So really, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that the Nigerian government, after agreeing to install Mandriva Linux on 17,000 Intel-powered Classmate PCs, has decided to install Microsoft Windows instead. Anyone, except perhaps Mandriva CEO Francois Bancilhon who, in a blistering open letter to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, accused the company of masterminding the Nigerian government’s switch to Windows.

… We closed the deal, we got the order, we qualified the software, we got the machine shipped. In other words, we did our job. I understand the machines are being delivered right now.

“And then, today, we hear from the customer a totally different story: “We shall pay for the Mandriva Software as agreed, but we shall replace it by Windows afterward.

“Wow! I’m impressed, Steve! What have you done for these guys to change their mind like this? It’s pretty clear to me, and it will be clear to everyone. How do you call what you just did Steve, in the place where you live? In my place, they give it various names, I’m sure you know them.

“Hey Steve, how do you feel looking at yourself in the mirror in the morning?”

Likely, quite a bit better than Bancilhon, I imagine.