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Summary: The pro-Microsoft spin or the ludicrous idea that Microsoft is somehow looking to "help" Linux (or that it "loves" Linux) needs to be confronted; it's nothing new for the tricks are old and it always ends up the same way

THIS new article was brought up in IRC several hours go (entitled "A Post-Mortem in 5 Acts: How Microsoft Privatized Open Source And Killed JavaScript in the Process"). It led to a discussion about yesterday's WSL puff piece from OMG!Ubuntu! (yes, silly site name) and some misguided HOWTOs suggesting Edge as a Web browser for GNU/Linux users. Ryan had (prior to that) brought up new evidence of the decline of Windows.

Microsoft -- like coronavirus -- is trying to spread. It has already infected new hosts, including the OSI and the Linux Foundation, where Microsoft leverages a management position to undermine JavaScript. Those who revisit the Bill Gates deposition videos will know that such efforts go back to the 1990s. They keep trying again and again.

The idea that Microsoft decided to "come in peace" is worse than misguided. It's utterly foolish. There's evidence that those same pretences have been used for decades and nobody ever survives except Microsoft. Former Microsoft VP James Allchin said in a September 1991 E-mail (as revealed in Caldera v Microsoft): "This really isn't that hard. 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. Angry discussions before hand are a waste of time. We need to smile at Novell while we pull the trigger." -

Microsoft isn't just "yet another" tech company or "big tech" as Microsoft is in a unique position to lose a lot -- maybe even everything -- when the GNU/Linux operating system attains world domination. We'll need to be prepared for more coups, sometimes good people being ousted to appease companies that bribe (strings attached to some money). That's just how Microsoft operates and has operated for a very long time. ⬆