Until recently a slow-brewing battle between Microsoft, the world`s most dominant software vendor, and Linux, the carefree poster child of the open source software community, tensions are now mounting with loud posturing and territorial behaviour from both camps.
A site that shows Microsoft`s seriousness
International reports are rife with disagreement about a Microsoft campaign which enlists the help of "independent analysts" to prove Microsoft has better total cost of ownership (TCO) figures than Linux, and outperforms it. Called Get The Facts, the campaign is accessible on a central Web site. But commentators are casting doubt on the independence of commissioned research.
Seattle PI has quoted Microsoft spokesmen as saying the firms commissioned are independent, as are the studies themselves. Widely quoted Microsoft spokesman Martin Taylor says the results would have been no different had they not been commissioned. He adds that commissioning had been accepted practice in the past, and says the religious fervour surrounding Microsoft and Linux is partly to blame for the uproar around the studies.
Taylor blames journalists and analysts for Microsoft`s need to conduct campaigns such as its TCO campaign.
Just as journalists are not likely to report on a Microsoft customer win, analysts are guilty too, Taylor says. "To go do some research to prove that Microsoft is better than Linux is just not exciting research for them to go do".
Microsoft first raised eyebrows when it publicised the results of a Giga Research study that it had commissioned, which favoured it over Linux. Forrester Research (Giga`s owners) CEO George Colony said in a public statement afterward that the firm erred in letting Microsoft talk publicly about the results.
Soft on Capitol Hill
Meanwhile, open source activists have gathered at LinuxWorld Expo late last week to protest what they say are anti-Linux campaigns being spearheaded on Capitol Hill by rivals, the SCO Group and Microsoft.
As Linux gains ground on the desktop and governments make noises in favour of OSS, "the challenge is going to be in the political and legislative arena", Ed Black, president and CEO of the Open Source and Industry Alliance (OSIA) is quoted as saying by CRN.com.
The OSS movement blames interference by SCO and Microsoft. SCO`s CEO, Darl McBride, has sent an open letter to members of the US Congress claiming that open source software, and Linux in particular, is a threat to the US IT industry, the nation`s international competitive position, American jobs and national security.
"Open source software has the potential to provide our nation`s enemies or potential enemies with computing capabilities that are restricted by US law," wrote McBride.
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