¶ Microsoft's VS Free Software

Why does Microsoft deserve special casing among all companies producing proprietary software? Because Microsoft is the only company that actively and repeatedly tried for years to kill FreeSoftware and Linux.

This is a collection of a variety of strategies attempted by Microsoft against an extremely resilient competitor that couldn't be simply brought or driven out of business in the conventional ways.

¶ Targeting GNU/Linux

• Selling Linux related patents to trolls (Sep 2009)

• Linux vs Windows 7 slides for retailers (Aug 2009)

• Linux is a Cancer — Steve Ballmer, CEO (2001)

• Linux is un-American — Jim Allchin, Windows chief officer (2001)

• Microsoft suspected behind SCO's "smoking gun" attacks against Linus Torvalds

• Microsoft paying a "think tank" to bribe Tanembaum to accuse Linus Torvalds of stealing Minix's code

• Software patent lobby at the EU parliament

• "Get the Facts!" (AKA "Get the FUD!") campaign

• "We have the way out!" campaign with Unisys

¶ Targeting Linux distributors

• Paying Novell with "vouchers" for unclear patent and "interoperability" pact (2007)

• Paying Novell again (2008)

• Attempting to take over OLPC (2005)

• Attempted patent deal with Red Hat and Canonical (2007)

¶ Targeting hardware vendors

• Undisclosed deal between Bill Gates and Nicholas Negroponte, disrupting OLPC (2008)

• Dumping Linux in Australia on the Asus EEE PC (2008)

¶ Internet market share

• Commissioning biased benchmarks to make Windows look better than Linux (2005)

• Make IIS look better in Netcraft's web server survey by convincing domain registrars to use Windows servers for parked domains (2006)

¶ Targeting Apple

• Fake "Mac switchers" campaign with stock photos of models

• The "I'm a PC" campaign (2008)

¶ Targeting open standards

• Creating OOXML to disrupt the Open Document Format.

• Bribe ISO into accepting OOXML (2008)

• Passport

¶ Targeting specific FLOSS projects

• Bribe Blender (2008)

• Bribe PHP (2008)

• $100K bribe to Apache Software Foundation (2008)

• The Windows loves PHP campaign to promote the WAMP platform (2008)

¶ Targeting OpenSource licenses and development model

• Claiming the GPLv3 is invalid and unenforceable (in the context of distributing the Novell "vouchers" to customers)

• The Halloween documents (1998-2004)

• Microsoft claims that OSS violates 235 (unspecified) patents (FUD)

• CodePlex foundation — Motivation behind this initiative is still unclear (as of Sep 2009)

¶ Help wanted!

Please help expand and verify this list! Each claim should come with links to supporting material.