Microsoft To Exhibit at LinuxWorld Expo

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Microsoft To Exhibit at LinuxWorld Expo

Posted by ryuzaki0 on Wednesday July 3, 2002 @06:32AM from the seems-like-a-good-idea-to-me dept.

Earendil writes "Linux Today has a confirmed report that Microsoft is going to be an exhibitor at LinuxWorld Expo. One can only guess at what Microsoft's motives might be. It will be interesting to see the reaction to the appearance of a Microsoft booth." No doubt this means that the more childish among us will make us all look bad. Sigh.

49 of 756 comments (clear)

What's the exhibit? by Nijika · 2002-07-03 06:34 · Score: 2, Funny

Oh oh, I know, a broadcast floos of NetBIOS and ActiveDNS requests on the exhibitors LAN!!!

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Luck favors the prepared, darling.
Their display will consist of... by gosand · 2002-07-03 06:34 · Score: 5, Funny

No doubt that their display will consist of Linux running on an Xbox.

--

My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
1. Re:Their display will consist of... by Khalid · 2002-07-03 08:47 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  They probably want to win the 200000 $ grant :)
Childish by Wrexen · 2002-07-03 06:35 · Score: 5, Funny

No doubt this means that the more childish among us will make us all look bad. Sigh.

Hi pot, this is kettle. You're looking mighty black today!
1. Re:Childish by unicron · 2002-07-03 08:09 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  I know the guy that mooned Bill Gates during his keynote a few years back at Comdex. They've got a great shot of it somewhere, I should try to find it.
  
  --
  Finally, math books without any of that base 6 crap in them.
I wonder... by T3kno · 2002-07-03 06:36 · Score: 3, Funny

Does mooning their booth make the community look bad?

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(B) + (D) + (B) + (D) = (K) + (&)
1. Re:I wonder... by ender81b · 2002-07-03 06:49 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Does mooning their booth make the community look bad?
  
  That depends. Since most geeks don't have ass's like britney spears I am very much betting it would make the community look bad. Nobody wants to see hairy ass, nobody.
2. Re:I wonder... by warmcat · 2002-07-03 07:08 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Actually the goatsex guy would probably give it a go.
3. Re:I wonder... by Band0r · 2002-07-03 07:46 · Score: 1, Funny
  
  I wonder what makes us so sure that Britney Spears' ass is NOT hairy. Has anyone on /. even seen her ass and is able to vouch that it is in fact hair free?
4. Re:I wonder... by ender81b · 2002-07-03 07:52 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Can you imagine the consequences for the world if Britney's ass was hairy? The shock, horror - MTV talking about it all day every day. Oh the bright side we would still get to see her ass, hairy or no.
Dunking Booth by simetra · 2002-07-03 06:37 · Score: 3, Funny

Bill G in a dunking booth. That would be funny.
Their theme could be "Hugs, not Hurts."

--

"Would it kill you to put down the toilet seat?" -- Maya Angelou
I can't wait... by bahamat · 2002-07-03 06:37 · Score: 4, Funny

to see what the more childish among us do!
Embrace and Extend. by bigpat · 2002-07-03 06:37 · Score: 4, Funny

We have finally assimilated them!
1. Re:Embrace and Extend. by Anonymous Coward · 2002-07-03 06:50 · Score: 1, Funny
  
  all your service pack are belong to us
Maybe Hell has frozen over... by srmalloy · 2002-07-03 06:38 · Score: 3, Funny

And they're making Windows open-source...
Probably .NET by jsimon12 · 2002-07-03 06:38 · Score: 5, Funny

I am sure they will be pushing .NET, with Mr Gnome following close behind. Oh well hopefully people will have sense to stay out of the clutches of the evil empire.

Though being a huge corporation with mounds of cash they might just have some Hot Booth Babes .
1. Re:Probably .NET by PovRayMan · 2002-07-03 06:51 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  I wonder if those booth babes will be wearing the tshirts you can find here...
  
  --
  ----------
  Check out my blackbox styles
The more childish among us??? by Anonymous Coward · 2002-07-03 06:38 · Score: 2, Funny

Hey, Taco, have a look in the mirror, LEGO-boy.
Oh, but don't forget to take off your Darth Vader helmet first.
Is this like.. by MarvinMouse · 2002-07-03 06:41 · Score: 3, Funny

an alcoholics anonymous booth at a beer convention?

Or do you think MS is going to actually give in to Linux?

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~ kjrose
Re:I don't really get it by Jucius+Maximus · 2002-07-03 06:41 · Score: 5, Funny

""Microsoft Linux" You realize that this is inevitable though?"
Haven't you heard the news?
Comment removed by account_deleted · 2002-07-03 06:44 · Score: 2, Funny

Comment removed based on user account deletion
You gotta hand it to them... by Subcarrier · 2002-07-03 06:45 · Score: 5, Funny

The personnel manning the stand must have balls bigger than their brains. This deep into hostile territory they ought to have air support.

--
"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them." -- George H. W. Bush
1. Re:You gotta hand it to them... by Anonymous Coward · 2002-07-03 07:18 · Score: 1, Funny
  
  Man, I am going to clean up selling rotten fruit at the convention!
Rumor: by vegetablespork · 2002-07-03 06:47 · Score: 5, Funny

Their booth will be right next to the exhibit floor exit, with a big sign that says "WE HAVE THE WAY OUT."

--
Call (206) 338-5780 COLLECT for information about a genuine BA, BS, MA, MS, MBA, or Ph.D.
Depends... by unformed · 2002-07-03 06:48 · Score: 5, Funny

Who are you?

Or, more specifically, male or female?
The top-10 list of reasons... by Anonymous Coward · 2002-07-03 06:54 · Score: 5, Funny

1. That $200000 prize for Linux on X-Box is just too tempting.

2. Office on Linux.

3. DirectX compatibility-layer for Linux.

4. .Net for Linux.

5. Finally, a unifying desktop environment for Linux: 'LIN32'.

6. A new kernel, now featuring Palladium (tm).

7. No product, they just want to say goodbye to all of us before new laws make Linux illegal. Possibly they'll be mooning _us_.

8. The booth contains a powerful explosive, set to go off as soon as a keep-alive timer from a PC running Windows XP fails. Talk about a 'blue screen of death'...

9. They are not yet aware that they are invited to a _Linux_ expo. It is all a weird joke by Larry Ellison.

and finally... (drumroll please!)

10. They have ported Microsoft Bob to Linux!
Star Trek VI? by dimator · 2002-07-03 06:57 · Score: 4, Funny

Does anyone else picture RMS and BillG sitting at a dinner, speaking of the Undiscovered Country?

--
python -c "x='python -c %sx=%s; print x%%(chr(34),repr(x),chr(34))%s'; print x%(chr(34),repr(x),chr(34))"
wait... by Anonymous Coward · 2002-07-03 07:01 · Score: 1, Funny

The site www.linuxworldexpo.com is running Microsoft-IIS/4.0 on NT4/Windows 98.

Go, Linux! Rule the web! Go, go, go! Oh, wait... damn.
Bottom 10 Reasons by AtariAmarok · 2002-07-03 07:04 · Score: 2, Funny

10. Bill's wallet is a little heavy. What better to do than leave a couple of billion at the Sourceforge booth?

9. Steve Ballmer has a pengiun fetish. It's just not the same since "Bloom County" was cancelled. Time to get another fix.

8. They think it is a Microsoft expo to which some Linux folks have been invited.

7. Microsoft loves trekkies. Going to be a lot of them there at any Linux event.

6. Its like "A Christmas Carol". The Ghosts of OS's Past, Present, and Future have finally convinced Ebenezer Gates of the error of his way.

5. Due to budget cuts in Redmond, they are really sending the booth crew to collect a load of free pens from the other booths in order to supply the home office.

2. (don't look for #4 and #3. They were lost due to an XP bluescreen). They are there to market the amazing new LinuXbox.

1. Yes, certainly. Giving out free copies of those surplus Windows 3.11 5.25" floppies will win over all of those Linux hippies.

--
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
here is by waspleg · 2002-07-03 07:11 · Score: 4, Funny

a map of their exhibit from linuxtoday.com linking to linuxworldexpo

http://www.linuxworldexpo.com/linuxworldexpo/v31 /f loorplan/floorplan.cvn?b=224&exbID=118

might be helpful so you know where *NOT* to be standing when the ticking mechnical suicide penguin bombs come waddling in
Reasons? by ackthpt · 2002-07-03 07:16 · Score: 2, Funny

Microsoft Linux® to be unveiled.
Actually a ploy, they'll show up with buckets of money and try to buy loyalty
Show all the technology they own and you can't see the source code to - Nyah!!
We Have The Way Out and we'll show you as soon as we can get the Powerpoint presentation to work
Rollout, denied-until-two-months-ago-existence, of Modular Windows
A test to see how low the temperature in Hell can actually go, below freezing
Demonstration of how Linux servers and Windows workstations can live in peace as soon as their engineers stop changing the specifications every five minutes.

--

A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Fools! by back@slash · 2002-07-03 07:17 · Score: 3, Funny

The real reason is so that linux geeks everywhere will lose hours of productive time wondering why MS would have a booth at LinuxWorld.

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This comment was generated by a Squadron of Ultra Ninjas
1. Re:Fools! by Anonymous Coward · 2002-07-03 08:15 · Score: 1, Funny
  
  ... Linux Geeks will lose hours of productive
  time wondering why MS would have a booth at
  LinuxWorld ...
  
  Nonsense - I'm waiting for a GCC build to
  complete !
  
  Toon Moene (GNU Fortran Maintainer).
Re:Of course it won't happen but by Moonshadow · 2002-07-03 07:19 · Score: 5, Funny

ya gotta admit that Office for Linux would be a useful thing to have around
Yeah, I've been needing something to load test my machine with.
Re:*cough* *sputter* by mchappee · 2002-07-03 07:24 · Score: 2, Funny

>Seriously, nothing personal, thats what the
> site is about, but your comments after most
> story submissions tend to represent the worst
> elitist, one sided opinions of the community

You've obviously never browsed below score threshold 2. Taco's editorial comments are very sane, grammatically superior, and thoroughly spell-checked compared to the LESS THAN 2 norm. Oh, and Taco has never pointed us at goatse.

Matthew

--
/. finds me to be 20% Troll, 80% Funny
Re:Please by _ph1ux_ · 2002-07-03 07:30 · Score: 3, Funny

actually if they are contributing *anything* at the conference make sure you get one... heck make sure you get three or five - or as many as you possibly can...

trade show gimicky stuff isnt cheap. so get lots of it.... then throw it in the trash as you leave the conference. just make sure you say please - and thank you.
two words by TheTomcat · 2002-07-03 07:35 · Score: 4, Funny

No doubt this means that the more childish among us will make us all look bad. Sigh.

Tesla Coil.

S
Protesters dressed as Borg? by emil · 2002-07-03 07:37 · Score: 5, Funny
It is probably best that we get this all talked out now, and treat them as fairly as possible. However:
- Have a whole bunch of guys show up with arms in plaster casts and signs on their necks with "Compaq," "Gateway," "Dell," "HP," "IBM," etc. Just mill around their booth.
- How about a coffin with "Digital UNIX on Alpha - Rest In Peace - BRING THE MICROSOFT MURDERERS TO JUSTICE!"
- I love Slashdot's "Bill the Borg" logo. How about a T-Shirt? Sold from a booth right next to them? Who has the booths right next to them? Will they play along?
- How about a T-Shirt like this:
  Windows NT Server $1,000 = Linux Free Microsoft Office $300 = Openoffice Free MS SQL Server $5000 = Sybase Free WHAT ARE YOU PEOPLE THINKING?!?!?!
- Another T-Shirt: Microsoft DRM - We've got all your money, now we want your civil rights.
- How about Thomas Pensfield Jackson as a keynote speaker?
  There are lots of things that could be done to convince Microsoft that this is a really bad idea.
Re:My fear by happyclam · 2002-07-03 07:52 · Score: 3, Funny

... my fear is that Microsoft writes a Linux emulator for Windows.

<theory type="conspiracy">
They will make it available for free to show the world how open they are. They will make it so easy to download and install that every eMachines owner will get it immediately. Hell, they may even include it with their next Windows update.

It will be SO buggy and error prone that all those Windows users will conclude that they will never switch to Linux.
</theory>

--
He looked at me and said, "Kid, we don't like your kind, and we're gonna send your fingerprints off to Washington."
Re:childish? by fraudrogic · 2002-07-03 07:58 · Score: 2, Funny

MONOPOLY??? You've forgot the name of the game MONOPOLY?? hmmm...you're not from 'round here are you?

--
I only mod up parents of "mod parent up" posts...
ADDITIONAL reasons... by happyclam · 2002-07-03 08:25 · Score: 4, Funny
1. They really want that Peruvian government contract.
2. They felt that Linux users around the world were deprived the added vacation time enjoyed by Windows users, so they are appearing to show off their three new Linux-based viruses.
3. It was part of the "community service" they have to perform as part of their antitrust settlement
4. They will be collecting names of attendees... their software license audit list is getting short and they need to keep the pipeline full
5. Their marketing department has automatically signed them up for every "expo" in the country because it has the letters "xp" in it.
6. Their booth will actually be empty. They just wanted to thumb their collective nose at the Linux community with their $44 billion in cash reserves.
7. They've ported Clippy to Linux.
8. It's a new form of hazing for all the fresh-out-of-college marketing employees.
9. The network on the show floor has always been impervious to viruses; putting a whole bunch of Microsoft Outlook boxes on the network will solve that problem.
10. It is classic cold war, arms-race tactics. By showing up with the biggest booth and the biggest budget, soon they will dominate and co-opt the entire show, and the little fish won't be able to show up any more. In five years, LinuxWorld Expo will be dead, or at least turned into a sidelight for another Microsoft lovefest. I wish it weren't so.
--
He looked at me and said, "Kid, we don't like your kind, and we're gonna send your fingerprints off to Washington."
Re:Good point on their hardware. by Frag-A-Muffin · 2002-07-03 08:43 · Score: 3, Funny

There is ONE type of product that M$ does well, and makes an honest living with - Input devices. This is the ONLY area where I've seen them actually innovate. (Mouse wheel, first company with an all-surface optical - The grid-pad opts from Sun don't count). As long as they stay far away from software, they're golden.

Perhaps you've never heard of the monstrosity called the xbox?

--

AirSpeak - http://itunes.com/apps/AirSpeak
freezing hell by stew77 · 2002-07-03 08:46 · Score: 2, Funny

Yeah, you guys can be joking around up there. Be glad you're not down here, Satan's bitching all day now about that freezing cold we have now. You know, hell used to be a lovely hot place, but now it's just friggin' cold down here and Satan is swearing all the time. No fun.
Microsoft Question by Zancarius · 2002-07-03 08:54 · Score: 2, Funny

Does this mean they will be showcasing their FreeBSD mail servers that have served them so well with hotmail?

--
He who has no .plan has small finger. ~ Confucius on UNIX
Cringing, whimpering, windows boxen by Anonymous Coward · 2002-07-03 09:07 · Score: 1, Funny

For anyone who is going to be attendance with a booth and everything, why not take the initiative to properly "welcome" MS to the show as soon as they hook their boxen up to the show lan? I humbly suggest repeated nessus scans from multiple sources. Maybe some packet fun with nemesis or rain. Free Caffiene Linux t-shirt to the first person or team to own their systems.
Re:Why is Microsoft there? My guess. by Anonymous Coward · 2002-07-03 11:08 · Score: 1, Funny

Geez, The linux expo is 90% Linux FUD. The MS FUD would only serve to actually clear the air a bit!
Maybe... just maybe... by MrIcee · 2002-07-03 11:50 · Score: 2, Funny

their heart is actually in the right place for a change and they plan on giving out free CD's with WINDOWS source code on it.
Re:Good point on their hardware. by MaxVlast · 2002-07-03 13:34 · Score: 3, Funny

I've heard MS described as a killer mouse company with a software division.

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Max V.
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Guy who mooned Bill Gates by Anonymous Coward · 2002-07-03 19:29 · Score: 1, Funny

Found it, I think. You mean this guy?