Links 20/02/2008: eBay Boycott, Yahoo Under Attack, Push for GNU/Linux in Russia
- Dr. Roy Schestowitz
- 2008-02-20 15:27:39 UTC
- Modified: 2008-02-20 15:27:39 UTC
Recent Techrights' Posts
- IBM is "Making an Exit". Only the Executives Will Get Rich.
- failure disguised as success
- 2026 is the Year of Blockchains, Says IBM's CEO a Decade Ago?
- "falling upwards"
- Most Coders Used to be Women, Not Men (and Men Who Dropped Out of College Now Plunder Everything They Can)
- "Ethics For Hackers"
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- Microsoft Has Spent Months Preparing Lists of People to Cull in Massive Wave of Layoffs (Allegedly Start of July)
- There is some consensus that we're weeks away from mega-layoffs at Microsoft
- Gemini Links 06/06/2026: "Competing" With LLMs and "Automation of Any Kind"
- Links for the day
- Links 06/06/2026: 'Linux' Foundation Openwashing Slop on Microsoft's Payroll, Ukraine Wants Permanent Ceasefire With Russia
- Links for the day
- 50% of the 'Gains' Made by "Quantum" Hype Already Evaporated
- "It was all hype about quantum nonsense. Heading back to reality now. Expect sub-$220 after earnings release next month."
- Heap of Trash Online, Not Just the Fault of LLM Slop But Enabled by Slop
- Google News has just promoted a pair of prolific slopfarms
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Friday, June 05, 2026
- IRC logs for Friday, June 05, 2026
- Links 05/06/2026: Lawyers in Trouble for Citing Cases That Don't Exist (Slop Too Bad to Justify Costs; Even It It Did Work, It Would Still be Far Too Expensive)
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 05/06/2026: Bears in the Streets, WWII Revisionism, and Westworld
- Links for the day
- Microsoft's LinkedIn Called "Dying Platform" by One Who Worked There
- The co-founder of LinkedIn has just stepped down too
- GAFAM (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft) Layoffs Are Due to Surging Debt, or About 120 Billion Dollars Borrowed in One Year Alone
- It's well above 150 billion dollars if one adds Oracle
- After One Jeffrey Epstein Associate 'Leaves' Microsoft's Board Another Jeffrey Epstein Associate Steps Down, Workers Concerned About the Mass Layoffs
- How many more loans can Microsoft receive? Those loans are becoming increasingly risky.
- IBM Exploits Overambitious, Hungry Young Men to Help the "Great Quantum Hype Campaign" (Pumping the Stock Based on Deliberate Misinformation or Outright Disinformation)
- The boot-licking campaign is live...
- What Will Likely Happen When the Slop Bubble Pops (and When It'll be Widely Accepted That It Popped)
- all the "most successful" slop companies are so deep in debt
- The Register MS is Part of the Problem, It's Publishing "AI" SPAM Because it's Paid by Chinese Military-Connected Firms
- Given that The Register MS is run by a Microsofter (since last summer), destruction seems inevitable
- IBM's CEO Does Not Use GNU/Linux, So Why Did He Suggest Buying Red Hat Only to Lay Off Its Workers, Market Slop Instead of Linux, and Sack UNIX Professionals?
- Shortly after IBM had bought Red Hat and there were mass layoffs we pointed out that Red Hat's CEO was not using GNU/Linux
- If You're Not Focusing on Software Freedom, All You'll Get is Slopware and Buzzwords
- If you're not focusing on attaining Software Freedom (and remember "Linux" is just a brand), then you're losing sight of the goals that actually matter
- Red Hat/IBM: Microsoft is Our Partner of the Year
- Red Hat is a really bad gravy
- Gemini Links 05/06/2026: Enshittification of Institutes for Project Management, Codebases Contaminated With Slop, Personal Stories
- Links for the day
- Communicating With Freedom - Part II - Quibble Breathing New Life Into LibreJS
- Notice how work on one thing led to thousands of lines of code added to a mostly dormant (but nevertheless important) project
- Slop Has no ROI, an Economy Built on False Assumptions of Slop is Doomed
- we're all going to suffer from this Ponzi scheme
- Links 05/06/2026: More GAFAM Layoffs, Google Faces Regulatory Crackdown in UK Over Plagiarism in "AI" Clothing
- Links for the day
- Rumour That Layoffs at Microsoft Will Kick Off on July 1st, 2026 (Impacting 10,000 or More Workers)
- this is what the rumour mill or the word through the grapevine is
- Mission:Libre, Which Teaches Young People Free Software Ideals, Needs Financial Backing
- plea for assistance with Mission:Libre
- The Slop Ponzi Scheme is a Problem and Threat to All of Us (Even Those Who Don't Invest in or Use Slop at All)
- This problem is systemic, not contained
- "Blind Justice" Examines the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Turning a Blind Eye to Abuse by British Solicitors
- We have some jaw-dropping examples of how the SRA does not do actual regulation - to the point where its staff does not actual work and does not look into any evidence at all!
- 7 Days From Now the FSF's Founder Gives a Talk in Bern, the FSF Has Just Advertised This
- Meanwhile the FSF (or GNU) processes and uploads many recent talks by RMS
- European Patent Office (EPO) Series: Down But Not Out – Costa's Comeback
- he managed to secure a top-level EU position in June 2024
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Thursday, June 04, 2026
- IRC logs for Thursday, June 04, 2026
- Links 04/06/2026: Self-hosting Remotely and GemText Emphasis
- Links for the day
- Links 04/06/2026: Ukraine’s Daily Moment of Silence and Uber Lays off 23% of HR
- Links for the day
- SLAPP Censorship - Part 98 Out of 200: Microsoft Threatening Real Security Researcher With Criminal Investigation for Talking About Microsoft's Bug Doors/Back Doors
- The crime should be the back doors (deliberate attack on every user's data protection), not talking about those back doors
- Microsoft Would Get Away Even With Pedophilia
- "Microsoft should never be above the law"
- Journalists Should be Ashamed for Parroting False Claims From IBM Management About "Quantum Computing", Say IBM Insiders Who Work on "Quantum Computing"
- IBM is a buzzwords vendor. International Buzzwords Machines.
- Free Software is Nourishment to Software Users, Unlike Proprietary Software
- Quit treating "mere users" of software "like animals"
- The "Peanut Gallery" of GAFAM Has Infiltrated Free Software Projects or Disrupts Free Software Communities
- They contribute nearly nothing and do substantial damage; they're freeloaders who attack the most productive members of projects
- Coding is Not a Quantity Game (It Never Was!)
- "less is more"
- Exposing Corruption Using a Highly Resilient Platform
- Growing levels of trust, based on our track record, help us attract whistleblowers
- Mass Layoffs Expected at Microsoft in July 2026
- They're preparing more "lists" of people
- Reflection on EPO Leadership That Harbours Cocaine, IBM Leadership That Pumps-and-Dumps the Shares, and More
- ManCity replaced Manuel Pellegrini with a more famous manager it didn't envision winning 20 titles in 10 years (it could only hope) [...] Team-building is something that "Pep" seemed to be good at, as was Jürgen Klopp
- Pump and Dump by IBM Insider Traders: Nickle LaMoreaux, Gary Cohn, James Kavanaugh, Arvind Krishna, Robert Thomas, and Others
- the shares are already collapsing
- FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) Has Weakened If Not Ruined What's Left of Big Media
- Many things that have existed for decades are now being rebranded as "AI"
- SLAPP Censorship - Part 97 Out of 200: Garrett in Hiding (From the Simple Observable Fact He's Closely Connected to the Microsofter Who Strangles Women, Tells Women to Kill Themselves, and Worse)
- They use one another; they are coordinating this via the SLAPP industry in another continent
- Links 04/06/2026: Microsoft Threatening Security Researcher for Naming Back Doors in BitLocker, "Demand is Booming for" Old Tech
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 04/06/2026: "Word Vomit", Slop", and Moving to Gopher/Gemini
- Links for the day
- Rust Outsources its Financing (or Financial Control) to Microsoft
- How long before the third "E"?
- "Format Sovereignty" Can Only be Accomplished With LaTeX or OpenDocument Format (ODF) or Vendor-Neutral Standards for Editable Documents
- Microsoft is, in effect, above the law
- IBM's Shares Fell Nearly 13% in One Day (Including After Hours)
- its main product is false promises
- The Cyber Show on the Importance of Software Freedom and Why GNU/Linux Could Not be Stopped
- an excellent article
- Drew DeVault Can Still Redeem His Reputation. Revisiting His Attacks (and Attack Site) on Richard Stallman Might be a Good Start.
- DeVault has openly apologised (this past spring)
- The Register MS is Publishing Paid SPAM; Some of It is Designed to Prop Up the "AI" Pyramid Scheme
- The Register MS participates in scams
- European Patent Office (EPO) Series: "Operation Influencer"
- Costa's political career was far from finished
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, June 03, 2026
- IRC logs for Wednesday, June 03, 2026
Comments
Great
2008-02-20 15:54:42
Still want to kill Google. But they cant.
Google = Cool M$ = Sucks
Most of the top talent at Yahoo will move over to Google or some other company. M$ will be left behind with all the lousy people - and they will pay with all their cash reserves and go in debt.
That just made my day !!!
After few year the old monkey boy will be still throwing chairs around the office taking how fucking stupid they where by buying Yahoo. Difference will be they have lost a huge amount of market share to Linux and they will be in debt with their stock price spiralling downwards.
What kind of a fucking stupid company buys technology to shut it down (xen) and bribes reporters to discredit others products.
M$ is still arrogant that they will win. This will be their end. This is their last chance...
Roy Schestowitz
2008-02-20 16:24:20
Gates says it's the Yahoo employees that he wants, but it's unlikely to work out. The Yahoos don't want Microsoft. See the following recent articles:
Bradley Horowitz bids Yahoo farewell
,----[ Quote ] | Bradley Horowitz, who headed up Yahoo's Advanced Technology division, bid | adieu to the company in a blog entry posted on Valentine's Day. `----
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9873183-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Week in review: Yahoo snubs Microsoft
,----[ Quote ] | "The smell of fear and rage is pervasive on"The smell of fear and rage is | pervasive on campus," wrote one News.com reader to the TalkBack forum. "They | might as well have been told the Mansons were buying the place." campus," | wrote one News.com reader to the TalkBack forum. "They might as well have | been told the Mansons were buying the place." `----
http://www.news.com/Week-in-review-Yahoo-snubs-Microsoft/2100-1083_3-6230761.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&subj=news
Is Microsoft/Yahoo about Windows' failure as a top server platform?
,----[ Quote ] | Before my whiney enemies all get up in arms about yours truly once more | beating up on Microsoft, I'd like to point out that the idea of Microsoft | buying Yahoo being a tacit admission that Windows can't cut the mustard as a | top Internet server platform didn't originate with me. | | No, the credit, or blame if you prefer, goes to Marcelo Carvalho, an IT | manager in San Francisco and Damien Hocking, a Linux-Watch reader who brought | Carvalho's thoughts to my attention. `----
http://www.linux-watch.com/news/NS8001941484.html
Yahoos won’t work for Microsoft
,----[ Quote ] | I work for Yahoo!, and I have had to explain to a few people recently why the | Microsoft buyout talks are so troubling for Yahoos. They don’t seem to | understand the severity of the impact that a Microsoft takeover will have. | | [...] | | Key reason #1 - Microsoft is anti open-source... | | [...] | | Key reason #2 - Microsoft is evil... `----
http://www.techyouruniverse.com/technology/yahoos-wont-work-for-microsoft
The real difference between Microsoft and Google
,----[ Quote ] | Microsoft can shuffle the deck chairs all it wants. | | It can buy Yahoo or YooHoo. It can trot out Steve Ballmer in Spandex and a | cape. | | Microsoft’s problem in competing with Google is far more basic. | | It’s organizational. | | | [...] | | It’s not about the money. It’s not about the fame. It’s not about the name on | the door. It’s not about becoming an executive. | | It’s about the work. It’s about doing something over the course of just a few | months and then seeing it online. It’s about trying, and sometimes failing, | then trying again. | | [...] | | So far I’ve seen no evidence this is going to happen. I think Microsoft’s bid | for Yahoo is proof of that. Once the deal goes down, all those smart | Yahoo-ers will be free to leave. The dumb ones will be left, waiting for | orders from Redmond. `----
http://blogs.zdnet.com/open-source/?p=2025
Also see this new bit:
,----[ Quote ] | Would you believe... that Microsoft has dropped down to #86 within the | Fortune Best Places to Work survey? That's down from #50 in 2007 and #42 in | 2006. Like a rock. In a bad way. And who is #1 for two years in a row? Grab | that chair and give it a big effen toss in the air to Google! Toot! They get | bigger and they're still #1. `----
http://minimsft.blogspot.com/2008/02/some-quick-quips-yahoo-86-and-mspoll.html
Lastly consider:
Why Microsoft Should Fret
,----[ Quote ] | But what if at stake in the battle isn't just Microsoft's position in selling | ads, but the very survival of its core software business? Microsoft would | never admit that so much is on the line. `----
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120277476716860601.html?mod=yahoo_hs&ru=yahoo
Microsoft's Last Big Beat: Internet Domination or Death
,----[ Quote ] | What can $44.6B USD mean? Well, for Microsoft (MSFT) it may mean the cost of | survival. `----
http://seekingalpha.com/article/63876-microsoft-s-last-big-beat-internet-domination-or-death?source=yahoo
Microsoft to partners: It's time to change
,----[ Quote ] | Aiming to rally its partners around the reality of hosted software, Microsoft | Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner told them it was a matter of financial | life and death. `----
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-6195764.html
Microsoft's executive shuffle expected Thursday
,----[ Quote ] | The move will see three top executives--including two prominent outside | hires--out of a job. Leaving the company are: Senior Vice President Steven | Berkowitz, the former Ask.com CEO who had been heading Microsoft's online | services unit, and Mike Sievert, the former AT&T Wireless executive brought | in to run Windows marketing. Both Sievert and Berkowitz had already seen some | duties handed off to others at the company and their departures were largely | expected. | | Also leaving is Pieter Knook, longtime head of Microsoft's Windows Mobile | unit. `----
http://www.news.com/8301-13860_3-9871715-56.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Microsoft is Dead
,----[ Quote ] | A few days ago I suddenly realized Microsoft was dead. I was talking | to a young startup founder about how Google was different from Yahoo. | I said that Yahoo had been warped from the start by their fear of | Microsoft. That was why they'd positioned themselves as a "media | company" instead of a technology company. Then I looked at his face | and realized he didn't understand. It was as if I'd told him how much | girls liked Barry Manilow in the mid 80s. `----
http://www.paulgraham.com/microsoft.html
Will Microsoft Survive the Next 10 Years?
,----[ Quote ] | I am not really an expert in this but when I read all the negative | headlines and articles I ask myself if Microsoft really will survive | the next 10 years. | | [...] | | I am pretty sure that the Open Source Community, the new Ubuntu, | Google and of course Apple are those companies that are ready for | our century and they will get more and more people that know what | they really want. `----
http://websquirrel.blogspot.com/2007/03/will-microsoft-survive-next-10-years.html
Great
2008-02-20 16:58:06
Google is keeping its arm open for them - a welcome red carpet. It must have already started to woo them.
Google is going to annihilate M$. I think Google doesnt even care about M$+Yahoo merger - they care more about the consumers and making their products better - rather than crushing down competitors.
See a huge amount of deflection of best open source developers to Google after the hostile takeover.
Go Google !!!
M$ will be left with nothing but poo on their face. This will be their end.
Great
2008-02-20 17:10:13
They are no longer the industry leaders - just playing catchup
Look at the number of mass migration away from Windows platform - US army, Hardware OEM (asus, dell, hp, etc) Colleges, International Governments, developers, etc.
Last advatange they have is lot of money - that too is gone with Yahoo.
Great
2008-02-20 17:16:19
Miles
2008-02-20 18:53:59
1. cheaper dvds ($20 vs $40+) 2. cheaper players ($120 vs $350+) 3. same quality as blueray (used the same codecs) 4. harder to damage than Blu-Ray 5. HD DVD doesn't have region locking, Blu-Ray does.
Blu-Ray winning the battle doesn't hurt Microsoft nearly as much as it hurts consumers. HD DVD wasn't even Microsoft's format anyway, it was Toshiba's... which is the underdog compared to Sony.
IMHO, Sony is another Microsoft wannabe and that has made me very nervous about Blu-Ray.
If you look back over history, Sony has always tried to push some alternative media format - always more expensive for the consumer. And until now, they've always lost.
Roy Schestowitz
2008-02-20 23:25:59
BoomBoom
2008-02-21 01:48:45
I've been reading for awhile, and have been a happy PCLinuxOS user since last December, thanks to the dismal failure known as Vista + M$'s attempts to sabotage my XP pro install through the autoupdate feature. My solution to this mess, since I like my old games and Wine can't run some of them, was to reinstall XP with XP-lite, removing all the web services, Internet Exploiter, Outhouse Excess, ect, and setting up a dualboot with PCLOS, since M$ products can't be trusted on the web. I've always preferred Firefox and T-bird over IE/OE anyway. Despite the FUD that M$ shills and fanboys spew, I've found PCLOS easy to use and quick to pick up. This coming from a poweruser that hacked on XP to try to get it to do what I wanted. That's my personal middle digit salute to M$.
Now for the news I have. Scope this out and laugh: http://msdn.microsoft.com/events/hero/
Keep in mind that an 'evildoer' in M$'s view is everyone that has had enough of M$ brand FUD, crap code and malware.
Damn, I hope those bastards go out of business soon.
Roy Schestowitz
2008-02-21 02:17:01
Yes, I read about this site (it has been known of for a while, at least by Microsoft watchers) and I was going to ignore it. Giving that desperate attempt from Microsoft a mention is giving it publicity, which is why Slashdot has already done.
Prepare for Microsoft to pretend that it has changed in attempts to regain people's love. Sun already does this using its "we're a little bit pregnant with open source" gesture, but Sun is not malicious.