the corner office

It goes without saying that Ed Brill's personal blog tends to have a very biased view of the MS/IBM competitive landscape. That's understandable, it's his job. It's also fairly obvious that being a particularly pro Lotus crowd, the majority of people who follow his blog quite enjoy and agree with the things he blogs about.

I've noticed a trend, though, for people to start labelling the Domino blogging/online community in ways that are not particularly flattering. Some folks have insinuated that we're all a bunch of self-congratulating, back-slapping croneys who brook no dissent and who close ranks to shoot down any contrary voices. People have suggested this in comments on Ed's blog before, and I especially noticed that in troll posts like this one, and in the Radicati follow-up to the goings-on at Ed's blog, reference is made to "Ed Brill and his friends".

A rather subtle dig, with a very clear purpose: to discredit the opinions being given, to disparage the posters, sidestepping the merit of their statements. A schoolyard scrap, nothing serious. At worst, a bunch of buddies ganging up on poor unsuspecting Radicati employees. Puhlease.

The truth is that if you go back through Ed's blog, you'll see as many contrary and critical comments as there are positive comments. IBM Lotus has done much to raise the ire of the 'community' and the arguments and disagreements are there if you care to look for them. There are plenty of differing opinions and naysayers, often respected people in the industry. Certainly, given the context, people can find themselves faced with a hail of disagreement, and there is an element, perhaps, of "I'll say bad things about my own family but don't you dare say them." It's understandable, but it doesn't necessarily imply the things suggested by folks who don't like being on the less popular end of a contentious issue.

Ultimately though, we all have minds of our own, and the facts and arguments should stand up to scrutiny, end of story. The majority of people who follow Ed's blog, myself included, are capable of forming our own opinions about issues, thank you very much.