Get The FUD

At least Microsoft is trying to be rational this time. Were not seeing Steve Ballmer rant and rave about open-source software being a threat to the software world. This time we no longer have such errant Microsoft-sponsored nonsense as the Alexis de Tocqueville Institutions comment: "The GPL has many risks, but the greatest is its threat to the cooperation between different parties who collaborate and create new technologies." Uh, excuse me, but isnt the whole idea of the GPL to free programmers to work together?

Ah well, never mind that nonsense. This time around, Microsoft is trying to put together reasonable arguments to show that its products are better choices than those of the open-source community. Unfortunately for Microsoft, its own selections show there arent a whole lot of reasonable arguments against Linux out there.

I actually find this rather odd. Linux isnt perfect. XP Professional, W2K and Server 2003 do have points in their favor. Even so, I think that Linux is still the better choice for most businesses, but heck, I could argue better for Microsofts cause than they do! If the best Redmond can do is rehash old and discredited analyst reports, maybe Microsoft really is right to worry about Linux.

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eWEEK.com Linux & Open Source Center Editor Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols has been using and writing about operating systems since the late 80s and thinks he may just have learned something about them along the way.