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Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer may have stolen a little thunder from Apple's rumored announcement of a slate PC during his keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, but three leading analysts say that the real thunder theft at this year's show is coming from Microsoft's mobile competitors.
“Analysts sell out - that’s their business model… But they are very concerned that they never look like they are selling out, so that makes them very prickly to work with.” - Microsoft, internal document [PDF]. A look at the proximity between GNU/Linux-hostile analysts and the company which feeds them
Short translation: Microsoft actually chose to pretend to be opening because it serves the company’s intention to run an extortion racket against its main competitor.
Industry analysts can play a valuable role. But their shortcomings are particularly evident in their coverage of open source software. And, apart from analysts, what viable alternative information sources exist?
Earlier today we mentioned some of the latest FUD from Gartner, which was directed at the GNU/Linux server/desktop in particular. Always remember the Gartner-Microsoft connection and also remember how Microsoft views analysts.
The O'Reilly Open Source Conference is one of the premier events for hackers, executives, users, and industry analysts to share and discuss open source trends, strategies, and perspectives. It has been so successful for so long that Microsoft couldn't let it continue without becoming a top sponsor, which they have now been for a number of years.