Summary: The Internet of Things Alliance has just let the mole, Microsoft, dip its finger in the competition, as it so often does in order to derail the competition

The poorly-named "AllSeen Alliance" (or Internet of Things Alliance) is about to find out that it doesn't pay off to welcome Microsoft. Resistance and antagonism are defence mechanisms here.

OpenStack learned that Microsoft involvement is trouble, as it had ushered in a proprietary culture (secrecy, neglect, technical incompatibilities, and distrust-inducing NSA back doors). The same goes for OpenDaylight, which is another way Microsoft got its foot inside the Linux Foundation (directly, not through Nokia or Novell).

While there is propaganda from Microsoft-bribed circles (e.g. Om Malik, who received Microsoft money and apparently still receives money from Microsoft to publicly openwash them as well as whitewash Nadella) it is clear that Microsoft is not an Open Source friend but a foe. Microsoft is doing so much to harm FOSS, as we shall continue to show perhaps for years to come (if Microsoft is still around).

IDG said that "Microsoft backs open source for the Internet of Things" (widely cited article), but it's not clear what the word "backs" should be taken as. Microsoft competes with FOSS and Linux in this area, so Microsoft probably "backs" the Internet of Things in the same way that Microsoft "backs" ODF or the NSA "backs" Germany (see related news which fall outside the scope of this one particular post).

Having proprietary software inside a supposedly open initiative, just like in OpenDaylight, is a very dumb idea. In past years we covered examples where Microsoft was revealed to have pressured groups (rival groups) to let them in. Some successfully resisted and some admittedly perished after they had caved in for Microsoft's manipulative mind game (e.g. complaining about exclusion and intolerance).

"Embrace, Extend, Extinguish" is what one of our readers immediately called the above news. One pro-GNU/Linux pundit stated: "Microsoft, like most companies, does what it is in its own interests, and I think joining the AllSeen Alliance is truly a marriage of convenience. So you'll have to excuse me if I don't interpret this move by Microsoft as marking some new attitude toward open source. It seems to be something that is clearly rooted in Microsoft's self-interest rather than any shared open source vision."

The Linux Foundation has once again let a malicious mole in. It will be interesting to see how long it takes before there are complaints from within. It always happens sooner or later.

The more moles the Linux Foundation brings in (Microsoft or its allies), the harder it will become for it to prevent entryism. Just look what happened to Nokia. ⬆