10.20.11
The Importance of Identifying and Recognising Friends of Microsoft
Summary: Why it matters who’s on whose side, especially when one side infiltrates the other
OVER time we have been flagging and providing supportive evidence about allies and friends of Microsoft — people and groups whom people might call “independent” when in fact those come from Microsoft or work with Microsoft. We have not updated our credibility ranks for years, but having said that, those ranks upset some people who are listed. They don’t want their biases to be up on display. We still stress the importance of knowing who is who and where one’s wallet is. Consider for example Bott and his latest insult to GNU/Linux users who worry about Microsoft’s anticompetitive abuses [1, 2, 3, 4]. Some people who do not understand his relationship with Microsoft are citing him, mistaking his message for something genuine and objective. Microsoft sometimes hires “journalists” who spent their time in papers promoting Microsoft, almost as though Microsoft gives them the rewards (wages) once they are done. And then we have companies like Centrify putting their stuff inside Ubuntu without anyone calling foul. We explained what Centrify is doing before. It is similar to Likewise, which one reader tells us has infiltrated Ubuntu Forums. These are former Microsoft people, just like many of those who are associated with Mono and even Xamarin (its CEO is a former Microsoft employee and funding comes from a Microsoft MVP). Understanding who is a friend of Microsoft is very essential for the protection of software freedom. In a later post we are going to show what Microsoft Florian is doing (he is still afraid of Techrights‘ explanations of who is really is) and in Diaspora there are some more examples of friends of Microsoft doing their thing in the name of “FOSS”, especially in IDG. It’s either controlled opposition or fake journalism (like Rupert Murdoch’s). █
“As discussed in our PR meeting this morning. David & I have spoken with Maureen O’Gara (based on go ahead from BrianV) and planted the story. She has agreed to not attribute the story to us….
“[...] Inform Maureen O’ Gara (Senior Editor Client Server News/LinuxGram) or John Markoff (NYT) of announcement on Aug 28, 2000. Owner dougmil (Approval received from BrianV to proceed)
“Contact Eric Raymond, Tim O’Reilly or Bruce Perrins to solicit support for this going against the objectives of the Open Source movement. Owner: dougmil [Doug Miller]. Note that I will not be doing this. Maureen O’Gara said she was going to call them so it looks better coming from her.”
(From Microsoft’s smoking guns)
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Needs Sunlight said,
October 20, 2011 at 1:01 pm
What’s being done with all the M$ “interns” that are on the loose? They have a tendency to turn up in bad places.
Dr. Roy Schestowitz Reply:
October 20th, 2011 at 1:49 pm
One of them is trolling us in IRC and elsewhere. I took it out on Jono months before someone from India told me that the troll had in fact been working for Microsoft.
Michael Reply:
October 20th, 2011 at 3:03 pm
This is an unsupported accusation. There is no evidence any MS “intern” is trolling you anywhere. You made that up, Roy.
Needs Sunlight Reply:
October 22nd, 2011 at 7:56 am
Canonical seems also to be a victim and the trouble there has grown rather than diminished. Most open source projects and companies are not prepared either administratively or psychologically to deal with M$ moles and trolls, especially when they volunteer to “help”.
satipera said,
October 21, 2011 at 5:14 pm
I have seen Florian being called out as an MS employee a couple of times in the Guardian Tech section comments. The message is getting through, his card is marked. Unfortunately a lot of journalists are lazy and even worse not aware of what is going on.