Bonum Certa Men Certa

Groklaw Compares Microsoft to “Well-known Womanizer”


The Accused, 1998



Summary: Microsoft is distrusted for its anti-competitive behaviour and CBS says that "Microsoft has never been a technology company"

LAST WEEK CBS made the following observation which we found interesting:

By contrast, Microsoft has never been a technology company. Instead, it has thrived on game theory, i.e., by creating arrangements and situations in which other parties found it more beneficial to cooperate with the company rather than to challenge it.


Well, actually, describing monopoly abuse as "game theory" is improper. However, we do like the part where it says that "Microsoft has never been a technology company." There is a lot of truth there. A few years ago, Microsoft's European business security product manager told the press : "Usually Microsoft doesn't develop products, we buy products." Microsoft also copies many existing products and then claims them to be its own "innovations". Microsoft is a marketing/legal firm to a great extent, always finding ways of coercing/abusing laws to its own advantage. We wrote about this subject before and also gave examples.

“So for me, this is like watching a girlfriend since grade school marry a well-known womanizer.”
      --Pamela Jones, Groklaw
Several days ago we wrote about Ulteo's decision to become a partner of Microsoft [1, 2] (maybe a decision made out of certain desperation after limited success moving users to GNU/Linux by embedding it closer to Windows). Pamela Jones, the editor of Groklaw, was disappointed by this news. She wrote: "Gaël Duval, who started Mandriva, my first Linux, is co-founder of Ulteo, which became an OIN member quite recently. So for me, this is like watching a girlfriend since grade school marry a well-known womanizer. She's glowing with hope, but you're feeling pain in your stomach thinking about her likely future."

Well, "well-known wife beater" might fit better than "well-known womanizer", but one has to keep polite.

In other news, Microsoft manages to escape some wrath in Europe [1, 2], which probably leaves it more room to abuse the competition.

A group of leading technology companies announced today (11 June) that they were withdrawing an antitrust complaint that they had filed with the European Commission against Microsoft.


This is an unwise move because Microsoft is still abusing its dominant position and also attempting to extort European companies with software patents [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]. One of those companies distributes the "Ubuntu" distribution of GNU/Linux.

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Adoption of Gemini Protocol Still Growing
Gemini Protocol is being obscured by the media - it doesn't help that Google 'hijacked' the word "Gemini" - but people still manage to find out about it, download a client, and use it
Brett Wilson LLP "Takes it Personal" (Character Assassination, Not Professionalism). Everybody Can See That.
On behalf of violent men
Pissing Contests and Pissing Off Everyone
people who came from Microsoft are trying to vex and divide the community
Microsoft Repeats the Mistakes Made by the EPO After We Exposed a Major Microsoft/EPO Scandal 10 Years Ago
That scandal was all over the media, not just in English
 
People Who Assault Women Are Not Victims of "Distress"
It seems like an American tradition. In a country with almost 50 presidents, not even one was a female.
Changing One's Name Won't Change One's Past
People who have earned a bad reputation are not magically "entitled" to reset
Slashdot Media Turned Linux Journal Into a Slopfarm and Now Slashdot Actively Promotes Anti-Linux Slopfarms
Yes, "no-nonsense" apparently means actual nonsense
Links 14/07/2025: Arresting Photographers, Threats to Revoke US Citizenship Over Criticism
Links for the day
More EPO Leaks on the Way
We hope that Mr. Rowan will actually try to refute what we say and show, not merely point the finger at the messengers
Decommodification is a Corporate Strategy Against Communities
systemd is led by Microsoft and hosted by Microsoft
copyleft.org 'Hijacked' by the People Who Attack the Person Who Created Copyleft
So far there's nothing "tasteless" in copyleft.org, but that can change at any time in the future
Asking People to Take Down Articles and Videos Only Makes These More Popular and "Viral"
If you do something bad, one of the worst things you can possibly do it try to silence those who speak about it
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, July 13, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, July 13, 2025
Two-Thirds Towards FSF Goal, Richard Stallman to Give Talks in Europe
There are 67 left before reaching the target
Gemini Links 14/07/2025: Politicised Tech and "Leaving GitHub"
Links for the day
The Demise of LLMs
We've just checked BetaNews again. They've dropped all the slop and went back to human authors.
Gemini Links 13/07/2025: Sonpo Museum of Art and FCEUX
Links for the day
Links 13/07/2025: UnitedHealth's Censorship Campaign, Australia Wary of China
Links for the day
Firing Away With Nonsense
Or fighting fire with fire
Links 13/07/2025: Climate Crisis, GAFAM Poisoning the Water
Links for the day
Turns Out LLMs for Code Don't Save Time and Don't Improve Quality
Neither legal nor useful
The Microsofters Will Have an Obligation to Compensate Us
This story isn't just about Microsoft. It's also about corruption, there are many women victims, there is abject "abuse of process", and many more scandals to be illuminated in years to come.
Reproducing at the EPO Instead of Producing Monopolies for Foreign Monopolies With Their Price-Fixing Cartels
Does the EPO recognise the need of well-educated Europeans to bear kids?
Valnet Inc. Dominates Real (Not LLM Slop) GNU/Linux Coverage in 2025
And likely in prior years, too
Free Software Foundation (FSF) Fund Raiser Goes on
Later this month we'll expose another OSI scandal
EPO Staff Representatives Issue a Warning About Staff's Health and Inadequate Care
Even the EPO's own stakeholders (money sources) are openly protesting against what the EPO became
Links 13/07/2025: Partly Assorted News From Deutsche Welle and CBC
Links for the day
Gemini Links 13/07/2025: Board Games and Battle Styles
Gemini Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 12, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 12, 2025
Plunder at the Second-Largest Institution in Europe
cuts, neglect, health problems, even early deaths
Links 12/07/2025: Political Developments, Attack on Opposition, Climate Actions
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/07/2025: Melodic Musings and Small Web July
Links for the day
Links 12/07/2025: Jail in China for Homoerotica, South Korea Discriminates Against Old Workers
Links for the day
If Only Everything Was Rewritten in Rust, We'd Have No More Security Issues?
Nope.
Links 12/07/2025: Birdwatching and Fake/Misleading Wall Street 'Valuation' Figures
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/07/2025: How to Avoid Writing, Apps for Android
Links for the day
Using SLAPPs to Cover Up Sexual Abuse and Strangulation
The exact same legal team of the Serial Strangler from Microsoft and Garrett already has a history fighting against "metoo"
EPO Staff Committee on Harassment in the Workplace
slides
Adding the Voice of Writers to UK SLAPP Reform
The journey to repair antiquated (monarchy era) laws will likely be long
EPO Takes More Money From Staff for Speculation (Pensions), Actuarial Study Explains the Impact
"The key change in this year’s Actuarial Study, due to cascading the new “risk appetite” from the financial study, is a significant increase of the total pension contribution rate of 5.7 percentage points, up to a total of 37.8%. This is driven by an unprecedented decrease in the discount rate of 105 bps down to 2.2%."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 11, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, July 11, 2025