06.18.20
Gemini version available ♊︎Using Humour to Counter Deception and Googlebombing Campaigns
Summary: Microsoft’s effort to dominate over GNU/Linux (or hijack its very alternative, its competition) hasn’t gone unnoticed; sites like OMGUbuntu! and Phoronix seem not to understand just how much they help Microsoft by giving ‘free press’ to the utter failure that not many people even use; it’s better to not mention that failing effort or mention it responsibly
THE tactics of Googlebombing aren’t new; they predate Google too, of course… (but named differently; “Googlebombing” was coined over a decade ago)
There’s no single aspect to Googlebombing; one can break it down or split it into several branches of techniques. The one Microsoft has used in recent years is similar to trademark hijacking — apparently similar to what goes on at the EPO. People who search for information about one’s archrival are instead directed to the very opposite. It’s a form of entrapment (entrapping minds) and it games familiar words or phrases. Remember when “VistA” was a Free software system for veterans rather than an appalling version of Windows? There are dozens of examples like that, recently "MAUI".
“What companies state publicly is almost never the same as what is true.”We’ve recently been discussing a number of topics that needed to be dealt with; one was Microsoft claiming to be sensible by renaming “master” in GitHub. Another is the WSL nonsense that has flooded news sites over the past 24 hours (and probably will later today as well). We don’t want to link or send traffic to sites/articles that spread misinformation; we also wish not to amplify their misleading claims (mischaracterising the problem). So instead we use humour. Not many people know how Conservative or Republican Microsoft is; even Bill Gates has his affinity for these people. A lot of people who work for Microsoft lean to the right; it’s hardly surprising that Microsoft works so hard to get Pentagon and ICE contracts. Those aren’t accidents. Microsoft as a company believes in what it does. Regarding WSL, there’s no goodwill there; it’s an attack and if one researches the views of people who work on WSL, then one quickly discovers that they actually dislike GNU/Linux. They want to dominate (as in control/tame) it, not to support or help it. Misusing words like “love” is the perfect deception; look what they did ahead of the GitHub takeover.
What companies state publicly is almost never the same as what is true. Being distrusting, dismissive and sceptical of their marketing/PR people is a survival skills. Ask not what they want you to ‘know’ (think is the right term, it’s perception management) but what they desperately try to hide, especially when they feel pain. █
ᶃ Gemini Space
This post is also available in 
Content is available under CC-BY-SA