[Linux-aus] Ballmer on Linux

[Con Zymaris]

On Mon, Jul 28, 2003 at 10:25:51AM +1000, Con Zymaris wrote:
> Is anyone from LA prepared to take on some of the Baller-isms?
> 
> http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php?id=1956539847&fp=16&fpid=0
> 
> Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer took on Linux in a big way this week during
> the company's annual meeting with the financial analyst community, saying
> that "too much abuse has gone on for too long."
> 
> ...
> 
> "Does IBM fix Linux problems the way IBM stands behind and fixes the MVS 
> operating system? Of course not," he continued. "Does IBM indemnify the 
> intellectual property in Linux the way it indemnifies the intellectual 
> property in every IBM software product? ... The answer is certainly no." 

But wait, there's more:

http://www.itnews.com.au/storycontent.cfm?ID=17&Art_ID=12496

One topic CEO Steve Ballmer had no problem broaching is security and the 
company's arch-foe, Linux. Ballmer touted CERT's operating system 
advisories from 2002, noting that Solaris and Red Hat Linux both had 12, 
while Microsoft had 5 across all Windows versions. He also noted that 
Linux vulnerabilities were growing 21 percent faster than those from 
Microsoft, with the open source solution suffering 485 vulnerabilities in 
2002, compared to 202 for Microsoft. Jumping to an oft-cited "advantage" 
of Linux, Ballmer then provided evidence that major open source vendors 
usually deliver important security patches for Linux far later than 
Microsoft does for Windows. From January to 15 October 2002, he said, Red 
Hat released 9 security patches one or more months after other vendors; 
those Red Hat systems, he said, remained vulnerable while customers waited 
for the patches. 

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_____________________________________________________________________________
Con Zymaris <conz at cyber.com.au> Level 4, 10 Queen St, Melbourne 03 9621 2377 
Cybersource: Unix/Linux, TCP/IP and Web App. Development  www.cyber.com.au