The Halloween DocumentsIn the last week of October 1998, a confidential Microsoft memorandum on Redmond's strategy against Linux and Open Source software was leaked to me by a source who shall remain nameless. I annotated this memorandum with explanation and commentary over Halloween Weekend and released it to the national press. Microsoft was forced to acknowledge its authenticity. The press rightly treated it as a major story and covered it (with varying degrees of cluefulness). The now-infamous ``Halloween Document'' contained references to a second memorandum specifically on Linux. Within days, copies of the second memo had been forwarded to me from two separate sources. I renamed the first annotated version ``Halloween I'' and set about annotating the second. While not as dramatic or sinister in its implications as its predecessor, Halloween II includes a lot of material at variance with Microsoft's public party line on Linux. Before emailing or phoning me with a question about these documents, please read the Halloween Documents Frequently-Asked Questions. Here they are:
Here are some links to press coverage:
Other followup coverage: C|Net; Christian Science Monitor. In other articles: the backgrounds of the contributors to Halloween I have been investigated; Robert Brown has written a witty commentary on the Halloween I memorandum; and Tim O'Reilly has responded with an open letter to Microsoft. Here are some translations: Halloween I in Spanish; Halloween II in Spanish; Halloween III in Spanish; Halloween I in Japanese; Halloween II in Japanese; Halloween III in Japanese; Halloween I in Italian; Halloween II in Italian; Halloween III in Italian; the Halloween Documents in both Simplified and Traditional Chinese versions. |