WHY? [LWN.net]

WHY?

Posted Sep 14, 2003 18:20 UTC (Sun) by pto (guest, #5753)
In reply to: WHY? by corbet
Parent article: Interview: Linux usage raises big legal concerns (Gulf News)

The comments of a regional MS manager are particularly interesting, because he isn't as
careful as the usual talking heads from Redmond. He is quite openly and dishonestly
misrepresenting the SCO case and the Linux community's approach to intellectual property.
I suspect this is exactly what Microsoft is telling companies in private, even though they are
normally too embarrassed to make such accusations in public.

I can only hope that companies realize that the biggest obstacle for them "to innovate and
create a healthy software industry that exports world-class software abroad" is not Linux,
but Microsoft.

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WHY?

Posted Sep 15, 2003 13:47 UTC (Mon) by dkite (guest, #4577) [Link]

This is salesman trash talk. Trash the competition and inflate your own claims. It's rare that we
read this stuff in print.

If a higher up comes and asks you 'what is this SCO thing', this is probably what they heard
from a rep.

This is common practice in all sales endeavors. It usually doesn't work very well. It may hold a
committed customer. If the sales rep finds out that you are looking at Linux, this will be the first
line. The second line will be something like "oh, we were looking at your account, and we could
probably knock 30% or so off.....".

The company I work for is always hearing trash talk from those who want our customers. We
don't lose very much, and usually get it back. Negative talk doesn't sell, it stops sales.

Derek