01.14.13
Hacker Culture Frightens Microsoft
Microsoft hates not just software freedom but also the freedom to modify hardware
Steve Ballmer daemonises whetever protects public interests
Summary: Jailbreaking, or removal of artificial barriers, banned by Microsoft
Not only MIT changed its mind on hacking after it had fostered the FSF and GNU. Microsoft too, a company founded by two saboteurs, reacted like Apple after its hardware had gotten jailbroken (Vista 8 is jailbroken for Microsoft-branded hardware), or in other words hacked*. Microsoft Peter was spinning it as something which Microsoft considers “good”, not a shameful development. But Microsoft’s reaction contradicts this:
Earlier this week, reports surfaced that the Windows RT operating system had been jailbroken to allow for the execution of unsigned ARM desktop applications. Microsoft quickly issued a statement saying it does not consider the findings to be part of a security vulnerability, and applauded the hacker for his ingenuity. Now, an enthusiast over at XDA Developers by the name of netham45 has released a Windows RT Jailbreak tool.
Update on December 11: Microsoft is investigating Windows RT Jailbreak tool, says ‘will take appropriate action’
So rather than let people do as they wish on hardware they bought Microsoft fights back. This ought to teach people that the “new Microsoft” is a company which not only monopolises on the software side but also on the hardware side; hence, it’s worse than ever. █
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* Disregard the cracked/hacked confusion, which the corporate media deliberately perpetuates.
mcinsand said,
January 14, 2013 at 11:26 am
I think it’s part of a broader fear that both Microsoft and apple share; what if consumers’ rights make a comeback? What if customers once more actually own what they buy? Tablets and cellphones are just as much in the category of computing hardware as desktops, and a robust OS, especially with freedom and choice, will (and is) having little trouble steamrolling over the toy, straitjacketed offerings from Applesoft…unless they can continue with their anticompetitive shenanigans. With current court scrutiny, even proxy strategies aren’t looking so good.
Dr. Roy Schestowitz Reply:
January 14th, 2013 at 11:31 am
Phones have always been rather closed, even in AT&T/Bell days. In recent years, with MeeGo, Android and freer platforms like OpenMoko, this has changed somewhat. Tablets are usually oversized phones, whereas sub-notebooks (netbooks) are shrunk-down laptops that are a dying breed.
mcinsand Reply:
January 14th, 2013 at 12:43 pm
The time to open those historically-closed systems is now; they never should have been closed. SCOTUS’ ruling that users have the right to jailbreak their phones was at least a good step in the right direction. I’m thankful for the hackers that give us tools to jailbreak, to restore choice that groups like Applesoft actively fight to exterminate.