08.11.09

Did Microsoft Also Poison Yahoo’s Free Software?

Posted in Free/Libre Software, Microsoft at 1:50 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Summary: Microsoft’s agitation of Yahoo! since February 2008 takes its toll on more Free software-oriented staff

When Yahoo! became a zombie to Microsoft it was apparent that Free software would suffer as a result. Yahoo! is — after all — the home of some Free software projects, systems administrators, and developers. The founder of Delicious has just gone on the record saying that he regrets selling to Yahoo! and The Register says that the founder of Hadoop is leaving too.

Yahoo! is losing the founder of Hadoop, that increasingly popular open source grid platform based on Google’s proprietary software infrastructure.

There is at least one GNU/Linux distribution which is based on Hadoop and some Free software-based ‘clouds’ depend on this project too. Other prominent losses include Jeremy Zawodny, who is now writing occasionally for Linux Magazine. Zimbra too felt the wrath of Microsoft due to uncertainty that has been cast onto it. So, we’re inclined to believe that Microsoft’s damage to Yahoo! is also an attack on Free software. We are already concerned about VMware buying SpringSource because VMware is headed by former Microsoft employees right now [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]. █

Related posts:

Share this post: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.

Permalink Mail Send this to a friend

If you liked this post, consider subscribing to the RSS feed or join us now at the IRC channels.

Pages that cross-reference this one

2 Comments

David Gerard said,

August 11, 2009 at 3:43 pm

Yep. Told you Zimbra was a target. Outlook/Exchange is why businesses don’t leave MS Office en masse and go to OpenOffice.org. MS know this. Competitors must be killed by any means necessary. Blowing some billions on Yahoo! is just a small amount of money to maintain the monopoly.

To beat Outlook/Exchange, you’d need something that was a complete plug-in clone of Outlook (in looks and talking to Exchange) and something that was a complete plug-in clone of Exchange (in talking to Outlook). Outlook is a terrible email client and Exchange is a terrible email server, but as a meeting arranger they’re adequate for business use and won’t be replaced without great trepidation.

Roy Schestowitz Reply:
August 11th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
Yes, we wrote about it a lot last year.

http://boycottnovell.com/2008/02/01/zimbra-microsoft-speculation/
http://boycottnovell.com/2008/02/01/groupware-snatch-protocol/
http://boycottnovell.com/2008/12/28/gnu-linux-yahoo-ms/
http://boycottnovell.com/2008/02/07/nokia-and-microsoft-relationship/

On Hula:

http://boycottnovell.com/2006/11/29/novells-exchange-killer/
http://boycottnovell.com/2007/02/19/novell-independence/
http://boycottnovell.com/2007/01/31/hula-bye/

What Else is New

Links 26/6/2017: Lumina Version 1.3.0, Final Linux RC

Links for the day
EPO Strikes in All Four EPO Sites for Two Days This Month and Next Month, Under the “Respect Staff” Banner

The impact of the strikes at EPO doubles, as two strikes in two months are scheduled, starting this week
Latest EPO Caricature: Staff Committee Maintains Integrity

Caricature about double failure of Battistelli last week -- a failure which shall result in a general strike fairly soon
Voter Suppression Tactics by Team Battistelli Serve to Reaffirm View That the EPO is an Authoritarian Regime Which Loathes Voting

In spite of the dirty tricks employed by Team Battistelli, staff managed to guard the integrity of the staff committee and vote for a strike; the dirty tricks, however, will not and should not be forgotten
Leaked: Job Opening Advertised as Battistelli’s 'Mole' at the Administrative Council, Jesper Kongstad, Leaves in Shame

Having disgraced the Administrative Council of the EPO, e.g. by protecting the person whom he is supposed to supervise, Jesper Kongstad will leave in 3 months
As Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Ramps Up Its Campaign Against Software Patent Trolls the Patent Microcosm Attacks the Messenger (EFF)

In an effort to thwart Alice and the EFF (two birds, one stone) the patent microcosm goes behind the scenes and saturates the media with misleading articles, including attacks on the EFF itself
In Sandoz v Amgen, the Federal Circuit is Again Found to Have Delivered Patent Injustice

SCOTUS continues to disagree with CAFC on everything that it decides to reconsider, even the very latest decision (formally delivered earlier this month)
The Supreme Court Can Reassert the Legitimacy of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) Later This Year or Next Year

What lawyers-centric media characterises as a risk to PTAB may actually be an opportunity to silence critics of PTAB and help it carry on squashing bogus patents
The US Patent Office (USPTO) Should Now be Headed by Drew Hirshfeld, a Patent Examiner Who Rose to the Top, Not a Lawyer Like Joseph Matal

Donald Trump's Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross, pushes to the top the patent microcosm rather than technical people who are equipped with the knowledge and experience to run the Office as well as Michelle Lee did
After Latest Supreme Court Rulings on Patents, Including Impression v Lexmark, the Federal Circuit is Left Disgraced

Hostility towards the patent microcosm's patent maximalism, as witnessed at the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS), culminated in another decision and will soon result in yet more decisions, as SCOTUS has since then picked more patent cases to look at
IBM, Apple and Facebook Pursue Software Patents in India in Defiance of the Ban

Multinationals from the United States, or digital colonisers with ambitions to spy on and control finance, continue to behave as though Indian law is not applicable to their operations in India and repeatedly attempt to patent software anyway
Wouter Pors Under Fire for Lying or Manipulating in the Name of the Unitary Patent (UPC)

The argument between Team UPC and other patent professionals (without a lot of eggs in the UPC basket) heats up as Wouter Pors resorts to desperate measures and Bristows belatedly admits constitutional problems in the UK
Systemic Injustice at the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Causes Serious Harm to Complainants' Health, Including EPO Complainants

The high human cost of ILO's failure to fulfill its stated mission while pretending that it has things under control (that is clearly no longer the case, especially as far as EPO cases go)
Links 24/6/2017: GNOME Music Improves, FreeBSD 11.1 Beta 3

Links for the day
Microsoft and Bill Gates Become More Actively Involved in Their Biggest Patent Troll (and World's Biggest Troll), Intellectual Ventures

The world's largest patent troll, which reportedly operates (litigates) through literally thousands of shells, has received yet more financial aid from Microsoft and Bill Gates
The STRONGER Patents Act is One Among Several New Pushes for Patent Chaos in the United States

US patent law is being 'massaged' again, with bills being pushed forth that propose a return to Armageddon, undoing much of the progress made possible by the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA)
SUEPO and the EPO's Central Staff Committee Condemn Battistelli's Latest Attempt to Change the Rules in Defiance of Laws

Staff representatives at the EPO voice opposition to so-called 'reforms' which are neither desirable nor legal
The Tide Has Turned Against the Unified Patent Court (UPC) and It Finally Looks as 'Alive' as TPP

The UPC is now stuck if not dead because officials are realising -- however belatedly -- that this entire charade was from start to finish just a coup d'état of the patent 'industry'
Potential Targets of European Patent Office (EPO) Whistleblowing

Priorities for whistleblowing at the European Patent Office (EPO), which operates secretly and occasionally illegally, too
Links 23/6/2017: Wine 2.11 Released, HPC Domination by GNU/Linux

Links for the day
Primer to the Crisis and Scandals at the European Patent Office (EPO)

An introduction to the chaotic state of what used to be the world's leading patent office and quickly became Europe's biggest embarrassment
Workers of the European Patent Office (EPO) Are Going on Strike Again, Almost 90% Voted in Favour

Thousands of brave EPO employees chose to cast a vote and make it known that they are in favour of another strike
Benoît Battistelli Has Lost the Election at the EPO

FFPE candidates (or moles from the yellow union) failed to enter the Central Staff Committee in spite of Battistelli's attempt to help them get in
Emerging Threat to Patent Reforms at the USPTO

Our plan of returning to coverage of US patent affairs in the wake of powerful lobbies that pursue patent maximalism
You Know That the Unitary Patent (UPC) is in Huge Peril When Its Biggest Fans Admit It's Unlikely to Happen Even Next Year

The tactics of Team UPC turn ugly as they personally target anyone who stands in their way, even a professor/judge who is courageous enough to state the obvious
More Than Six Human Casualties Under Battistelli at the EPO, But the Human Toll Can Become a Lot Worse

The bigger or much broader picture detailing the high cost of autocracy and mental torture at the EPO, where lives are ruined not only when these are ended and some key buildings pose severe threat to a lot of workers
EPO's Elodie Bergot Calls Staff Suicide Just 'Passing Away', Pretends to Care

How the EPO continues to mislead if not lie to staff, even when staff commits suicide -- a growing problem for Team Battistelli, whom some insiders hold accountable for these deaths
The Administrative Tribunal of ILO Will Deliver EPO Judgments in Six Days

Despite its old age (nearly a century), ILO's tradition when it comes to enforcing the law is anything but sterling, yet one can hope that it will stop its unproductive cat-and-mouse game with the EPO, where compliance is rare and actual judgments (not deferrals/referrals) are even rarer
Links 21/6/2017: Red Hat's Numbers Are Up, New Debian Being Studied

Links for the day
Another Suicide Reported at the EPO While the Paid-for Media Focuses on 'European Inventor Award' Charade

Puff pieces for Benoît Battistelli published aplenty while the European media refuses to deal with the reality -- not paid-for illusions -- at the European Patent Office