It’s interesting that the word, “samizdat” should sound so much like the phrase, “same as that”, in a dialect.  The word is Russian, meaning “self-publish”, and was used to label works that were copied and handed out in violation of the censorship laws of the Union of Soviet Socialists Republic.  And, of course, since people wanted the work to be as complete as possible, they wanted this copy to be the same as that.  (I know, bad pun.  But the thought works).  This work is also a samizdat, in that anyone can copy it and hand it out to others.

There’s a reason for that.  It shortly will be very unpopular with a particular company, which means that that company may attempt to have the article removed.  The reason it’ll be unpopular is because it will be showing that the company has been lying to people in order to keep you from making choices for yourself.  The company doesn’t just want your money, it wants to enslave your mind.  The company wants your sole purpose to be to give your money to that company, rather than to another company or even (oh, horrors!) keep it to yourself.  In short, the company wants no competition.  So, by all means, make copies of this article and pass them out.  Show people what that company is really like and how they operate.

The company is Microsoft.  The competition that it wants to squash is Linux distributions.  And, as I intimated earlier, it is using lies to attempt to defeat it.  Unlike “Microsoft bashing” this article isn’t just complaining.  It’s pointing out what is – a little thing called “reality”.  It’s also pointing out a little thing called “ethics”.

Microsoft has a website, Microsoft ExpertZone, which is used to train retailers such as BestBuy in how to sell Microsoft products.  The link may not work with Firefox on Linux – in fact it may only work with Microsoft Internet Explorer on a Windows operating system.  However, other people have managed to get to the site and have taken screen shots to show the “truth” that Microsoft espouses.  One of those is Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols and the article he wrote is Microsoft’s Latest Lies.  And, since it’s the retailers that control what is offered for sale to customers, once a company has the retailers’ minds, it controls the market of its and similar goods.  In other words, the retailers aren’t offering Linux or computers with Linux distributions installed because Microsoft has convinced them that it’s inferior.  Customers aren’t given any choice in the matter.

Of course, to be fair, it’s to a retailer’s benefit to sell computers loaded with Microsoft operating system, since then they can also sell so much more:  Office productivity suite, anti-virus software, firewalls, and (of course) larger and more expensive computers.  None of these sales are necessary with Linux distributions.  But this is secondary to Microsoft’s purpose.  If Linux doesn’t even exist, then there’s no chance that retailers will even consider the option of selling computers that are not loaded with Windows.  However, from the retailer’s point of view, they need very little convincing to forgo selling computers with Linux installed.  Though individuals in the employ of a retailer may understand the difference between what Microsoft has shown them and the reality of what Linux is, they are not the ones in charge.

What follows are some of the statements that Microsoft has made, in turn followed by the reality of Linux distributions:

Microsoft statement: “Linux has poor support for cameras, iPods and MP3s.”
Linux Reality: Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols uses all three all the time with desktop Linux.  Personally, I’ve got a camera that Linux sees just fine, and I’ve got at least one MP3 that I listen to.  I don’t have an iPod, but then I’ve never been interested in anything Apple makes.

Microsoft statement: “Linux doesn’t support all Windows programs, such as Windows Live applications.”
Linux Reality: According to Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, most people use the free or commercial version of Google Apps.   I don’t.  However, to be fair, Windows doesn’t support Linux programs.  Come to that, Windows can’t even see a Linux partition.  However, Linux can see a Windows partition and even read, edit and save files to it.  And Linux can, with the assistance of Wine or CrossOver Office, run some Windows applications.  Linux can also run some Windows games using Wine or CrossOver Games.

Microsoft statement: There’s no support for desktop Linux.
Linux Reality: That depends on what you mean by support.  Many distributions of Linux have forums that will answer questions.  Ubuntu has, not only forums but also Local Community teams that are willing to help.  These are free options manned by volunteers (community members) who have faced various problems and found solutions, and share them with whoever needs help.  However, if Microsoft is trying to intimate that there’s no commercial support then apparently they are blind to the offerings of Red Hat, SUSE and Novell, to say nothing of the multiple forms of commercial support offered by Ubuntu that are tailored to the needs of a company or individual.  Oh, and then there’s Dell, who makes no software themselves but provides a means of getting support anyway.

Microsoft statement: You can’t use video chat with Linux.
Linux Reality: Both Ekiga and Skype have video chat.

More Microsoft “misstatements”, from their “Get the Facts Straight” campaign:

Microsoft statement: Linux updates and upgrades are not easy.
Linux Reality: Updates:  every day Update Manager checks to see if there are new updates available in the Ubuntu repositories then allows my computer to compare what’s offered with what software I have on my system.  If there’s a match, it offers the update.  I click install and give it my password, and it downloads and installs it.  Upgrades?  Same thing, but it affects the entire distribution.  I don’t have to go looking for it or pay for a new upgrade.  It’s simply there.  And I don’t have to go looking for each individual piece of software.  Anything downloaded and installed through Synaptic (the Apt front-end), which means all or almost all the software on my computer, is searched out the same way.  Microsoft’s updates are only to its own software offerings.  And Microsoft upgrades have to be paid for and installed manually.  Linux updates often are performed without even having to reboot, and are usually done while I’m performing some other activity.  Microsoft?  Reboot every time.

Microsoft statement: Windows is safer than Linux.
Linux Reality: Linux will not allow anything to be installed that would affect the entire system without administrative privileges (called “root”).  In fact, Ubuntu Linux doesn’t normally run under root, but only under the user’s privileges, so it takes special permissions to install something that would affect the entire system.  For a more accurate report on Windows safety, see Why Windows security is awful.

Microsoft statement: Linux is hard to learn.
Linux Reality: Linux is so hard to learn that untutored grandmothers can pick it up in a very short period of time.  Linux is so hard that children take to it easily.  No, Linux is not hard, particularly today.  New Graphic User Interfaces, better designed menu systems, modern developments in programming have long since dispelled that image.  It WAS, at one time, difficult.  But it hasn’t been difficult since, at the latest, 2004.  And it’s been getting easier since.

It occurs to me that some of Microsoft’s arguments are comparing Linux as it was in it’s infancy to Windows as it is now.  Should I, then, compare Linux as it is now with Windows 3.1?  And Windows was never meant to work on a network.  It was intended for a stand-alone computer, where security wasn’t as much of a problem.  Linux, on the other hand, was always intended to be connected to other computers.  A Linux computer CAN exist as a stand-alone, but the capability for network or internet connection was always available.

Microsoft is running scared.  Linux is gaining ground on the desktop, on servers, and on the latest mobile internet devices (MIDs) and netbooks (which very often can function as a full fledged computer, such as my Dell Mini 9 which has a full Ubuntu desktop distribution installed).  In addition, Linux operates on a wider range of equipment, without being stripped down, than Microsoft Windows can operate on.  And check the Linux Hardware Compatibility lists for the vast array of hardware that Linux supports, often without even having to go outside the repositories to get drivers.  Microsoft has reason to be running scared.  People are finding Microsoft products to be too expensive a luxury to continue to use.  So Microsoft has resorted to telling lies to keep Linux and computers loaded with Linux off the shelves.

I’ve shown you the reality.  As for the ethical side of it, Christianity and Judaism both hold “bearing false witness”, or lying, to be unethical behavior.  I’m fairly sure that other religions also have statements to that effect.  Many of our laws, also, hold such lies to be unethical or even criminal.  Share this with others.  Let them see the truth that Microsoft won’t acknowledge.