A Brief History of Microsoft FUD

There has long since been the opinion amongst Linux users that Microsoft spreads entirely too much disinformation or FUD around the Web. Until today, this was a difficult thing to document. And then I located this resource…

This time it’s patents that will ensure the downfall of GNU/Linux and with it, the entire world of open source. But before hanging up your certified geek propeller-hat and retraining as a dental hygienist, you might want to consider the following brief history of Microsoft’s use of Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt (FUD) as a weapon against GNU/Linux.

You’ve got to hand it to him: Steve Ballmer is a master of innuendo. In a recent interview, published in Forbes, he manages to say nothing and threaten everything:

Well, I think there are experts who claim Linux violates our intellectual property. I’m not going to comment. But to the degree that that’s the case, of course we owe it to our shareholders to have a strategy.

So, this time it’s patents that will ensure the downfall of GNU/Linux and with it, the entire world of open source. But before hanging up your certified geek propeller-hat and retraining as a dental hygienist, you might want to consider the following brief history of Microsoft’s use of Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt (FUD) as a weapon against GNU/Linux. It’s a story that goes back nearly a decade, and one that has evolved through various stages of corporate denial. Source: lxer.com

[tags]microsoft,linux,patents,intellectual property,fud[/tags]