ESR's Halloween XI -- Get the FUD

dave writes "In the newest Halloween Document (mirror), Eric Raymond analyzes Microsoft's 'Get The Facts' road show. The anti-Linux arguments they are using now -- and, even more, the arguments they're *not* using -- reveal how desperate Microsoft is getting. He explains why he thinks we need to focus more on government adoptions, and predicts serious ugliness during the next year."

new name

[A_GREER]

In a quest for truth in advertising, it will now be called "Get the Spin"

Perfervid?

[burgburgburg]

Anyone who thinks I'm being perfervid

Main Entry: perfervid
Pronunciation: (")p&r-'f&r-v&d, 'p&r-
Function: adjective
Etymology: New Latin perfervidus, from Latin per- thoroughly + fervidus fervid
: marked by overwrought or exaggerated emotion : excessively fervent

Yes, that's exactly what I was going to say.

Corrections in the ESR documents.

[Anonymous Coward]

I just emailed ESR about the gross misreference to GNU/Linux as linux in his article.

Re:Say it ain't so!

[ari_j]

Let's see how long until your pants are sued right off of your legs.

You wear pants?

WTF is FUD?

[mattgoldey]

Did I miss the memo? What is "FUD"?

Re:Perfervid?

[NaugaHunter]

Why not? It's a perfectly cromulent word that embiggens his point.

Re:Perfervid?

[GPLDAN]

I thought I saw it on the front of an ATI video card box. "The Radeon is the best perfevid on the market!"

Um

[Requiem]

Can we stop giving a soapbox to a man who claims to channel Pan? [catb.org]

Until I realized, finally, belatedly, what had been happening to me. Until the Great God Pan reached out of my hindbrain and thundered "YOU!" And his gift is music and his chosen instruments the pipes and flutes. And his, too the power of joy; magic so strong that when it flowed out of me, even before I knew what I was doing, it amazed people into awe and incoherence and poetry.

That day I was reborn; from a skinny lame kid with a flute into a shaman and a vessel of the Goat-Foot God, the Piper at the Gates of Dawn, the Horned Lord. And the music was my first power, but not my last.

ESR is off the deep end.

Re:You're missing the point of gov't adoptions

[Anonymous Coward]

Windows 2000?

SNL Sketch

[Anonymous Writer]

This "Get the Facts" tour sounds like a Jon Lovitz [imdb.com] "liar" sketch on Saturday Night Live.

Re:Um

[BenjyD]

How is that any more or less valid than any other religious belief? Should we ignore all Christian people because they believe someone walked on water? Or muslims because they do streching exercises every day as a form of prayer to their god?

Just because a religion sounds silly to you doesn't make it any less valid than any other religion.

I made a little chart...

[Anonymous Coward]

...to show who says what.

Stallman GNU/linux Free Software Bearded Chaotic Good
Linus linux Open Source(?) Unbearded True Neutral
Eric linux Open Source Hitler Mustache Chaotic Evil
Bruce P GNU/linux Free Software Beardless Lawful Good
Alan Cox GNU/lin(mostly) Free Software Mighty beard Chaotic Good

Re:Perfervid?

[cuzality]

Thought it was quite scrumtrilescent, myself.

Re:You're missing the point of gov't adoptions

[southpolesammy]

Mass migration looms.
Big business senses problems,
Sticks finger in dike.

Ooops.....

[JohnTheFisherman]

I forgot the close sarcasm tag. ;) ;) ;)

Re:You're missing the point of gov't adoptions

[Bob of Dole]

The military/DOD is a huge customer for Microsoft and one they will not give up without an epic battle.

Hopefully not literally.

Define "We"

[ericlp]

He explains why he thinks we need to focus more on government adoptions, and predicts serious ugliness during the next year."

Lone Ranger: "We are surrounded by hundreds of fiece indians. What should we do my faithful companion?"

Tanto: "What do you mean 'we' pale face?"

Re:The clueless userbase to propagates the worms.

[Mirk]

I would be very much interested in seeing it. Could you email, or make it available through http/ftp/whatever?

I'd like to see it, too, please. I've set my root password to "querty". Please ssh onto my box and run this fascinating software so I can look into it.

Re:Um

[Requiem]

Yeah, but if a guy claims that he saw Jesus in his coffee that morning, I'm still going to look at him funny.

Re:The clueless userbase to propagates the worms.

[ejbst25]

Whew! Glad you mispelled qwerty or that would be totally insecure!

Re:I made a little chart...

[virid]

Also, what is the precise difference between "Bearded" and "Mighty Beard"? Stallman's beard maybe shorter than Cox but not by much...

Re:The clueless userbase to propagates the worms.

[poot_rootbeer]

the only conclusion I can draw ATM is that using software you are not familiar with take more time, especially for advanced stuff like data validation. Duh.

It's a wholly cromulent conclusion to draw, though.

An office that currently uses MS Windows and Office is going to incur larger migration and retraining costs if they migrate to Linux and OO.org than if they upgrade to the next MS versions.

Yes, a completely objective comparison would make sure that users had equivalent experience with both platforms prior to testing. But the real world isn't objective like that -- the laws of vendodynamics suggest that a company that licenses from a vendor will upgrade with that same vendor, unless acted upon by an outside force.

Linux advocates need to explain to companies, what is this outside force and why is it significant?

Woohoo!

[Anonymous Coward]

Here is a blow by blow account on how to do it! [albinoblacksheep.com]. I haven't laughed this hard for ages.

Even Schwann bred but I am not so sure about ESR's chances...

Re:ESR, again.

[PhxBlue]

Sorry there, but besides Fud, what has ESR brought to the Open Source community ?

The aqueduct. . . and the sanitation! And the roads. . .

Re:I made a little chart...

[Anthony Boyd]

I agree with your suggestion that ESR should be Chaotic Neutral. My old DM's guide describes CN as self-interested, unpredictable, and hard to control. Very often, paranoid or crazy people. That sounds more accurate than Chaotic Evil, which implies the wholesale destruction of society and life as we know it.

But the grandparent, which suggested that Linus should be Neutral Good? Naaaah. Linus never ever takes sides. Even if he did take a side on some things, it would be a drop in the bucket. His neutrality is firmly established. He is on the side of technology, and doesn't sem to care about the implications of his work. I think calling Linus True Neutral is correct.

PS: Yay! I'm a D&D geek! There's probably a 24-hour cooling-off period after I post this, where my wife will refuse sex until I regain some sense of non-geekness. But for now, I revel in my pasty-skinned +1 alpha-dork glory!

Re:I made a little chart...

[pclminion]

And what, exactly, is the difference between "Unbearded" and "Beardless"

It's simple, really. If a person once had a beard, but now has none, he is "unbearded." You know, as in "Gahh! I got drunk and passed out and my friends unbearded me in my sleep!"

"Beardless" would indicate never having had a beard at all.