> completely fearful and reactive, has no basis in recorded fact, and does an appalling disservice to the many people who have spent many years (successfully) trying to change Microsoft's internal culture and make it more friendly to open source.
If you're not already familiar with the "Halloween Documents" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween_documents) then you should take a look. They were pretty much the definition of "fearful and reactive".
Microsoft has historically had an ideological investment in killing everything that wasn't Windows.
Microsoft has been roused in this fashion 3 times before that I can think of.
1. The internet. If you don't remember, MSFT completely misjudged the importance of the internet. A heroic effort by Bill Gates turned the company around and got them on track to seize control of the web (until Google drove them back).
2. Java. It was so successful that MSFT had to create a nearly identical tech stack that they controlled, after Sun beat them in court.
3. Linux. Open source, well supported, loved by tech people, runs on almost every conceivable hardware platform. It's been a herculean effort just to fight for market share. If it weren't for lock-in, MSFT would have gone the way of Solaris and HP-UX.
Now open source is the only way to try to get back that developer mind share that they've been losing for so long. This is a good thing in the long run, but to couch it as anything but "fearful and reactive" is to discount a lot of history.