Balancing Linux and Microsoft By STEVE LOHR For nearly two years, Bruce Perens was a senior strategist for open-source software at Hewlett-Packard  an evangelist and rabble-rouser on behalf of a computing counterculture that is increasingly moving into the mainstream. Part of the job description, he was told, was to "challenge H.P. management." His last day as a Hewlett-Packard employee was 10 days ago. The parting was amicable, Mr. Perens said, but he was fired  "officially a termination," he noted. "It came after a long, long warning," Mr. Perens explained. "The thing that I did that was most hazardous for H.P. is the Microsoft-baiting I tend to do." http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/09/technology/09SOFT.html