Steve Ballmer pays personal visit to May in Munchen?
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Hello. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Curtis Rey. I live in America and have been using SuSE Linux since 7.1, and am one of the beta testers for the lastest version - 8.2. I have just finished reading an article on the web at http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/04/07/HNballmer_1.htm wherein the article states that Mr Ballmer has paid a personal visit to the mayor of Munich. The nature of the meeting is "confidential" but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what they discussed. I view this as a definite sign that Microsoft is feeling the pressure of Open Source and specifically SuSE Linux. Rest assured that Mr Ballmer has most likely attempted to make a very persuasive argument for the use of Microsoft products over that of Linux (and SuSE). Given my fervent distaste for Microsoft and the fact the Mr. Ballmer rarely (if ever) conducts these sorts of meetings with city and government officials in foreign countries if I were employed at SuSE I would find this unsettling to say the least. It is apparent to myself that Mr Ballmer is trying to undercut SuSE and lock in the City of Munich into a contract that will most likely Leave SuSE out of the loop for at least a couple of years. I would strongly urge those in the SuSE management office and on the board to send a delegation of representatives to meet with the Mayor of Munich. It would be a shame if Munich decided to take a step backwards in attaining a Microsoft contract. And it would be a slap in the face to snub a native software vendor over a foreign provider. SuSE Linux is Gemany's best bet to establish itself as a leader in Linux and alternative software for not only those in Germany or Europe, but on a global basis as well. Once again, I strongly urge your to take action regarding this latest ploy by Microsoft and Mr Ballmer to undercut SuSE's market. Respectfully. Curtis Rey. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.0.7 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQE+kbYW7WVLiDrqeksRAlL6AJ4xjz+FnnuQQQRf/cxxwsCEOvodLACfdZAS wP/kCPBc4TyWlZqlBy79gdg= =cOLE -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
On Monday 07 April 2003 05:32 pm, Curtis Rey wrote:
My name is Curtis
~ if i understand correctly, the name of Munich City's Mayor is "Christian Ude" and, his e-mail address is :- ob@ems.muenchen.de Maybe it would help SuSE when a few hundred of us e-mail Christian Ude asking him to chose the BEST for his City ~ SuSE Linux ? -- best wishes ____________ sent on Linux ____________
On Monday 07 April 2003 6:32 pm, Curtis Rey wrote:
http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/04/07/HNballmer_1.htm [...] states that Mr Ballmer has paid a personal visit to the mayor of Munich. The nature of the meeting is "confidential" but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what they discussed.
<snip>
I would strongly urge those in the SuSE management office and on the board to send a delegation of representatives to meet with the Mayor of Munich. It would be a shame if Munich decided to take a step backwards in attaining a Microsoft contract. And it would be a slap in the face to snub a native software vendor over a foreign provider. SuSE Linux is Gemany's best bet to establish itself as a leader in Linux and alternative software for not only those in Germany or Europe, but on a global basis as well.
On Monday 07 April 2003 9:17 pm, pinto wrote: _________________
~ if i understand correctly, the name of Munich City's Mayor is "Christian Ude" and, his e-mail address is :-
ob@ems.muenchen.de
Maybe it would help SuSE when a few hundred of us e-mail Christian Ude asking him to chose the BEST for his City ~ SuSE Linux ?
On the whole, this last is a bit reminiscent of the so called 'team os/2' which IBM let loose some years back, rather than market OS/2. These people were basically keen users like you and I on this list, but they went OTT in presenting the product to corporate type users from the perspective of the home user and they were perceived as a load of zealots, to the detriment of OS/2. I confess to having been involved in a small way, and although 'team os/2' certainly were not responsible for the failure of OS/2, they worked hard but did little to really advance the cause. This really is an issue for marketing professionals, BUT, if Munchen really are procuring Operating Systems, and the Ballmer meeting is behind closed doors and other suppliers who are interested are not getting the same lookin, then I would say 1] let the EU know about it and 2] let Munchen know that the EU know. I think that a direct advocacy campaign directed at Munchen would be _very_ counter-productive, whereas just aiming to ensure a level playing field is about as much influence as can be brought to bear. We should ask for no more. regards Vince Littler
participants (3)
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Curtis Rey -
pinto -
Vince Littler