On Sunday 18 June 2006 12:29 pm, Debarshi 'Rishi' Ray wrote:
Right now they have made a "contribution" of US$30million to Mass. government to "help" needy students buy M$ malware. Funny they dont offer it to everybody - only those insisting on Open standards. And in an attempt to get a future legal handle they are fast racking their version of XML in two rubber stamp "standards" organisation.
During the same visit to M$, they talked about a scheme where low-cost limited edition of their .Net stuff was to be given to colleges for their students' to use. Forgive me for not remembering what 'low-cost limited' exactly meant. But then the employees were very proud of the fact that the Gates Foundation has donated generously for the betterment of AIDS patients and so on.
Organistaions are to be judged by the practices that are central to their core business rather than the periperal activities they indulge in. The peripheral activity is meant to divert attention from contentious issues. Mumbai's under world dons are great philanthrophist - look at the Ganpati festival in Mumbai. Or some of the worst enviro polluters indulging in tree plantations while dumping toxic waste into the rivers and seas.