Mysterious Call From Microsoft Inquiring About Windows! … Evil Nexus With Dell?

I just received a mysterious call from Microsoft inquiring about our Windows usage! I was surprised to say the least. Why would a 100% Linux based company get a call from Microsoft? Read on for the juicy details.

We are 100% Linux based company. We develop software products and deliver services in Java (cross-platform), PHP and LAMP stack. We are as far away from Microsoft as anyone could imagine. We use open source databases like MySQL and Hypersonic SQL, open source application servers like Apache and Tomcat, open source firewall, security software,… you get the picture. Having said all that, we use them because of their quality and not because they are open source. I have never looked into the source code for Apache and I never intend to either.

The caller was someone named Bina Das who claimed she was calling on behalf of Microsoft. She asked how many computers we had and asked (sounded like implied threat) why she couldn’t see Microsoft licenses in our name. Fortunately, for her, I was in a good mood. I declined to tell her how many machines I had as it was none of her business. However I explained to her that we are 100% Linux based and Microsoft has no place here.

Surprisingly she asked about our expansion plans and if I would be willing to talk about having Windows on them. She avoided my direct question on how she got our information. I don’t think it is a coincidence that I called Dell earlier today and asked for several Dell machines without Microsoft Windows Vista or Microsoft Works installed and then Microsoft’s call came within few hours of that. Come to think about it, it looks like a nice way for Microsoft to find out companies who are planning to move away from Windows.

She continued to ask why we decided to go with Linux. I explained to her politely that we get several features for free with Linux that would cost us a hand and a foot with Windows, and in some cases even that wasn’t an option. I briefly explained to her about NFS and NIS, shorewall firewall, RAID-1 configuration including on boot disk etc. I told her that I leave my machines on for several months without rebooting and without crashes or hangs or BSD (Blue screen of death, a deadly gift from Microsoft which leaves your machine in a limbo or worse).

As she continued to persist, I smiled and told her that even she does realize that it is a futile endeavor, she finally understood. We are 100% in Linux camp and happy to stay so. Anyone who can overcome the initial learning curve of Linux is unlikely to ever switch back to Windows (Vista or not).

Update: I was sent an email from Dell customer service representative where she specified her contact information and informed me that she was assigned as our account manager. In her words:

“I have been assigned as your Account Manager and would be assisting you with your purchase. In case you need to get in touch with me urgently please feel free to contact me on the email ID or phone number mentioned below.

You can call me on 080-25## 89## between 9:00am and 6:00 pm Monday to Friday, or write to me at Sa####_yo#### @ dell . com for any assistance on DELL purchases.”

Note: I munged the details to protect her email and phone number.

So I sent her an email asking her about the issue. She replied and I kid you not:
“I have not sent you any quotations without OS or with OS as of now. I am unaware of this call………..am sorry.”

Wow! She didn’t even read that I enclosed her email to me earlier. She even declines sending me any email! I am speechless.