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Message à l'origine de la discussion.

Dear Mr. Berger,

I am contacting you because I am preparing a research paper on how Linux, especially in Europe, could benefit from an increasingly strong anti-American sentiment.

Below you can find an outline of the hypothesis I am focusing on in my paper.
I have the following questions:

1. Do you think that recent private and public procurement decisions favoring Linux instead of Microsoft were not exclusively based on business considerations but at least partially on irrational/political/nationalist sentiments?
2. How do you think Microsoft could fight back?
3. Does it seem to be a long-term tendency, or only a temporary enthusiasm?
4. Also, I would like to know how you assess Linux' position in the market currently in light of a growing antipathy towards Microsoft products which is (according to many independent sources) now accompanied by a "distaste for being dependent on U.S. technology companies."

As for my background: I am a Hungarian technology reporter, and am currently doing an MA program in business reporting at New York University; this paper is being prepared as part of my studies. If you wish to find out more about me please go to http://homepages.nyu.edu/~mn483/</tt></td></tr></tt></td></tr>

I hope to hear from you soon.
Sincerely,
Miklos Nyiri

Outline.

The current geopolitical situation can be a great impediment for Microsoft in its battle with the free and open-source operating system, Linux. European governments are openly encouraging state organizations to opt for Linux with Germany and Spain leading the way. Lufthansa and T-Online also picked Linux recently. And the reason for not favoring the biggest IT firm in the world does not derive any more only from security and cost concerns. It has a less rational component to it as well: dislike for a company that is perceived to be a pillar of an increasingly aggressive super-power.

As a recent Washington Post article put it: "the campaign of a local government's Linux initiative in Spain suggests that nationalism could play a powerful role in blunting Microsoft's expansion, as nation-states grow wary of becoming too dependent on the know-how of a single American corporation."

Also, a leaked Microsoft memo on how to compete with Linux, which was published recently, says that internationally there is a distaste for being dependent on U.S. technology companies in general and Microsoft in particular. A Linux advocate who published the memo wrote that as opposed to Windows, Linux has the advantage of not being tied to any nation.

In fact the Bush administration's settlement with Microsoft could have reaffirmed beliefs that Microsoft is representative of the US, a country that faces increasing distrust worldwide. Polls Europe-wide including Russia show that at least 70% of the population has anti-American sentiments at some level. And the Post article (though it does not explore this issue at all) confirms that these feelings translate into business decisions.

How will this affect Microsoft's future? Are its fortunes linked to the foreign policies of the US? What will Microsoft do to rise to this new challenge? Is it possible that it is the economic success of the US and the overwhelming success of Microsoft (which breed envy as polls show) that could eventually slow down its expansion?