When the story about Microsoft shelling out $100,000 to Apache for ASF sponsorship broke across my radar it rather tickled my funny bone and my curiosity. When ASF Chairman Jim Jagielski declared that "Microsoft's sponsorship makes it clear that Microsoft 'gets it' regarding the ASF" I had a fit of the giggles - and then, like many others, I started to ponder on the reasons why and what it actually meant.
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Balzac
15 years 36 weeks 3 days 12 hours ago
Microsoft wants to embrace and then taint Apache.
I call it the "embrace and taint" strategy. It's also fair to describe Microsoft's strategy "tea-bagging". Visualize a large dirty man who plans to sit on your face.
If you don't believe me, take a look at these pictures and tell me if you think this man is reaching out to the Apache Foundation with sincerity and good intentions:
Steve Ballmer leering
Steve Ballmer taunting
schestowitz
15 years 36 weeks 3 days 3 hours ago
s/Apache/Linux/?
Microsoft is aiming to "kill Linux" here, not Apache. Apache, in turn, can be made less attractive by elevating IIS on the Windows platform (watch the Netscape-on-Windows lesson). Their problem is the 'Switzerland' that GNU/Linux is.