The Borg Strike Again

Story: Innovation on Linux and UNIXTotal Replies: 9
Author Content
vainrveenr

Feb 08, 2010
10:00 AM EDT
Quoting:§ We will always interoperate with non-Windows systems on both the front- and back-end. Our search solutions will crawl and index content stored on Windows, Linux, and UNIX systems, and our UI controls will work with UI frameworks running on any operating system.
Quoting:§ We’re introducing a Customer Upgrade Program that will help customers evaluate our hosted solutions and/or a Windows-based deployment. The program will help customers assess level of effort, plan for the project, and implement the upgrade. (Customers should contact their account representative for more details.)


Here it goes yet again, from Microsoft's Olstad and others:

We are the Borg.

Prepare to be Interoperated Upon.

Resistance is Futile
(any attempts to get effective Customer Support for non-MS platforms!)

tuxchick

Feb 08, 2010
11:47 AM EDT
I swear if you ask these persons a question as simple as 'what time is it', you'll still get a raft of lengthy Doublespeak.
bigg

Feb 08, 2010
12:01 PM EDT
It's pretty profitable. As long as the customers are dumb enough to play along, why should it change? Heck, I'd do it too, if I could make a few gazillion dollars.
Bob_Robertson

Feb 08, 2010
2:34 PM EDT
> Heck, I'd do it too, if I could make a few gazillion dollars.

Power corrupts.
jdixon

Feb 08, 2010
3:12 PM EDT
> Power corrupts.

Absolutely. :)
azerthoth

Feb 08, 2010
4:16 PM EDT
... and knowledge is power.
phsolide

Feb 08, 2010
7:11 PM EDT
What is this "innovation" that the Microsoftie speaks of?

What does "deliberately withdrawing a service or production" have to do with "innovation" as it is commonly understood, i.e. the creation of a new good or service, or the re-purposing of an existing good or service?

Is this a particularly egregious example of corporate-speak?
Bob_Robertson

Feb 09, 2010
11:51 AM EDT
> What is this "innovation" that the Microsoftie speaks of?

People have been wondering that for decades.

> Is this a particularly egregious example of corporate-speak?

Not particularly, no.
vainrveenr

Feb 10, 2010
8:16 PM EDT
And now from Dana Blankenhorn's concurrent ZDNet piece 'How Microsoft uses open source to fight open source' linked to at LXer via http://lxer.com/module/newswire/view/131782
Quoting:To Microsoft open source is not an end in itself. It is a marketing tool. It is a way to gain lock-in with important customer sets.
Indeed, not only lock-in for important customer sets, but also lock-in for customers proven to be consistently "dumb enough to play along".



gus3

Feb 10, 2010
10:19 PM EDT
@vainr:

That's Microsoft's second most important customer set, right after big corporations that will plunk down big cash.

Wait, now that I think about it, big corporations constitute a subset of "dumb enough to play along."

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