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Technology Stocks : How high will Microsoft fly? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ToySoldier who wrote (12077)	11/5/1998 11:37:00 AM
From: Frederick Smart	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

Subject: THE HALLOWEEN MEMO............... Date: Thu, Nov 5, 1998 08:52 EST From: FKSmart Message-id: <19981105085206.10655.00004167@ng12.aol.com> If you haven't checked this out yet, go to this link: tuxedo.org - Like Dorothy and her friends in the Wizard of Oz the world is getting hit with a double whammy realization that Oz is not the nice, friendly con we all knew in the movie. This guy is looking pretty ugly, selfish paranoic and weak. Most of what corporate America has seen to date has been so much SMOKE, FIRE and MIRRORS. And all these CEO/CFO/CIO/IT/IS execs have bought it hook line and sinker. The Halloween Memo was written by a higher up insider deep inside this dark force pyramid. It admits openly to practicing FUD and sees the Open Systems Software (ie. Linnux, Netscape, with support from Novell, Sun , etc.) as a serious threat. Like a huge vacume, I think this memo will do serious damage deep inside MS. Any good developer who has any conscience left at all should be asking him/herself: why am I working for a corporation that lies, has little core respect for its customers, uses mafia-like fear and power to enforce the purchase of its products and treats developers like objects that can be bought and sold? I think we can expect a lot of good talent has already headed out of MS. This memo will only accelerate this trend. This should have a negative material impact on the delivery of Win 2000. Here are copies of a recent corespondence with a close friend who's in the industry as a developer and exec. Note the references to CISCO, etc. ============================== Subj: MS and "Opening Up" Date: 98-11-03 xx:xx:xx EST From: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To: fksmart@aol.com Fred, see the following document that is being claimed "authentic." The strategic nature of its tone seems to indicate this thing is real. I have cut out the most compelling phrase of all, the real crux of Microsoft's problem, which is also what you have been proclaiming. Here is your word come true! tuxedo.org From the MS memo: >>In other words, to understand how to compete against OSS, we must target a process rather than a company.>> (oss = open source software) Comments from the non-MS person who found the memo and placed it on the NET: >>{ This is a very important insight, one I wish Microsoft had missed. The real battle isn't NT vs. Linux, or Microsoft vs. Red Hat/Caldera/S.u.S.E. -- it's closed-source development versus open-source. The cathedral versus the bazaar. This applies in reverse as well, which is why bashing Microsoft qua Microsoft misses the point -- they're a symptom, not the disease itself. I wish more Linux hackers understood this. On a practical level, this insight means we can expect Microsoft's propaganda machine to be directed against the process and culture of open source, rather than specific competitors. Brace for it... }>> Hope things are going well with you. ======================================= On Wed, 4 Nov 1998 xxxx:xx:xx EST FKSmart@aol.com wrote: << On a practical level, this insight means we can expect Microsoft's propaganda machine to be directed against the process and culture of open source, rather than specific competitors. Brace for it... >> FKSmart> This is EXACTLY like the Clingon White House spin machine. Destroy enemies via spin/FUD. But will FUD work in technology circles as the demands for "openness" get more intense? FKSmart> The worst thing OSS partisans can do is try to play the same games - ie. get down at the SAME level as MS and point fingers. Every finger they point will be used against them. It's like handing arrows over to the enemy to be used with greater force and effect. FKSmart> Clinton played these arrows masterfully. I really think, despite the DOJ case, Gates probably has a very warm seat waiting for him in the Oval office. All started with Gates golfing with Sir Topem Hat (a nickname the PebbleBeach caddies gave him) in the Vinyard. The caddies came up with another phrase - "a Clinton" referring to a shot that doesn't count or when the ball is moved to make for a better "lie". Best. FKSmart> Fred ============================== Subj: Re: More.... Date: 98-11-05 xx:xx:xx EST To: FKSmart@aol.com hehehehehe. Very funny! I can tell you that the Halloween Memo has landed on the internet with a HUGE thud. Many MS developers reading this are really starting to feel like dupes. Fred -- there is a groundswell happening out there...I really believe it will only be a matter of months before a global 500 commits to Linux for the next few years as the "safest" decision to make in getting through Y2K and installing flexibility into their IT infrastructure...once that happens, you'll see a flood of "openness" just as you have been predicting. FYI -- Cisco has already done this. They run Linux and FreeBSD on their critical icommerce servers and intranet. There is little NT to be found outside of a few departmental servers inside of Cisco. Sun has NO windows desktops throughout its network. Novell -- actually runs a dual network of NT and NDS to emulate their customers. The rest of the world will go to OSS operating systems... >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ================================ Ida5683