Microsoft Denies Sabotaging Mandriva Linux PC Deal 161
An anonymous reader writes "Microsoft has denied sabotaging Mandriva's deal with the Nigerian government to supply Classmate PCs from Intel along with a customized Mandriva Linux operating system. 'From Microsoft's perspective it's a matter of choice. In the statement sent to InternetNews.com, Microsoft said it believes individuals, governments and other organizations should be free to choose the software and other technologies that best meet their needs. "We are seeing strong market demand for Windows on low-cost devices to help governments in the areas of education, local innovation, and jobs and opportunity," the Microsoft spokesperson said in the statement.' The company's denial is in response to Mandriva's CEO Francois Bancilhon expression of disappointment with Microsoft."
Slightly funny (Score:3, Interesting)
How about "Microsoft has a strong relationship with the government and people in Nigeria and will continue to help meet their needs" ?
Oh really? (Score:4, Interesting)
And so they respond with ending Win98 and WinXP while pushing Vista in spite of the fact that the vast majority of users don't want it?
Anti dumping laws (Score:4, Interesting)
To an extent this is moot since the investigation will proceed at a glacial pace and by the time that it concludes it will all be a done deal.
Hey Microsoft, give me a choice, please... (Score:2, Interesting)
Hey Microsoft, are you now starting to realize that you are unable to compete in the marketplace without using the tainted money from your cash-cow monopoly?
May I be the first to say (Score:5, Interesting)
In one conversation I had with my Nigerian-born business partner (OK stop laughing I'm serious. He's been a naturalized citizen for ten years, is a Christian, the son of a pastor, and I know one of his brothers as well. He's good people.) I learned that it's very much like India multiplied in that no decisions are made without palms being greased. I also learned that Nigerians who come to America will not do business with other Nigerians due to the level of corruption. It's not that all Nigerians are corrupt, it's just that corruption is so pervasive that they don't trust one another.
(Interesting thing about him: he's very suspicious, is more pro-American than most native-born Americans, gets far more involved in politics than most of us do, and yet when he sees evil going on in this country he doesn't complain. He just laughs and says evil people will do evil things, and what can be accomplished by talking about it and then continues on with his work. As an aside, he's the most productive worker I've ever encountered as well.)
My guess? Some official initially chose Linux as the sensible solution, and then Microsoft's money greased a high-level official's palms. I don't think it's necessarily Microsoft that did it, but a third party (plausible deniability, elimination of a paper trail involving even swag, etc.) which somehow benefits from the sale of Windows rather than installation of a(n) (inexpensive|free)/free OS.
Re:May I be the first to say (Score:5, Interesting)
Wire us $$ and we will install your OS (Score:2, Interesting)
We know from the letter, that the devices will be shipped with Mandriva Pre-installed. And that Mandriva has already been paid. It also seems likely that money has already changed hands in favor of the Nigerian government to support this "sudden change of heart".
Now, suppose you are one of the teachers that evaluated, and "qualified" the mandriva solution that comes pre-installed on the laptops, and you get this CD that says "Take 200 hours and install this untested, mystery OS on all 200 of your schools laptops, destroying the one you are already familiar with." How likely are you to actually comply? Will it come to MS deploying goons to ensure the software gets installed?
From a country that specializes in "Wire us some $$$ and you will be rich", it may be the case that MS marketing drones may be experiencing the joys of an industrial-scale 419 [419eater.com] scam.
Re:Title is Misleading (Score:3, Interesting)
Following the rules of a developing country is setting a pretty low bar. The idea is to set the bar higher and act as an example, not to mention to avoid the ire of people in first-world countries who tend to key in on legal-yet-unethical practices and put them on the 6 o'clock news.
It's also a matter of risk management. When you start playing dangerous games, the risks increase significantly. By turning down business that would have incurred abnormally high risk in order to obtain, we shield ourselves from the consequences should that risk become reality.
Mandriva in Nigeria - Microsoft in Africa (Score:3, Interesting)
Mandriva didn't have an office in west Africa until January of this year.
In contrast, Microsoft has hundreds of millions of users world-wide, directly employs 31,000 people abroad and has billions to spend on development projects in Africa and elsewhere in the third world.
A search of allAfrica.com" [allafrica.com] returns 1,300 hits for Microsoft and Nigeria in English alone.
Dismiss as many of these stories as you like as PR. The reality remains that to a Financial Minister, the Minister of Education, a partnership with Microsoft can make very good sense.
NGLUG, the Nigerian Linux Users Group [nglug.org] presents an earnest face. But stories such as these suggest that Linux has a long way to catch up with Microsoft in West Africa:
Linux girl bags first Novell certification in Nigeria [2005]
"You are the first Lady CLE in Africa and the first CLE in Nigeria - you have the highest mark so far amongst the other CLE's in Africa including South Africa."
"Linux Accademy of Nigeria has not started training and I have not found someone who knows when they will start." [August 2007]
Re:Business as usual... (Score:3, Interesting)
Thanks for pointing this out. This is Nigeria, which rates 2.2/10 in Transparency International's corruption perception's index. This places it in 144th place out of 179 listed countries.
Anything that happens in Nigeria involving a sizeable amount of money will involve corruption and bribery somehow, because in a place like that it's necessary just to make the world go around. That's how the country works, and it's an ingrained into generations of the culture that people in power are expected to abuse their positions. Even before Microsoft was involved, corruption and bribery would have been part of the process just to get the country to accept, allow or purchase PCs for educational purposes at all.
Relatively transparent governments are a luxury that's mostly restricted to the western world, but it's a foreign concept in a place like Nigeria. It's bad for Mandriva, it's even worse for the people who actually live there, and doing business in the country will continue to be unfair until something changes to address the culture of bribery and corruption.
I wonder a bit if this is only getting noticed because the tech industry is so new to dealing with corrupt countries. As you pointed out, the oil industry's been doing it for years. People in western countries don't actually care about it as long as they're kept isolated from the details.
Baited? (Score:2, Interesting)