Incase it didn't come through the first time. James -----Original Message----- From: James J. Capone [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Wednesday, April 28, 1999 6:58 PM To: '[EMAIL PROTECTED]'; '[EMAIL PROTECTED]' Cc: '[EMAIL PROTECTED]' Subject: [newbie] Appraising Microsoft Conference (Long Message) James Love one of the runners of the conference is not the person some of us may think he is. If you goto his page http://www.appraising-microsoft.org and click on the Link for the Next meeting you will see, Only 2 Linux Related people are invited to the meeting. I don't notice any programmers, User Groups, Resellers etc... These people also make the Linux roll just as much as we do. We are running a Boycott of this Project. I have a transcript of a phone conversation between Mr. Love and the People at IACT. Here are bits and pieces ----- I asked him what user groups, programmers and grass roots orgs he had invited to speak about OSs such as Amiga, OS/2, BSD, DOS and Linux. He immediately reverted to his argument that they have a long list of speakers and they don't have room to invite many people to cover all the OSs. He also asked in an insulting tone [not verbatim but close], "What have these people done? What remedies have these people ever proposed that would convince us they deserve to be included? We need people who have ideas, who know what they're talking about, who can speak...." {Which means, we're stupid. He's smart. All of the people he invited are the smartest in the land. He and they _invented_ the anti-monopoly movement, hmm?} ----- On the subject of Linux, he definitely tried to minimize the heavy emphasis on corporate reps. and certain producers of Linux. When I mentioned other Linux sources, he balked and went back to his old spin, that hey, he can't invite everybody. He even went so far as to insist that the CEOs of RedHat and Caldera weren't there to discuss Linux!-- just to offer their anti-trust remedies! {Yeah sure, and if a tobacco company executive were invited, he wouldn't talk about cigarettes.} ---- On the subject of OS/2, he was worse than about Amiga. He clearly harbors a special dislike of OS/2 and the OS/2 community. He didn't elaborate with hard reasons, but offered plenty of insults, and his tone went right down to sneering and whining. [not verbatim] "What has the OS/2 community done to prove that OS/2 is a remedy to Microsoft?" I answered that I wouldn't presume as one person to speak for the entire community of users. However, I reminded him that he's proposing Linux and BeOS, even a mere environment such as NewDeal, as "alternatives" to Windows, and therefore by his own reckoning OS/2 and other OSs [already named] should be included for discussion. as you can see he doesn't really support Linux or some other OS related communities. Please send him email requesting a invite. Ask him why Linux-Mandrake people where not asked to come. If this is a conference on Remedies to a Antitrust suit, Don't you think Alternative OS's are also answers to the problem. This is his contact Information. Use it wisely or however you see fit. James Love, Director, Consumer Project on Technology I can be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED], by telephone 202.387.8030, by fax at 202.234.5176. CPT web page is http://www.cptech.org James J. Capone Webmaster http://www.angelfire.com/biz2/Linux Asst. Webmaster http://www.ptm.com "The Only Person To Hear Both Sides Of A Argument Is The Guy In The Apartment Next To Yours!"
