Summary: How companies like Facebook, Microsoft, and Apple exploit the restrictions in their software to do bad things

SO HERE we have Facebook again (partly owned by Microsoft) -- the site which exploits a lot of Free software such as GNU/Linux, PHP, and just about everything else that's in the Web stack. What does Facebook deliver back? Privacy violations, OOXML, Silver Lie, and just about everything else that's considered bad faith on the Web. Our reader Stefan has just posted the following screenshot, asking: "Is this some sort of contest? #facebook #adspam As seen on ur.ly/Epgo << I mean really? Are they serious http://ur1.ca/3b9m8"

This links to "SP1-Download: Windows 7 Service Pack 1 und Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1". Microsoft keeps throwing its weight around, looking for more volunteers to promote Vista 7. We wrote about this yesterday. Aren't people getting tired of being guinea pigs? As we've mentioned before, Apple too is starting to get on some nerves and even Mac Asay -- a longtime Apple fan (voluntarily promoting user-subjugating binaries) -- says that "Apple app tax must change" in his weekly column:

Right now, the ecosystem vendors are tailoring payment systems to their needs, not really to the needs of developers and certainly not to consumers. That will change. It must.

When the "ecosystem vendors" are vending licences to rent some proprietary software, it is them who totally control everything. As the former COO as Canonical, Asay ought to understand that a respectful solution needs to involve Free/libre software. Facebook too will carry on abusing its 'consumers' (who 'generate' 'content' and 'consume' ads) as long as it has a complete monopoly over the platform. That's why Diaspora was conceived.

Free software is about control (for the user, not the vendor), it is not about price. ⬆