What I want to know is how can we tell? How can we tell if some topic is totally spun by a larger entity? Just as an example, most folks who read Linux-relate

What I want to know is how can we tell? How can we tell if some topic is totally spun by a larger entity? Just as an example, most folks who read Linux-related web sites firmly believe that Microsoft and/or Wagg-Ed have paid shills that disrupt Linux conversations. There's the obvious pro-Windows entities, like "Loverock Davidson" in the ZDNet forums, but at least some folks beleive that most or all of the radically pro-Linux ultra-fanboys are planted too, to discredit the more moderate and logical Linux fans. There's not a single shred of evidence to support this, except maybe Microsoft's history of paying for pro-Microsoft studies, but still people believe. How am I to tell that a government has set its propaganda agencies on a topic?