Since 1998, when Linux first came on Microsoft’s radar, the Redmond, WA company’s stealth campaigns designed to disparage the operating system have been exposed and scrutinized with unprecedented effectiveness, thanks to the galvanization of the Linux community and the instant dissemination of information via the Internet.
In the spring of 1999, Microsoft funded a study comparing the performance of Linux to its Windows NT operating system. The study was released by the Mindcraft research firm, but instead of setting off a traditional public-relations war in the trade press between rival companies, the report spawned an online avalanche of ad hoc commentary and criticism from within the Linux community.
“Every single time Microsoft makes a press release or announcement that spins their way, you’ll find various people on the Internet dissecting it,” says Linux creator Linus Torvalds. “This is not a planned effort on the part of Linux programmers,” he adds. “The most orchestration that happens is that people tell each other to calm down and not get too hot-headed, and then the normal Internet channels act as a conduit to journalists and analysts that would otherwise not have heard the other side at all.”
“Intelligence” has long been one of the software giant’s fortes, as Justice Department investigators know. Its competitive stalking activities have ranged from routine collection of market data, to aggressive disparagement campaigns to create FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt — a term littered throughout Microsoft’s internal e-mail communications) in the marketplace when it comes to rival…
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