No more Mr. Nice Guy...

**mark** · November 23rd, 2004

In response to several comments and links from the latest DistroWatch Weekly , I have just sent the following email to Microsoft:

I have used Microsoft products since before MS-DOS 1.0 (anybody remember BASIC?). I have been a beta-tester for Windows 95 and NT. I have attempted to "pour oil upon the troubled waters" (see my article "Stop the Jihad!" at www.madpenguin.org) in the sometimes ugly Linux-vs-Microsoft public discussion. I have maintained a Windows 2000 partition on my home computer (even though I use Linux for everything but compatability issues with documents generated at work).

This stops NOW.

I am removing ALL Microsft products from my computer. My only use of Microsoft products will be (grudgingly) at work - and if I can convince our IT people to switch, I will. I will no longer promote, recommend or sanction the use of Microsoft products.

Please understand me - healthy competition is fine, it's very much a part of our ecomomic culture. But the competition should be based a a product's merits and on fact. Mr. Ballmer's recent comments regarding the threat of litigation against users of Linux (and, by extrapolation, any open source software) are based on neither. These statements are particularly egregious since Dan Ravicher, the author of the OSRM study cited, has publicly stated that, "The market needs to understand that the study Microsoft is citing actually proves the opposite of what they claim it does."

Until Microsoft abandons such bullying and monopolistic marketing practices and proves that they are producing high-quality software at a fair price, my computers will be Microsoft-free - and I will attempt to convince anyone else that I can to do the same.

Sincerely,

Mark W. Tomlinson
Santa Monica, CA, USA

I'll be very interested to see what (if any) response I get from Microsoft...

**zenwhen** · November 23rd, 2004

You won't get a response, but several thousand of you might. Perhaps if enough people got together and made a big enough stink, a difference could be made, or at least more people would know what kind of company Microsoft actually is.

This is why I will not support people who have Windows issues. This is why I will not offer support to family members that doesn't involve installing Linux, and them learning to click a Firefox icon to "get to the Internet".

If enough people from the middle and top cut Microsoft out of the equation, the lower half will have to follow to survive. Windows isn't foolproof, and the fools are the ones who won't switch for the reasons you outlined.

Make "what they know" inconvenient to use, and "where they want to go today" may be to http://ubuntulinux.org.

**jdong** · November 23rd, 2004

I agree with your opinion. Ballmer's recent statement was absolutely absurd. I no longer recommend the use of Microsoft products and am aggressively searching for alternatives.

I'm working with my school admins on researching Novell's Linux products, and intend on a full Linux migration within a year.

Please tell us Microsoft's response (if any). I'm just as upset as you are.

**Jspired** · November 22nd, 2004

I am very curious to hear if you receive a response, so I'm hoping you'll post it if you feel it prudent.

Thanks.

**oddabe19** · November 23rd, 2004

Yeah, what did he say? i keep hearing all this news, but i am yet to see what he actually said.

[edit] nevermind i found it...

what greedy SOB's. Sounds like they might actually starting to be scared and threatend because of Linux's overwhelming poplularity and philosophies.

Makes me want to throw up. I can't stand the fact that they can't just deal with competition.

**oddabe19** · November 23rd, 2004

Actually, they better be prepared to sue thousands of companies, 10's of thousands of users, the US Military, NASA, Pentagon, Berlin Germany, Madrid, and countless other groups... which i doubt they are prepared to do.

This includes me, they better be prepared to sue me too, and I promise you, i will not go down without a decent fight.

Damn greedy coorperations.

**mark** · November 24th, 2004

The first reply:

Dear Mark,

Thank you for contacting Microsoft.com Customer Support.

We are striving to capture any and all feedback so as to ensure that we are continuously sensitive to customer needs. This is exactly why feedback such as yours is always taken very seriously.

We will be forwarding your comments to the appropriate Microsoft group, which will use your feedback when planning and evaluating future enhancements.

If you have additional suggestions for improvements, please feel free to write back.

Sincerely,

Oliver
Microsoft.com Customer Support

...followed by the text of my email. Well, it's nice to know that their robots are polite, anyway. Be interesting to see what happens when somebody actually reads it.

**oddabe19** · November 24th, 2004

Originally Posted by mark

The first reply:
...followed by the text of my email. Well, it's nice to know that their robots are polite, anyway. Be interesting to see what happens when somebody actually reads it.

would you mind If i sent a copy of your e-mail as well???? if not, could you please post the addy you sent it to?