Anupam Jain wrote: > I really don't understand what the big deal is. If the agenda was > sabotaged by Microsoft by just being a partrner/sponsor then let's > hear it in concrete terms *how*.
This was supposed to be a Linux promotion event. This was not "IT 2007" or the like, where everybody related to software have the right to be there and heard. So, is it fair that we expect that the event would be about companies promoting Linux as a platform of choice? Whether you have Microsoft's own .Net event, or IBM's own developerworks events, do you see parties with an alternative to offer, to get a chance to come, show off their wares and talk about how their offering is better than the one which is the centerpiece of the event? It never happens. It is a convention, if you want to put it that way. This was a Linux event - we are not interested in going to the event hearing people talk about something belittling what we are interested in. Now "Linuxers" are a breed apart. They are philosophically attached to their platform of choice, and believe that what closed source offers is an anti-thesis of what Linuxers stand for. Having a closed source company whose whole business purpose is to undermine Linux [1], talk in such a meet is preposterous. You can't underrate sentiments and philosophy when you are talking Linux and call it out of place in a business world - it is the fundamental base on which the Free and Open Source movement was founded, Linux being but a part of it. [1] http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver/facts/default.mspx Our anger is because we see Microsoft knowingly entering into this event and sabotaging it from within - we are still trying to determine whether LA cares about it or not. From LA's side of the story, they are still trying to defend their actions instead of apologizing for the embarrassment their decision has cost the Linux community in India. You can't blame the media - the media sees from the common man's viewpoint. What else can you make out from Microsoft participating in a Linux event and a Microsoft spokesman talking about how M$ is better than Linux in TCO? We see things the same way that Media sees it. If LA believes that their actions were right and they have "effectively" handled the situation, then this is point where the LUG and LA should part ways permanently - their idea of what promotion of Linux is about, and ours obviously differs. They have the right to continue doing what they are doing. And we have the right to go our own way doing what we feel is right. - Sandip _______________________________________________ ilugd mailinglist -- [email protected] http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd Archives at: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.linux.delhi http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
