Bonum Certa Men Certa

Former Mayor of Munich Explains How Microsoft Hates Linux

He should know. He saw that.

Christian Ude



Summary: Christian Ude (above) speaks in a new interview about what Microsoft did in Munich and elsewhere in Europe in order to undermine GNU/Linux and impose Microsoft Windows on everybody, together with all the spyware Microsoft provides for it (likely violation of privacy laws)

THE ENGLISH-speaking media has said nothing about this (not even meta news sites like Slashdot), but the German sphere discussed "Münchens Ex-OB Christian Ude im Interview" (the title is likely self-explaining, at least the name).



"We assume our readers are wise enough to understand that Microsoft is the same old corrupt company, with new lies and PR."One person from Germany wrote to tell us the gist of it. It's important for Techrights, having covered the Microsoft affairs there for almost a decade (and EPO affairs in Munich even more closely for half a decade). It is widely known -- to all who are sober at least (not sucking in the corporate media's revisionism) -- that Microsoft attacks all GNU/Linux deployments across governments in Europe as means of defunding (stopping public money or cash flow to) projects such as LibreOffice. We produced evidence of this -- sometimes in the form of documents from inside Microsoft, obtained by leaks and subpoenas.

We assume our readers are wise enough to understand that Microsoft is the same old corrupt company, with new lies and PR. The work with the Pentagon and ICE should be eye-opening reminders of it. Opposing Microsoft is "fighting yesterday's fight" say people who often turn out to be receiving Microsoft money (sometimes through affiliates). Microsoft is attacking GNU/Linux on several fronts still. Microsoft is very unique in that regard. In internal documents Microsoft calls GNU/Linux use/users "infestations" as if we're cockroaches; that's how they view us. Regarding what happens in Munich, one person has just told me: "even in early 2000s Microsoft were that deeply embedded in Munich that they got free advertising on the public service broadcaster BR as part of the "Laptop und Lederhosen" culture Bayern was trying to promote since the late 1990s..."

BR threatened us once; legal letter for hosting translation of a show.

The above person explained: "Last night at some strange hour I decided to watch youtubes of the closedown sequence of Bayerischer Rundfunk from (I think) the early 2000s.

"They play the Bayernhymne, das Deutsches Lied and "Ode an die Freude" (EU-anthem)

"During the Bayernhymne they show a young man in a suit using a PDA. This is whats on the screen.

"Given what happened with Limux, its interesting to see this turn up there (although maybe not against the rules as German public TV can have advertising?)"

See the screen: "Director Channel Sales bei Microsoft"

What on Earth...? We're reproducing it here:

BR Director Channel Sales bei Microsoft



Watch the name closely. Yes, this person:

Director Channel Sales bei Microsoft



Sometimes it seems like Microsoft is all about marketing and dirty tricks, yet it is disguised as a "software company"; it has been the case for decades and nothing has changed.

What does the former mayor of Munich have to say? We'll try to stick to the facts.

"Hey Roy schestowitz," one person told me, "did you take notice of former chief editor Jan Kleinert interviewing former mayor of Munich Christian Ude regarding Limux and Microsoft lobbying? Great article, unluckily German language only."

So I responded: "Can you send the gist of it/best part?"

"I'll try," he said. "Despite Microsoft's various attempts of persuasiveness, including personal talks with Ballmer and Gates, Ude stuck to the idea of less dependence using FOSS. After Munich administration [was] left with the choice of forced upgrade (= $$$) or no further support from Microsoft Ude mentions having watched a documentary in the last year of similar Microsoft lobbying attempts allegedly regarding the city of Vienna and the defense ministry of Italy, to curb any development of an alternative, to keep Europe dependent.

"Ude cites a "Bayernspiegel" article about Wilhelm Hoegner (deceased) with the words "Main focus of attention used to be US software calling home. Unluckily nowadays noncompliant minds like him have disappeared from politics and administration. [...]"

"The decision to convert (14.000 PC clients) back to Microsoft from Limux [some time] until 2020 was a purely political one. Christian Ude: "There wasn't a single unsolvable technical problem."

"Ude states his belief that the political calculus of changing direction [away from FOSS] probably will not bear fruit and closes:

"Sooner or later one will ask again:

"Why did the independence once fought for got given up?

"Why wasn't the potential of higher data security held in higher regards?

"What's the cost of all of this?

"Not a word-by-word translation of that four page interview. Yet I hope not to have put anything wrong into anybody's mouth."

There's also this additional quote: "[...] what followed is a youth mindlessly prostituting itself on the Internet, passively accepting to get their data robbed from by tax evading megacorps whilst the fate of a rising share of younger people boils down close to poverty."

Longtime readers of ours saw us covering many angles of this since around 2007. The subject has not been explored by the media for at least half a year, which makes one wonder; is media in general dying or is media discouraged from revisiting this matter?

Recent Techrights' Posts

It's a Lot Easier to Participate in the Unethical System Than to Oppose Injustices in It
Going after powerful and high-budget interests is never easy
 
Slopwatch: LLM Sloppers in Google News, LinuxSecurity, and More
they also perpetuate some falsehoods as the LLMs lack any comprehension
Links 08/08/2025: China King of Plastics and US Dictator Plans to Meet Russian Dictator
Links for the day
Gemini Links 08/08/2025: Cracking a Family Member's Password and Overdose of Slop
Links for the day
Red Hat's Latest Talent Hunt, Day Ahead of Mass Layoffs, is Yet Another Microsoft Executive
Red Hat will apparently commence mass layoffs early this coming Monday
Links 08/08/2025: "Quit Facebook" and High Cost of Microsoft/Windows Shown Again ("BlackSuit")
Links for the day
Good Morning, Readers of The Register MS
Things The Register MS could (but does not) cover this morning
Why Gemini Protocol Has a Bright Future
Maybe Gemini Protocol's promise becomes more appealing as the Web turns to slop and bloat
Microsofters Filed Two SLAPPs Against Us, Now They Cannot Keep Up With Judges' Orders
For over 4 months already their facilitator in London has been under investigation by British authorities because of what's being done to my wife and I
Censorship Regarding Red Hat Layoffs
Talk about this? They'd rather not.
Struggling to Cut Costs, Microsoft Continues Shutting Down and Cancelling Stuff This Month
There are August layoffs at Microsoft
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, August 07, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, August 07, 2025
Fake 'Linux' Articles, Written by Bots to Take Traffic Away From Real Articles
LLM slop helps replace information with junk or misinformation
When Google's Googlebombing of "Gemini" Was Not Enough; They Now Also Googlebomb "Gemini Space"?
We know GAFAM not only worries about Gemini Protocol but also attempts to 'infiltrate' Geminispace
The Register MS Promotes Microsoft Slop, Assumes All Readers Use Microsoft Windows
Microsoft really dominates the site
Gemini Links 08/08/2025: KDE/Qt Development and What's Missing From "Retro"
Links for the day
Links 07/08/2025: US Punishes India Instead of Russia, Attacks Law Firms to Prevent Scrutiny
Links for the day
Read Us in Geminispace as Well
it's definitely a lot simpler than using a Web browser
Once a Site About BSD and GNU/Linux, and After Months of Silence, LinuxBSDos.com Comes Back Only as a Slopfarm
very frustrating
Links 07/08/2025: Hardware Wars, Mass Recall of Colgate Total Clean Mint, More Microsoft Holes Found
Links for the day
Gemini Links 07/08/2025: "Right To Manage" and LoRa Analysis
Links for the day
For the First Time in a Month OSI's "OpenSource.org" Blogs and It's Basically a Microsoft Blog Post (Microsoft Controls OSI)
For the first time in a month OSI writes something and it is Microsoft propaganda composed by a Microsoft-salaried operative
Microsoft, Already Borrowing 3 Billion Dollars a Month, is Trying to Cause Many People to Resign
MSN (i.e. Microsoft) and others openly admit it
GAFAM 'Says' is Front Page "News"
The point of journalism is to check and assess facts, not parrot what people and companies merely claim
Links 07/08/2025: Apple Makes False Promises, More Trouble for Microsoft
Links for the day
OSS Didn't Always Mean Open Source Software
"oligarchs all the way down"
The Register MS Does More Microsoft Sez or GitHub Sez (Says) Pieces
60 minutes ago
They Want Activists to Just Barely Walk and Eat, Not Do Activism Anymore
It's sort of like the ending of '1984'
Quit Perpetuating the Narrative of Gemini Protocol 'Dying' (It's False)
The "whisper campaign" against Gemini Protocol
Criticising Social Control Media in Social Control Media
Many people are quitting Social Control Media (fewer of them announce this in public)
Non-Free JavaScript Programs in Banks Aren't Even the Biggest Problem
Technology was supposed to make life easier; in practice, however, for most of us the opposite effect can be observed
Slopfarms Are Typically Fake News
Slopfarms typically relay falsehoods
Gemini Links 06/08/2025: Replacing a Pocket Watch and Buying in Bulk
Links for the day
IBM is Obliterating Fedora
"Fedora releases were shipping with an increasing number of bugs on launch day even while I was using it for a several year stretch."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, August 06, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, August 06, 2025
August Hits Microsoft Hard: Dead Divisions, Dead Products, Layoffs Again (on Week 1)
Microsoft's debt is soaring
Slopwatch: Slow Day for LLM Slop, Serial Sloppers Still at It in Their Slopfarms
The Web would be better off if those sites went offline
Red Hat Layoffs Expected in 5 Days (Monday)
"They will announce and proceed with the cuts on 08/11."
Links 06/08/2025: Substack in Trouble, Slop Sceptic Shira Perlmutter Seeks Emergency Injunction Pending Appeal
Links for the day
Gemini Links 06/08/2025: Pinephone, Reverse-Engineering, and More
Links for the day
Links 06/08/2025: Faked Values of Slop Companies and Government Bailouts
Links for the day
FOSSY 2025 Conference Safety
The GAFAM-funded FOSSY 2025 is over
Microsoft's Favourite Pay-to-Say 'Analyst' Firm Has Just Collapsed
'Analysts' that helped propel Microsoft to fictional values akin to Ponzi schemes
Ask Google (Jeeves)
What does Google "know", not know, or would rather forget (or embellish)?
They Want You To Talk About Trump or 'The Other Bill' in Relation to Trafficking of Underage Girls for Sexual Exploitation
Just something we wanted to say...
How to Quadruple Your "Goodwill" Value and Grow Your (Wall) Street "Value" From $152B to $4000B Without Producing a Single Successful Product/Service
The longer it goes on for, the bigger the implosion will be
Staying Productive
Two very reputable institutions recently told us they now reckon Microsoft is somehow funding those SLAPPs against us
A Blow for Patent Ambitions of Bill Epsteingate
It's about money
66 Countries Where More People Use iPhones (or iPads) Than Microsoft Windows, According to statCounter Data
a list of countries where iOS now exceeds Windows
Apple's iOS Bigger Than Microsoft Windows in Many Countries
This ought to alarm Microsoft
The Mainstream Media Talks About Spotify Share Price and Price Hikes, Not Its Debt Increasing by About 33% in Just 12 Months
Spotify isn't a company in good shape
New "US Editor for The Register" is 80% Microsoft and Windows
they typically just treat Microsoft like the "Holy Grail" of "IT"
Microsoft is Apparently Sending Gag Orders or NDAs to Staff That Got Laid Off (“We were told not to post on LinkedIn. Not to say anything.”)
The main lies we keep seeing
Richard M. Stallman Has Published AI Memos Since 1980 (45 Years Ago)
Back when the term AI actually meant something
Gemini Links 06/08/2025: BitTorrent and Feedly Bots
Links for the day
Windows All-Time Lows, Android All-Time Highs in Kuwait
New lows for Windows can be found in many countries this month
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, August 05, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, August 05, 2025