[OT] Revolution OS - VERY interesting piece of software

[Mick Ohrberg]

Yes, I refer to the 'movie' as software... I just watched it. Got it for my 30th birthday. There's 
some amazing information being spread in this movie. For instance - there is no pure 'LINUX' system 
(which, by the way, Linus once and for all establishes how it should be pronounced). 

What's more interesting though, is a website I decided to visit after viewing the disk. 
opensource.org! Some fascinating facts on this site, especially if you decide to read the annotated 
version of the so called Halloween documents - a series of internal Microsoft documents what were 
'leaked'. I can highly recommend reading http://www.opensource.org/halloween/halloween1.php - the 
first of the leaked documents. There are some REALLY interesting annotations in there. For 
instance, the Microsoft document says:

"In other words, to understand how to compete against [Open Source Software], we must target a 
process rather than a company."

To this, Eric Raymond comments:

"This is a very important insight, one I wish Microsoft had missed. The real battle isn't NT vs. 
Linux, or Microsoft vs. Red Hat/Caldera/S.u.S.E. -- it's closed-source development versus 
open-source. The cathedral versus the bazaar.

This applies in reverse as well, which is why bashing Microsoft qua Microsoft misses the point -- 
they're a symptom, not the disease itself. I wish more Linux hackers understood this.

On a practical level, this insight means we can expect Microsoft's propaganda machine to be 
directed against the process and culture of open source, rather than specific competitors. Brace 
for it... "

Meaning - quit bashing Microsoft - they're just the unsightly (and painful) fever blister. To 
really fight this, the underlying bug has to be exterminated.

The author of the Microsoft document goes on to admin that:

"Loosely applied to the vernacular of the software industry, a product/process is long-term 
credible if FUD tactics can not be used to combat it.

OSS is Long-Term Credible"

Which means that it is accepted that Microsoft can't use the 'uuuuh linux sux' mentality.

There are (way) too many MSFT-isms to repeat here, but I encourage you to reat the document. VERY 
interesting reading. 

/Mick

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