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Microsoft and 'An Open and Honest Discussion'?
Simon Brooke asks: "I have today received from Microsoft a flyer about an event entitled 'Microsoft and Open Source 20/20 Seminar: An open and honest technology discussion'. Microsoft are touting one of their speakers as an 'independent analyst'. All the other speakers are either Microsoft employees or represent businesses related to Microsoft. The 'independent' speaker is Philip Dawson of Meta Group, and his job title is given as 'Senior Program Director, International Infrastructure Strategies'. He's described as 'a leading authority on Linux, high end UNIX, Windows server platforms and storage'. Among the 'seminar benefits' is listed 'question the platform and Linux technical experts' so clearly their pitch will be to present this guy is a 'Linux technical expert'. Anyone prepared to help me out here? Have Microsoft held similar events in your part of the world, and if so how did you respond? Do you have any scoop on Mr Dawson?" Sounds like more par for the course from Microsoft. Nevertheless, it doesn't hurt to go into these things armed with more information...that is if you are in to events like these.
"The event (which is free) is being held on:
Consequently it would help enormously if people going to the event had some low-down on this guy. He's apparently written a recent report entitled 'Linux Adoption: An OS for the Masses?' but unfortunately it seems you have to pay chunky amounts of money to get access to it. It would be extremely interesting if someone had read it, particularly if it contained factual errors or obvious misinformation. It would also be interesting to know in what ways he has worked with or for Microsoft in the past."
- 10th June - London
- 17th June - Edinburgh
- 29th June - Manchester
- 7th July - Newport
Consequently it would help enormously if people going to the event had some low-down on this guy. He's apparently written a recent report entitled 'Linux Adoption: An OS for the Masses?' but unfortunately it seems you have to pay chunky amounts of money to get access to it. It would be extremely interesting if someone had read it, particularly if it contained factual errors or obvious misinformation. It would also be interesting to know in what ways he has worked with or for Microsoft in the past."
Mr. Dawson has a biog page on which it notes that he's ex-SCO.
boakes.org
I believe you sir are in the wrong place - if you want an open and honest discussion, then MS has just the right seminar. We here on /. are only into digging for the dirty laundry (except if it's about some hot babes, in which case by all means, let's dig for some clean lingerie instead).
How many ways does it have to be said: open source is winning so let's just relax. It should go without saying but most people at MS are just, erm, people with the same interests, ideals and values as everyone else. I know it's amusing (not least to me) to demonise them but I think that is a tad unfair.
I once had a MS guy wheeled in to tell me that J2EE was fundamentally broken and that he'd spent 2 years at Barclays bank (it's a UK high-street bank) trying to get it to work and it just wouldn't. This went on for 30 mins or so. Then I invited him to come around the corner (literally) and see the J2EE-based demo my team had put together in the previous 2 days...
I suppose the point is that all companies are basically all about winning contracts and never mind the truth. It sounds stupid to be pointing that out as I'm sure 99% of you deal with that in your daily working life. Yes, MS as a corporation is particularly ruthless but let's not get carried away. They are just the ultimate embodiment of what most corporations would like to be. Don't kid yourself that Apple, Oracle or whoever wouldn't be as evil if they could only figure out how. Well, IMO. If I'm wrong then great. Seriously.
If you pay for it it must be true. Mega Corporations paid to create^H^H^H^H^H^H find this truth for you.
If your opponents generally can't afford to view your FUD before you present it with a paid shill arguing your opponents view point then your truth shall reign uncontestible...
Well that's just my take on the matter. But then again I thought the Maginot Line was a good idea (tactically speaking).
134340: I am not a number. I am a free planet!
This is a UK Degree: a Bachelor of Art. What you may read between the lines is very limited.
It's common for UK Uni's to share modules between degree courses. The obvious parallel is a BSc (Bachelor of Science) and because this BA is in a scientific subject it's a possibility that this is the case.
I sit next to someone with a BA in CS who's on his first year of a Distributed Computing PhD, he also helped me through my first stage 1 Gentoo build and is a more than competent coder, so like I say, there's not much you can infer here, and to call it a Bullshit Degree is a mistake.
boakes.org
i know its not the most reliable source in the world but you can see his stances on a number of issues by simply googling him, http://www.google.ca/search?q=Philip+Dawson+of+Met a+Group&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&btnG=Google+Search&meta =
-=Hinkey=-
Open and honest?
I believe I speak for all of us here when I say: "When pigs fly."
TANSTAAFI: There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free iPod.
Several of their consultants (Kevin McIsaac comes to mind) have been damning Linux with faint praise for a very long time. I don't know if that converts the leadin from "prejudicial" to "going in with your eyes open" or not, but it certainly raises its point average in my eyes. (-:
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
Don't confuse education and intelligence. There are lot of people who are extremely good at their job, while they don't have the education for this job. Some people can't afford to study a long time, and well, sometimes, you have to make choices for many reasons and dropping school while you could continue, is not necessarily easy to explain. It is difficult to say this person is dumb because he has only a BA. :)
Again don't confuse education and intelligence. But again, neither education nor intelligence is preventing people from having no ethic