Halloween documents
Encyclopedia
The Halloween documents comprise a series of confidential Microsoft
memoranda on potential strategies relating to free software
, open-source software
, and to Linux
in particular, and a series of responses to these memoranda. Both the leaked documents and the responses were published by Eric Raymond
.
The documents are associated with Halloween
because many of them were originally leaked close to 31 October in different years.
for the attention of senior vice-president Paul Maritz
and written by Microsoft program manager Vinod Valloppillil, was leaked to Eric Raymond
in October 1998, who immediately published an annotated version on his web site. The document contained references to a second memorandum specifically dealing with Linux
, and that document, authored by Vinod Valloppillil and Josh Cohen at Microsoft, was also obtained, annotated and published by Raymond. Microsoft has since admitted the documents' authenticity.
Marked "Microsoft confidential", they identify open-source software, and in particular the Linux operating system, as a major threat to Microsoft's dominance of the software industry, and suggest ways in which Microsoft could disrupt the progress of open source software.
These documents acknowledged that free software
products such as Linux were technologically competitive with some of Microsoft's products, and set out a strategy to combat them. The documents were embarrassing largely because they contradicted Microsoft's public pronouncements on the subject.
Since the publication of the two original documents, a number of additional Microsoft memoranda on related topics have also been leaked and published (e.g. Halloween VII). Together, these documents demonstrate Microsoft's continued awareness that its open-source competitors are a potential threat to its livelihood in the software industry.
Document I provides a detailed introduction to the concepts behind Open Source software, and its possible impact on Microsoft products and services. It outlines the strengths and weaknesses of Open Source software. Document II describes the basic architecture of the Linux system, its relation to Unix and Windows NT.
Document I revealed that "FUD" (spreading Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) was a traditional Microsoft marketing strategy, acknowledged and understood internally. Examples of Microsoft's FUD tactics are announcing nonexistent products or spreading rumors that competing products will crash Windows.
Raymond suggests that the documents show that while Microsoft may be dismissive of open source software in public, it considers it a serious competitor in private.
While discussing ways of competing with open source, Document I suggests that one reason that open source projects have been able to enter the market for servers is the use of standardized protocols. It then suggests that this can be stopped by "extending these protocols and developing new protocols" and "de-commoditize protocols & applications." This policy has been nicknamed "embrace, extend, extinguish".
Document I also suggests that open source software "is long-term credible ... FUD
tactics can not be used to combat it," and "Recent case studies (the Internet) provide very dramatic evidence ... that commercial quality can be achieved / exceeded by OSS projects."
Document I was filed as evidence on January 16, 2007 in the current case of "Comes v. Microsoft".
This statement is only a brief response, but many points were later incorporated into an official response from Microsoft.
program. Eric Raymond provides commentary suggesting ways that the open source community can promote itself based on the results of the survey.
The results show favorable responses about both open source and shared source principles. It also describes low total cost of ownership
as a major reason for Linux adoption, opposed to many documents released by the company suggesting that Windows has a lower TCO than Linux solutions.
's Chris Sontag, also known as Halloween X: Follow The Money. Among other points, describes Microsoft's channeling of $86 million USD to SCO.
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
memoranda on potential strategies relating to free software
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
, open-source software
Open-source software
Open-source software is computer software that is available in source code form: the source code and certain other rights normally reserved for copyright holders are provided under a software license that permits users to study, change, improve and at times also to distribute the software.Open...
, and to Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
in particular, and a series of responses to these memoranda. Both the leaked documents and the responses were published by Eric Raymond
Eric S. Raymond
Eric Steven Raymond , often referred to as ESR, is an American computer programmer, author and open source software advocate. After the 1997 publication of The Cathedral and the Bazaar, Raymond was for a number of years frequently quoted as an unofficial spokesman for the open source movement...
.
The documents are associated with Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
because many of them were originally leaked close to 31 October in different years.
Overview
The first Halloween document, requested by senior vice-president James AllchinJames Allchin
James "Jim" Edward Allchin is a former executive at Microsoft, where he was responsible for many of the platform components from Microsoft including Microsoft Windows, Windows Server, server products such as SQL Server, and developer technologies. He may be most known for building Microsoft's...
for the attention of senior vice-president Paul Maritz
Paul Maritz
Paul Maritz is CEO of VMware Corporation , and a past senior executive at Microsoft.Born and raised in Rhodesia , his family later moved to South Africa where he was schooled at Highbury Preparatory School and Hilton College. He received a B.Sc. in Computer Science from the University of Natal,...
and written by Microsoft program manager Vinod Valloppillil, was leaked to Eric Raymond
Eric S. Raymond
Eric Steven Raymond , often referred to as ESR, is an American computer programmer, author and open source software advocate. After the 1997 publication of The Cathedral and the Bazaar, Raymond was for a number of years frequently quoted as an unofficial spokesman for the open source movement...
in October 1998, who immediately published an annotated version on his web site. The document contained references to a second memorandum specifically dealing with Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
, and that document, authored by Vinod Valloppillil and Josh Cohen at Microsoft, was also obtained, annotated and published by Raymond. Microsoft has since admitted the documents' authenticity.
Marked "Microsoft confidential", they identify open-source software, and in particular the Linux operating system, as a major threat to Microsoft's dominance of the software industry, and suggest ways in which Microsoft could disrupt the progress of open source software.
These documents acknowledged that free software
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
products such as Linux were technologically competitive with some of Microsoft's products, and set out a strategy to combat them. The documents were embarrassing largely because they contradicted Microsoft's public pronouncements on the subject.
Since the publication of the two original documents, a number of additional Microsoft memoranda on related topics have also been leaked and published (e.g. Halloween VII). Together, these documents demonstrate Microsoft's continued awareness that its open-source competitors are a potential threat to its livelihood in the software industry.
List of documents
The documents are from a variety of sources. Only some are leaked internal memos (documents I, II, VII, VIII, and X.) One is a public statement (document III.) The others are responses by Eric Raymond to various columns, news articles, and other works.| Name | Author | Date | Brief Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | Open Source Software: A (New?) Development Methodology | Vinod Valloppillil | August 1998 | A leaked internal report |
| II | Linux OS Competitive Analysis: The Next Java VM? | Vinod Valloppillil | August 1998 | A leaked internal report |
| III | Untitled statement | Aurelia van den Berg | November 1998 | Press statement from Microsoft Netherlands |
| IV | When Software Things Were Rotten | Eric S. Raymond | December 1998 | A satire piece based on Microsoft's Ed Muth comparing open source developers to Robin Hood Robin Hood Robin Hood was a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor", assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men". Traditionally, Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing Lincoln green clothes.... . |
| V | The FUD Begins | Eric S. Raymond | March 1999 | A response by Raymond to Ed Muth's allegations that Linux has a "weak value proposition Value proposition A value proposition is a promise of value to be delivered and a belief from the customer of value that will be experienced. A value proposition can apply to an entire organization, or parts thereof, or customer accounts, or products or services.... ". |
| VI | The Fatal Anniversary | Eric S. Raymond | October 1999 | A response by Raymond to studies authored by the Gartner Gartner Gartner, Inc. is an information technology research and advisory firm headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, United States. It was known as GartnerGroup until 2001.... group for Microsoft. |
| VII | Research E-Bulletin: Attitudes Towards Shared Source and Open Source Research Study | September 2002 | A summary of the results of a Microsoft survey describing reactions to Microsoft's shared source Shared source Shared source is an umbrella term covering some of Microsoft's legal mechanisms for software source code distribution. Microsoft's Shared Source Initiative, launched in May 2001, includes a spectrum of technologies and licenses... program. |
|
| VIII | OSS and Government | Orlando Ayala | November 2002 | Describes Microsoft's procedures for responding to notable conversions away from Microsoft software |
| IX | It Ain't Necessarily SCO | Rob Landley and Eric S. Raymond | August 2003 | A response to the allegations made by the SCO Group SCO Group TSG Group, Inc. is a software company formerly called The SCO Group, Caldera Systems, and Caldera International. After acquiring the Santa Cruz Operation's Server Software and Services divisions, as well as UnixWare and OpenServer technologies, the company changed its focus to UNIX... in its initial filings in SCO v. IBM SCO v. IBM SCO v. IBM is a civil lawsuit in the United States District Court of Utah. The SCO Group asserted that there are legal uncertainties regarding the use of the Linux operating system due to alleged violations of IBM's Unix licenses in the development of Linux code at IBM.-Summary:On March 6, 2003,... . |
| X | Follow The Money | Mike Anderer | March 2004 | An e-mail from consultant Mike Anderer to SCO's Chris Sontag revealing Microsoft's channeling of US$ 86 million to SCO. |
| XI | Get The FUD | Eric S. Raymond | June 2004 | A response to Microsoft's Get the Facts campaign |
Documents I and II
These are leaked reports for Microsoft's own use, both written by Vinod Valloppillil, who was a Program Manager at Microsoft.Document I provides a detailed introduction to the concepts behind Open Source software, and its possible impact on Microsoft products and services. It outlines the strengths and weaknesses of Open Source software. Document II describes the basic architecture of the Linux system, its relation to Unix and Windows NT.
Document I revealed that "FUD" (spreading Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) was a traditional Microsoft marketing strategy, acknowledged and understood internally. Examples of Microsoft's FUD tactics are announcing nonexistent products or spreading rumors that competing products will crash Windows.
Raymond suggests that the documents show that while Microsoft may be dismissive of open source software in public, it considers it a serious competitor in private.
While discussing ways of competing with open source, Document I suggests that one reason that open source projects have been able to enter the market for servers is the use of standardized protocols. It then suggests that this can be stopped by "extending these protocols and developing new protocols" and "de-commoditize protocols & applications." This policy has been nicknamed "embrace, extend, extinguish".
Document I also suggests that open source software "is long-term credible ... FUD
Fear, uncertainty and doubt
Fear, uncertainty and doubt, frequently abbreviated as FUD, is a tactic used in sales, marketing, public relations, politics and propaganda....
tactics can not be used to combat it," and "Recent case studies (the Internet) provide very dramatic evidence ... that commercial quality can be achieved / exceeded by OSS projects."
Document I was filed as evidence on January 16, 2007 in the current case of "Comes v. Microsoft".
Document III
The statement from Aurelia van den Berg, the Press and Public Relations manager of Microsoft Netherlands, puts forward Microsoft's view on the first two documents. It says that the documents are not an "official position", but that "it is routine and appropriate" to research competitors.This statement is only a brief response, but many points were later incorporated into an official response from Microsoft.
Document VII
This document is a summary of the results of a survey of developers and IT managers, carried out by Microsoft, describing reactions to Microsoft's shared sourceShared source
Shared source is an umbrella term covering some of Microsoft's legal mechanisms for software source code distribution. Microsoft's Shared Source Initiative, launched in May 2001, includes a spectrum of technologies and licenses...
program. Eric Raymond provides commentary suggesting ways that the open source community can promote itself based on the results of the survey.
The results show favorable responses about both open source and shared source principles. It also describes low total cost of ownership
Total cost of ownership
Total cost of ownership is a financial estimate whose purpose is to help consumers and enterprise managers determine direct and indirect costs of a product or system...
as a major reason for Linux adoption, opposed to many documents released by the company suggesting that Windows has a lower TCO than Linux solutions.
Document VIII
"OSS and Government", aka Halloween VIII: Doing the Damage-Control Dance. A memo from Group Vice President of Worldwide Sales, Orlando Ayala, to general managers of Microsoft regional subsidiaries. Describes the availability of support from Microsoft corporate for regional sales personnel facing competition from Linux in government markets.Document X
An e-mail from consultant Mike Anderer to SCO GroupSCO Group
TSG Group, Inc. is a software company formerly called The SCO Group, Caldera Systems, and Caldera International. After acquiring the Santa Cruz Operation's Server Software and Services divisions, as well as UnixWare and OpenServer technologies, the company changed its focus to UNIX...
's Chris Sontag, also known as Halloween X: Follow The Money. Among other points, describes Microsoft's channeling of $86 million USD to SCO.