07.17.19
Posted in GNU/Linux, Kernel, Microsoft, Servers, Windows at 1:34 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
“Greed is not a financial issue. It’s a heart issue.”
–Andy Stanley
Summary: The Linux Foundation shows ‘love’ to actual GNU/Linux (the real thing) by apparently rejecting it and badmouthing it
WHEN selling the soul of Linux is more profitable than actually promoting this GPL-licensed kernel it’s not hard to understand how the Linux Foundation turned from a supposed ‘charity’ to a massive enterprise and near-monopoly in that space (e.g. events/conferences).
They ‘own’ Linux.com. They control or manage the Linux trademark. So why would they link to anti-Linux stories (authored by “swapnilbhartiya” yesterday)? Because they just do and most of them don’t even use Linux! As someone put it yesterday:
You go to Google, you look for “Linux” news, a site called Linux.com then shows up with anti-Linux material (this isn’t about Linux but bad devices/users). Well done, Swapnil and Jim. The articles posted nowadays in Linux.com give room for concern. Misleadingly-titled FUD.
“You go to Google, you look for “Linux” news, a site called Linux.com then shows up with anti-Linux material (this isn’t about Linux but bad devices/users).”We’ve meanwhile noticed lots of spammy blog posts (yesterday, Sysadmin Day) from the Linux Foundation in various “Linux” blogs. “Linux Security Blog” participated and “It’s FOSS” did so too. Linux Journal said (in the headline) that “the Linux Foundation Is Having a Sysadmin Day Sale,” adding a promotional link with what seems like tracking/referral code. But that in itself isn’t the issue. It seems like the site in question uses Windows for the server, but we’re not entirely sure. It’s very well disguised (see IRC discussion at the bottom).
It would not be unprecedented for the Linux Foundation to use Windows; applicants apply for a job there using LinkedIn (Microsoft), as we’ve noted before and there’s a lot of Microsoft stuff used by the Foundation’s staff (see discussion below; I know this from my old interactions with Foundation staff). Over the past months I’ve had to resort to humour just to get the point across without offending the offenders, for example:
Yesterday I also noticed this text: “Have directly led revenue growth from $20MM to $50MM, from $80MM to $100MM…”
No, that’s not the Foundation’s chief Jim Zemlin (who sold out Linux… for his 'nonprofit' to make about $100,000,000 per year). That’s what his wife’s LinkedIn profile says. It’s all about money and both strive to grow in just one respect: money! From 20 million to 100 million. What is being achieved? Nothing. A Windows-powered and Mac-powered ‘Linux’ Foundation (Linux only in name). █
“Large corporations, of course, are blinded by greed. The laws under which they operate require it – their shareholders would revolt at anything less.”
–Aaron Swartz
| schestowitz |
Help needed! Am I crazy or is this site WINDOWS-powered? Help me out here, geeks… https://cloud.email.thelinuxfoundation.org/SysadmindaY |
Jul 17 01:52 |
| -TechrightsBot-tr/#techrights-cloud.email.thelinuxfoundation.org | NO TITLE |
Jul 17 01:52 |
| schestowitz |
my initial tests say yes |
Jul 17 01:52 |
| schestowitz |
based on more shallow tests |
Jul 17 01:52 |
| schestowitz |
I might publish “Celebrates Sysadmin Day With a Microsoft Windows Site!” |
Jul 17 01:52 |
| schestowitz |
I mean, LF Celebrates Sysadmin Day With a Microsoft Windows Site! |
Jul 17 01:52 |
| schestowitz |
but I am not yet 100% sure it”s Windows at the back end |
Jul 17 01:53 |
| schestowitz |
could be mod-speling [sic] in Apache |
Jul 17 01:53 |
| schestowitz |
https://identity.linuxfoundation.org/checkout/540473 |
Jul 17 01:54 |
| -TechrightsBot-tr/#techrights- ( status 404 @ https://identity.linuxfoundation.org/checkout/540473 ) |
Jul 17 01:54 |
| schestowitz |
also this.. |
Jul 17 01:54 |
| schestowitz |
https://identity.linuxfoundation.org/checkoUt/540473 |
Jul 17 01:54 |
| -TechrightsBot-tr/#techrights- ( status 404 @ https://identity.linuxfoundation.org/checkoUt/540473 ) |
Jul 17 01:54 |
| schestowitz |
note case |
Jul 17 01:54 |
| schestowitz |
still works with the token here |
Jul 17 01:54 |
| schestowitz |
bloody hell! |
Jul 17 01:55 |
| schestowitz |
LF…. you also apply for a job there using LinkedIn (Microsoft) |
Jul 17 01:55 |
| XRevan86 |
https://identity.linuxfoundation.org/checkoUt/540473 – Varnish |
Jul 17 01:56 |
| XRevan86 |
The first link is served by something else. But it won’t tell by which. |
Jul 17 01:57 |
| schestowitz |
can you check with me? |
Jul 17 01:57 |
| schestowitz |
this is important |
Jul 17 01:57 |
| XRevan86 |
It’s not HTTP/2 capable. |
Jul 17 01:58 |
| XRevan86 |
https://cloud.email.thelinuxfoundation.org/ |
Jul 17 01:59 |
| -TechrightsBot-tr/#techrights- ( status 403 @ https://cloud.email.thelinuxfoundation.org/ ) |
Jul 17 01:59 |
| XRevan86 |
The 403 page looks like something done by Apache Tomcat |
Jul 17 01:59 |
| schestowitz |
I did the same thing |
Jul 17 02:00 |
| schestowitz |
why is the site case insensitive? |
Jul 17 02:00 |
| schestowitz |
Also, see page source |
Jul 17 02:00 |
| schestowitz |
lots of “MS” bits |
Jul 17 02:00 |
| schestowitz |
I want to be 100% sure we don’t get the story, if any at all, wrong |
Jul 17 02:00 |
| XRevan86 |
schestowitz: Maybe they configured case-insensitive matching |
Jul 17 02:01 |
| XRevan86 |
It is peculiar. |
Jul 17 02:02 |
| schestowitz |
no clues in http headers? |
Jul 17 02:03 |
| schestowitz |
Ages ago, more than 10 years, I had FF extensions for that |
Jul 17 02:03 |
| schestowitz |
before Mozilla killed xul |
Jul 17 02:03 |
| XRevan86 |
schestowitz: Not even a Server header. |
Jul 17 02:03 |
| XRevan86 |
schestowitz: Firefox’s devtools can do the job. |
Jul 17 02:04 |
| XRevan86 |
but I test with curl |
Jul 17 02:04 |
| schestowitz |
any other tricks we can employ? |
Jul 17 02:04 |
| schestowitz |
This is a big deal if it turns out to be windows |
Jul 17 02:04 |
| XRevan86 |
If I had experience with Windows servers, maybe I’d know what to look for… |
Jul 17 02:04 |
| XRevan86 |
or with Java servers for that matter… |
Jul 17 02:05 |
| XRevan86 |
I know https://linux.org.ru/ is using Tomcat, and it is case-sensitive. |
Jul 17 02:05 |
| -TechrightsBot-tr/#techrights-LINUX.ORG.RU — Русская информация об ОС Linux |
Jul 17 02:05 |
| XRevan86 |
https://www.linux.org.ru/gallery/ – Gallery |
Jul 17 02:05 |
| -TechrightsBot-tr/#techrights-www.linux.org.ru | Галерея |
Jul 17 02:05 |
| XRevan86 |
https://www.linux.org.ru/Gallery/ – 404 |
Jul 17 02:05 |
| -TechrightsBot-tr/#techrights- ( status 404 @ https://www.linux.org.ru/Gallery/ ) |
Jul 17 02:05 |
| XRevan86 |
schestowitz: But maybe it is really mod_speling |
Jul 17 02:08 |
| XRevan86 |
and they then just turned off HTTP headers that give away configuration |
Jul 17 02:08 |
| XRevan86 |
At least we know it’s Java and not ASP.NET |
Jul 17 02:09 |
| schestowitz |
which domain? |
Jul 17 02:11 |
| XRevan86 |
cloud.email.thelinuxfoundation.org |
Jul 17 02:11 |
| cubexyz |
check with netcraft? |
Jul 17 02:12 |
| -viera/#techrights-Tux Machines: Proxmox VE 6.0 released! http://www.tuxmachines.org/node/125966 [https://pleroma.site/objects/f3b82e95-d9ea-42e1-b380-6be86812a61b] |
Jul 17 02:12 |
| XRevan86 |
cubexyz: Doesn’t tell anything of interest. |
Jul 17 02:13 |
| schestowitz |
I thought about it |
Jul 17 02:13 |
| schestowitz |
but did not do it |
Jul 17 02:13 |
| schestowitz |
as I thought it might not even be on their radar yet |
Jul 17 02:13 |
| cubexyz |
merely says “unknown” |
Jul 17 02:13 |
| schestowitz |
seems like a new site or some internal “office” crap |
Jul 17 02:13 |
| schestowitz |
how else can we test? |
Jul 17 02:14 |
| schestowitz |
I don’t want to get the story wrong, that’s all |
Jul 17 02:14 |
| XRevan86 |
> OS: F5 BIG-IP |
Jul 17 02:14 |
| XRevan86 |
It did say that though |
Jul 17 02:14 |
| schestowitz |
as that can be used to discredit everything we ever said re LF |
Jul 17 02:14 |
| XRevan86 |
How can it tell? |
Jul 17 02:14 |
| cubexyz |
there’s wappalyzer |
Jul 17 02:14 |
| schestowitz |
can you have a go at it? |
Jul 17 02:14 |
| cubexyz |
sure |
Jul 17 02:14 |
| schestowitz |
Maybe they have the OS quite well |
Jul 17 02:14 |
| schestowitz |
mind you, they use LOTS of MSFT internalluy |
Jul 17 02:15 |
| schestowitz |
I know this from their PR rep |
Jul 17 02:15 |
| schestowitz |
but demonstrating it, like link with proof, would help… |
Jul 17 02:15 |
| cubexyz |
mysql, php, wordpress, OWL, bootstrap, jquery |
Jul 17 02:17 |
| XRevan86 |
cubexyz: I doubt that |
Jul 17 02:17 |
| XRevan86 |
there’s no wordpress there |
Jul 17 02:17 |
| -viera/#techrights-Tux Machines: Univention Corporate Server 4.4-1/Point Release UCS 4.4-1: performance improvements, app recommendations and UDM REST API Beta http://www.tuxmachines.org/node/125967 [https://pleroma.site/objects/94f199ef-a04b-473c-a4a1-288f05bf6166] |
Jul 17 02:18 |
| schestowitz |
cubexyz: does not look like wordpress |
Jul 17 02:19 |
| schestowitz |
even if you look at page source |
Jul 17 02:19 |
| schestowitz |
it looks like a really poorly-made CMS of some kind |
Jul 17 02:19 |
| schestowitz |
but I want to know the US |
Jul 17 02:20 |
| XRevan86 |
WordPress is PHP. |
Jul 17 02:20 |
| schestowitz |
OS |
Jul 17 02:20 |
| cubexyz |
no idea, just saying what wappalyzer says |
Jul 17 02:20 |
| XRevan86 |
This is Java. |
Jul 17 02:20 |
| schestowitz |
I imagine the CMS is proprietary anyway |
Jul 17 02:20 |
| schestowitz |
https://twitter.com/schestowitz/status/1151297943745568768 |
Jul 17 02:21 |
| -TechrightsBot-tr/#techrights-@schestowitz: We are the LINUX FOUNDATION We OWN Linux dot com! We link to anti -Linux stories Because we just do (and we don’t e… https://t.co/UoJrMddR6K |
Jul 17 02:21 |
| -TechrightsBot-tr/#techrights-@schestowitz: We are the LINUX FOUNDATION We OWN Linux dot com! We link to anti -Linux stories Because we just do (and we don’t e… https://t.co/UoJrMddR6K |
Jul 17 02:21 |
| schestowitz |
https://twitter.com/schestowitz/status/1150987858083295232 |
Jul 17 02:21 |
| -TechrightsBot-tr/#techrights-@schestowitz: “swapnilbhartiya” at #zemlinpac continues using the site LINUX dot com to promote #microsoft crap. [facepalm] https://t.co/BOIY5nmFWU |
Jul 17 02:21 |
| -TechrightsBot-tr/#techrights–> Aqua Security Launches Microsoft Azure Marketplace Private Offers | Linux.com | The source for Linux information |
Jul 17 02:21 |
| XRevan86 |
I don’t think there’s a way to tell |
Jul 17 02:24 |
| cubexyz |
thelinuxfoundation.org runs nginx on linux |
Jul 17 02:25 |
| cubexyz |
according to netcraft |
Jul 17 02:25 |
| XRevan86 |
Does plain Tomcat support “Content-Encoding: gzip”? |
Jul 17 02:25 |
| schestowitz |
That would make sense for the main site |
Jul 17 02:25 |
| schestowitz |
but for sales etc. |
Jul 17 02:25 |
| schestowitz |
not sure |
Jul 17 02:25 |
| XRevan86 |
And they’re using AWS |
Jul 17 02:27 |
| schestowitz |
that’s not unusual |
Jul 17 02:27 |
| schestowitz |
would be worse if they used MSAzure |
Jul 17 02:28 |
| XRevan86 |
That’d make my day |
Jul 17 02:28 |
| XRevan86 |
Port scanning (nmap) revealed only that whoever configured cloud.email.thelinuxfoundation.org configured the firewall restrictively |
Jul 17 02:29 |
| XRevan86 |
At least ICMP is open |
Jul 17 02:30 |
| XRevan86 |
80, 113, 443, nothing else |
Jul 17 02:30 |
| -viera/#techrights-Tux Machines: Network Security Toolkit 30-11210 http://www.tuxmachines.org/node/125968 [https://pleroma.site/objects/ec0ec5d4-88eb-4a05-9512-c9c86c76140a] |
Jul 17 02:31 |
| XRevan86 |
The main site has IPv6, cloud.email. doesn’t. |
Jul 17 02:31 |
| schestowitz |
I guess we still don’t know what it runs |
Jul 17 02:33 |
| schestowitz |
and the checkout (identity) part |
Jul 17 02:33 |
| schestowitz |
they got some company from the outside to do it |
Jul 17 02:33 |
| schestowitz |
and maybe it’s not Linux |
Jul 17 02:33 |
| XRevan86 |
It’s most likely Linux just because the odds are generally in that direction. |
Jul 17 02:34 |
| XRevan86 |
Who’d deploy a Java website on Windows? Some kind of insane Microsoft fan I guess. But then, why not ASP.NET? |
Jul 17 02:34 |
| schestowitz |
don’t bet on kt! |
Jul 17 02:34 |
| schestowitz |
it! |
Jul 17 02:34 |
| schestowitz |
This is the LF |
Jul 17 02:34 |
| XRevan86 |
oh no |
Jul 17 02:37 |
| XRevan86 |
I’ve checked nmap’s capabilities |
Jul 17 02:37 |
| XRevan86 |
-O: Enable OS detection |
Jul 17 02:37 |
| XRevan86 |
-sV: Probe open ports to determine service/version info |
Jul 17 02:37 |
| XRevan86 |
> 443/tcp open ssl/upnp Microsoft IIS httpd |
Jul 17 02:37 |
| XRevan86 |
Guess flipping what |
Jul 17 02:37 |
| XRevan86 |
> Running (JUST GUESSING): F5 Networks embedded (93%), F5 Networks TMOS 11.6.X (87%), OpenBSD 4.X (87%) |
Jul 17 02:38 |
| XRevan86 |
> OS CPE: cpe:/o:f5:tmos:11.6 cpe:/o:openbsd:openbsd:4.0 |
Jul 17 02:38 |
| XRevan86 |
> Aggressive OS guesses: F5 BIG-IP Edge Gateway (93%), F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager load balancer (TMOS 11.6) (87%), OpenBSD 4.0 (87% |
Jul 17 02:38 |
| XRevan86 |
Just like netcraft, it thinks it’s most likely something from F5 |
Jul 17 02:38 |
| XRevan86 |
but HTTP server probing gave a better idea |
Jul 17 02:39 |
| XRevan86 |
schestowitz: Good thing I didn’t bet. |
Jul 17 02:39 |
| XRevan86 |
You seem speechless %) |
Jul 17 02:40 |
| cubexyz |
isn’t port 443 just HTTP over SSL… not necessarily M$ |
Jul 17 02:41 |
| XRevan86 |
cubexyz: That’s “-sV: Probe open ports to determine service/version info” |
Jul 17 02:41 |
| XRevan86 |
that’s its guess |
Jul 17 02:42 |
| cubexyz |
hmmm, yeah |
Jul 17 02:43 |
| cubexyz |
doesn’t look good |
Jul 17 02:44 |
| schestowitz |
maybe I will publish IRC noted to accompany this |
Jul 17 02:44 |
| schestowitz |
*IRC notes |
Jul 17 02:44 |
| schestowitz |
as we are not sure |
Jul 17 02:44 |
| schestowitz |
Get a load of this today |
Jul 17 02:44 |
| schestowitz |
https://www.redhat.com/en/blog/microsoft-and-red-hat-inspired |
Jul 17 02:44 |
| -TechrightsBot-tr/#techrights-www.redhat.com | Microsoft and Red Hat, inspired |
Jul 17 02:44 |
| XRevan86 |
schestowitz: The evidence is: |
Jul 17 02:45 |
| XRevan86 |
1. case-insensitivity for no apparent reason |
Jul 17 02:45 |
| XRevan86 |
2. nmap -sV cloud.email.thelinuxfoundation.org guesses HTTP is handled by “Microsoft IIS httpd” |
Jul 17 02:45 |
| schestowitz |
I think it is probable |
Jul 17 02:46 |
| schestowitz |
as soon as I saw the site and then the structure (marketing cruft appended to URL) |
Jul 17 02:47 |
| schestowitz |
Then I checked page source |
Jul 17 02:47 |
| schestowitz |
Been there, seen that… red flags |
Jul 17 02:47 |
| schestowitz |
Also “cloud” |
Jul 17 02:47 |
| schestowitz |
I know they used MS for office things |
Jul 17 02:47 |
| schestowitz |
like in-office comms |
Jul 17 02:47 |
| schestowitz |
Their PR reps used that to communicate with me ages ago |
Jul 17 02:47 |
| schestowitz |
Dan Brown and others… |
Jul 17 02:48 |
| XRevan86 |
https://cloud.email.thelinuxfoundation.org/SYSADM~1/ well, at least this didn’t work  |
Jul 17 02:49 |
| -TechrightsBot-tr/#techrights- ( status 400 @ https://cloud.email.thelinuxfoundation.org/SYSADM~1/ ) |
Jul 17 02:49 |
| schestowitz |
joke or some element of truth to it? |
Jul 17 02:50 |
| cubexyz |
didn’t M$ give the win7 code to russia recently? |
Jul 17 02:50 |
| schestowitz |
I get the joke |
Jul 17 02:50 |
| cubexyz |
or not recently… it may have been a while ago |
Jul 17 02:50 |
| XRevan86 |
https://github.com/irsdl/IIS-ShortName-Scanner some element of truth to it |
Jul 17 02:51 |
| -TechrightsBot-tr/#techrights-GitHub – irsdl/IIS-ShortName-Scanner: latest version of scanners for IIS short filename (8.3) disclosure vulnerability |
Jul 17 02:51 |
| XRevan86 |
Tried using https://nmap.org/nsedoc/scripts/http-iis-short-name-brute.html, no effect. |
Jul 17 02:56 |
| -TechrightsBot-tr/#techrights-nmap.org | http-iis-short-name-brute NSE Script |
Jul 17 02:56 |
| XRevan86 |
StackOverflow isn’t either. |
Jul 17 02:57 |
| XRevan86 |
nmap -sV detects Varnish on StackOverflow |
Jul 17 02:59 |
| XRevan86 |
> via: 1.1 varnish |
Jul 17 02:59 |
| XRevan86 |
I thought they’re on Windows Server |
Jul 17 02:59 |
| schestowitz |
no, not likely |
Jul 17 02:59 |
| schestowitz |
the (co)founder has some MSFT connections |
Jul 17 02:59 |
| schestowitz |
books etc. |
Jul 17 02:59 |
| schestowitz |
CodingHorror guy |
Jul 17 03:00 |
| schestowitz |
the site, however, isn’t so… and he clarified to me he never worked for Microsoft directly |
Jul 17 03:00 |
| XRevan86 |
Wikipedia states that Stack Overflow is written in C# |
Jul 17 03:00 |
| XRevan86 |
Considering that .NET Core is a very new thing, it is most likely on Windows. |
Jul 17 03:01 |
| XRevan86 |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stack_Overflow#Technology |
Jul 17 03:01 |
| -TechrightsBot-tr/#techrights-en.wikipedia.org | Stack Overflow – Wikipedia |
Jul 17 03:01 |
| XRevan86 |
I guess they have a separate server as a reverse proxy for security and reliability. |
Jul 17 03:01 |
| XRevan86 |
it is also case-insensitive |
Jul 17 03:03 |
| XRevan86 |
no Varnish will change that  |
Jul 17 03:03 |
| schestowitz |
that’s quite common |
Jul 17 03:03 |
| XRevan86 |
So yea, nmap detected it right. |
Jul 17 03:03 |
| schestowitz |
only hours ago at work I deat with |
Jul 17 03:03 |
| XRevan86 |
it figured it’s Varnish, and it is |
Jul 17 03:03 |
| schestowitz |
apache behind nginx, on Ubuntu/Debian |
Jul 17 03:04 |
| schestowitz |
no varnish |
Jul 17 03:04 |
| schestowitz |
nginx stuff as reverse proxy |
Jul 17 03:04 |
| XRevan86 |
schestowitz: Apache httpd is redundant in this case in most cases. |
Jul 17 03:04 |
| schestowitz |
also helps hide fro probers like nmap |
Jul 17 03:04 |
| XRevan86 |
schestowitz: The Stack Overflow is different in that they have to get a separate server to do the job. |
Jul 17 03:05 |
| XRevan86 |
Because Varnish reportedly doesn’t work on Windows. |
Jul 17 03:05 |
| XRevan86 |
* The Stack Overflow case |
Jul 17 03:05 |
| XRevan86 |
schestowitz: nginx in front of Apache httpd introduces almost no overhead. |
Jul 17 03:06 |
| schestowitz |
yes, or a VM |
Jul 17 03:06 |
| schestowitz |
it does not have to run on the host/backend |
Jul 17 03:06 |
| XRevan86 |
So… why wouldn’t you, right |
Jul 17 03:06 |
| schestowitz |
you could even run it as a VM under Windows |
Jul 17 03:07 |
| XRevan86 |
schestowitz: True, but I doubt that’s very efficient either. |
Jul 17 03:07 |
| XRevan86 |
It’s a high-load website. |
Jul 17 03:08 |
| -viera/#techrights-Tux Machines: Seven Concerns Open Source Should Worry About – Part 1 http://www.tuxmachines.org/node/125969 [https://pleroma.site/objects/387bf941-25b0-41b6-be31-c401127a895f] |
Jul 17 03:09 |
| XRevan86 |
3. they don’t bother this much on the main website to hide set-up information |
Jul 17 03:12 |
| XRevan86 |
Overall it looks like it was an outsource job, and no one cared enough to do it differently. But cared enough to cover the tracks a little bit. |
Jul 17 03:14 |
| XRevan86 |
If they really wanted to hide the fact that this is Windows, they’d reverse proxy it. |
Jul 17 03:15 |
| XRevan86 |
But I guess since it’s likely not in their network (I didn’t check), the overhead from proxying is unpleasant. |
Jul 17 03:16 |
| -viera/#techrights-Tux Machines: Top 15 Best Forum Software For Linux in 2019 http://www.tuxmachines.org/node/125970 [https://pleroma.site/objects/f850f594-b34a-40fa-bf10-ee8544d1f956] |
Jul 17 03:18 |
| schestowitz |
might be worth checking host location |
Jul 17 03:24 |
| schestowitz |
LF is in Portland IIRC |
Jul 17 03:24 |
| schestowitz |
if not SF |
Jul 17 03:24 |
| schestowitz |
I think it’s ambiguous and some are ‘home workers’ |
Jul 17 03:24 |
| schestowitz |
I’m pretty sure Jim Zemlin isSF-based, or somewhere near in CA |
Jul 17 03:24 |
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07.07.19
Posted in Deception, GNU/Linux, Microsoft, Windows at 4:02 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
“Coca-Cola was named back in 1885 for its two “medicinal” ingredients: extract of coca leaves and kola nuts. Just how much cocaine was originally in the Cocaine molecule formulation is hard to determine, but the drink undeniably contained some cocaine in its early days.”
–Snopes
Summary: The power of brands and some ‘Kool-Aid’ is well understood by Microsoft, which is actively working to undermine the identity of “Linux” (associating it with itself, with Microsoft)
MICROSOFT may be technically weak, but it makes up for lack of technical merit in other ‘departments’. You know something is wrong when you search for “Linux” news (for example in Google News) and about half the search results are actually Microsoft news, along with feature images like “Microsoft loves Linux” (and those come from Microsoft and Windows sites, not GNU/Linux sites). There’s a longstanding PR campaign; one of the tactics is known as “googlebombing” and is designed for revisionism and brand dilution, two of Microsoft’s most dangerous weapons, which both target the minds. As we explained before and as recently as yesterday, a lot of people will ultimately struggle to understand the difference between “Windows” and “Linux”.
Here’s another new example from the weekend’s news. A reader of ours sent it it over, dubbing it revisionism. “GEM was the only GUI ever seen back then, aside from Mac, mostly GUIs were super rare and it was plain MS-DOS or CP/M which was used instead in the x86 PC category of machine, or Apple DOS on the Apple II was a common combination,” he explained.
“There’s a longstanding PR campaign; one of the tactics is known as “googlebombing” and is designed for revisionism and brand dilution, two of Microsoft’s most dangerous weapons, which both target the minds.”Microsoft used to promote the false idea of Word being the ‘first’ word processor and Windows the ‘first’ operating system with windows in it (hence all other word processors and windowed interfaces are presumably just ‘copies’ or ‘ripoffs’ or ‘knockoffs’ of what Microsoft did). Last week it was reported that Microsoft hasd’t abandoned such vain rhetorics (see ReactOS ‘a ripoff of the Windows Research Kernel’ claims Microsoft kernel engineer). “Reitschin does add he is no lawyer,” said a commentator, “but these claims do raise a number of serious concerns and questions about the ReactOS project. These claims alone will probably ensure no serious commercial entity will ever want to associate itself with ReactOS, and it will be interesting to see if these claims will ever lead to something more serious than mere words.”
The cited article comes from Microsoft Tim, a longtime booster of the company and its lies. █
“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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07.06.19
Posted in GNU/Linux, Microsoft, Windows at 9:46 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Credit: unknown (Twitter)
Summary: Phoronix posts and comments highlight the sentiments of technical people, who aren’t foolish enough to be impressed by Microsoft’s “goodies” which target GNU/Linux users/developers
“Linux is a cult that captures the best-and-brightest kids,” wrote Jim Gray (Microsoft Research) [PDF]. They’re jealous because they know good developers reject Windows and Microsoft. The marketing lies don’t bamboozle the world’s hardcore programmers.
I recently asked Michael Larabel why his Web site, Phoronix, seemingly ‘promotes’ Microsoft stuff (sometimes). Larabel and I have long had amicable relations (at times he sent pointers to Techrights — things we ought to cover), so he politely explained that it was done partly for entertainment reasons. This latest post says: “Not a particularly new feature itself, but recently Microsoft has begun promoting a workflow for developers of encouraging them to use Windows 10 to do Linux development by leveraging Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) and Visual Studio Code Remote.”
“It’s a retention plan for “DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS,” but they might also use colleges to steer young developers towards their spyware, Vista 10.”“It doesn’t sound particularly compelling unless you’re locked into using Windows to begin with,” Larabel wrote a few hours ago. As we recently explained, they target people already on Windows to ensure they stay on Windows. It’s a retention plan for “DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS,” but they might also use colleges to steer young developers towards their spyware, Vista 10. That’s a problem.
As someone noted earlier on in the comments: “I think Microsoft would be better off if they embraced Wine instead. It feels like their operating system is becoming irrelevant for everything than getting the most performance out of video games. Only old developers will be willing to put up with Windows out of habit, and maybe because they like to use Visual Studio for whatever reason.”
“Surely people can spot “EEE” when they can see it this clearly.”Microsoft has long discouraged the use of WINE and with its 2006 Novell deal it also sent implicit threats WINE’s way (we covered it at the time). Microsoft does not want GNU/Linux users to run Windows software locally (almost natively with WINE as it’s a compatibility layer rather than emulation and it does not require a Windows licence, i.e. no Microsoft ‘rent’)
“Sounds like a solution that requires additional unnecessary steps when compared to just developing on Linux,” said another comment.
For those still wrestling to figure out Microsoft’s strategy, it’s basically calling Windows "Linux". This is causing a sort of “brand dilution” (confusion also), which devalues GNU/Linux and steers people away from the “real thing”. Microsoft does not love Linux and it certainly does not want GNU/Linux to succeed, except on Microsoft’s terms (and platform). Surely people can spot “EEE” when they can see it this clearly. Maybe journalists cannot see it when paid not to (“Travel & Lodging was sponsored by CNCF,” say the Linux Foundation‘s ‘choreographers’). █
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06.25.19
Posted in Deception, GNU/Linux, Microsoft, Windows at 4:16 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Who needs Git (a Linus Torvalds project) when there’s proprietary Microsoft GitHub?
Source: Microsoft, via
Summary: The disturbing turns of the self-described “Linux” Foundation, which seems to be promoting proprietary software and even Microsoft rather than Linux and Free/Open Source software while the role or capacity of Torvalds is being gradually diminished
THE Linux Foundation is sadly becoming a bridge to Microsoft, not to Linux. That’s like the Russian military hosting on AWS or GNU projects using Visual Studio. Projects that have nothing whatsoever to do with Linux, the kernel, are being ‘gifted’ to Microsoft. The following new (hours-old) press releases with our comments added hopefully sum things up (these are consortia that involve surveillance firms, including Palantir with its notorious, racist agenda):
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The Linux Foundation’s Artificial Intelligence Community Announces New Acumos Release Focused on Creation of AI/ML Models [Ed: The "Linux" Foundation calls itself "collaboration platform" (or similar), but this new one shows that it's just outsourcing all this collaboration to Microsoft in GitHub (no kidding). The "Linux" Foundation pays a lot of money (salaries) to the father of Git, yet it cannot host its own Git instances and instead outsources it to Microsoft proprietary software, a centralised surveillance platform called GitHub?]
The LF AI Foundation, the organization building an open AI community to drive open source innovation in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL), today announced the new release of Acumos code named Boreas. This latest release of the open source framework and marketplace will enable the creation, training and license verification of AI, ML and DL models and apps, among other benefits to the community of developers and data scientists.
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The Linux Foundation Will Host the Federated AI Enabler to Responsibly Advance Data Modeling [Ed: Original posted here, in tandem, by Craig Ross, not a familiar name (maybe external PR). This project is on GitHub (advertised in massive fonts on the front page). Yet another new example of the “Linux” Foundation outsourcing everything to Microsoft. Takeover complete? Only days ago the Linux Foundation announced its new Vice Chair, Wim Coekaerts, who had worked for Microsoft.]
KubeCon + CloudNativeCon – The Linux Foundation, the nonprofit organization enabling mass innovation through open source, today announced it will host the FATE (Federated AI Technology Enabler). It is a federated learning framework that fosters collaboration across companies and institutes to perform AI model training and inference in accordance with user privacy, data confidentiality and government regulations. 4Paradigm, CETC Big Data Research Institute, Clustar, JD Intelligent Cities Research, Squirrel AI Learning, Tencent and WeBank are among the first organizations committed to the new Foundation.
I’m at a loss for words. It’s all happening so fast. Those who know how E.E.E. works (and have seen many examples of it over the years) cannot simply ignore/dismiss all the evidence. Should we all sit aside until it’s too late? To avoid offending the culprits?
Some of the above sites, we should also note, give the visitors empty pages unless one enables JavaScript (e.g. https://www.fedai.org/) and it’s a sign of unsavory design that encourages surveillance (https://www.fedai.org/ has malware in it, there’s Google Analytics watching your every move).
“If Torvalds was to step down, we know who would take his place (the interim maintainer while he was away). He used to work on Microsoft projects and put Microsoft code inside Linux when Novell was his boss (and in turn bossed by Microsoft).”The staff of the Foundation hardly uses GNU/Linux. Some of them, who contacted me in the past, used Microsoft. Jim Zemlin uses Apple. How many people in the management of the “Linux” Foundation actually use GNU/Linux? Same question for the Board…
I reckon very few of these people care about GNU/Linux and/or have used it, based on what I know about some of them. The Linux Foundation is not about Linux; it is more about keeping GNU/Linux under corporate control than about spreading it. Today, June 25th, marks 2 months since the “Linux” Foundation effectively sacked all Linux.com staff (even the editors). No original work has been published there since (only a few links to the Linux Foundation’s site, e.g. the one about Wim Coekaerts). In our daily links we’ve meanwhile included the following link as well:
What has the Linux Foundation become? It protects Microsoft from its critics (saying that it’s “like kicking a puppy” while Microsoft staff 'greases' things up) and it’s slamming Torvalds — who stepped down temporarily — for exercising free speech and carrying out quality control, which may mean rejecting code that is like cow’s feces (‘bulls**t’) and yet repeatedly being pushed onto Torvalds, whose tone understandably escalates over time, seeing that polite messages aren’t getting across effectively enough. Are they trying to just weaken him as boss of his own project? If Torvalds was to step down, we know who would take his place (the interim maintainer while he was away). He used to work on Microsoft projects and put Microsoft code inside Linux when Novell was his boss (and in turn bossed by Microsoft).
So far everyone we’ve heard from shares our concerns on these matters. Everyone. Few are however willing to speak about it. No news site touched the subject. It’s all PR. And speaking of PR, watch what Slashdot published 3 days ago under the modified headline “How OIN’s Linux-Based Patent Non-Aggression Community Drove Open Source Growth” (it links to ZDNet).
“We expect things to get yet worse over time because the Foundation isn’t communicating any of these issues. It never airs these concerns and it hasn’t even said a thing about Linux.com being effectively disbanded.”This headline is nonsense (yet it was promoted by OIN staff in Twitter); in fact it’s a promotional lie. The growth coming from OIN is a software patents growth, not “Open Source Growth” (more on that in our next article about IBM, which pretends Open Source would not be possible without software patents) and there’s no evidence to support this title. It doesn’t take much research to see that OIN is about making FOSS more like large corporations with their software patents, not making those corporations more like FOSS. The same goes for the Linux Foundation. They both just misuse the “Linux” brand to promote the agenda of companies such as IBM. To say that the Foundation exists merely “to pay Torvalds’ salary” is also quite misleading because nowadays it pays dozens of people ~$300,000/year in salaries. They’re not technical people; few actual coders get paid; they’re the likes of Zemlin, riding the coattails of Linus Torvalds and his project, Linux, to get as much as a million bucks a year. It’s truly discouraging to see that in the same way oil companies thoroughly corrupt politics Microsoft corrupts FOSS groups like the Linux Foundation, OSI and so on. Money buys silence if not complicity. Over at Tux Machines we’ve shown (over the weekend) that Microsoft’s role inside the Foundation keeps growing yet more. They have a lot of power and influence inside this Foundation, so should we be shocked to see Jim Zemlin saying that being against Microsoft like “kicking a puppy” (his words)? Is self-defense like animal abuse? Violence against puppies? We’ve warned about this for well over a decade (e.g. Zemlin urged people to “respect Microsoft” more than a decade ago). Microsoft’s work for ICE doesn’t seem to bother him, but Trump does bother him. Palantir does not seem to bother him either (the Foundation now names it as a member, even in press releases, while acting as a front group to it). This is not good and it’s only a matter of time before the “Linux” Foundation gets associated with things like concentration camps (which Microsoft proudly profits from, it even brags about it in its blog and lies about it to employees).
“…for Azure training they have budget, but not for Linux.com.”Here’s another new ZDNet piece (same author, who is connected to the Foundation) that promotes the Foundation’s work for Facebook, a company that gives all its data to Microsoft and was nearly acquired by Microsoft (instead they became strategic ‘surveillance capitalism’ allies with a shared warehouse of people’s secrets). We expect things to get yet worse over time because the Foundation isn’t communicating any of these issues. It never airs these concerns and it hasn’t even said a thing about Linux.com being effectively disbanded. Yesterday they published a press release about training (Clyde Seepersad), highlighting a program that promotes Microsoft Azure; for Azure training they have budget, but not for Linux.com. █
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05.28.19
Posted in Asia, GNU/Linux, Microsoft, Windows at 2:18 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Obviously North Korea as well, straining the monoculture Microsoft heavily relies on
Summary: East Asia is putting Microsoft’s monopoly on desktops/laptops at great risk; there might be more discussion about this in days/weeks to come
THE Linux Foundation has said nothing about this (not even a link), but Microsoft’s predatory pricing and collusion with the NSA (new incidents related to this in Baltimore) may be costing it the biggest businesses and largest clients (governments). South Korea may already be yesterday's news; now it’s China. It’s not just about Huawei and about Android, either. There was an impact on Microsoft and Windows as well (mentioned in our daily links last week).
“China already has several of its own distributions and they are pretty well maintained. Some are RHEL based and in recent years Debian- and Ubuntu-based (Deepin and Kylin) distributions emerged as well.”China has, over the years, adopted GNU/Linux, but Bill Gates soob came there to sabotage such initiatives, under the auspices of his fake ‘charity’ (lobbying and tax evasion).
Perhaps we’ll know more about it in the coming days (it was a long weekend in the US). It seems like the world’s second-largest military (even largest based on some criteria) may be moving to GNU/Linux. Turkey’s military reportedly did something similar about a decade ago. Now China’s (but this goes beyond that, based on the report “Chinese Military Will Replace Windows Operating System“). They know that reliance on Free software isn’t just cost-saving but also a matter of national security. The article speaks of UNIX, which we assume means proprietary old UNIX, not GNU/Linux. To quote: “The group does not trust the “UNIX” multi-user, multi-stroke operating system either, which is used in some of the servers within the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), Kanwa reported. Therefore, Chinese authorities ordered to develop an operating system dedicated to the Chinese military.”
Will it be based on GNU/Linux? It does not say, but that seems rather probable. China already has several of its own distributions and they are pretty well maintained. Some are RHEL based and in recent years Debian- and Ubuntu-based (Deepin and Kylin, respectively) distributions emerged as well. There’s no lack of manpower. █
“They’ll get sort of addicted, and then we’ll somehow figure out how to collect sometime in the next decade.”
–Bill Gates about Chinese people
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06.05.16
Posted in Asia, Deception, Free/Libre Software, GNU/Linux, Google, Microsoft, Patents, Vista 10, Windows at 12:13 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Reputation laundering with sound bites like the ‘new Microsoft’
Summary: A look at the reality behind today’s Microsoft and what proponents of Microsoft (often connected to the company) want us to believe
THE aggressive company which is widely hated/loathed (and deserves this hatred, which is well earned based on its actions) just can’t help doing evil. Those who try hard to convince themselves that Microsoft has changed must not have noticed that the management is virtually the same and the company continues to operate like a death squad, attempting to prematurely destroy anything which resembles potent competition, based on suspicion alone.
“Those who try hard to convince themselves that Microsoft has changed must not have noticed that the management is virtually the same and the company continues to operate like a death squad, attempting to prematurely destroy anything which resembles potent competition, based on suspicion alone.”Several years ago we explained what Microsoft was hoping to achieve when it took over Skype (soon thereafter to enter NSA’s PRISM, right after Microsoft which was the first in the whole programme and had already provided back doors to the NSA for over a decade). Recently we saw Skype support for GNU/Linux (which was handed over to Microsoft) gradually being withdrawn and this new thread in Reddit says that “Microsoft is lobbying the Indian government to link peoples’ National IDs with their Skype calling” (no source to verify this with).
Microsoft has turned Windows into something as privacy-hostile as Skype itself, if not a lot worse. With Skype, for example, Microsoft spies on people’s private conversations and even follows links; in Vista 10 Microsoft has a keylogger, which spies on everything (even password typing) in real time. Vista 10 should be made illegal, as it is clearly malicious software and should be treated as such. Ironically enough, Microsoft is almost trying to make it impossible not to use Vista 10 and despite that, as Vista 10 infection rates are increasing, very few people actually use this ‘free’ (so-called ‘bargain’) piece of malware. As one report put it, “Windows 10: less than 15 per cent of those who can upgrade have bothered” and “The big question is whether Microsoft will hit the 20 per cent mark by the time the free offer is over.”
“Microsoft has turned Windows into something as privacy-hostile as Skype itself, if not a lot worse.”This is a disastrous result given the way Microsoft fooled and bamboozled people into installing it, even using malware tactics. According to some reports, Microsoft has just made it virtually impossible not to use this malware (one must supply an ‘upgrade’ date) and anyone who still thinks there’s a ‘new Microsoft’ must be either very gullible or bribed.
This new article, “Microsoft Meets Open Source,” is based on a Big Lie. It is not hard to see that Microsoft is attacking FOSS (Open Source), but this site is doing too many sponsored ‘articles’ (advertisements) these days, such as this one (see disclosure). We expect a lot of the usual Microsoft apologists to pretend Microsoft is fine and dandy and indeed, looking at the company’s boosters, we see exactly what’s expected. Microsoft Peter, for instance, continues to attack FOSS using Oracle’s lies. As iophk put it, “now Microsoft has spoken” (alluding to Peter, who very often relays the company’s positions) and given Microsoft’s propaganda sites’ effort to ‘Linuxwash’ SQL Server (also openwashing it, referring to Microsoft’s own employees/mouthpieces), we identify the old strategy which is to associate SQL Server (among other such pieces of proprietary software) with FOSS.
“We expect a lot of the usual Microsoft apologists to pretend Microsoft is fine and dandy and indeed, looking at the company’s boosters, we see exactly what’s expected.”Don’t fall for it. Some people do, but others have been falling for it for a number of years. Sam Dean, who works for a media company that has been receiving Microsoft money to embed propaganda within the articles (and got caught), is still promoting Microsoft proprietary software and repeats the Big Lie, starting with: “According to more and more people, Microsoft may have finally, truly warmed up to Linux and open source. CEO Satya Nadella (shown) has been much in the news for his comments on how he “loves Linux” and he has noted that much of the Azure cloud platform is Linux-based.”
That’s nonsense. It’s a media strategy which we explained before. What is the ‘real Microsoft’, which one might call the ‘new Microsoft’? It’s hardly any better than a patent troll. As Richi Jennings put it the other day in his IDG headline, “Xiaomi feeds Microsoft patent troll — pays patent toll” (Jennings quotes various comments about it).
“What is the ‘real Microsoft’, which one might call the ‘new Microsoft’? It’s hardly any better than a patent troll.”This article quotes Mary Jo Foley (a longtime Microsoft mouthpiece) as saying: “Microsoft is both continuing to collect patent royalties from Android [and defending] antitrust charges in China. … Some outlets are saying Xiaomi “bought” these patents [not] licensed them.”
We wrote about this the other day, noting that this came from Microsoft -- not Xiaomi -- and Xiaomi paid Microsoft for patents. Here is what the patent propagandists have said over at IAM: “Whichever way you look at it, the deal between Microsoft and Xiaomi which was announced earlier this week has to go down as one of the most significant of the year so far. There are the terms of the deal itself – Xiaomi gets 1,500 patents from the software giant’s global portfolio, Microsoft gets Office and Skype pre-installed on Xiaomi’s Android phones and tablets and the two sides put in place a cross-licence (which it’s probably safe to say is more valuable to the Chinese company).”
“What kind of drug does one have to take to believe Microsoft is a friend?”IAM, which is funded by patent trolls, has always been so Microsoft-friendly that it makes one wonder. Even its Web site, unusually enough, is Windows-powered (in 2016!) and another new article about Xiaomi says that “Xiaomi absorbs patent fund operator Zhigu as it re-shuffles IP team”. This too mentions the Microsoft extortion: “Yesterday, this blog covered a major deal between Xiaomi and Microsoft that saw the Chinese company acquire 1,500 patents along with a cross-licence. While the financial details are unknown, the fact that Xiaomi is now likely among the top 200 or so holders of US patents has to be seen as a coup for the smartphone startup. It also comes just three months after some big changes to its relatively young IP function.”
The bottom line is, Microsoft spreads malware, it spreads it forcibly, it lies about its proprietary software being “open” and it goes after the “open” rivals (such as Android) using software patents. What kind of drug does one have to take to believe Microsoft is a friend? █
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05.26.16
Posted in Microsoft, Vista 10, Windows at 6:02 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
What next? Ransomware?
Albert Gonzalez is in prison, but Microsoft executives are too big to jail. Photo: U.S. Secret Service/US Attorney for New Jersey
Summary: Microsoft is essentially taking over people’s PCs and installing on them a large piece of malware, complete with keyloggers, against the will of these PCs’ owners
WHAT is the difference between Vista 10 and malware? Quite frankly, we can’t tell anymore. Windows is no longer just the host of state-developed malware like Stuxnet; it is itself malware, as per definition.
Days ago we wrote about further escalation of Vista 10's aggressive tactics and now it gets even worse, confirming what we mentioned earlier this week:
Once again, Microsoft has been caught out putting the security of its users at risk, by employing what has been described as a “nasty trick” to force an upgrade to Windows 10.
A BBC report said that the company had now changed the functionality of the pop-up that was used to encourage users to upgrade to Windows 10.
The red X at the right-hand top corner is normally used to close the pop-up, but the BBC said now clicking there activated the upgrade, rather than closing the pop-up.
One can only avoid the upgrade when another pop-up appears at the time scheduled on the first pop-up. The instructions provided by Microsoft are not exactly simple and will take up a fair amount of time.
Note that the instructions blithely say: “When you close this pop up, your PC will upgrade at the scheduled time,” as though closing a pop-up normally results in the activity specified therein running to conclusion!
“Better option is to upgrade to GNU/Linux,” iophk told us. “Mint is a good starter distro.”
Worth repeating is this assertion: if Microsoft was not so well connected in government, given it a sense of immunity, Vista 10 tactics would land people who developed it in prison (there are other reasons for this), or at least in courtrooms all around the world. █
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05.24.16
Posted in Microsoft, Vista 10, Windows at 12:26 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
…To use Elop’s own words (we shall write about Nokia separately some time later)
Summary: It’s not just Windows for phones that’s reaching minuscule market share levels but also Windows, but Microsoft is skilled at hiding this (cannibalising Windows using something people do not even want, then counting that cannibal, Vista 10)
THE REASON why Microsoft is not being covered here as much as before is that it’s not as relevant. Right now even Microsoft’s and Bill Gates’ friends at Gartner admit that Windows Phone market share is approaching 0%. Rumours we have been hearing suggest that Windows Phone will be called off and die not too long from now. Even Microsoft’s biggest fans (some of whom pretend to be journalists) have dumped Windows Phone (usually in favour of Android). We didn’t write about it when it happened because we worry more about what Microsoft intends to do with its patents (recall IBM) as its business is reduced to rubble.
“Rumours we have been hearing suggest that Windows Phone will be called off and die not too long from now.”For those who have not seen or heard the news, “Windows Phone market share falls below one percent”, according to a Microsoft-connected firm. As iophk put it: “Market share or sales? The numbers might be lower still.” They probably are. To quote CBS: “Microsoft’s Windows Phone may not be long for this world. Although the first quarter of 2016 saw a 3.9 percent increase in global smartphone sales year-on-year, Windows Phone saw a nearly 2 percent drop in sales. According to the latest Gartner report, Windows Phone sales went from 2.5 percent and 8.27 million units in Q1 2015 to 0.7 percent and 2.4 million units in Q1 2016.”
Glyn Moody cites this as proof that Microsoft won’t come back to greatness (in the market share sense) any time soon, or ever. Here is another article about it, this one titled “Windows Phone market share sinks below 1 percent” (also from a Gates-connected source). There are even more pessimistic reports in other places. FOSS proponent Sam Varghese notes that “Android sales were the highest (84.1%).” We have intentionally chosen Microsoft-friendly sources so as to show just how serious the problem is. Even the Microsoft choir cannot spin its way out of it.
“Microsoft’s Vista 10 installs itself without consent, still.”On the desktop, Microsoft is forcing people to use what Microsoft tells them to have, basically by hijacking people’s PCs. As the Bill Gates-funded The Guardian has just put it, “Microsoft has ruined my day, and possibly my life” (article by Michele Hanson). the summary says: “An unwanted software update has moved my files, broken my printer and stopped the sound on iPlayer” (which was originally notoriously Microsoft-friendly, as we noted over the years).
“Microsoft is in shambles.”As a matter of preference and priority, we don’t write much about Vista 10 anymore, but we keep hearing new stories about forced ‘upgrades’. For instance, “yesterday,” said one person, “Microsoft updated to windows 10 without my consent…” [1, 2]. Microsoft’s Vista 10 installs itself without consent, still. The solution? Goodbye Windows, hello GNU/Linux. Much to our disgust, Microsoft continues to exploit the “Linux” brand in its miserable effort to whitewash Vista 10, based on what Microsoft published yesterday. Is this whole provocative charade not over yet? Microsoft does not love Linux, it just realises that now, as Chromebooks outsell Apple-branded PCs, GNU/Linux is the growing/huge force not only in mobile (tablet/phones) but also on the desktop (or laptop rather). Microsoft does not love Linux and it does not love FOSS either. Yesterday, for instance, we learned of yet another case of Microsoft censorship [1] because someone dared to suggest making Visual Basic FOSS upon its 25th anniversary [2].
Microsoft is in shambles. To use Elop’s words (from that infamous memo), Microsoft’s operating systems are now “burning platforms”. █
Related/contextual items from the news:
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