01.25.12
Posted in Free/Libre Software, Microsoft, Windows at 10:15 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
“I would love to see all open source innovation happen on top of Windows.”
–Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO
Image from Wikimedia
Summary: Microsoft is reportedly still working on tying FOSS to Microsoft Windows
Microsoft loves to “embrace” projects that pose a threat to Microsoft because what better way to eliminate competition than to control and subvert it?
Although it may be too early to jump to any conclusions, The H suggests that Microsoft gets its claws on Node.js, a popular FOSS project:
Cloud9, makers of the Cloud9 IDE, have announced that they will be working with Microsoft to allow Node.js applications created in the Cloud9 IDE to be deployed to Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform. The open source, event-driven, JavaScript-on-the-server Node.js platform was ported to Windows last year with the support of Microsoft.
Microsoft just wants everything to run on Windows, even if it’s FOSS. This is something to keep an eye on. █
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Posted in Free/Libre Software, FUD, Patents at 9:52 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: How a process which produces monopolies or fear is being streamlined to potentially make the effects more severe
THE USPTO, a farce for the masses, has signed a contract to have some software supplied. The goal there seems to be to increase efficiency, i.e. grant even more patents (poor patents) more rapidly. Here’s to monopoly:
Science Applications International Corp. or SAIC (SAI) was granted a prime contract by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office or USPTO to provide software development integration and testing services in support of the USPTO’s Automated Information Systems. The multiple award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity or IDIQ contract has a one year base period of performance, four one-year options, and a total ceiling value of $525 million for all awardees, if all options are exercised. Work would be performed mainly in the National Capital Region or NCR.
Meanwhile, yet another automation system is presented which claims to be capable of finding FOSS inside a body of code or files, further helping the fear of FOSS along the lines of Black Duck and Protecode. To quote:
SourceSquare is graphically creative with a range of colors highlighting the various files on your system. It generates a direct line notation of where the Open Source files exist, and even more important, how much Open Source is on your system. The treemap visualization allows users to get a more detailed outline of all their files, with and without Open Source coding.
Whether it will be used to help FOSS or harm it remains to be seen, but it is Open Source and uses Java. We saw what OpenLogic was doing about it, usually just scaring users. Companies with Microsoft roots tend to do this. █
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01.10.12
Posted in Deception, Free/Libre Software, GPL, Microsoft at 11:41 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Pretending to be the bazaar, too
Summary: The alter-ego of Microsoft Corporation as seen in the news and in new “official” reports
THERE is a set of companies we sort of specialise in here at Techrights because they have a commonality. While pretending to serve FOSS they usually do the opposite.
Black Duck, a firm with Microsoft roots, gradually becomes the ‘expert’ in GPL (telling us it is declining) while joined by OpenLogic, a company with management from Microsoft, which reinforces the same message. If they control information, they will control minds. In this case, they can capture and control perception that FOSS developers have. GPL FUD is just on example and OpenLogic, the firm that reinforces the same message as Black Duck, now seeks to become the authority in what FOSS to use and what not to. As one article puts it:
The report ranks hot open-source projects in three key categories: Web and application servers; application frameworks; and databases and big data.
Too bad the source of the report is a company founded and control by a former Microsoft guy, eh? They always neglect to say this. Ohloh is another one (now owned by Black Duck).
Speaking of Microsoft talking heads/points, Ed Bott is at it again with his PR lies. Pogson responds by writings:
Ed knows better. He wrote, “Windows 7 has shipped a half-billion copies” since October 2009, 9 quarters, 55 million a quarter. IDC reports 80-90 million PCs per quarter produced. M$ is no longer getting a free ride, Ed. Get used to it. There are businesses that do give M$ a free ride but there are many governments, organizations and businesses that have seen the light and choose to avoid monopoly. Shopping around is the right way to do IT.
This lie goes back to Microsoft’s PR people and is echoed by their shills/MVPs. We need to be careful in the face of Microsoft’s Big Lies that it spreads via its allies. They are all just a matter of “perception management” as Microsoft calls it. We tackled those lies before. █
“Mind Control: To control mental output you have to control mental input. Take control of the channels by which developers receive information, then they can only think about the things you tell them. Thus, you control mindshare!”
–Microsoft, internal document [PDF]
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01.09.12
Posted in Africa, Free/Libre Software, Microsoft at 4:25 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: The crackdowns on counterfeiting in at least one African nation help the adoption of Free/open source software
WHENEVER we hear about Kenya [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] we tend to hear about corporate corruption and other misuses of positions of power. The counterfeiting wars are mentioned quite frequently too because the pirates from Microsoft and its front groups (such as the BSA) raid local businesses, sparking adoption of Free/open source software, which Microsoft in turn attacks in a variety of nefarious ways. To quote a new report:
Kenyans are turning to open source software, which are freely available to the public, after the fight against piracy was stepped up in the East African nation.
Microsoft East and Southern Africa and Kenya Copyright Board (Kecobo) have in the past months intensified war on pirated software, raiding several businesses suspected to be dealing in unlicensed software, confiscating computers and instituting legal action against offenders.
This is a good and very new example of why counterfeiting is actually beneficial to Microsoft. The report contains some common mistakes and myths, but it’s still worth reading. █
“Microsoft boss Bill Gates threatened to kill 800 Danish jobs if Denmark opposed the European Computer Implemented Inventions Directive, reports today’s Danish financial daily Børsen, quoted by NoSoftwarePatents.com”
–P2PNet, 2005
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01.01.12
Posted in Free/Libre Software at 10:58 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: OpenLogic is riding the cloud wave and openwashing it
The company which is run by former Microsoft staff, OpenLogic, moves into the Fog Computing (‘cloud’) business with usual FUD like “provides solutions for open source scanning and governance — reducing the risk…”
There are articles about the press release showing in various places and also in Xmas time articles. We urge people to stay suspicious of the motives based on past behaviour. Having said that, it is a step in the right direction given the deaprture from spreading fear. █
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12.30.11
Posted in America, Asia, Cablegate, Free/Libre Software at 8:15 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: A good look at how Microsoft crushes freedom-respecting software in Vietnam
AS ALWAYS EXPECTED, the monopolist from Redmond will never permit competition to exist. Like a tyrant running after potential opposition, Microsoft runs after any signs of Free/open source software adoption and sends its proxies for annihilation, confusion, entryism, or whatever. Cablegate provides some more insight and examples of what Microsoft is doing. The following cable, for instance, gives yet more details on how Microsoft asks US government officials to help derail Vietnam's migration to GNU/Linux.
In ¶6 of the first cable it says: “Software industry members estimate that nearly 90 percent of software in Vietnam is pirated. Several events in 2007 indicate that this situation could improve in the near future, however. Following the Prime Minister’s July 2006 Decision 169 requiring government agencies to strictly comply with copyright laws, a February 2007 Prime Minister’s Instruction laid out the functions, tasks and budgetary means to meet this goal. In May 2007, the GVN signed a landmark software copyright agreement with Microsoft, under which Vietnam will purchase an estimated 300,000 licensed copies of Microsoft Office for government workers, provincial officials and many university faculty and staff (reftel E). In a recent meeting, Microsoft officials informed the Embassy that they are pleased with the GVN’s compliance with this agreement, although “implementation could be faster.” Reportedly in an attempt to avoid copyright infringements, the Communist Party of Vietnam announced in October 2007 that it would switch its 20,000 computers nationwide to open source software. In December 2007 the Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC) issued a list of open-source software products that it recommended other GVN agencies use to avoid copyright violations.”
It is also reassuring to see that “[t]he Government of Vietnam issued the following IPR-related regulations in 2007: . . . — Decision 08/2007/QD-BTTTT, dated 24 December 2007, on the List of open source Software That Meets the Requirements for Usage by State Agencies and Organizations;”
Here is some more lobbying: “Representatives of U.S. IT companies met with Bisbee and Mikalis to voice their concerns about an IT procurement policy announced by Vietnam in late July 2006 (Decision 169). USTR and Embassy Hanoi have worked closely with the Ministry of Post and Telecommunication (MPT) since July to raise USG and industry concerns about the policy, which seeks to provide procurement preferences for localized IT products and open source software. MPT released a draft implementing circular on January 30 for industry comments, and USTR urged the IT industry members to raise their concerns directly with MPT. In response to concerns raised by the USG in July, the MPT has worked to revise the original Decision to limit coverage to only government agencies and explicitly exclude state owned enterprises. USTR and Hanoi Econoff explained to the industry representatives that MPT was open to hearing from industry about global procurement best practices, and industry was urged to engage the GVN directly on this issue. (Note: In meetings in Hanoi, USTR raised industry concerns with MPT directly.”
The those who want to see it in context, here is the first cable:
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Posted in America, Cablegate, Free/Libre Software at 8:01 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Venezuela gets the “PRIORITY WATCH LIST” treatment, meaning that it gets sanctioned or at least warned for not kneeling to Western monopolies (‘IP’)
US resistance to the authorities in Venezuela may have been boosted by Microsoft's interests that are all about money and subjugation. If Venezuela accepts Microsoft’s software, then it accepts software which is controlled by US powers, making it simpler to topple those authorities. According to the following Cablegate cables, Free/open source software gets mentioned unfavourably 3 years in a row, in relation to so-called ‘IP’ (monopoly on knowledge). A cable from 2007 says: “The piracy rate for business software in 2006 is 84 percent, according to International Intellectual Property Alliance statistics — a 6 percent increase from 2005. U.S. software companies have repeatedly come under attack from the BRV as exemplars of what President Chavez referred to as the “neo-liberal” trap of IPR. In 2004, the BRV passed legislation that mandates the use of open source software throughout the public sector. While not necessarily a violation of IPR in and of itself, the software industry has concerns about a lack of transparency in its implementation and favoritism shown to certain vendors.”
The 2008 cable is similar. It states:”The piracy rate for business software in 2007 was 86 percent, according to the Business Software Alliance. U.S. software companies have repeatedly come under attack from the BRV as exemplars of what President Chavez referred to as the “neo-liberal” trap of IPR. In 2004, the BRV passed legislation that mandated the use of open source software throughout the public sector. While not a violation of IPR in and of itself, the software industry has concerns about a lack of transparency in its implementation and favoritism shown to certain vendors.”
In 2009 it says: “In 2004, the GBRV passed legislation that required the use of open source software throughout the public sector. While not a violation of IPR in and of itself, the software industry has concerns about a lack of transparency in its implementation and favoritism shown to certain vendors. The piracy rate for business software in 2008 was 87 percent, according to the Business Software Alliance. The market for legitimate CDs and DVDs continues to decline. As Venezuela imports a high number of virgin discs, the country may be a distribution source and a production center for counterfeit products. The National Film Law, passed in August 2005, requires distributors to locally copy a percentage of the movies they distribute and to register all films, leading to unauthorized release of confidential information and piracy.”
Once again they lump software in with counterfeits to bloster their case for so-called ‘IP’ and make the government of Chavez weaker. Here is the 2007 cable:
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Posted in America, Cablegate, Free/Libre Software at 7:45 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: US cables show the attitude towards Venezuela’s adoption of freedom-respecting software
AS we showed earlier this year, US diplomats and Microsoft fight GNU/Linux in Venezuela and according to the following Cablegate cable, they also try to paint the move with the ‘piracy’ brush. “In an effort to move away from proprietary software products, the Government of Venezuela in 2004 introduced a law mandating the use of open-source software in government and public institutions,” says one cable. But it continues: “This is expected to reduce the demand for U.S. software products somewhat, though much software currently in use is unlicensed or pirated.”
Microsoft never seemed to mind this. Gates and other Microsoft executives openly admitted that this so-called ‘piracy’ was beneficial to Microsoft. Let us carry on with ¶29 of the same cable that says: “Unfortunately, pirated software, music and movies remain readily available throughout the country. In the 2003 Annual Review, Venezuela remained on USTR’s Special 301 Watch List.”
We are going to write more about this in the next post. Basically, open source gets mentioned in most such cables and it is lumped in with all sorts of unrelated issue that have it painted as “piracy” and illegalities.
The Cablegate cable is as follows:
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