Bonum Certa Men Certa

Canonical Gets New Chief Operating Officer Who Already Defends Microsoft's Biased 'Search'

"But rather than a search engine or even a “decision engine”, Bing also appears to be a spin engine, in that it provides partisan answers to controversial topics, such as Steve Ballmer’s propensity to throw chairs to blow off stress."

--Christian Einfeldt



Summary: Shortly after deciding to send users' search queries to Microsoft datacentres, Canonical hires a man who defends Microsoft for "options and competition"

THE chief operating officer (COO) of Canonical, Jane Silber, recently became the company's CEO, replacing Mark Shuttleworth. Coming in to fill Silber's COO gap is Matt Asay, as announced by Canonical and by Asay himself.



After more than four years at Alfresco, I have joined Canonical, the company behind the Ubuntu Linux distribution, as its chief operating officer.


It is worth understanding Asay's background. He is an Apple enthusiast (Apple proponents are a subject we'll address in the next post on DRM and Apple's role in it) who also defended the GPL for a long time (these days he is promoting Apache and sometimes joining the the anti-GPL noise). He does not like Richard Stallman's philosophy, he insisted that Microsoft should be allowed the enter the OSI (he was on its board at the time), and he also used to work for Novell (in addition to Alfresco and Lineo). He has a background in law, but on the technical side he understands matters as a computer user. This is hopefully an accurate representation of his views and background. Others wrote about that from a different perspective. Last night Asay told me that he would move to GNU/Linux on the desktop (he tried SUSE when he worked at Novell, but eventually ended up moving from Windows to Mac OS X, sometimes experimenting with Ubuntu afterwards).

“I'd estimate that the Yahell deal nets them at least a few hundred thousand dollars over the course of a year.”
      --Ryan
Ubuntu had a relatively weak last release (Fedora, for an opposite example, did well in the sense that reviews got better, not worse). Even this detailed review from a couple of days ago confirmed this. More recently, Canonical's decision to send search requests to Microsoft's Bong [sic] led to some controversy that we covered in [1, 2].

Well, we are somewhat saddened to see that Asay is perhaps trying to justify the company's new policy by making a new post about "the importance of Bing". Therein he writes: "It's not about loving Microsoft. It's about preserving options...and competition."

This does not defend competition because it promotes a serial offender -- a company that we already know manipulates its search results to advance its lies and business interests (and put competitors in positions of disadvantage). Asay will hopefully not defend Mono (.NET), which is about making Microsoft stronger (and making Novell, his former employer, stronger). It's not "about preserving options...and competition."

Microsoft is the antithesis of options and competition. Everyone knows that.

Jokingly, our reader Ryan twisted the above quote to say: "It's not about loving Microsoft, it's about loving their money and selling out our users." He went on to describe it as "Inferior search engine but it makes Canonical some $$$'s. Ubuntu probably has several million users. I'd estimate that the Yahell deal nets them at least a few hundred thousand dollars over the course of a year. That money comes at the direct cost to Mozilla and detracts from Firefox development, so now Ubuntu is worse than a passive consumer of FOSS, they are another parasite. Well, Mandriva defaults to Ask, but I seriously doubt anyone keeps that. Yahoo might be passable enough to keep users content with it."

MinceR called it "ridiculous" and stated: "apparently Canonical's leaders have decided it would be fun for them to turn into another Novell"

That's just too big a leap, which I disagree with. Novell is very different because it directly harms its competitors by legitimising software patents and using them to trash other vendors.

By the way, Asay comes from Alfresco, which is competing against Google, not just Microsoft SharePoint that Novell helps promote under the guise of "interoperability".

According to the Var Guy (from last week), Google is trying to win disgruntled SharePoint users at the expense of Alfresco. Might this also explain Asay's fear of Google?

No doubt, Microsoft and Google are waging a software as a service (SaaS) war. But the latest shot fired comes from a surprising source: LTech, an enterprise cloud service provider, is helping customers automate document migrations from Microsoft SharePoint to Google Apps. Here’s how.


As we stressed before, Google can help Free software by weakening or eliminating the industry's bully. Canonical should stand behind Google, not Microsoft. Google already collaborates with Canonical on Chrome OS, doesn't it?

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

[Meme] Not About How Many Locks One Adds
Some people try to point their fingers in all the wrong directions now that a new patch is available for rsync
Total Lock-down Ambitions - Part I - DRM and TPM Need Not be the Future of Computing, There's Another Way
Who is being restricted? Us, the users.
New Upcoming Series About DRM and TPM
We'll do our best to name and explain some of the alternatives that are still available
More Microsoft Cuts and Layoffs (Microsoft Media Mole Jordan Novet Tries to Float "Hiring Freezes" Spin After the "Headcount" Spin Failed)
As one might expect...
 
If You See Many Microsoft Puff Pieces That All Say More or Less the Same, Consider the Possibility That Microsoft LLMs 'Wrote' Those
There are also many phantom fake 'reports' about Microsoft in relation to some "hey hi" (AI) things
[Meme] The Crybully
Crybullies shrug
IRC Logs Complete in Geminispace (Even in GemText Format!)
We still envision ourselves - a community of justice-seeking enthusiasts - as a multi-protocol platform, not just some ordinary Web site
It Was Only a Matter of Time
We're going to pursue justice
[Meme] "Well, He’s Dead So," Bill Gates Tells the Media (Which He Pays) About His Close Friend Jeffrey Epstein
Does the police in San Francisco cover up crimes instead of solving them?
The Rumour Was Right, Today is the Second Large Wave of Microsoft Layoffs in 2025
It has only been two weeks since the year began
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) Has Had a Good 2025 Already (Its "Year 40")
FSF will reach $400,000
Computer Users Aren't Zoo Animals
Animals don't belong inside cages in zoos, either
[Meme] His Existence is Proof It's Not Infeasible
We salute the FSF's original mission
Links 15/01/2025: Efforts to End Wars and 'Newsflation'
Links for the day
Gemini Links 15/01/2025: Abandoning Windows for GNU/Linux, SIS Progress Update
Links for the day
Links 15/01/2025: Social Control Media Spreading Lies, TikTok Banned in 4 Days
Links for the day
Microsoft Breaks Linux Again
Does it even care? It's selling Windows.
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, January 14, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, January 14, 2025
Links 14/01/2025: Vaccination Hesitancy Problems and Kangaroo Courts (UPC)
Links for the day
Gemini Links 14/01/2025: Introduction to GrapheneOS and Small Internet
Links for the day
Dr. Miriam Bastian From the Free Software Foundation (FSF) Gives a Talk in a Couple of Weeks at FOSDEM (Brussels, Belgium)
It's good to see people from all around the world and with very different backgrounds united around digital philosophy
Andy Farnell on Eating Your Own Dog Food
focuses on security but goes beyond that
EPO Uses the Misnomer "AI" to Attack Software Developers in Europe
The EPO is nowadays a huge pile of crimes
The European Patent Office’s (EPO) Communication on "Reform" is "Incomplete and Misleading," Says the Central Staff Committee at the EPO
This puts Europe at risk and makes it more vulnerable
[Meme] How to Lose Social Life (While Pretending to Still Have It)
Talk to people, not to microphones
Android (or AOSP) is More Free Than iOS, Both in Practice (as OEM Bundles) Both Are User-Hostile
In a perfect world, people would choose and deploy software that is entirely made up of reciprocally-licensed bits
Neuroscience of Consciousness Paper: Why Social Control Media and Proprietary Spyware Harm Your Health
"Software Freedom turns out to be good for your health"
Access to the Source Code of the Programs You're Using Matters (Even If You're Not a Coder and Cannot Fix Bugs)
Companies like Microsoft tell us that full access to all the code isn't important
Guardian Digital (linuxsecurity.com) Publishes Fake Articles About Linux and About (for) 'Linux' Foundation Openwashing
Brittany Day is at it again
Links 14/01/2025: LA Crisis and EU, UK Respond to "X.com" Threat From South African Oligarch
Links for the day
The Word About the Upcoming Talk by Richard Stallman - Scheduled for Friday This Week - Has Spread ("The Cost of Freedom," Lausanne, Switzerland)
So the word is spreading
"AI Music" is Not Music and It's Hardly "AI" Either
Synthetic garbage is a solution in search of a problem
Webspam in BetaNews
Not only is it marketing SPAM
[Meme] 13 Years a Slave of Microsoft
Might makes right?
Gemini Links 14/01/2025: The Gemtext Print Hurdle and New Game: Fill!
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, January 13, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, January 13, 2025
Links 13/01/2025: Conflicts, Prisoner Exchange, and Homes on Fire
Links for the day
Angola: Microsoft Windows Falls Below 10%
Microsoft has a really bad 2024 in Africa
[Meme] Twitter ("X") Has Been Grooming Radicals Since 2022
Musk's very own "grooming gang"
[Meme] What Free Speech Ought to Mean
It does not sound like RMS suggests anything other than quitting social control media
Gemini Links 13/01/2025: RestFest, Yule, and Deedum
Links for the day
Modern Web Browsers as Web Censorship Software
We continue to recommend Geminispace
Two Weeks From Now Dr. Richard Stallman Speaks at The Summit of Future 2025 (India)
he will be giving a "Keynote Address" in India
Microsoft is Tight With Money: It's About the Salaries ('Cost' of the Workers)
a question of cost, not skill
Google Got People Sort of Addicted to Android So It Can Cash in (Services, App Store, Advertising) Decades Later
This is not software freedom
The Free Software Foundation Reaches 370k Dollars in Funding, Due Date is January 17th When Richard Stallman is Guest of Honour in Lausanne (Switzerland)
Even fellow board members seem unaware of it
Record Lows for Windows (Microsoft) in Botswana
The market share of Vista 11 is seen as going down
Preserving Deleted Articles About Bill Gates Talking Like a Drug Dealer About Computer Users
Now it's 2025. Different challenge.
Links 13/01/2025: Disinformation, Social Control Media Actively Promoting Nazism, and Catchup With Ukraine
Links for the day
Microsoft Front Group Starts the Year by Championing Underage (or Child) Labour
the fake 'FSF'
TPM Boosters Inside Debian (TPM Isn't About Security, It is About Control Over Users and Their Machines)
We're not rushing to any conclusions
Aaron Swartz Died 12 Years Ago After a Vicious Government Campaign to Stop Him
The Aaron Swartz story is a reminder of the importance of having verifiable/verified information out there for the general public to see
Links 13/01/2025: GitLab Enshittification and Minimalism and Efficiency with Gemini Protocol
Links for the day
Links 13/01/2025: Hardware, Health, and Conflicts
Links for the day
Chatbots Are Not Data-Driven, They're Human-Censored and Rely on Wage Slaves (and Sometimes Unpaid Volunteers)
This is the Microsoft wage slavery
Microsoft Appears to Have Fallen to Only 15% in Maldives
This is a problem for Microsoft
Rumours of IBM Canada Layoffs
We'll keep a vigilant eye on this
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, January 12, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, January 12, 2025