IT-Review

Microsoft Acknowledges Linux As the Strongest Competitor

OSIA, Australia's open source industry association, is flattered by recent acknowledgement of Linux as the strongest competitor to Microsoft's desktop monopoly, by none other than Microsoft themselves. A competitor, which should therefore be considered and evaluated by any business or government presently using Microsoft's products.

OSIA director Con Zymaris said, "Steve Ballmer, Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft Corp., recently penned a letter which has generated great publicity for Linux and open source software globally. Steve obviously crafted the letter to make Microsoft's products appear more attractive to buyers than Linux. Would we expect otherwise?"

"Although it is quite clear that Steve greatly underestimated the security, stability and cost of ownership benefits of Linux and open source software, it is beyond dispute that he considers Linux the only game in town when it comes to competition. This is the greatest form of flattery to all of us - coming from none other than our fiercest competitor. He's done the open source industry a favour, by inadvertently drawing attention to the very software his company competes against," continued Zymaris.

Through Microsoft's immense marketing muscle and advertising budgets, we can expect an increased presence of Linux and open source in the media. Already, Microsoft are funding campaigns which draw attention to Linux in almost every major IT and business publication around the world. This free attention is helping spur ever greater interest in Linux and open source software as an alternative to the status-quo.

"Microsoft have on many occasions claimed that Linux is not a major competitive threat to them," said Zymaris. "However, we don't see Microsoft spending hundreds of millions of dollars fighting Solaris, HP-UX, AIX or especially Mac OS X in the media. The only platform Microsoft spends such intense attention and budgets on, is Linux. And, as always, actions speak louder than words."

Source: press release

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