Halloween Documents

The topic of post may seem tad antediluvian, but the interest remains high even now. Besides I am more than sure that many of students and professionals here in Pakistan, would be ignorant of Halloween Documents. They are what resulted in lots of “anti-Microsoft jeremiad”.

The infamous Halloween Documents were leaked from within Microsoft to Eric S. Raymond, and they contain many things which angered open source community to a great extent and according to them they show the nefarious designs of Microsoft to monopolize the world by hook and or by crook. The Halloween Documents were revealed to public and press by Eric S. Raymond, an open source evangelist.

Halloween Documents contain the memorandums of Microsoft employees. Eric annotated these memorandums with explanation and commentary and released it to press over Halloween (a festival, in which young people play pranks over others.) weekend.

The Halloween Documents I, was surfaced in last week of October 1998 and then it grew into a series. According to Eric, “The Halloween Documents I, II, III, VII, VIII and X are leaked Microsoft documents with annotations. IV is a satire based on an idiotic lead-with-the-chin remark by the person who was at the time Microsoft’s anti-Linux point person; V is serious comment on a statement by the same fool. VI is a take down of one of the bought-and-paid-for “independent studies” Microsoft marketing leans on so heavily, IX refutes the Amended Complaint by Microsoft’s sock puppets at SCO, and XI is a field report from one of Microsoft’s marketing road shows. The common theme is that the Halloween Documents reveal, from Microsoft’s own words, the things Microsoft doesn’t want you to know.”