Bruce Perens, one of the leaders of the free software movement and co-founder of the Open Source Initiative, comments on the implications of Microsoft's growing obsession Linux and the open source software movement in this entertaining guest column on ZDNet. Perens writes . . .

“Being an open source proponent is more fun than ever. We're getting more publicity than Salman Rushdie after the price was put on his head. Like Rushdie's, our publicity stems from attempts to discredit us, efforts by Microsoft and its shills in our case.”

“It's entertaining to watch the effect that open source seems to have on Microsoft executives. In February, Jim Allchin called us un-American. Recently, Steve Ballmer said Linux is a cancer! These are not the words of calm people. What is it about open source that makes Microsoft executives so uneasy? Could it be that after all of these years, competition has become so foreign an idea to them that they react with horror?”

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