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Microsoft Sends Linux Survey
GnrlFajita writes "According to Newsforge, Microsoft is sending Linux users a survey asking why they use Linux, and what can be done to make Windows better. The article suggests taking the survey (or surveys, one for business users and one for home users), then sharing your answers with others in the community." Newsforge and Slashdot are both part of OSDN.
...how about fully documenting all protocols and formats used (under a nice license) so that people can make products interoperable?
Dear Mr MS Marketing,
I use linux because
1. I expect to own software I pay for
2. I expect software I pay for to work as advertised
3. I expect not to be foreced into downloading other components I don't want of said software to keep my machine secure. (IE media player has to be downloaded to make explorer secure)
4. I expect to not be forced to give up all and any reasonable legal rights when I open the package.
5. I do not want to deal with software that guarantees via the liscence agreeement that the publisher can remotely look at my computer at will.
As soon as the law makers get their opposable digit out of their anal orpheus, and restore a modicum of protection to consumers I don't have any faith that any of the points that I have outlined above will be addressed. Lets face it, you pay for the software, break open the box, and you have no legal expectation that the software will work, in any way shape or form.
AngryPeopleRule
"Science is about ego as much as it is about discovery and truth " - I said it, so sue me.
it's called marketing outsourcing.
"Not knowing when the dawn will come, I open every door." - Emily Dickinson
Come on, MS reads /. too. If they don't know why we don't like them by now they will never get better.
-- Cheers!
On top of that, there's at least one mistake in the format of the survey.
i ty/centers/management/surveys/sus_survey.aspxr example. Or, they'd contract out to a survey company, which is their normal route.
When entering processor speed, 1.1Ghz to 2Ghz is two options.
The whole thing just feels somewhat unprofessional and hacked together. The options just don't gel.
Given the amount of time and effort real marketing men put into surveys (and I've been on the wrong end of far too many), it just doesn't feel like something microsoft would put out.
Plus, they would normally use microsoft.com to do the survey; http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/commun
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I smell hoax.
Remember kids, it's all fun and games until someone commits wholesale galactic genocide.
>> But seriously, we all complain about MS's problems, now we've actually got a outlet to complain to. If you don't speak up now, you really have no room to speak later!
Its not that microsoft doesnt know their weakness or why people go after linux. They know the reasons behind all these. And people have on so many occasions shown them what is the problem with MS softwares and the business practice followd by MS and why they dont like it. But the response from MS have been less than encouraging at best and bullying at worst. This survey is also, I suspect not something to know the "heart and mind" of linux users and tailor their software according to that. But I would suspect that they will use the informations from such linux studies to look in to ways to CIRCUMVENT these problems in a clever way. MS cannot and will not change their busniess tactics easily. Their entire business culture is build upon un-ethical and shoddy practices. To expect any revolutionary or fundamental change from them is naive at best. They have never even admitted their wrong doing any time despite being found guilty on so many occasions. That itself shows what sort of a mindset the people at the holm of Microsoft does have.
http://www.nasirudheen.blogspot/
I thought just the opposite. This is what MS needs to do to gain respect. They flat out asked us "Ok, tell us, what do you think, we value your opinions and we want to know." MS has never done this before.
If MS shows respect and tolerance to the open-source community, it can win over many Linux fans. Too often, they've spread FUD about Linux, and they write off Linux users any chance they can. If they show signs of friendship, and even show interoperability with open-source products, that would lessen many people's hatred of Microsoft.
This is golden. Right off the survey, written by microsoft employee(s), suggested reasons you might not like M$!
foo mane padme hum
Linux does have bigger problems that Windows. Difficult installers and obscure, overcomplicated package management systems are just the tip of the iceburg. Then we get into all the bugs or missing features that KDE/GNOME have. Like no way to change the screen resolution without editing xf86config in KDE and no way to get a columned list view of files in Nautilus in GNOME.
Yes, these are bigger problems that Windows doesn't have. In Windows, installation is easy, package management is (now) painless, and there are no major missing features or bugs that can't be solved with either some GUI workaround (as opposed to Linux's often "edit some obscure config file") or a quaint third party program.
Despite these problems though if you can muddle through them Linux is still better than Windows. It's filesystems are vastly better written, the kernel is ten times more stable, and best of all it's the most configurable operating system in existence. You can make Linux look any way you want.
I'm nowhere close to being a guru on Linux. I still can't even make it through a Debian installation (partly because my internet connection sucks). I despise portage and apt-get. RPMs, IMO, would be far better if they didn't suck with their can't solve their own dependencies problem. And worst of all, I have 10 years of experience with Windows. But despite all of this against Linux, I still prefer it over Windows.
So, as you can see my from my post, it's easy to both critisize and love linux at the same time, and that is exactly what I believe Microsoft is doing.
You're right, I wouldn't steal a car. But if it were possible, I sure as hell would download one!
The best reply to this has been one that Jonathan Hutchins posted to our KCLUG mailing list:
At any rate, if they truly want to know why I don't like Windows and why I as a sysadmin would refuse to run it on any of our servers, here it is (again):
I'm not going to submit it to their damn survey. I'd rather do it this way. It's called an open letter. But then I guess they just don't like *anything* that's open.
"No problem. I have the capacity to do infinite work so long as you don't mind that my quality approaches zero."-Dilbert
Is this how SCO is going to find out who to sue?
Nobody's going to tell SCO directly that they are strapped for cash (can't afford licenses or lawyers) so they have a couple thousand linux boxen instead. So MS puts out this 'improve windows' survey to do that job. Then they 'publish' the results to 'select partners' , SCO being one of them.
Then SCO knows who will be a pushover for setting precedent. Maybe that or get the 'proof' that IBM is able to refute accepted by another judge in another venue.
In other words, don't fill out this survey unless you've got a few hundred million dollars laying around and the will to spend it on lawyers.
"Let him go, Ralph. He knows what he's doing." --Otto Mann (simpsons)
Microsoft could have crushed the Open Source movement if it had given away one of it's development platforms for free. If they had fostered a Java-esque or CPAN-esque software repository... if they had given free SDK's for windows out... if they supported or encouraged the development of free servers, browsers, desktop systems, and support utilities... THEN Microsoft could have crushed the Open Source movement when it was just beginning.
... would you? Many people say yes, many people say no. Are enough people that are lazy enough to "just stay with Microsoft" developers? Are they a large enough group that they'd cripple the OSS movement?
But, then... it wouldn't be "Microsoft" would it? If Microsoft does these things... will Microsoft keep "Microsoft-like" control over the software market?
People are lazy. If you could do everything you do now on Linux without having to learn Linux
I doubt it. But, I think that it's still early enough for Microsoft to do a complete 180 and hold it's market share virtually indefinately. Try this on for size: GNUM, GNUM is Not Unix by Microsoft. I'm sure they'll call it something different.
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