A little over three weeks since the evil attacks by left-wing Islamic terrorists murdered 6,000 human beings on American soil, the American political left launches their assault on democracy. Phil Donahue slithered under the doors of Good Morning America this week screaming about American imperialism under Ronald Reagan was the cause of the terror attack.

The ÒpeaceÓ protestors in DC, Austin and San Francisco decried the inherent racism and inequities of the ÒcorporatismÓ forced evil people to murder while pleading for restraint and introspection from the United States against the murderers. The Democrats in Congress have begun to fight with the White House about how new anti-terrorism laws will destroy AmericaÕs civil liberties. In only three weeks, the pillar of unity and patriotism that had brought both sides together begins to crumble.

Only three weeks! Wow, thatÕs a full twenty days longer than the Linuxª cult allowed before they began their assault on that evil imperial, corporate destroyer of civil liberties known as Microsoft!

Linuxª is relatively new to the IT scene, a project begun ten years ago by Finnish programmer Linus Torvalds. Torvalds, the son of socialist Finnish radio commentator Nils Torvalds who often sided with Soviet leadership in world matters during the Cold War, was a computer science student at a university in Helsinki. While at university, Torvalds programmed on the schoolÕs expensive computers running the high-powered Unix operating system (OS) developed by Bell Labs scientists in the late 60s. Torvalds, unable to afford the expensive Unix workstations for personal use, began to reverse engineer the Unix OS for use on his inexpensive home computer.

Torvalds posted his Unix rip-off dubbed ÒLinuxÓ on the Internet in 1991 for free. True to his familyÕs socialist radical politics, Torvalds released his OS under the non-standard General Public License (GPL) or Òcopyleft.Ó Under the GPL, programmers had the ability to download TorvaldsÕ Linux, fix the bugs in his program and give the improved program back to him to distribute to the Linux community. GPL programs are essentially community property with no real owners, but since Torvalds was the originator of the rip-off, it becomes his personal rip-off to control as he wishes. In other words, Torvalds became the dictatorial leader of the Linux cult with all decisions for the greater community good going through him first, then doled out at his convenience.

Microsoft, unlike Linux, operated on the capitalistic principle of charging for products that people will pay for. Because many individuals and businesses liked MicrosoftÕs products enough to pay for them, Microsoft prospered. The GPL, unlike standard copyright laws, stifled the ability for Torvalds and his followers to make money off of their increasingly popular OS (Torvalds only fallback was to copyright the Linuxª name). By the late 90s, the free Linuxª OS had found its way onto millions of computers around the world, but the corporations that ÒdistributedÓ Linuxª (The GPL does allow for corporations to charge distribution fees ø costs of the CD-ROMs, manuals, tech support ø for Linuxª) were all losing hundreds of millions of dollars. Unable to make money off of the Linuxª OS, the Linuxª cult branded Microsoft the ÒGreat Satan.Ó The Linuxª cultÕs newest jihad is to aid in the fight against Microsoft begun by their competitors Netscape, Sun, and Oracle along with over a dozen state attorney generals during their anti-trust litigation. The Linuxª cult, not unlike the global confederation of leftist zombies led by a few radicals bent on the destruction of the United States, is a global confederation of leftist zombies led by a few radicals bent on the destruction of Microsoft.

Several stories on prior to September 11 on VA Linuxª propaganda web site and geek nexus Slashdot (who offered the advice: ÒBe incomprehensible. If they can't understand, they can't disagreeÓ at the bottom of their web page on October 4, 2001) reported that the European Union would do all it could to destroy Microsoft if the US federal courts owned by corporate America didnÕt have the guts. Such attacks ground to a halt the day of the attack. By September 12th, cease fire ended between the Linuxª cult and their hated enemy. The Free Software FoundationÕs legal counsel offered an anti-Microsoft/Bush/capitalism diatribe in The Nation while the bodies of capitalist pigs burned beneath the World Trade Center. Ziff-DavisÕ eWeek magazine accused Microsoft of ÒbullyingÓ competitors and they were the source of our Òlong national nightmare.Ó A writer on NewsForge, another VA Linuxª-owned propaganda site, noted that in light of the attacks the day before, he did not feel like reporting on the Òevils of Microsoft. I don't want to complain about the misappropriation of public intellectual property by private interests and their lawyers.Ó

The assault was back up to full strength a week later as InfoWorldÕs The Gripe Line page was rife with Linuxª cultistsÕ outrageous claims that Microsoft software will spy on you, keep you from upgrading your computer and stifle the First Amendment. A paid Linuxª cultist for tech publication ZDNet UK issued a call to arms against the evil Microsoft Corporation saying: ÒMicrosoft's relationship to its users is that of the blue whale to krill. Our only purpose is to breed, feed and get squeezed against its giant tongue until every last drop of money is released.Ó The rest is rehashed garbage about Microsoft ÒbullyingÓ competitors and being evil, but thatÕs just the nature of Linuxª in general ø why be original when you can just share revolutionary propaganda?

To be sure, Microsoft has a lot of money. What the Linuxª cult fails to understand is that Microsoft got that money because there have been customers that paid Microsoft for their products. Microsoft clawed their way to the top by smart business people and decisive action. The Linuxª cult just does not understand how business and capitalism works. They do not understand that Microsoft has created a software product that the majority of people have chosen to use. This majority does not want to be told what to do by a tiny minority who claim to know exactly what the majority really wants rather than what the majority has already chosen. The success and ubiquity of Microsoft products is what fuels Linuxª usersÕ hatred for Microsoft. There is no moral imperative for the majority of global computer users to change to Linuxª because Microsoft has been tagged as ÒevilÓ by a tiny majority. Mostly because the majority knows that they are not evil just because they use Microsoft Word rather than some clunky text editor in Linuxª.

ItÕs funny, but the Linuxª cult sound an awful lot like the fanatics engaging in a jihad against the Great Satan called the United States of America. No wonder Linuxª cultists hate the idea that American law enforcement is about to get tough on terrorism.

Scott McCollum is an independent consultant and tech industry insider living in Austin, Texas. He is a contributing editor for World Tribune.com and his column will be featured in WorldTechTribune, a new publication by WorldTribune.com, which will be coming soon. His opinions have also been featured at Pure Politics, the NewsFactor Network and on the internationally syndicated Cyber-Line radio talk show.

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