Date: Thu, 05 Nov 1998 23:07:34 -0700 From: Wes Peters <wes@softweyr.com> To: Greg Lehey <grog@lemis.com> Cc: freebsd-advocacy@FreeBSD.ORG, miker@cnet.com Subject: Re: Halloween memo - what does it mean? Message-ID: <36429226.49A3B42D@softweyr.com> References: <36427EB4.AABA1891@softweyr.com> <19981106154908.A1776@freebie.lemis.com>
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Greg Lehey wrote:
>
> Yes, I got the impression pretty early on that this whole business is
> at least partially related to the lawsuit. But that doesn't mean that
> that is the only reason, nor that Microsoft deliberately planted it.
> Think back to when it came out, and people claimed that esr had
> written it himself, and others said that it looked nothing like
> Microslop.
>
> I suspect that this memo does, in fact, reflect Microsoft's concerns
> to some degree. It's been written by a minion (I got a mail message
> from somebody who went to school with him and gave him a call when he
> heard. He doesn't want his name to be mentioned), and there's no
> evidence that Microsoft is going to do what he recommends. Maybe they
> decided the best thing they could do with it is leak it. But I think
> you're misjudging Microsoft if you think that's the only reason it was
> written.
No, I suspect it was written because someone was told to research
Linux and come up with ways to respond to it. I've done the same
work many times, even *against* open-source software. Yes, indeed,
when I designed Security Toolkit/UNIX, our number-one competition
was COPS. I met Dan Farmer at Uniforum that year, and he was
quite condescending. This is probably the primary reason why COPS,
and nearly everything else Mr. Farmer has done, have sunk into
obscurity, while what remains of Security Toolkit/UNIX is now a
$50,000,000/year business. Nobody THERE was condescending to their
customers, or condescending about potential business adversaries,
including COPS. I authored a similar multi-page memo outlining to
the sales staff how to sell Security Toolkit/UNIX vs. COPS. It
touches on many of the points Microsoft makes vs. Linux, FreeBSD,
and other essentially unsupported "OSS."
None of this has anything to do with the timing of this memo, where
it showed up, or the bare fact that Microsoft is just not a "leaking"
culture. Their product plans and market research are among the most
closely held secrets on this planet, and I am highly suspicious of
the number of holes that have opened up in Redmond in the last few
weeks.
--
"Where am I, and what am I doing in this handbasket?"
Wes Peters Softweyr LLC
http://www.softweyr.com/~softweyr wes@softweyr.com
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