[kwlug-disc] Astroturf Farming

[Raul Suarez]

--- On Wed, 6/23/10, Richard Weait <richard at weait.com> wrote:
> John Van Ostrand <john at netdirect.ca>
> wrote:
> > Members are encouraged to perform 4 activities
> promoting MS products, including writing articles, giving
> lectures, and starting a user group.
> 
> They never learn.  Community is challenging enough
> when it is sincere.

Community? I guess you can call it that. The students actually get hooked with "free" stuff and job promisses. Have you heard of laced candy?

When I lived in Mexico I used to feel so proud of all the free stuff I got from vendors. It made me feel important to receive invitations to launch events. To receive surveys because "they valued my input". Once I even got to talk to Steve Ballmer at an event.

And that was even though I didn't like Windows. My servers were Novell, and I was playing with the alternatives (OS/2, NeXT, early Linux, etc). Can you imagine how hooked the people that really like Windows are?

The onus is on us to show the alternatives to the new generations.

Raul Suarez

Technology consultant
Software, Hardware and Practices
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http://rarsa.blogspot.com/ 
An eclectic collection of random thoughts