Sickening shilling for MS by Ontario privacy commissioner

[JoeHill]

On Sat, 21 Oct 2006 17:27:20 -0400
Christopher Browne got an infinite number of monkeys to type out:

> > Now that I'm reading Michael Geist's ( Canada Research Chair of Internet and
> > E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa, clearly one of your 'linux
> > fanboys' or a 'clod' or 'knee-jerk anti MS', or whatever) blog on this, I do
> > believe David made some valid points.
> 
> Geist has some good points.
> 
> They happen also to be framed in a context that allows the likes of
> the privacy commissioner to (at least potentially) accept it
> constructively.
> 
> He doesn't make his points in a "cloddish" or "wild fanboyish" manner.
> 
> In order to affect government policy (which I would imagine OUGHT to
> be the point of this discussion), it's not nearly good enough to be in
> some sense "right" or "correct;" generating government policy requires
> that there be some capability to participate in the relevant
> organizational structures, which requires very different language from
> what we might "mouth off" with, here.
> 
> Merely saying "Microsoft Bad!" isn't anywhere *near* enough.  All
> that'll get you is that government-related folks will ignore you.

I don't think anyone on here would argue with you on this. I also don't think
that the points made by David, or anyone else on here, deserve to be
continually characterized the way they are. Pointing out, for example, that it
is disturbing that a company like Microsoft, with its record on security, might
be involved in *providing* security, is logical and rational.

Of course some of the hyperbole on here is not suited for communicating with
bureaucrats, but I think most people already recognize that.

Unfortunately, this a pattern I see on this list very often. Discussion of a
perfectly legitimate objection against Microsoft draws the inevitable 'oh here
we go, you're a bunch of knee-jerk anti-MS zealots' posts, and it degenerates
from there.

I just keep hoping someone will post some more info on this topic, but all
that's coming in is criticism and undeserved characterizations of the posters
themselves.

Can we move on?

-- 
JoeHill / RLU #282046
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