Weiner says, however, that the main purpose of the new test "is to address their concerns about the first and second tests. We were getting blasted by them and others, so we want to demonstrate how the products perform in the environment they were tested [in] ... For them to offer to come in and want to do the tuning, and then to back out of this open invitation because it is specifically an environment to reproduce the tests they were complaining about -- that's very disingenuous of them."

Weiner also says that he is currently rewriting the invitation to take into account some of the objections that have already been raised by the Linux community. But at this point, judging by the reaction of Linux leaders, any further accommodation between Mindcraft and the Linux world seems unlikely.

"I'll leave it to Red Hat whether they really feel they have to respond" to Mindcraft's invitation, says Torvalds. "I'd much rather make sure that we have a more balanced view -- make sure that if we really want an independent and fair test, both parties can have their own sub-tests, and the test configuration won't be dictated by one party."

Red Hat, meanwhile, doesn't seem in a hurry to help out.

"If Microsoft wants to bring a real benchmarking organization to this enterprise, like Ziff Davis, or the Meta group up in Connecticut," says Red Hat's Young, "if they want to bring someone who has some industry recognition, then absolutely we would be thrilled to participate."

Weiner bristles at the implication that Mindcraft is not independent.

"I just don't see why this is seen as a Microsoft test," says Weiner. "That's sort of a funny response from Bob Young. By not participating, he's saying that [Red Hat is] not going to do well. We got excellent support from Red Hat on our second test ... I think his lack of participating is something one ought to question."

"Microsoft owns no stock in us," adds Weiner. "Microsoft is a client of ours, as are a bunch of other hardware and software vendors. We've done a lot of Unix work in the past. I personally received a Unix Evangelist award back in 1993, as one of the early promoters of Unix. I have very fond and warm feelings towards all of those Unix derivatives. I would think [Bob Young] would welcome this as an opportunity to see how these things work. And, by doing that, he would learn where his product's strengths and weaknesses are, and improve on the weaknesses and build on the strengths ... Hopefully he will change his mind."

That doesn't sound likely. "When you fundamentally don't trust the people you are working with, why would you work with them?" asks Young. "These people have not given us any reason to trust them. They are not credible."
salon.com | May 6, 1999

- - - - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - - - -

  Get a printer-friendly version

  E-mail a friend about this article

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Search Salon