MS promotes Linux from threat to 'the' threat - Memo
By Thomas C Greene in Washington
Posted: 12/11/2001 at 07:25 GMT
"Linux is the long-term threat against our core business. Never forget that!" Microsoft Windows Division Veep Brian Valentine exclaims in a confidential memo to his Sales Brownshirts obtained by The Register. (our emphasis)
The core outrage from Valentine's perspective is all these Sun and IBM shops migrating in droves to the cheaper Intel platform, and observing along the way that Linux is a good deal easier to deal with if you're already acquainted with UNIX. Funny that. Kinda the key idea behind Linux, but we digress.
"I need you to make sure that as many of these customers as possible continue to migrate off of UNIX, but on to Windows 2000 on Intel," Valentine says. "You should be smothering your accounts from every angle, and if you see Linux and/or IBM in there with it, then get all over it. Don't lose a single win to Linux."
Valentine's hard-sell hall monitors will be marching through a data center near you, we gather, searching for open-source contaminants and anything else that breathes in the marketplace and consumes their air.
"If you haven't done it at your customer sites -- then do a walk-thru of their datacenters and take inventory of where you see Sun machines, IBM, etc and ask them what they running on those machines. Learn about what they do with those systems, keep that inventory in your back pocket -- hell -- tattoo it on your butt if you have to -- and go after them. Knock them out one machine, one application, one department at a time. I cannot stress how important this is!"
It's no secret that MS has long regarded Linux as a threat, at least not since Eric Raymond broke the news two years ago with the infamous Halloween Documents. But it's lovely to see it becoming the threat, apparently because it empowers people to operate computers and networks without buying into the nebulous Microsoft .NET vision, which, as you'll see below, the company thinks of as something to be 'positioned' by its products.
We just love the way salesmen talk. Especially frightened ones.
Click to expand...
...And its Another Leaked Microsoft MemoJan 3, 2003
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