[Linux-aus] Fwd: Microsoft to take direct shots at Linux rivals

[Arjen Lentz <arjen@mysql.com>]

[Good analysis of Microsoft's tactics vis-a-vis open source.
 Read it and take note.]



Microsoft to take direct shots at Linux rivals
Published: September 15, 2004, 5:45 PM PDT
By Stephen Shankland
Staff Writer, CNET News.com

http://news.com.com/Microsoft+to+take+direct+shots+at+Linux+rivals/2100-1016_3-5368450.html

Microsoft is refining its "Get the Facts" Linux attack, taking specific 
aim at Red Hat, Novell and IBM rather than the broader movement around 
the open-source operating system.

The new phase tactic is based on the fact that the vast majority of 
Linux users buy their software from a company rather than downloading 
and assembling freely available products on their own, Martin Taylor, 
general manager of Microsoft's platform strategy, said in an interview 
Wednesday. For the effort, Microsoft will compare its own products with 
those of its competitors--for example, Red Hat's application server 
software for running Java software.

"It's less about Linux and more about Red Hat, Novell and IBM," Taylor 
said.

Taylor is Microsoft's top executive in charge of responding to the Linux 
and open-source threat, which in many cases has displaced Microsoft as 
the assumed heir to the Unix throne. The cooperative programming model, 
with freely shared intellectual property, flies in the face of 
Microsoft's proprietary approach, which closely guards source code.
Taylor's methods include funding analyst firm studies, launching a "Get 
the Facts" advertising campaign and discouraging Microsoft executives 
from making any more inflammatory comments that open-source software is 
a "cancer" or "un-American." Taylor meets with customers worldwide and 
has begun expanding the Microsoft attack to Europe.

Taylor said he expects that targeting Linux sellers such as Red Hat and 
Novell will be persuasive to software customers. However, he said 
Microsoft recognizes that it will have to use different tactics for 
capturing the interest of students and programmers, where the 
philosophical appeal of open-source software can rival pragmatic 
considerations.

"We've got to figure out the coolness factor a little bit," Taylor said 
of Microsoft's efforts to build student involvement. So far, Microsoft's 
response has been to try to shape curriculum and engage student interest 
with programming contests such as Imagine Cup.

Being "first to cool" is an official corporate priority, along with 
being first to market and first to make a lot of money, according to a 
July speech by Chief Executive Steve Ballmer.

Microsoft is also gathering ammunition by working to dispel its own 
Linux ignorance--for example, by hiring Linux experts such as Bill Hilf, 
who built eToys' Web site on Linux and promoted Linux for IBM. Hilf 
joined Microsoft in January, Taylor said.

"Our guys have not had that line of sight. Our developer guys knew a lot 
about our stuff," but for Linux and open-source expertise, Microsoft's 
staff had to start from scratch or rely on third-party consultants, he 
said.

As a result, Microsoft now has a better idea of what Linux has and what 
Redmond needs for the high-performance computing edition of Windows, 
Taylor said.

As open-source software projects have grown from hobbies to widely used 
products, companies such as Red Hat, MySQL and Zend have arrived to 
support them. Taylor predicted those companies will gradually grow more 
remote from the free-form open-source programming community as they 
fulfill commercial requirements such as testing to ensure that updates 
don't break existing software.

"What we're beginning to see is you can only be 16 for a year, then 
after that you have to deal with some aging issues," he said.

Microsoft's campaign has argued that the total cost of ownership (TCO) 
and security of Microsoft products beats out Linux. Taylor said that 
Microsoft probably has made more headway with customers on the first of 
the two subjects.

"It's going to be a while before customers say Microsoft has an 
advantage for security, probably because of the pain they have felt over 
the past year," Taylor said. "I feel better about TCO than I do about 
security."

CNET News.com's Ina Fried contributed to this report.

[end of forwarded item]


-- 
Arjen Lentz, Technical Writer, Trainer
Brisbane, QLD Australia
MySQL AB, www.mysql.com

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