TechBytes Episode 10: Microsoft FUD and Dirty Tactics Against GNU/Linux

Dr. Roy Schestowitz

2010-11-20 01:19:31 UTC
Modified: 2010-11-20 19:32:20 UTC

Direct download as Ogg (1:10:22, 20.5 MB) | Direct download as MP3 (32.2 MB)

Summary: First episode of its kind discussing just one particular topic rather than general news; the show accumulates many examples where Microsoft attacks GNU/Linux

THIS is our tenth episode which is also a special one because we introduce one discussion topic rather than a news roundup. Our regular-to-be Gordon -- along with Tim and Roy -- speaks about this story of FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt). They go through some past stories where Microsoft is caught spreading FUD or derailing GNU/Linux adoption. As the show is in no way scripted, the discussion is not complete, but many different areas get covered. Tim's site, OpenBytes, will publish some overview very soon.

Today's show ends with "The Pretty Pride Of Russia" by Tom Hickox (published in SXSW 2009 Showcasing Artists). We hope you will join us for future shows and spread the word if you enjoy this show. Also consider subscribing to the show via the RSS feed. If you have an Identi.ca account, consider subscribing to TechBytes in order to keep up to date. ⬆

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Our past shows:

Show overview	Show title	Date recorded
Episode 1: Brandon from Fedora	TechBytes Episode 1: Apple, Microsoft, Bundling, and Fedora 14 (With Special Guest Brandon Lozza)	1/11/2010
Episode 2: No guests	TechBytes Episode 2: Ubuntu's One Way, Silverlight Goes Dark, and GNU Octave Discovered	7/11/2010
Episode 3: No guests	TechBytes Episode 3: Games, Wayland, Xfce, Restrictive Application Stores, and Office Suites	8/11/2010
Episode 4: No guests	TechBytes Episode 4: Fedora 14 Impressions, MPAA et al. Payday, and Emma Lee's Magic	9/11/2010
Episode 5: No guests	TechBytes Episode 5: Windows Loses to Linux in Phones, GNU/Linux Desktop Market Share Estimations, and Much More	12/11/2010
Episode 6: No guests	TechBytes Episode 6: KINect a Cheapo Gadget, Sharing Perceptually Criminalised, Fedora and Fusion 14 in Review	13/11/2010
Episode 7: No guests	TechBytes Episode 7: FUD From The Economist, New Releases, and Linux Eureka Moment at Netflix	14/11/2010
Episode 8: Gordon Sinclair on Linux Mint	TechBytes Episode 8: Linux Mint Special With Gordon Sinclair (ThistleWeb)	15/11/2010
Episode 9: Gordon Sinclair returns	TechBytes Episode 9: The Potentially Permanent Return of ThistleWeb	17/11/2010

Changing One's Name Won't Change One's Past: People who have earned a bad reputation are not magically "entitled" to reset
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.
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
The Firm That Picks on Techrights is Accustomed to Working With Criminals: Techrights never did anything illegal. So why is it being picked on by people who work with criminals?
Microsoft Said the Mass Layoffs Were for "Investment" in "AI", But It's Also Laying Off the "AI" and "Copilot" Staff: Months ago we showed many so-called "AI" people were getting the boot and this time it's the same
DryDeadFish is Dead, Long Live DryDeadFish: We kept checking, hoping it can recover from some temporary technical issue
For Quite Some Time Already Microsoft Attracts Crackpots, Scams, and More: Occasionally we talk about the situation at IBM as there are many parallels
Links 14/07/2025: Chatbots Broken Again, McHire LLM Shows Limits of the Hype: Links for the day
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

TechBytes Episode 10: Microsoft FUD and Dirty Tactics Against GNU/Linux

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