11.24.08

Microsoft’s B.A.D. (Bribing, Addicting, Dumping) Comes to the Philippines

Posted in Asia, Free/Libre Software, Microsoft, Windows at 10:59 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

NO INTRODUCTION IS NEEDED to this problem because we’ve already addressed it in reference to other countries, namely:

This lock-in circus is coming to the Philippines now… and not without free promotion from the local media, which neglects to mention the great harms of the programme. This one isn’t about locking in poor businesses (BizSpark) but about making young people desperately dependent on Microsoft’s non-Free products.

By offering its software for free to students, Microsoft is hoping to help address the need for more skilled professional developers in the country.

Called DreamSpark, this program gives students access to developer tools, such as Visual Studio and other platform, tools such as Windows Server and Windows Sequel Server database.

This thing has already spread to quite a few other countries.

Hoping to plug the gap in information-technology (IT) skills in the global workforce, Microsoft Philippines is providing professional-grade software development, gaming and design tools to students.

[...]

Microsoft has already made DreamSpark available in Belgium, China, Finland, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Educators must learn why schools should use only Free software. Anything else would be damaging and potentially dangerous. Just because it’s digital doesn’t make it harmless. █

Prison

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