Posted on by lhl

Redmond (AP) — The software industry was rocked today by the revelation that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer had been secretly sheltering persecuted Free Software programmers within the company’s various business divisions. Ballmer, with the help of a sympathetic aide, had kept a list of programmers he knew to be writing code for open source operating systems such as Linux and FreeBSD, and had sought to place them in obscure positions in the company where they could work unmolested.

One midlevel executive, who asked not to be identified, said “We’re all shocked. Apparently Steve was placing workers in divisions he knew we’d pay little attention to — places like Quality Control, the Macintosh Products Division — those sorts of places.” It is now believed that between 1994 and 1997, Ballmer had attempted to place most free software workers within the Internet Explorer division. With most of Microsoft concentrated on the Microsoft Network (MSN), the release of IE as a freely downloadable program was to be merely a prelude to the release of the IE source code itself.

However, others executives including Gates became suspicious of Ballmer’s motives, and in 1998 a new policy was implemented for Internet Explorer. From then on, IE was to become part of the Windows 98 operating system itself, and many of Ballmer’s workers were scattered to other divisions.

Ballmer’s motivations and his scheme were exposed last week, when during a board meeting he proposed opening the source code to Windows 2000 as a means of placating the Justice Department in its lawsuit against Microsoft. It is now believed that the promotion of Ballmer to CEO was engineered by Gates to lure him out into the open. Microsoft’s other board members yesterday voted unanimously for Ballmer’s removal as CEO of the corporation.

As he left the Redmond campus this morning, a weeping Ballmer expressed regret that he did not do more. Pointing to his Rolex watch, a teary-eyed Ballmer said “You see this! This could have paid for a few more device drivers!” Referring to his Porsche sports car, he said “And this! This could have paid for a whole new window manager!”

Reaction within the free software community has been one of shock. Reached at his Cambridge, Massachussetts home, open source advocate Richard M. Stallman expressed gratitude that Ballmer had sheltered Free Software programmers within Microsoft, but still held reservations about his prominent role within the corporation. Nevertheless, on Monday, Stallman will propose changing the GNU Public License to declare Ballmer a “Righteous Closed Source Worker”, the highest honor that can be bestowed upon someone who is not Free Software programmer.