Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft the “Biggest and Baddest Anti-FOSS Company in Existence Today”

"[Which software company would you hate to compete against? What makes you single them out?] Microsoft of course. They have the deepest of pockets, unlimited ambition, and they are willing to lose money for years and years just to make sure that you don't make any money, either. And they are mean, REALLY mean [...] "Ruthless" is good. The company is built in the image of Bill Gates and Bill is a guy who gets caught-up in the game of business and doesn't typically see its personal cost. To use what might seem to be an obscure example, just look at all the various partnerships and industry consortia that Microsoft has announced through the years that never produced a product or even a usable specification. There have been literally dozens of these operations that are intended solely to freeze the competition until Microsoft can figure what the heck it actually wants to do. To Microsoft its a PR exercise that helps them compete but to customers it is just a damned lie. That's ruthless. There are plenty of other examples I can give but you get the point. I represent the concerns of users, not vendors, and Microsoft doesn't really care about users."

--Robert X Cringely, 2007



The biggest news today is probably not the entrance of GNU/Linux into more cars (which is true), but the hopping of the world's giant phone maker (Nokia) onto the Linux phones bandwagon (no, not just tablets anymore). More on that shortly. It's pretty huge, maybe on par with ASUS motherboard that all come with Splashtop.

“We saw that when Novell grew closer to Microsoft, over time.”There remains just a single massive company and mastermind to whom GNU/Linux and the GPL are a threat so great that it must fight. Tooth and nail, using to-be-exploited partners too! No other company (Adobe for example) has invaluable cash cows to defend, in addition to an abysmal track record when it comes to ethics (never mind 'whitewashing' in the subverted media that dodges Cringely's truths). At the same time, to decrease awareness of its goals, Microsoft fakes friendliness and uses its 'moles' to cause and inflict trouble from the inside. We saw that when Novell grew closer to Microsoft, over time.

There is a good blog post over at the Open Malaysia blog (happy second birthday to them!). It sheds light also on the effect of the Novell deal.

In a nutshell, they are saying that they will not sue "hobbyist FOSS users and developers" but they will sue FOSS distributors and enterprise end-users who fail to obtain a patent license from Microsoft. This is no bogey man. Its quite clear in the announcement, and the BSA is pretty active in Malaysia, not hesitating in sueing end user companies.

[...]

Here was a golden chance for Microsoft to gain some precious goodwill with the Open Source Community. Instead they botched it up just like they did before, again and again, cementing their reputation as the biggest and baddest anti-FOSS company in existence today.

How many other companies out there have such a anti-FOSS policies? Which company can be so unfriendly to their end users who prefer more choice? Why threaten when you should coax?


Particularly valuable this short articles has proven to be because it justifies doubt and suspicion, especially where Microsoft is involved or present. Those supposedly-"overzealous" Linux users are perhaps rightly 'obsessed' with that who always schemes to undermine the entire movement for choice and for freedom (basic human right that are shrewdly taken away amid digitisation).

Those who are called "obsessed" or "Microsoft haters" will often find that such labels are simply being used to urge peers to daemonise them (outcasting by peer pressure). The turning of active into passive and positive into negative can work magic. In some cases, due to such labeling schemes, people just stop watching and later find themselves victimised. Vigilance is crucial. Only the Paranoid Survive (Andrew S. Grove, former president and CEO of Intel Corporation).

Learn to ignore the labels. If someone uses them against you, it's likely a distraction technique. It sometimes means you're on the right topic.

We wrote about this previously in:



"I’m thinking of hitting the OEMs harder than in the past with anti-Linux. ... they should do a delicate dance"

--Joachim Kempin, Microsoft OEM Chief

Recent Techrights' Posts

António Campinos is Still 'The Fucking President' (in His Own Words) After a Fake 'Election' in 2022 (He Bribed All the Voters to Keep His Seat)
António Campinos and the Administrative Council, whose delegates he clearly bribed with EPO budget in exchange for votes
Adrian von Bidder, homeworking & Debian unexplained deaths
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Sainsbury’s Epic Downtime Seems to be Microsoft's Fault and Might Even Constitute a Data Breach (Legal Liability)
one of Britain's largest groceries (and beyond) chains
Matthias Kirschner, FSFE analogous to identity fraud
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
 
New 'Slides' From Stallman Support (stallmansupport.org) Site
"In celebration of RMS's birthday, we've been playing a bit. We extracted some quotes from the various articles, comments, letters, writings, etc. and put them in the form of a slideshow in the home page."
Thailand: GNU/Linux Up to 6% of Desktops/Laptops, According to statCounter
Desktop Operating System Market Share Thailand
Suicide Cluster Cover-up tactics & Debian exposed
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 19/03/2024: A Society That Lost Focus and Abandoning Social Control Media
Links for the day
Matthias Kirschner, FSFE: Plagiarism & Child labour in YH4F
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Linux Foundation Boasting About Being Connected to Bill Gates
Examples of boasting about the association
Alexandre Oliva's Article on Monstering Cults
"I'm told an earlier draft version of this post got published elsewhere. Please consider this IMHO improved version instead."
[Meme] 'Russian' Elections in Munich (Bavaria, Germany)
fake elections
Sainsbury's to Techrights: Yes, Our Web Site Broke Down, But We Cannot Say Which Part or Why
Windows TCO?
Plagiarism: Axel Beckert (ETH Zurich) & Debian Developer list hacking
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 18/03/2024: Putin Cements Power
Links for the day
Flashback 2003: Debian has always had a toxic culture
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
[Meme] You Know You're Winning the Argument When...
EPO management starts cursing at everybody (which is what's happening)
Catspaw With Attitude
The posts "they" complain about merely point out the facts about this harassment and doxing
'Clown Computing' Businesses Are Waning and the Same Will Happen to 'G.A.I.' Businesses (the 'Hey Hi' Fame)
decrease in "HEY HI" (AI) hype
Free Software Needs Watchdogs, Too
Gentle lapdogs prevent self-regulation and transparency
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Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
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IRC logs for Sunday, March 17, 2024
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Links for the day
Molly Russell suicide & Debian Frans Pop, Lucy Wayland, social media deaths
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Our Plans for Spring
Later this year we turn 18 and a few months from now our IRC community turns 16
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Keith Bergelt has not replied to queries on this very important matter
RedHat.com, Brought to You by Microsoft Staff
This is totally normal, right?
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Not joking!
The Hobbyists of Mozilla, Where the CEO is a Bigger Liability Than All Liabilities Combined
the hobbyist in chief earns much more than colleagues, to say the least; the number quadrupled in a matter of years
Jim Zemlin Says Linux Foundation Should Combat Fraud Together With the Gates Foundation. Maybe They Should Start With Jim's Wife.
There's a class action lawsuit for securities fraud
Not About Linux at All!
nobody bothers with the site anymore; it's marketing, and now even Linux
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Under Taliban, GNU/Linux Share Nearly Doubled in Afghanistan, Windows Sank From About 90% to 68.5%
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Debian aggression: woman asked about her profession
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 17/03/2024: Winter Can't Hurt Us Anymore and Playstation Plus
Links for the day