The Evil Empire is back at it again.  It's telling lies and half-truths about Open Source and Linux in an effort to keep the Open Source movement down!  From a series of recent blog posts, it appears that the dreaded "Get The Facts" campaign is back to tearing down the concept that Open Source is inherently cheaper than proprietary software.  Just look at these recent blog quotes:

"If you hear a CIO say he is going to reduce his costs by not having to pay for software licenses any more, then he has the wrong idea." – Filthy Microsoft Shill #1

Another blogger responded to a new Gartner report that found "through 2013, 50 percent of mainstream IT projects using open-source software (OSS) will not achieve cost savings over closed-source alternatives," and had the gall to say:

"I'm convinced that

[the author] will be proved correct in spirit (maybe not 50 percent of mainstream projects!). I say this because I've seen his prediction play out already in the past year and a half…The current economic environment will result in companies considering the use of open source for a variety of projects in 2009. They'll do so because of the lower cost value proposition that most open source vendors seem to be including in their current marketing. But what happens when some open source projects don't meet the TCO test?" – Filthy Microsoft Shill #2

Wait a tick.

I'm now being told those two bloggers are apparently NOT Microsoft Shill's and it is NOT part of the Get The Facts Campaign.  Sorry, my bad.  I had no idea anyone else would dare question Open Source's cost advantage over proprietary software.

Instead, these quotes are apparently from noted Open Source advocates Simon Phipps of Sun and Savio Rodrigues, Infoworld Blogger and IBM employee. 

Wow, 2009 really IS the year of CHANGE!  Maybe Obama can bring civility and intellectual honesty to the debates on the web too.