Credit where credit is due

Okay. Microsoft is [doing something clever.](http://news.com.com/Microsoft+to+take+direct+shots+at+Linux+rivals/2100-1016_3-5368450.html?part=rss&tag=5368450&subj=news.1016.20)  Their new “get the facts” Linux-is-evil campaign will target big companies, rather than Linux as a whole.

This is clever because, while geeks trust and like Linux, geeks trust and like IBM and Novell somewhat less. Even RedHat the pioneer has been facing a certain amount of backlash lately.

Thus, geeks won’t leap to the defence of Microsoft’s targets in their new offensive. If Microsoft had targeted Linux in general, they would face a huge amount of grassroots resistance. However, geeks who download their source and enjoy recompiling their kernal daily aren’t as interested in the fate of IBM or Novell as they are in Linux in general.

Microsoft also knows how to fight big companies and win. They battled IBM and won, and they whipped Novell to within a byte of its life. Fighting other companies is what Microsoft is good at. Fighting a strangely-defined bunch of geeks doesn’t work very well – Microsoft doesn’t understand the enemy there. Their operation using SCO as a front was a dismal failure (for them – the rest of us are still laughing).

Linux is also a bit of a media darling right now. It’s new, exciting, and (according to the media) trouble-free; while all Windows news has to do with security, viruses, massive large-scale crashes and general unhappiness. Microsoft attacking Linux directly leaves little room for spin, and will vilify Microsoft even more than before.

Microsoft is playing this game very well. I’m interested to see what both sides come up with in the next few months, and how the geek army responds…

Me? BSD, thank you very much.