Microsoft 'indoctrinates' Best Buy workers with anti-Linux 'lies'

[Lorax7844]

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/09/06/microsoft-indoctrinates-best-buy-workers-with-anti-linux-lies/

Microsoft (MFST) is "indoctrinating" Best Buy (BBY) workers to sell its highly anticipated Windows 7 operating system using outright lies about the performance of open-source competitor Linux, according to Linux experts and at least one Best Buy employee who has seen the alleged Microsoft training slides.

"This is the usual thing that Microsoft does, but they've really taken it to an extreme now," Christopher Lemire, a Houston, Texas-based computer programmer told me in a phone interview. "They're really attacking Linux this time," said Lemire, a self-avowed open-source supporter who blogged about the Microsoft slides Saturday. "They're always coming up with new tactics."

"It's just lies and indoctrination," Lemire said.

[Orrex]

1. Linux causes anal leakage and fecal urgency

That's what I heard, anyway.

[Deja Q]

4. They have medications available for people who hear things...

:spray: :rofl: :rofl:

[elocs]

6. Right, and they also have wheelchairs for people who cannot walk.

Think about it.

[Deja Q]

11. They do, but I was trying to be sarcastic in response to his sarcasm.

Looks like it didn't work. :( Or maybe you didn't think about that possibility. :evilgrin:

[elocs]

19. Consider that some of us don't consider that kind of sarcasm in good taste.

Count yourself lucky if you do not have a friend or loved one who does suffer from "hearing voices", then it might not seem so clever or funny.

[Deja Q]

2. Against an open source product most haven't heard of?

:spray:

Ballmer really IS losing his marbles.

Like he every had any...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nc4MzqBFxZE
(the hyper narcissist, "give it up.... for MEEEEEEE!")

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGvHNNOLnCk
(How Windows began, an infomercial - the typical sort where you look and go "Ah, more infomercial rubbish"...)


I'm not surprised MS would lie. But they'll call it "marketing".

[sendero]

3. Microsoft ..

.... has never been an honorable company, no reason for them to start now.

[KansasVoter]

5. I love Microsoft. Big companies are always hated by liberals. Execpt me I guess.

[sendero]

8. More than likely..

... you are simply unaware of the horrendous business practices they've engaged in over the years. But it's not my job to educate you, so think what you want.

[Deja Q]

13. I did opt to try a little education... Here's some more: The DirectX 10 bait'n'switch

Regarding piracy. I'm too tired right now to write a novel on all the technical defects and trickery and bait'n'switches they've pulled over the years. (DirectX 10 and Flight Simulator X being their most brazen lie and it's amazing no class action suit was filed. Millions upgraded their hardware over AN ARTIST'S THEORETICAL RENDERING OF WHAT MIGHT BE:


The hype. Nice, huh?

What was put out by sleazysoft, with microsoft absconding development since FSX SP2,


The reality.

F-U-G-G-I-N-G S-W-I-N-D-L-E-R-S

[Deja Q]

12. Ever bother to consider why they might not be likd? Or is that beyond your comprehension?

Well, some of us have actually dug into their products.

We dislike for VALID reasons.

Some would claim "money envy". That is true for some, but if it's about ethics, hard work, delivering genuinely good products without the need to sell the new version by bashing its predecessor or otherwise saying "this new version is how the old version should be and it's only $300 to upgrade to but note how we restrict the upgrade process, despite supporting piracy in other countries behind your back", microsoft is furthest from the claim. Every single time.

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/07/23/100134488/

By 2001, Microsoft executives were coming to the conclusion that China's weak IP-enforcement laws meant its usual pricing strategies were doomed to fail. Gates argued at the time that while it was terrible that people in China pirated so much software, if they were going to pirate anybody's software he'd certainly prefer it be Microsoft's.

Today Gates openly concedes that tolerating piracy turned out to be Microsoft's best long-term strategy. That's why Windows is used on an estimated 90% of China's 120 million PCs. "It's easier for our software to compete with Linux when there's piracy than when there's not," Gates says. "Are you kidding? You can get the real thing, and you get the same price." Indeed, in China's back alleys, Linux often costs more than Windows because it requires more disks. And Microsoft's own prices have dropped so low it now sells a $3 package of Windows and Office to students.

Microsoft helped found the business software alliance. Supposedly anti-piracy. YOU explain the two-faced double-standard in their part. And they REWARD THE PIRATES WITH CHEAP COPIES WHILE WE BUST OUR HUMPS TO BARELY AFFORD THE FULL PRICES HERE.

And low long a list of technical topics would you like to debate?

You're being DAMN FOOLISH for supporting those swindlers.

[Deja Q]

14. Apple is a big company. I like Apple. I also like Warner Bros, Holmes, and Intel.

They're all big companies.

Sorry to debunk your fantasy with reality, but not all liberals are anti big-company. Some of us occasionally dislike some practices, but blanket dislike is reserved for a few genuine sleazepots. Microsoft's history is replete with more than enough events to put them at the top of THAT list. Deservedly so.

Oh, also spell it "except". Did your microsoft spell checker fail you? :evilgrin:

[Apollo11]

18. You don't get to 90% market share by playing fair

You get there by crushing competition by any means necessary.

[MilesColtrane]

21. How many times has your stock split?

[DainBramaged]

7. People that go into Best Lies don't have a clue about Linux

so what is MS worried about?

[Deja Q]

15. Nothing. They're paranoid beyond all reason. (So if Win7 is so great, why would they be? At all??)

I suspect a lot of fools will be parting with their money soon enough... Steve says "You're welcome, suckers. Despite adding $10 billion more in profits this year we're going to axe another 5000 American workers too but lie and distort to shroud the truth."

[Warren Stupidity]

22. Actually Win7 is pretty good.

I have no idea why msft would be marketing against linux at best buy, their threat from linux is on the server side and best buy doesn't sell servers. Why even bring it up? People walking into best buy are mostly unaware that there is a choice. Then again msft is a very big company and frequently does stuff for no reason at all other than somebody in some section of some organization decided it would be so.

But back to Win7. They actually managed to get this release right. Took them long enough. Win7 will most likely manage to do what Vista couldn't: get the corporate desktop off of XP.

Just to be fair, the Ubuntu desktop distro really is a good consumer level desktop alternative. Microsoft should be concerned about that level of quality packaging in a linux desktop. But dell and hp aren't going to sell you a ubuntu system, consequently the threat remains minor, available only to those sophisticated enough to install their own systems, and not a retail competition.

[Sebastian Doyle]

27. Actually, Dell has been selling Ubuntu systems for a while now

http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/ubuntu?c=us&l=en&cs=19

HP doesn't sell any pre-loaded Linux systems, but they'll support a self-installed Red Hat system.

http://h71028.www7.hp.com/Hpsub/cache/286522-0-0-225-121.html

As far as W7 goes, it's better than Vista, but how the fuck could it not be? I'm sticking with XP for the moment though, because I can't afford a new PC at the moment, and W7 would really be slow on my hardware, even if I shut off all the needless crap that's common in any M$ product.

[Occulus]

28. I'll concur with your opinion of Windows 7

Everything just works. While I do have a few very old applications that simply won't run (and wouldn't even in XP, so boo), they're usually things I haven't used in a long time and can do without in the first place.

However, on the entertainment side of the equation, I've seen a truly astonishing performance increase from 7. So much so, in fact, that that's where I do all my gaming. I still have a dual-boot into XP, but I'm considering just getting rid of it entirely, and maintain instead a dual-boot with 7 and some flavor of linux (probably Fedora; I started using linux with RedHat 3).

As for Microsoft's attacking linux, well- this is just a guess, but I'd say that there are only two things keeping linux from killing Windows:

1) Ease of use. Linux has arcane moments, and you have to be willing to RTFM frequently if you wish to avoid frustration. Linux is a great OS, but the moment a noob is asked to, say, yum install foo, they get lost. Also, people don't like typing commands into a prompt to get what they want- they want to point and click, and there are too many instances in linux that require using commands for the "average" user to remember.

2) DirectX. I think that's one of the major elements of Windows that props up that OS, and if Micro$oft loses that advantage, if linux ever gets a viable alternative that can run Windows games in linux as well as in Windows (I've used WINE, and this part of it needs to be far better for me to consider it viable), it will be a very direct threat to Microsoft.

The bottom line is that linux is still a very much more technical OS that Windows is. All that power available to the user comes at the price of noob frustration. Been there, done that.

[Zech Marquis The 2nd]

9. it's part of the "ExpertZone" program for retailers

Essentially, the Windows 7 training curses spend their entire time hyping up 7 and dissing Linux and Mac OSX Thankfully it's not mandatory for us to take--M$ is offering a free copy of Windows 7 Ultimate for completing the 9 courses. Bt fear not, Apple offers some courses for BBY employees too, they just dont try to brainwash and bribe us :evilgrin:

[ixion]

10. M$ = FAIL

T'was ever thus. :evilgrin:

[Warren Stupidity]

16. Isn't this basically how companies market their product

over what they view as the competition? For example all those apple ads informing us that we would be super cool well dressed snots if only we owned a mac but that instead we were doomed to be pale and pudgy nerds in bad outfits because we had to have a pc?

Comcast vs verizon?

By the way, my guess is that best buy sells approximately 0.0 linux systems per year.

[formercia]

17. What, MS can't let W7 stand on it's own merits?

:rofl:

[Statistical]

29. So employees at apple store routinely advise customers on the cons of owning an mac?

They provide a "fair and balanced" analysis of Mac, Windows, Linux platforms.

Oh wait they don't? You mean companies ensure sales staff is trained to provide their product in the best light?

What salesmen aren't disinterested 3rd parties providing completely neutral information?

[HopeHoops]

20. I recently got an HP Mini running HP's MI (Linux) and it blows the hell out of M$ systems!

I open the lid and within a second, it is ready to use. It is fast as hell and the UI is easy to use. It even came pre-loaded with Open Office, Thunderbird, and Firefox.

M$ does the same thing the GOP does. Neither has anything decent to offer so they blast the competition with lies and propaganda.

[Edweird]

23. I've toyed with Unix and Linux since the beginning. They aren't, IMNSHO,

ready for 'prime time' just yet. Applications that meet my needs aren't available. Yes, there are 'concepts' out there...open source programs that kinda maybe sometimes work, but nothing that is as stone cold reliable as I need it to be.

If all you do is browse DU and maybe buy something online once in awhile, then you're golden. But I use Map Point and Streets and Trips for work - nothing out there even comes close. I also make music and use digital recording software Cubase and Sonar - again nothing comes close. These are my personal experiences, your mileage may vary.

I'm not 'in love' with Microsoft, but their software meets my needs AND I can get it for the same price as open source since I am an old school 'l33t haxor'.

[TxRider]

34. Ditto Linux just doesn't cut it for a workstation.

OTOH I use only Linux for the 70 or so servers we operate.

Windows and the apps available are just more developed and refined on the workstation side, at least for now.

Linux has made great strides in the last decade, but it has a way to go yet.

[L0oniX]

24. Most comp users are way too lame to ever put together a good open source box.

Maybe they shouldn't try because when they fail they diss the system when the failure is in their own lack of line command skills and the ability to read docs.

[Edweird]

25. There is no viable open source alternative to Map Point.

There is no viable open source alternative to Cubase or Sonar.

That's just the way it is. That's not a 'loose nut on the keyboard' issue.

[Orrex]

26. Yeah, and a lot of assholes don't perform surgery on themselves for the same reason

Most comp users find that the system available to them is entirely adequate to their needs, so that there's no reason to acquire a knowledge of line command skills nor to read docs.

No need to sound like an elitist computer nerd about it.

[L0oniX]

33. No need to sound like a proud asshole corporate winsux user either

[Orrex]

35. Just responding in kind

Your pointlessly self-righteous tone deserved no less.

[fujiyama]

31. Most people have little time to learn command line prompts and read documentation.

The good thing is that open source companies realized this with netbooks and implemented a relatively user friendly interface.

Don't blame the consumer when you have a product that in most cases is not targeted toward the average user anyways.

[fujiyama]

30. Linux based operating systems power many of the netbooks on the market today

and that is one of the areas, they're hoping to recapture with Windows 7. I haven't used it yet. Heard a few good things, but my purposes, Windows XP should serve me just fine for the next few years though I've been considering making a Linux box with an old computer I have lying around.

I'm still skeptical of Windows 7 on a netbook. After Vista and its outrageous system requirements...

[Stevenmarc]

32. Who speaks to BB salespeople, you order online for store pickup, walk in, pay, walk out