IRC Proceedings: April 7th, 2013
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IRC Proceedings: April 8th, 2013
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IRC Proceedings: April 9th, 2013
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IRC Proceedings: April 10th, 2013
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IRC Proceedings: April 11th, 2013
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IRC Proceedings: April 12th, 2013
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IRC Proceedings: April 13th, 2013
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On Icahn and other moles like Elop
Summary: What lies beneath the strategy of taking control of OEMs without paying to buy them; Steve Ballmer visits Lenovo, which absorbed former Microsoft executives, trying to secure Windows lock-in
Microsoft used a proxy battle via Icahn to abduct Yahoo in pursuit of Google, the #1 rival of Microsoft (in the lucrative enterprise market in particular). In the mobile market, Microsoft abducted Nokia, killing Nokia’s Linux pursuits. The same is happening on the desktop/server. Lenovo, for example, was preinstalling Android/GNU/Linux or nothing, based on this article which shows Ballmer getting involved (after a while Lenovo started promoting Ballnux, but not before Microsoft executives had entered the company). The report says: “First, a large percentage of Lenovo’s sales are in Asia, where it’s very common to find Lenovo PCs with no operating system preinstalled. In fact, in many Asian countries, it’s hard to find Lenovo PCs with “genuine” Windows. In spite of the fact that Lenovo has promised for years to preinstall Windows on more PCs, and Steve Ballmer himself visited the Lenovo offices last December, it’s still very easy to order Windows-less Lenovo computers from Asian Lenovo sites.”
OEMs are walking away from Windows, so Microsoft wants to hijack the leadership of companies like Dell and so far it makes some progress. From the latest news:
TIN BOX FLOGGER Dell has signed a licensing deal with Microsoft to become a worldwide distributor and OEM for devices running the Windows Embedded operating system.
Dell, which is in the midst of a messy leveraged buyout that could see it become a private company, is trying to move away from its low-margin PC business. The firm announced that it has signed a worldwide licensing deal to become an OEM and distributor of Microsoft’s Windows Embedded operating system.
According to some news, Icahn steps closer into Dell. Can he help Microsoft abduct Dell without a takeover, just like Yahoo? There is already a hijacking-esque move: “Taking a huge publicly traded company, such as PC maker Dell, back to its origins as a private corporation is a huge effort and now there’s word that those plans may be getting more complicated. Billionaire Carl Icahn is rumored to be buying a six percent share of Dell and if that happens, his next move may be to organize an effort to stop Dell from going private.”
Microsoft Dell is one to boycott unless the planned deal is revoked. Dell has had some GNU/Linux projects in the pipeline (Alienware too) and Microsoft wants to stop this. Icahn is getting uglier. Icahn Threatens “Proxy Fight” as Dell Buyout Drags On, says one headline. Here is one that says Carl Icahn retaining proxy vote option, rival bid in battle for Dell. To quote:
Corporate raider Carl Icahn is refusing to give up the right to a proxy vote on a large once-off dividend from Dell and is continuing to threaten to launch a rival bid as the battle for ownership of computer giant Dell intensifies.
Now watch the report which says Dell to Reimburse Icahn if He Drops Proxy Fight, Litigation Threats (why is this even legal? It’s blackmail).
Dell Inc. (DELL) said it is willing to provide activist investor Carl Icahn with the same expense reimbursement that it has offered to its other two bidders, but only if Mr. Icahn drops his threats to pursue a proxy fight and litigation.
And here is the latest:
Carl Icahn refuses to drop proxy fight option in Dell proposal, WSJ reports
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn is refusing to drop the option of a proxy fight to force Dell Inc to pay a big dividend, in spite of the board committee’s request that he drop his threats and launch a formal bid for the company, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Icahn had asked the board’s special committee to be reimbursed for the cost of his due diligence on Dell, a benefit the committee has already granted to rival bidders Silver Lake Partners and Blackstone Group LP.
Silver Lake is connected to Microsoft. Dell is just a “pawn in the battle,” as Microsoft likes to call it. █
Leaving Windows in droves…
Summary: Actions of measurable effect (e.g. antitrust, campaigns) against the operation system version which is killing Microsoft’s common carrier, Windows®
Microsoft is destroying Windows by taking over machines and sending them faulty binaries. Microsoft is breaking Windows, “causing some PCs to blue screen,” says the report. This is not a matter of deliberate sabotage, but Microsoft is driving users away with its own negligence as people already flock away to alternatives, not Vista 8 (Claudio from Linux Basement says: “Holy crap, #Microsoft! Really? In 2013??”). Vista 9 vapourware has begun because Vista 8 is probably worse than Windows ME, not just Vista. This is a very big deal and the corporate press is starting to catch on.
Despite Microsoft-induced downtimes and technical incompetence (yes, even this week, leading to official probes at government level*), in the Indian public sector there seem to be new EDGI moves whose intention is to kill Free software in favour of total lock-in, Fog Computing that Microsoft controls entirely (from data to binaries). One reader wrote to say to us:
Colleges running Free software in India have been asked to move to Microsoft cloud
This basically means that students will be forced to give Microsoft™ their data. Fair deal? And bear this in mind in light of Microsoft’s claims about Google. Microsoft is meanwhile attacking Android with an antitrust complaint that’s called ‘an attack on open source’, as we noted the other day. Hypocrisy here is impossible to overlook.
The FSF, to its credit, has started this action which calls people to abolish Vista 8. It is an infographic (appended below) and it says: “Sometimes, proprietary software actually helps us fight for freedom. Windows 8 is so bad it’s almost funny–it’s not only proprietary software full of spyware and security vulnerabilities, but it’s also confusing for would-be users. Lucky for us, Microsoft’s spectacular failure is the perfect time to help people switch to free software.”
Given what Microsoft has done with UEFI, this is getting more difficult, but there are those who try to help. This new article says: “The UEFI boot specification offers new capabilities – and new headaches if you aren’t ready for it.”
Fortunately there is an antitrust complaint about it. █
___
* The said infrastructure is very Microsoft-reliant, even if the articles about it don’t say so. I know this as a customer for 13 years (RBS and NatWest are connected).
Summary: Game over for Microsoft, at least judging by the exodus of managers in recent years; Microsoft resorts to desperate and corrupt practices which turn even former employees against it
SO, Xbox Live is down, which is rather symbolic of what’s going on at Xbox world because yet another top-level manager joins the exodus at Microsoft (we mostly tracked departures in 2009-2010 owing to time being available for this task). “Sorry,” he said, “I don’t get the drama around having an ‘always-on’ console. Every device is ‘always-on’. It’s the world we live in.” We alluded to it the other day as it had become a major issue and probably resulted in this resignation over DRM.
Xbox is a mess. Microsoft was betting on the project as though it’s a ticket into the hardware business, but it’s a failure that loses billions of dollars. Microsoft is getting so desperate now that it is filing an antitrust complaint against Linux, so as my online friend put it, Microsoft needs a new straw.
Killing off Linux and Android, by proxy. Oh, I am making a note to stock up on the popcorn. This case will be short-lived but quite entertaining particularly with Pamela Jones sorting things out and letting everyone understand the ‘truth’.
Microsoft is utterly transparent and avoid direct ‘liability’ with a paper tiger corporation doing their misdeeds in the name of ‘FairSearch’. In the name of ‘Fair’? Here’s a straw Microsoft.
Remember taxation-related evasions at Microsoft? Well, former Microsoft employee Jeff Reifman, who warmed up to FOSS on the face of it, is still an activist against Microsoft. He writes: “After granting Microsoft amnesty on its $1.5 billion Nevada tax dodge, state tax collectors are aggressively targeting Seattle dance clubs and night clubs over an obscure ‘opportunity to dance’ tax. Auditors search the Internet to find out whether people dance at specific clubs. One clubowner reports an auditor told him: ‘You have the opportunity to dance, and we verified it by 8 or 10 different references on Yelp.’”
There is more here. Even former Microsoft employees are sickened by Microsoft’s behaviour. IT is definitely noteworthy. █
Dr. Roy Schestowitz
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