By Polly Raymond, 18 November 1998 00:10
NEWS Eric Raymond - the man behind the open source software movement - has quashed rumours that Microsoft faked the famous 'Halloween memos' just to put the US Department of Justice (DoJ) off its trail. Two weeks ago, Raymond posted two documents on the Net which he claims were internal memos leaked to him by Microsoft staff. In the memos, a Microsoft engineer identified Linux as a threat to the software giant's dominance. As quickly as the documents were posted, so too were media reports suggesting Microsoft actually faked them in a bid to ward off the accusations of anti-competitive behaviour it is currently fighting in court. But in an exclusive Silicon interview, Raymond quickly denied the claims. "There is material so damaging in the internal memoranda that no lawyer or legally knowledgeable person attached to Microsoft would have deliberately let them out the door," he explained. Raymond added that he's sure the software giant will stop at nothing to prevent the spread of Linux. "They'll attempt to hire away key people, corrupt Internet standards and try any other dirty tricks to prevent the spread of Linux," he said. Raymond said he posted the memos because he wants to reveal to the world Microsoft's "long history of bullying and predatory behaviour" in the software industry. A spokesman for Microsoft responded quickly to Raymond's accusations, saying: "Microsoft competes hard but fairly and within the law. If you're in this business you have to compete strongly, but it's not true that Microsoft is a bully." The interview with Raymond can be seen in the Trials of Microsoft channel.
In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.
Log in or create your silicon.com account below