... Why does Microsoft fear OpenOffice.org? by Preston Gralla, who, by the way, seems like a knowledgeable enough guy, so let's not construe this as anything other than having a little fun.
But seriously. Talk about building something up.
Here's the set up.
Microsoft appears to be extremely worried that an unlikely source may be a major threat as well --- OpenOffice.org. At least that's what a recent job posting at Microsoft shows.
Glyn Moody of Computerworld UK uncovered a job posting for "Linux and Open Office Compete Lead, US Subsidiary (CSI Lead)". CSI stands for Commercial Software Initiative and according to the job posting, CSI's primary mission "is to win share against Linux and OpenOffice.org."
The job posting itself is so filled with pointless jargon that it's almost a parody of business-speak. But Moody points out this interesting fact --- there are now 13 "district Linux & Open Office Compete Leads" whose sole jobs are to target Linux and OpenOffice.org.
Um.
So there are 13 people working for Microsoft tasked with competing against Linux and OpenOffice.org? You do know that Microsoft has over 93,000 employees, right?
There's another part of this post that frightens me. He claims that OpenOffice.org is somehow installed on 12 percent of PCs.
It's hard to gauge the accuracy of that number, but even if OpenOffice.org had half that market share on Windows PCs, it would represent a very large chunk of revenue.
I doubt it's one-tenth of that number. But as he notes, it's hard to gauge. Still, it might just be the silliest claim I've heard all year, and this came during a year when a non-existent Apple tablet was somehow going to change the world. Good stuff.