell
> "Hey, Redmond, leave our schools alone!". :)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/linux-bangalore-non-tech/message/4815

Leocool wrote further:

> call it a marketing gimmick if you must, but at end of
> the day we students are not idiots to be Pied-Pipered into something
> we dont wanna be doing.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/linux-bangalore-non-tech/message/4817

Surprise, surprise... Atul says he traced this "student's" tracks right back to 
Redmond:

> Please examine the headers of "Leo"'s message carefully.
> Pay attention to the X-Originating-IP header and the address shown there:
> X-Originating-IP: 207.46.50.70
> A quick whois reveals this:
> $ whois 207.46.50.70@w...
> [Querying whois.arin.net]
> [whois.arin.net]
> OrgName: Microsoft Corp
> OrgID: MSFT
> Address: One Microsoft Way
> City: Redmond
> StateProv: WA
> PostalCode: 98052
> Country: US
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/linux-bangalore-non-tech/message/4818

FN



More information about the Fsf-friends mailing list