A competitive analysis of Linux performed by Microsoft’s own engineers found that the operating system is best-of-breed Unix. Consumers love it, reported Microsoft employee Vinod Valloppillil in the second confidential memo leaked to programmer Eric Raymond this week (CI No 3,531). Nor are consumers the only ones, it would seem. Valloppillil was breathless over his experiences in testing the platform: I’m a poorly skilled Unix programmer but it was immediately obvious to me how to incrementally extend the DHCP client code (the feeling was exhilarating and addictive). Valloppillil and co-author Joshua Cohen gave the open source operating system a rave review, noting that many primary applications – from web servers to POP clients and text editors – are available free; and that Linux running Navigator rendered simple HTML and graphics 30 to 40 percent faster than Windows NT 4 running Internet Explorer 4 on the same box. A lot more thought and work needs to go into formulating Microsoft’s response to Linux, the engineers write. They note that attacking Unix in general helps attack Linux in particular. This involves improving NT’s interoperability, availability and management – at present, Linux’s particular competitive advantages over NT. The writers repeated the assertion Valloppillil made in the original Halloween document, that adding proprietary extensions to standard network and server infrastructure can raise the bar & change the rules of the game by disabling other platforms. Valloppillil and Cohen also threw in a new suggestion. Since Linux developers have demonstrated their willingness to cherry pick features from other software, they may have left themselves open to some kind of IP lawsuit. The effect of patents and copyright in combating Linux remains to be investigated, they note. Ironically enough, this memo is titled Linux OS Competitive Analysis: The Next Java VM? Microsoft itself is currently in court over Sun’s allegations that in adding proprietary extension to Java tools, Microsoft disabled its rivals’ software (CI No 3,493). Would that be strategy three deployed against strategy two?
