The open source blogosphere featured two articles the last week of December 2008 that inaccurately draw software-market history timelines from which the authors then inaccurately position the place of open source software in the information technology (IT) market. I doubt if the statements are intentionally misleading; they are most likely the result of ignorance or sloppiness.

"The other day I advocated giving Microsoft the benefit of the doubt with regards to its attutude to open source, with the proviso that even with that benefit the company’s actions would still sometimes inevitably be seen in a bad light."

Last month at O'Reilly's Open Source Convention (OSCON), it seemed like Microsoft was everywhere you looked, avouching its interest in open source. Thanks to the company's history -- including some very recent history -- a great many in the open source community viewed the company's presence with mistrust, suspicious of Redmond's motives and apprehensive of what would follow.

Last week, Mary Jo Foley offered commentary on Microsoft's open source software strategy with respect to independent software vendors based on an interview with Microsoft's Sam Ramji. Matt Asay provides good colour commentary on his blog. Each post focuses on the trustworthiness and competitive history of the company. Let's look at things from a different perspective.

As fascinating as the chronicle of blogging are the constant dismissals of it through its decade-plus history, as both a literary medium and an alternative to professional journalism. And Rathergate, the defining moment when the latter got its comeuppance, is thoroughly documented...

Old truths return; Microsoft Jack attacks messengers. Two like-minded crooks, Carl Icahn and Microsoft, continue to bully Yahoo. In the process, they are trying to rewrite an embarrassing history.

A few months ago, we looked at Linus Torvalds in his own words, which was surprisingly popular (for a filler ;). So following the same approach (i.e. too busy to write something original today ;), what are the top-ten best mailing list posts in the history of free/open source software?

In his recent Forbes article Cash Me Out (by way of The Register’s Open Season) Dan Lyons likens the assimilation of open source into the mainstream IT industry to the incorporation of gay culture into mainstream culture.

I wouldn't mind being in a list with companies like Google and Salesforce.com, which is precisely the company Red Hat is keeping in its continued growth trajectory. Forbes just named Red Hat the 11th fastest-growing company in the United States. Red Hat's sales have grown 41 percent over the past five years.