I wrote this. Its long. read it if you want. dont read it if you are going to say that it is long, because that is just stupid.
Ad Hominem
In the world of technology, defending the position of power is strongly related to strong media ties. However, when that media allows for a large company to incorporate attacks against the vitality of a smaller company, it reaches a point of logical fallacy. The fallacy of Ad Hominem specifically refers to attacking the person and not the argument. This means that the facts are ignored while the person is shown to be an untrustworthy source. An example of this can be seen in the long technological war between Microsoft and Linux, both of these companies create operating systems for computers. According to John C. Dvork (2004) of PC Magazine, Microsoft has launched an anti Linux campaign that attacks the Linux founder, and not the operating systems ability. Included in this strategy is the attack proposing that: “Linus Torvalds didn't write Linux; it is in fact a compendium of old code that was cobbled together” (www.pcmag.com.) This is aimed directly at the intelligence and ability of the creator of Linux, and not at the actual operating systems capability as a marketable product. No where in the argument does Microsoft state that Linux is defective as a product because it does not work. In fact, the giant Microsoft has yet to make that claim. Instead, they create a myth about the inventor to discount the products achievements.
Appeal to Force
In the continuing battle between the technological giant Microsoft and the stable, yet smaller organization Linux, TechWorld’s Karien McArthy (2004) states that “In fact, following its usual aggressive strategy, Microsoft has subtly started pushing the argument that Linux is just as insecure and buggy but not as targeted by hackers as Microsoft so no one really notices - a wonderful bit of false logic that we can look forward to seeing more frequently soon” (www.techworld.com). Microsoft is committing acts of logical fallacies that often are unseen by the average users eye. This particular logical fallacy reveals an appeal to force, the use of fear to condemn an argued viewpoint. Microsoft inserts the fear that if one utilizes Linux, the users system will be compromised. This is a blatant use of force to push fear of retaliation onto a purchaser, the fear that one’s vital information will no longer be secure, because Linux is insecure as an operating system. The argument maintains that Linux is insecure; however, hackers do not try to attack it as blatantly as they do Microsoft, and therefore the security issues are never recognized. The point is that Microsoft does not allow for any hard data or facts as to why Linux is insecure, and they instead utilize force and fear tactical advertising to denounce the organization publicly.
The Bandwagon
Linux, however, also incorporates logical fallacies into their campaign to gain a foothold in the technology world, Manish Kumar Srivastava (2004), in his article titled Linux for the Corporate User, states that “In the media industry, movie houses like Walt Disney, Pixar Animation Studios and Blue Sky Studios Inc., are all using Linux-based servers or workstations for their digital animation movies in order to reduce cost and increase performance” Srivastava (2004) also states that “Here again, with so many vendors joining the Linux bandwagon, the software available on Linux is increasing rapidly. IBM, Oracle and Sybase are offering a number of software suites that can run on Linux. Besides, there exists plenty of mature open source software which is better than its commercial counterparts” (www.linuxforu.com). This marketable strategy appeals to the desire to utilize software that major industries are using. It surmises that because these major industries are using Linux opposed to Microsoft, that Linux is an option that all corporations should enable in their technological strategy. Linux offers industry specific assumptions that any media type corporation would benefit from the involvement of Linux, because Disney uses it. This is an illogical manner, as it does not maintain a strong process for distributing Linux to corporations, but instead determines that because many companies are jumping onto the Linux bandwagon, it must be better for your company too.
Ad Hominem
In the world of technology, defending the position of power is strongly related to strong media ties. However, when that media allows for a large company to incorporate attacks against the vitality of a smaller company, it reaches a point of logical fallacy. The fallacy of Ad Hominem specifically refers to attacking the person and not the argument. This means that the facts are ignored while the person is shown to be an untrustworthy source. An example of this can be seen in the long technological war between Microsoft and Linux, both of these companies create operating systems for computers. According to John C. Dvork (2004) of PC Magazine, Microsoft has launched an anti Linux campaign that attacks the Linux founder, and not the operating systems ability. Included in this strategy is the attack proposing that: “Linus Torvalds didn't write Linux; it is in fact a compendium of old code that was cobbled together” (www.pcmag.com.) This is aimed directly at the intelligence and ability of the creator of Linux, and not at the actual operating systems capability as a marketable product. No where in the argument does Microsoft state that Linux is defective as a product because it does not work. In fact, the giant Microsoft has yet to make that claim. Instead, they create a myth about the inventor to discount the products achievements.
Appeal to Force
In the continuing battle between the technological giant Microsoft and the stable, yet smaller organization Linux, TechWorld’s Karien McArthy (2004) states that “In fact, following its usual aggressive strategy, Microsoft has subtly started pushing the argument that Linux is just as insecure and buggy but not as targeted by hackers as Microsoft so no one really notices - a wonderful bit of false logic that we can look forward to seeing more frequently soon” (www.techworld.com). Microsoft is committing acts of logical fallacies that often are unseen by the average users eye. This particular logical fallacy reveals an appeal to force, the use of fear to condemn an argued viewpoint. Microsoft inserts the fear that if one utilizes Linux, the users system will be compromised. This is a blatant use of force to push fear of retaliation onto a purchaser, the fear that one’s vital information will no longer be secure, because Linux is insecure as an operating system. The argument maintains that Linux is insecure; however, hackers do not try to attack it as blatantly as they do Microsoft, and therefore the security issues are never recognized. The point is that Microsoft does not allow for any hard data or facts as to why Linux is insecure, and they instead utilize force and fear tactical advertising to denounce the organization publicly.
The Bandwagon
Linux, however, also incorporates logical fallacies into their campaign to gain a foothold in the technology world, Manish Kumar Srivastava (2004), in his article titled Linux for the Corporate User, states that “In the media industry, movie houses like Walt Disney, Pixar Animation Studios and Blue Sky Studios Inc., are all using Linux-based servers or workstations for their digital animation movies in order to reduce cost and increase performance” Srivastava (2004) also states that “Here again, with so many vendors joining the Linux bandwagon, the software available on Linux is increasing rapidly. IBM, Oracle and Sybase are offering a number of software suites that can run on Linux. Besides, there exists plenty of mature open source software which is better than its commercial counterparts” (www.linuxforu.com). This marketable strategy appeals to the desire to utilize software that major industries are using. It surmises that because these major industries are using Linux opposed to Microsoft, that Linux is an option that all corporations should enable in their technological strategy. Linux offers industry specific assumptions that any media type corporation would benefit from the involvement of Linux, because Disney uses it. This is an illogical manner, as it does not maintain a strong process for distributing Linux to corporations, but instead determines that because many companies are jumping onto the Linux bandwagon, it must be better for your company too.
