Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft Targeting Indian Developers
Pranjal writes "An Indian Business magazine, Business World is reporting that in it's war against Linux, Microsoft is taking the battle to the Indian developers. The logic is simple. India has 10% of the developer population of the world. If a significant number of these developers commit to work on MS platforms then the number of developers working on Linux platforms can decrease significantly and thus the number of applications. As Dilip Mistry, a director at Microsoft India's Bangalore office puts it, "This country can affect our (Microsoft's) destiny." [Quote From article] Local linux user groups are trying to counter this threat by targetting school and university students and increasing the awareness about development on a linux platform. Read the full story here. [Nice cover don't you think?]"
Jesus, this is low for even slashdot.
The guy and his wife are pledging 100x what most countries gave to the African AIDS epidemic (Italy: 1.3million). And somehow you have to tie this to some sort of anti-linux campaign.
Get real. The linux community over values itself if it thinks gates is going about eroding linux support by saving lives and preventing epidemics.
You think the $250+ million he dumped into Africa was to squash the burgeoning Linux user groups starting to take hold in Kenya?
Learn to draw the line guys. From early on the Gates Foundation has been doing about 50% of its donations to Global Health. So far that's like 2.7 billion. You don't have to like him, but you certainly don't have to belittle his philanthropic work.
-malakai
-Malakai
A Dragon Lives in my Garage
The facts:
Bill Gates himself goes on a trip to a country that has recently started to develop significant Linux precence including cheap Linux devices for the masses. Bill's action can only be interpreted as an act of desperation.
Slashdot (and unfortunately most Linux communities) have been infected by Microsoft FUD, it's no longer funny:
Fear, Uncertainity, Doubt:
"Hopefully this won't have a large effect on it." (Translation: Whine, whine, whine, I'm so afraid, uncertain and doubtful.) Just read a few more posts, most contain similar statements. Yes, this is FUD by its finest.
By now we have even reached a point where it is no longer allowed to have optimistic points of view. It's considered obscene and strange if you do. When Eric S. Raymond said that Linux will gain massively on cheap computers, he was called crazy, a freak and whatever in the accompanying Slashdot-thread. (Of course Walmart and Gericom have already proven that Linux sells on cheaper computers - of course nobody realized that. When announced, everybody was afraid, doubtful and uncertain about the Linux-PC's success. (Would Walmart really sell a losing product for over half a year? Would Walmart extend their commitment twice? - They went from clean PCs to Lindows-preloaded, then later added Mandrake.))
Currently we live in a situation where almost everybody, even many Linux-supporters spread FUD (in the literal sense: "Fear, Uncertainity, Doubt") about Linux.
Such massive anti-propaganda would have killed almost any commercial product within only few years. Would anybody buy Windows when Bill Gates would constantly say stuff like: "Hopefully Torvald's speech on Linux-Expo won't have a large effect on our sales"? Of course not.
The FACT that despite this hostile environment, KDE/Linux is not only surviving but growing - in terms of development as well as in terms of marketshare, is the biggest proof that Linux is here not only to stay but also to become the standard platform on all mainstream computing markets within this decade.
The sad part is that most slashdotters don't seem to realize what they are doing - that they are spreading anti-Linux FUD.
Or to put it in another way: The FUD spread by Bill Gates in India (or anywhere else) can't be worse than the FUD spread by Linux-supporters on slashdot (or elsewhere).
To the detractors: You know, if you hate businesspeople that much; especially those who try to give back; you need to find a country where you don't need that dollar a day in order to survive. Even communist states aren't that simple.
I am the first to concede that Microsoft got to the top and then started knocking other people off the top by abusing their power. There is probably NO WAY to tell whether or not other powerhouses like Apple and IBM would have done the same -- on the other hand, there may be - Don Imus was talking about a book by a former IBM CEO the other day (but he was also mentioning that it seemed to be written in a vacuum; with no discernible mention of the worldwide sociopoliticeconmical situation at the time period; which is apparently the early 80s).
It just so happens, WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT, that Mr. Gates is very very rich. And you know what; even if 98% of what his company does is wrong; getting there was not as wrong as you think. And that man worked hard to get where he is; and deserves an ounce of your respect for that. There are two sides to a coin; and the very fact that he gives back in areas that many others do not or would not donate time or money towards is laudable.
As far as "the memo" is concerned... you/we/they ARE the competition. Every Pro-Linux gathering has plans to defeat the competition that is Microsoft - or corporate greed or whatever your noble cause du jour is. So do it!
Give Microsoft competition; give 'closed source' competition; don't just spew mindless immaturities - "Waaaaah, he gots a lollipop and I don't". Remember to ask yourself how you are going to make money giving something away for free - and DAMN you if you make only the first one free because that is the same practice you detest. And before you break out more immaturities; I use them all - Solaris, Windows, Linux - because each one has their uses depending on what or whom I'm working for. If you can get it in front of the multibillion dollar corporation and get them to adopt it as their baseline OS; then that will be my next job. I am less worried about the kind of systems I will be supporting than whether said support position will be funded next year.
I think with the interesting people, their lives can't possibly be wrapped up into a nice little package.