Open Source Community Rants Six Years Late About Microsoft Filing

The open source software [OSS] community does not understand the nature of annual reports and/or SEC 10-K filings. Or some of its more strident or commercially oriented members are purposely trying to mislead the others.

The out-of-context snippets from a 79-page Microsoft (MSFT) SEC document and subsequent outright falsities or misinterpretations put out by the OSS community do the communal movement damage among those of us that both admire the OSS community’s productivity and simply get a good laugh from its infighting (because it reminds us grey beards of the DEC vs. DG—or Wang or Prime—days of yesteryear).

In the case of the Microsoft “Risk Factor” wording, one blogger is breathlessly talking about being "shocked" that “Microsoft has managed to enshrine its ignorance (about OSS) in a public document.” But Microsoft has been enshrining its ignorance with about the same wording since about 2002, when it first started pointing out the risk that Linux could displace Windows. Of course  Windows has gained share against all other operating systems as a group over that period (Linux is basically replacing outdate Unix versions), but Microsoft is still obliged legally to point out the possibility to investors. From an investor's point of view, that Unix to Linux migration should have been Windows business even though IT users seldom work that that way.

In 2005 or so Microsoft added SaaS as a similar risk. This year Microsoft added the risk-factor implications of its new Interoperability program. This year it also dropped SaaS and added the Google (GOOG) revenue model as a similar risk.

It’s all simply due diligence because Microsoft also says that it intends to compete vigorously in the OSS, SaaS and Google-like markets. I think  that's what really bothers some of the OSS bloggers, not Microsoft's ignorance.

 

Comments

[yohoho:]

+1

2008 Aug 05 11:25 AM

[Jonathan Scott:]

You encapsulated well the passion of the open source community to 'catch' Microsoft. This 'catch' Microsoft is usually done when issues are taken out of context which you also pointed out. Well done and well written.

2008 Aug 05 12:39 PM

[yohoho:]

The OSS communities greatest strength in the past... is now clearly their greatest weakness. And I'm referring to their propensity to HATE everyone else. Look no further than GPLv3 for a legal-eaze version of that very weakness.

2008 Aug 06 01:47 AM