Microsoft Wants The Pentagon To Ditch Open Source Software
from the because-we-love-that-blue-screen-of-death-in-times-of-emergency dept
It seems that Microsoft's latest anti-open source strategy is simply to bombard government agencies with horror stories about why open source software is dangerous and "less secure". While we know the plan backfired big time in Peru, the same thing may be happening at the Pentagon. After numerous contacts from Microsoft officials, the Defense Department has come out with a report saying that open source software appears to be more secure (something almost anyone outside of Microsoft would tell you). It would have been more fun if they went point-for-point against Microsoft like the Peru letter, but it's still good to see. What's also amusing is the way Microsoft is now backtracking on this issue. They say they weren't trying to have the Pentagon ditch open source software, but rather to figure out how MS and open source software could "coexist". I think Microsoft has a different definition of "coexist" than the rest of us.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
No Subject Given
One way to allow open-source and Microsoft to coexist would be to stop f*&king around with SMB. The duplicity of these people is astonishing!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]