I read Rob Enderle's article, and was a bit agro, but managed to write him something that wasn't quite so agro - I tried very hard to let intellect override my personal feelings, and believe it or not, I got a response:
<BEGIN FWD> -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: Are all writers submitting to FUD usage? Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 08:59:24 -0700 From: "Rob Enderle" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Kuhn Media Australia <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Actually I wasn't paid for this at all, however it wouldn't be unusual for this to happen, one of the problems with a free product is it often doesn't have the resources to defend against a direct attack and Microsoft really wants this puppy to go away and they are incredibly well funded, somewhat inept in their approach, but well funded. I actually haven't noticed that trend, and many of the folks I work with have stopped writing on Linux because of the hate mail when they aren't positive. Not a good sign.
Windows 95 was pilloried, and OS/2 was shot (I know because I was the primary analyst doing the shooting, long story here). It may be a memory thing but I was covering both and the breakage (and sloppy roll out) that surrounded this platform (95) resulted in a massive press backlash that most seem to have forgotten, including Microsoft.
Next month I'll do the Microsoft thing and piss off a whole new set of folks. Best!
A surprisingly pleasant reply, I thought. I'll look forward to his Windows piece.
Sir Robin
-- "Some guy breaking into a government computer system and wreaking havoc makes for a more interesting movie plot than some guy writing device drivers. It's hard to work in a good 10-minutes car chase scene with some guy who writes device drivers..." - tjc, post to LWN
Robin Turner IDMYO Bilkent Univeritesi Ankara 06533 Turkey
www.bilkent.edu.tr/~robin
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