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The Halloween documents are a series of confidential memoranda on potential strategies employed by Microsoft relating to 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 S. Raymond. The documents are associated with Halloween, October 31, because many of them were originally leaked close to that date. Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ... Microsoft is one of few companies engaging itself in the console wars Where they are up against sony, nintendo, and of course sharps new console which may cause a threat. ... Open source software is an antonym for closed source software and refers to any computer software whose source code is available under a license (or arrangement such as the public domain) that permits users to study, change, and improve the software, and to redistribute it in modified or unmodified form. ... Linux (IPA pronunciation: ) is a Unix-like computer operating system family. ... Eric S. Raymond (FISL 6. ... Halloween or Halloween is a tradition celebrated on the night of October 31, most notably by children dressing in costumes and going door-to-door collecting sweets, fruit, and other gifts. ... October 31 is the 304th day of the year (305th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 61 days remaining. ...

Overview

The first Halloween document, requested by senior vice-president James Allchin 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 ^[1]. James Allchin James Edward Allchin (born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1951) is co-President of the Platform Products and Services Group at Microsoft, responsible for Microsofts operating systems, streaming media products and Internet services. ... Paul Maritz was a senior executive at Microsoft from 1986 to 2000. ... Vinod Valloppillil was a program manager (PM) in the Proxy Server and later Windows NT team at Microsoft, and left around 1999 to join onebox. ... Eric S. Raymond Eric Steven Raymond (born December 4, 1957) (often referred to by his initials, ESR) is the author of The Cathedral and the Bazaar and the present maintainer of the Jargon File (also known as The New Hackers Dictionary). Though the Jargon File established his original reputation... Linux (IPA pronunciation: ) is a Unix-like computer operating system family. ...

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 open source/free software/Linux products 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. Open source refers to projects that are open to the public and which draw on other projects that are freely available to the general public. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

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.

The 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.

Robin Hood memorial statue in Nottingham. ... Gartner logotype. ... Shared source is a type of licensing program that allows controlled access to full or limited amounts of product source code. ... The SCO Group, Inc. ... On March 6, 2003, the SCO Group (formerly known as Caldera Systems) filed a $1 billion lawsuit in the US against IBM for allegedly devaluing its version of the UNIX operating system. ... Get the Facts is a FUD-campaign-initiative created by Microsoft 2004. ...

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.

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 standardised 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". The term web server can mean one of two things: a computer responsible for serving web pages, mostly HTML documents, via the HTTP protocol to clients, mostly web browsers; a software program that is working as a daemon serving web documents. ... Microsoft has publicly stated that it aims to embrace and extend popular standards and existing work. ...

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." Fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) is a sales or marketing strategy of disseminating negative (and vague) information on a competitors product. ...

Document I was filed as evidence on January 16th, 2007 in the current case of "Comes v. Microsoft", and is available as a PDF here. PDF is an abbreviation with several meanings: Portable Document Format Post-doctoral fellowship Probability density function There also is an electronic design automation company named PDF Solutions. ...

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 source program. Eric Raymond provides commentary suggesting ways that the open source community can promote itself based on the results of the survey. Shared source is a type of licensing program that allows controlled access to full or limited amounts of product source code. ...

The results show favourable responses about both open source and shared source principles. It also describes low total cost of ownership as a major reason for Linux adoption. It has been suggested that Life cycle cost analysis be merged into this article or section. ...

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's Chris Sontag, also known as Halloween X: Follow The Money. Among other points, describes Microsoft's channeling of US$ 86 million to SCO.

References

1. ^ Microsoft Responds to the Open Source Memo Regarding the Open Source Model and Linux, Microsoft (cached by archive.org on 04 June 2001)

Microsoft is one of few companies engaging itself in the console wars Where they are up against sony, nintendo, and of course sharps new console which may cause a threat. ... Internet Archive, San Francisco The Internet Archive (archive. ...

External links

• "The Halloween documents"
• FAQ on Halloween document