Bonum Certa Men Certa

RoboVM Takeover of Interest to Microsoft and Its Embrace, Extend, Extinguish (E.E.E.) Strategy Against Android, Which It Says It Wants to Fork

It sure looks like E.E.E.

Miguel de Icaza and other Microsoft MVPs
Miguel de Icaza with his friends from Microsoft



Summary: Further analysis of the news about RoboVM, which got taken over by a Microsoft-connected company (one might say offshoot or proxy), funded in part by Microsoft money

MICROSOFT'S WAR against the Linux-powered Android platform is well under way, currently descending into the 'extend' phase in E.E.E. against Free/libre software and against GNU/Linux. Readers of Microsoft puff pieces don't agree with what Microsoft is saying and people at LXer recognise this strategy even from a great distance (see for example "Microsoft's Death Embrace"). Recall what Microsoft did to Nokia and do not assume that a top contributor to Linux (which Nokia once was) will stay this way after Microsoft moles somehow manage to enter. Elop had destroyed companies before he entered Nokia and Miguel de Icaza had derailed Novell before he became a lot more closely connected to Microsoft, even working for Microsoft.



Yesterday we wrote about Xamarin's takeover of RoboVM (with money that came in part from Microsoft veterans). Tim Anderson oddly enough suggests that:

It may not be so welcome to Microsoft, if in the long term it dilutes the focus on C#, which has made Xamarin a key partner.


That's assuming that the RoboVM-derived/produced work (including users of RoboVM's products) won't be diverted away to .NET, rather than be preserved in its current (and formerly independent) form. Perhaps it remains to be seen what Xamarin makes of RoboVM, but judging by the track record of de Icaza, the folks at RoboVM, living across the border from Nokia, may have just let in an 'Elop'.

"It has happened before, so it can happen again; Microsoft takes great in the strategy of befriending the competition in an effort to betray and eventually kill it."The news of the buyout (copies of the press release aside [1, 2, 3]) was covered mostly by Microsoft boosters, Microsoft-connected 'news' sites (multiple copies even), Microsoft apologists, and RoboVM itself. It's almost as though the only parties interested in this are Microsoft, the acquiring party (with some funds from Microsoft veterans), and the acquired party. These are all the articles I was able to find when searching the Web. The interested parties are clear to see here. Google has absolutely nothing to gain from this.

In Xamarin's forums Joseph Hill has said in relation to this takeover that "C# is a beautiful, advanced language with an incredibly large and passionate developer base that is continuing to adopt Xamarin in large and growing numbers." My instinct tells me that this is part of Microsoft's E.E.E. against Android and other mobile platforms. It has happened before, so it can happen again; Microsoft takes great in the strategy of befriending the competition in an effort to betray and eventually kill it.

"We need to slaughter Novell before they get stronger….If you’re going to kill someone, there isn’t much reason to get all worked up about it and angry. You just pull the trigger. Any discussions beforehand are a waste of time. We need to smile at Novell while we pull the trigger."

--Jim Allchin, Microsoft's Platform Group Vice President

Recent Techrights' Posts

Justice Will Find Its Way at the End
We deserve an award, not SLAPP, for what we've done
March Already, Rumours of IBM Layoffs in Brazil
Red Hat might be impacted too
 
Gemini Links 01/03/2025: Amends and GNU/Linux
Links for the day
Links 01/03/2025: Scam Altman's Latest Excuse, Google Price Hikes
Links for the day
Links 01/03/2025: Squashing Software Patents, USPTO Facing Additional Cuts
Links for the day
Links 01/03/2025: UNM Gopher and Getting One's Pages on gemini://
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, February 28, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, February 28, 2025
Links 28/02/2025: Mass Layoffs at Autodesk, Employee Burnout, and Measles in Texas
Links for the day
Gemini Links 28/02/2025: offpunk, Lagrange, and More
Links for the day
When the Business Goal is to Protect the Image of Criminals From the Mainstream Media or Free/Independent Press (at Any Cost)
What ever happened to the concept of "ethics" in this "legal" occupation?
Skype is Dead, Microsoft Shuts It Down in a Few Months (for Good)
Many billions down the drain
It Has Been Over a Year Since Takedown Demands From Brett Wilson LLP, Nothing Has Been Taken Down
It backfired on the Serial Defamer
Links 28/02/2025: Domestic Violence Fatalities, Escalations Again Near Taiwan
Links for the day
IBM is Trading Employees for Revenue Acquired by Buying Companies and Growing the Debt
IBM's financial plan is corporate bulimia
[Video] Full Video of Richard Stallman's Talk Earlier This Month in Italy (Nexa, Turin)
We have a collection of them
Gemini Links 28/02/2025: Spring, cgi and inetd, Gemini Protocol FAQ
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, February 27, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, February 27, 2025
What the LLM Scrapers Are Doing to Tux Machines
So far today it looks like we'll have served about 1.5 million requests at midnight. That's more than 50,000 per hour or 1,000 per minute.
Netcraft's New Web Server Survey Shows Microsoft Down in Every Category
That Microsoft is still visible in
Slopwatch: Anti-Linux Garbage and Fake 'Articles' About GNU and Linux, Courtesy of Serial Sloppers and Slopfarms
Today there is a frustrating amount of FUD online that wasn't published by humans but instead generated by LLMs
Links 27/02/2025: Google Clown Computing Layoffs and Slack Goes Down as Usual
Links for the day
Links 27/02/2025: The Engagement Rehab and Another New Zine
Links for the day
Links 27/02/2025: Microsoft Trying Ads as Sales Fall, Preserving Data From Social Control Media a Real Problem
Links for the day
Hiding Crimes Against Women (i.e. Reputation Laundering) by Misusing Inapplicable Privacy Laws From Another Continent
As it turns out, "privacy" does not cover hiding illegal activities and if public information exists to prove these illegal activities, then it's perfectly OK to share it
Zurich CEO suicide, Martin Senn proximity to Adrian and Diana von Bidder-Senn, Debian
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Debian, CentOS, RHEL source code demise now linked, accelerated after invalid trademark judgment
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Civil Society Should Demand Removal of People Who Sought Removal of Richard Stallman
Perhaps it's noteworthy that the FSF is now being attacked (again)
RTO for You, But Not for Me: How IBM's Managers Try to Disguise Layoffs as "Resignations" or "Retirements"
What ever happened to corporate ethics?
Links 27/02/2025: Conflict Updates, Hacks Caught Red-Handed Misusing Licence to Exercise Law to Submit LLM Slop to Courts
Links for the day
Gemini Links 27/02/2025: Fuzzy Frontiers and New Arrivals at Geminispace
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, February 26, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, February 26, 2025