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Microsoft, Wikileaks and the nobility of lies

By | November 29, 2010, 6:34am PST

David Gewirtz asks whether  the latest Wikileaks data dump could bring on World War III, because it shows (again) how what we say publicly isn’t what we know privately.

Savio Rodrigues thinks Microsoft’s role in the Novell acquisition could do it great harm, because it shows the company (again) saying one thing about Linux while doing another.

What these stories share is the idea that there is comfort in lies.

There is some comfort in white lies. The famous Geico ad where Abraham Lincoln tells his wife the dress does indeed make her look a little fat is one example.

But what about big business lies, like the one about Microsoft caring about Linux and open source on behalf of customers (as opposed to profit)? We know it’s not true.

Whether we think it acts defensively regarding Linux (as I do) or offensively (as some talkbacks will say below) everyone knows Linux is a threat to Microsoft and that the company has to respond.

Why we should pretend to one thing when everyone knows we are doing the opposite has always struck me as strange. Open source recognizes this instinctively.

Open source cuts through the lies by simply revealing the code. Everything beyond that is detail. Fun to write about, and argue about, but in the end detail.

Whether the revelations of Wikileaks causes World War III or not, the Internet will continue to offer the source code of business and political life.

For this I am thankful.

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Topics

Dana Blankenhorn, Microsoft Corp., David Gewirtz

Dana Blankenhorn has been a business journalist for 30 years, a tech freelancer since 1983.

Disclosure

Dana Blankenhorn

Dana Blankenhorn has been a journalist, writer and part-time futurist for over 30 years.

At the present moment I run only a personal blog in addition to my ZDNet open source blog.

DanaBlankenhorn.Com has the subtitle The War Against Oil. In the past I have used it to write about political history, e-commerce, personal matters, some ideas related to open source, and The World of Always On, which is the idea of using sensors, motes and RFID to turn WiFi links into platforms for applications which live in the air.

My IRA account at Schwab holds a few tech shares, most notably some Intel and Applied Materials, but there are no open source companies in it. I don’t even own any CBS stock.

Biography

Dana Blankenhorn

Dana Blankenhorn has been a business journalist for nearly 25 years and has covered the online world professionally since 1985. He founded the Interactive Age Daily for CMP Media, and has written for the Chicago Tribune, Advertising Age's "NetMarketing" supplement, and dozens of other publications over the years.

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RE: Microsoft, Wikileaks and the nobility of lies
DanTeo 12th Dec 2010
Through the Bush years, Seymour Hersh was recipient verbally of secret leaks form various Gov Establishment upper-level people outraged at how strategically imbecilic were the Three Stooges (Bush/Rumsfeld/Cheney) in making policies. The Pentagon brass was made up of "star ******" who served as parrots on Rumsfeld's shoulder. Soon, the airtight Bush-it ship of state sprang leaks everywhere.

Once Obama came to power everyone expected "CHANGE." Alas, it turned out, Obama's top people were inept political operatives, including SecState Clinton...not a one a statesman. As a result, Obama was totally intimidated by the DoD brass and DoS bureaucrats. For example, Petraeus, the incompetent SURGEon that botched the Iraq SURGEry insisted that, whether Afghanistan wanted it or not, it had to give him another chance to try his SURGEry because his reputation as a SURGEon was at stake. So $billions upon $billions and many lives were wasted proving, as Einstein said, that only a fool repeats the same failing process expecting a different result. Thinking "ain't my son going to war," Americans preferred the loss of our mom&dad soldiers instead of accepting defeat; so Obama let Petraeus prove he's an incompetent before pulling out, which according to Woodward, Obama originally wanted to do.

With our President intimidated by DoD brass and DoS bureaucrats, someone decided to leak a mass of their cable traffic proving what pompous asses they all are and what tactical nonsense they "officially" transmit upwards to please the strategic vanities of Obama's SecDef and SecState. Assange only passed on to us, their employers, what they , our employees, stole from us by marking it "classified."

Imagine a mechanic telling you that your master computer must be replaced. You take a deep breath and say, "do it." But, should he tell you that your whole engine is no good and must be replaced, you invariably come to believe that he's trying to rip you off. The "ain't my kid going to war" Americans can accept that their elected top officials are idiots that need replacement; but if told that the entire permanent bureaucracy below is faulty and needs replacement makes them go after the messenger rather than after the problem. Yet still, everyone knows that a decade of big bombs, lots of troops and $billions with no progress makes no sense. Now that Americans are busy making a list to Santa and thinking it twice, in the midst of economic collapse, telling them that the whole engine of Gov must be changed scares the Hell out of them and they try to avoid reality by saying to themselves: who can trust a guy who didn't enter some Swedish woman wearing a condom?

We are a declining nation of fools and the Amazon, Microsoft etc. "servers" don't want to suffer along with the messenger. Better, they think, to shut off Wikileaks and let Congress call for the hanging of Assange's than deal with it now. It's like the guy who's told he's got cancer and he insists: don't tell me that before the Holidays, wait till after. Damned fool!!!
View in thread
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RE: Microsoft, Wikileaks and the nobility of lies
Loverock Davidson 29th Nov 2010
But what about big business lies, like the one about Microsoft caring about Linux and open source on behalf of customers (as opposed to profit)? We know it?s not true.

I cannot agree with this. Microsoft went to great lengths to work with the open source community. In fact they even set up an open source lab with open invitations to the open source community to see how they were going to interoperate. That is when open source (mostly linux) turned its back on Microsoft by more or less making fun of them (to put it nicely). The only open source company that took up Microsoft on this offer was the Mozilla foundation.

You can defend linux all you want but they are not all happy and blissful. A few linux distros will not share the entire source with you, they have proprietary drivers and other code in there.
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RE: Microsoft, Wikileaks and the nobility of lies
daikon 29th Nov 2010
@Loverock Davidson
What few Linux distro?s will not share the entire source?
What proprietary drivers and what code are you talking about?

Provide some substance to what you claim.
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RE: Microsoft, Wikileaks and the nobility of lies
Qbt Updated - 29th Nov 2010
@daikon

Yea, kinda like this story has any substance when it comes to the MS claims.
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RE: Microsoft, Wikileaks and the nobility of lies
deaf_e_kate 30th Nov 2010
@daikon
"Substance" and "Loverock Davidson" are mutually exclusive - he's a boring old troll that inhabits zdnet, one day he'll get a life
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catch you up real quick
thx-1138_@... 1st Dec 2010
@daikon "...Provide some substance to what you claim."

..the only substance LD'd be able to provide is the 'Class A' stuff he's most likely using.

... here ends LD 101 wink
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RE: Microsoft, Wikileaks and the nobility of lies
tonymcs@... 29th Nov 2010
@Loverock Davidson

He also makes the mistake of equating open source with Linux. There is more open source available in Windows than all the other OSs combined and it's there due to the superb MS development tools and the fact you can do what you like with code written in Windows.

No matter how you might like it Dana, Windows has the most open source.
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RE: Microsoft, Wikileaks and the nobility of lies
apexwm 30th Nov 2010
Microsoft is famous for stating something, then retracting or doing the opposite. They say what their shareholders and people want to hear. Personally, I ignore most of what they say because it's just fluff. Actions speak louder than words, and Microsoft's actions against Linux tell the truth: that they acknowledge open source and GNU/Linux as a threat, and they continually try to find ways to undermine it. That is the Microsoft way and has been for decades.
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RE: Microsoft, Wikileaks and the nobility of lies
james.vandamme 2nd Dec 2010
@Loverock Davidson
WARNING: do not be drinking coffee when you start to read anything by Loverock!
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RE: Microsoft, Wikileaks and the nobility of lies
FlakMagnet 3rd Dec 2010
@Loverock Davidson: "That is when open source (mostly linux) turned its back on Microsoft by more or less making fun of them (to put it nicely)."

That happened because MS initial open-source license attempted to get people to contribute to projects that were CALLED open-source but could be taken and turned into proprietary products. Under the original license they could have even taken source code that you (for instance) contributed and prevent you from using it elsewhere.
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RE: Microsoft, Wikileaks and the nobility of lies
james347 29th Nov 2010
I don't believe you.
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Why?
bmonsterman Updated - 29th Nov 2010
Dana,

Why do so many of your blogs, which are supposed to be about open source, simply bash Microsoft? Making a comparison between lies that compromise national security to public relation campaigns by a software company seems a little obtuse. Expecting companies that have been making a profit by selling proprietary software (which by the way, is not immoral), to change their business model and GPL everything is ridiculous. I don't always condone Microsoft, and some of their legal behavior around patents and general legal bullying. However, I don't think that selling proprietary software is a sin. Can't you just talk about virtues of open source software without the constant reference the "Evil" Microsoft?
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RE: Microsoft, Wikileaks and the nobility of lies
tonyv414 29th Nov 2010
The ulterior motive behind every human utterance - whether spoken or written - is the manipulation of the behavior of others.
The truth or falsehood of anything rests entirely upon the listener's comprehension, belief system, and level of gullibility.
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what a load of ..
thx-1138_@... 1st Dec 2010
@tonyv414 .. pseudo-intelligent trash!

"..The ulterior motive behind every human utterance - whether spoken or written - is the manipulation of the behavior of others. "

WTF? You have to be an apologist for Fascism or National Socialism .. i mean, what a load of absolute crap. So tell me wise @$$ .. when Germany invaded France, Poland and most of Western Europe, was that all only some mental aberration? So you would have us believe (by your 'fuzzy logic') that maybe the deeds of the Third Reich were some 'imaginary concoction of the collective, global psyche'???

"...The truth or falsehood of anything rests entirely upon the listener's comprehension, belief system, and level of gullibility. "

There are - despite your deluded perception - truths and lies that are as real, and alive, as you or me. It almost goes without saying, politicians, used-car salesmen, lawyers and the occasional, whacked out Sociology dropout (..much like yourself) would all have us believe otherwise.

There is no doubt that Good and Evil exist in the World - and also a force of nature known as Karma .. and no amount of denial, lying, deception or subterfuge can hide us from their often chaotic influences. It is also important you know that Evil, Good and Karma are not "relative" as you would also have others believe - they are real, undeniable, inescapable forces that shape the Universe.

To that end, and in returning to the blog subject at hand, i will have to assume your diatribe was as an aside to the subject of Wikileaks. So let's be perfectly clear here: Wikileaks is, for all intents and purposes, merely a messenger service (..or should that be harbinger).

There are many that obviously (..and incredibly) believe that *somehow* the disclosure of sinister activities by governments *is less of an issue* than having their (i.e certain governments) dirty laundry aired (via Wikileaks) - amongst other material. To shoot messengers will, as always, achieve little - if nothing at all. There are many principles at play in these matters that are no different to what Watergate involved. And therein is *the point* .. the whole crux of the problem ...

.. and your point was?? .. I mean, other than babbling on meaninglessly??
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RE: Microsoft, Wikileaks and the nobility of lies
jczekala 3rd Dec 2010
All I want to know is how did you get the picture of the spider next to your name here?
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RE: Microsoft, Wikileaks and the nobility of lies
whooizit1 29th Nov 2010
@Dana you have upset the terriers from Redmond.
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RE: Microsoft, Wikileaks and the nobility of lies
TJD23 29th Nov 2010
Just my 2 cents...

Open source cares about software, plain and simple. It's a way of collaborating. As much as Microsoft and a vocal minority would love to have Linux, or BSD or whatever be a Microsoft competitor...very few to no one who works on the code cares.

In the end, it's all about producing useful software whether that be Windows, Linux, or whatever. Get a life, people.
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why stop at microsoft
sparkle farkle 30th Nov 2010
we all know the linux slayer is oracle
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Stop using Microsoft software
apexwm 30th Nov 2010
As I pointed out above, actions speak louder than words, and Microsoft's actions against Linux as a competitor tell us the truth: that Microsoft views GNU/Linux as a competitor and does everything it can to undermine it.

What can you do about it? If you support Microsoft, keep your wallet nearby and use their software and be controlled by them on how to use your computer. If you do not support their actions, stop using their software and switch to GNU/Linux. I did, and I've helped others do the same, and I also read stories daily on how others have too.
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Microsoft is in decline.
peter_erskine@... 30th Nov 2010
We see the long slow writhing death of a dragon. They didn't /have/ to be a dragon - but under Bill Gates, Microsoft /chose/ to be of foul and crafty behaviour. Nowadays, Mr Ballmer seems more confused than devious, though I'm sure he does his best to follow in the machiavellian footsteps. Indeed he has reason to be bemused, as there is absolutely nothing that Microsoft can do about fair competition - other than to compete fairly themselves. The goal should be to produce useful, good quality software that everyone wants. It can't be above the wit or wisdom of a company the size of Microsoft to turn themselves around and get on with that?
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get a life and stop gossiping, your bunch of girls.
brfsa 30th Nov 2010
simple fact: Microsoft tools will never beat open-source tools.

There are infinite Opensource tools out there.
from programming languages, to web servers, to databases, proxies, firewalls, etc, etc..

real hacker/developer/professional will not even be bothering reading gossips of microsoft. or even care about MS at all.

I just have to write this cause all comments are so lame.
get a life and stop gossiping, your bunch of girls.
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RE: Microsoft, Wikileaks and the nobility of lies
jeanpmichel 1st Dec 2010
Humor aside, free competition is great. Always at least YING and YANG! Thank God for microsoft and linux too. I love them both. All though I prefer Linux, for freedom, for performance, for all he can do for free and the other not. But Windows has also been and is wonderful. There will always be the pioneer. There will always be copycats and enhancers. God created the duality. I love to fight, so good. Life is fun now. Viva Linux, Windows Live.
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RE: Microsoft, Wikileaks and the nobility of lies
adam cassel 1st Dec 2010
Dana,

Once again, a beautiful and poetic highly creative recombinant meta-narrative on two seemingly to each other orthogonal issues, but which in fact by your sanguine gloss become scintillatingly clear as wholly inter-dependent and inter-related.

"Open source cuts through the lies by simply revealing the code. ... [as] ... the revelations of WikiLeaks ... [shows], the Internet will continue to offer the source code of business and political life." -- Sublime

Thank you for the wonderful and powerful derivation of a truly complex matter.

I suppose like you, I too find the impassioned presentation of lies and untruthful messaging, as in the case of WikiLeaks a disturbingly ferocious and merciless stream of attacks littered with the Jack-Booted Cry Wolf pleas of ideologues like David Gerwitz, when it seems that most recipients of such lies and messaging know the truth to be the opposite, or at least to be ?not as presented?, to be difficult to understand - odd at best, insane and damaging at worst.

Then again, as a large contingent of the posts from your readers to this piece of yours demonstrate: Everyone DOES NOT in fact know, nor apparently have the capability or willingness, or the motivation and energy, to think for themselves and thereby independently establish for themselves what is the true and what is the false ? What is Open Source, and what is Lies.

An astonishingly large it seems to me, based on my non-scientific and non-data-driven experience in daily life so far, especially in regard to MSFT OSS FOSS and WikiLeaks, number of educated and ostensibly well-meaning and good-hearted people are utterly ignorant of the fact that believing what they hear, what they read, and what their friends and acquaintances tell them, without independent critical thinking, and at least a trivial amount of research and reading, is likely a poor solution for accurately modeling and assessing reality, motive and agenda.

There are people apparently, a difficult to be comfortable with amount, who simply believe what they hear, are told, read, or watch on TV without question, and without any critical thought or analysis enlightened by honest self-reflection and self-circumspection.

And of course, this explains at least in some degree, not entirely or completely of course, but certainly in some degree, why David Gerwitz, and the educated leaders of our country on both the Dem and Repub side, resort to such transparently ludicrous characterizations, prognostications, grossly over-exaggerated prophecies, and diatribes characterized by vicious attacks of little intellectual rigor against WikiLeaks, and for that matter against both OSS and MSFT as the case may be.

As you beautifully elucidate: Open Source, the code, is the substrate of Fact, Truth.

What diplomats say to each other and do to each other, what the government does on the battlefield and tells itself and speaks to itself, are the substrate of fact.

The rest is detail as you say, and I think for now annealed so permanently with truth and untruth mixed together into a homogenized stream - bounded by outlier extremism with a payload of milky white undefined noise - that only a truly independent thinking and questioning and educated human mind with some intellectual and moral integrity can ever hope to separate the wheat from the chafe, THE OPEN SOURCE FROM THE LIES.

Adam C
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RE: Microsoft, Wikileaks and the nobility of lies
james347 2nd Dec 2010
MS lies? No!
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RE: Microsoft, Wikileaks and the nobility of lies
DanTeo 12th Dec 2010
Through the Bush years, Seymour Hersh was recipient verbally of secret leaks form various Gov Establishment upper-level people outraged at how strategically imbecilic were the Three Stooges (Bush/Rumsfeld/Cheney) in making policies. The Pentagon brass was made up of "star ******" who served as parrots on Rumsfeld's shoulder. Soon, the airtight Bush-it ship of state sprang leaks everywhere.

Once Obama came to power everyone expected "CHANGE." Alas, it turned out, Obama's top people were inept political operatives, including SecState Clinton...not a one a statesman. As a result, Obama was totally intimidated by the DoD brass and DoS bureaucrats. For example, Petraeus, the incompetent SURGEon that botched the Iraq SURGEry insisted that, whether Afghanistan wanted it or not, it had to give him another chance to try his SURGEry because his reputation as a SURGEon was at stake. So $billions upon $billions and many lives were wasted proving, as Einstein said, that only a fool repeats the same failing process expecting a different result. Thinking "ain't my son going to war," Americans preferred the loss of our mom&dad soldiers instead of accepting defeat; so Obama let Petraeus prove he's an incompetent before pulling out, which according to Woodward, Obama originally wanted to do.

With our President intimidated by DoD brass and DoS bureaucrats, someone decided to leak a mass of their cable traffic proving what pompous asses they all are and what tactical nonsense they "officially" transmit upwards to please the strategic vanities of Obama's SecDef and SecState. Assange only passed on to us, their employers, what they , our employees, stole from us by marking it "classified."

Imagine a mechanic telling you that your master computer must be replaced. You take a deep breath and say, "do it." But, should he tell you that your whole engine is no good and must be replaced, you invariably come to believe that he's trying to rip you off. The "ain't my kid going to war" Americans can accept that their elected top officials are idiots that need replacement; but if told that the entire permanent bureaucracy below is faulty and needs replacement makes them go after the messenger rather than after the problem. Yet still, everyone knows that a decade of big bombs, lots of troops and $billions with no progress makes no sense. Now that Americans are busy making a list to Santa and thinking it twice, in the midst of economic collapse, telling them that the whole engine of Gov must be changed scares the Hell out of them and they try to avoid reality by saying to themselves: who can trust a guy who didn't enter some Swedish woman wearing a condom?

We are a declining nation of fools and the Amazon, Microsoft etc. "servers" don't want to suffer along with the messenger. Better, they think, to shut off Wikileaks and let Congress call for the hanging of Assange's than deal with it now. It's like the guy who's told he's got cancer and he insists: don't tell me that before the Holidays, wait till after. Damned fool!!!

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