-------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: [Ilugc] [Fwd: [Fsf-friends] Re: DotNet] Date: Wed, 27 Oct 2004 21:59:09 +0530 From: Prabhu Ramachandran prabhu_r@users.sourceforge.net To: kumarayil@asianetindia.com CC: ilugc@ae.iitm.ac.in References: 4180E9F3.6000605@asianetindia.com
Hi,
"DK" == Dileep M Kumar kumarayil@asianetindia.com writes:
>> If anybody has serious objections (that is they DONT want the >> >Microsoft person to speak) regarding this please let me know.
DK> I do like to point out that in a not-so-recent interview to DK> one of the computer magazines in India (forgot which, might DK> have been PCQuest or something), Microsoft India's DK> some-big-shot mentioned (not in so many words) that part of DK> their strategy in India is to "infiltrate" the LUGs and slowly DK> brainwash these LUGs into being MUGs (Microsoft User Groups - DK> pun intended :) . Let us not be the first or only LUG to fall DK> into that trap.
My two cents. If someone from MS is going to talk about an MS only product or MS only tools that are not OSS (and have no direct relevance to the lug), however technical it might be, I think the answer should be NO. Same goes for a Mac. IMHO, that is completely off-topic for a LUG. LUGs are not only-tech-groups. There are certain philosophies and common sense rules that we do follow.
As regards MS's strategy to 'brainwash' lug members. Hehe, nice try. Its dumb plans like these that really get my rolling my eyes over.
The significant thing about OSS is that the bar to entry is very low and the distribution mechanisms allow me to scratch my itch and let others use the tools I built in that process to scratch theirs. Its a community from the ground up. Any community that is based on a policy of unmotivated mutual help and sharing builds an extremely strong and robust emotional bond. The instant you bring a company to the party that does not understand this, the company will be simply ignored like an outsider in a family affair.
This is simply not a community that revolves around a mega-corp whose raison d'etre is to make a profit and please its shareholders. This is the definition of a successful company and MS is probably one of the most successful ones around. So if MUGs are to be as successful and meaningful to their members as LUGs then MSFT would cease to exist (atleast in its current form). Heads I win, tails you lose.
cheers, prabhu