Bonum Certa Men Certa

Moles Watch: Will Poole, Sprint Nextel, Wipro, Slate

WE OCCASIONALLY take a glimpse at Microsoft seniors/alumni and especially where they happen to land after leaving Microsoft. Such shady figures can cause more damage from inside other companies, which they are likely to 'marry' with Microsoft. Unless there is sufficient opposition and sanity, companies might wed an eternal betrayer, just like EMC did.



As a bit of background on this topic, consider:



Today we look at 4 more reports that are worth keeping an eye on.

NComputing/Will Poole



Will Poole prefers to present himself as a man of goodwill, but he helped the sabotage of GNU/Linux-based OLPC XOs (leading, eventually, to the possible destruction of this charity as a whole). He also participated in programmes and groups that are related dumping techniques (EDGI) against GNU/Linux [1, 2]. It's about getting children "addicted" to Microsoft, to borrow Bill Gates' explanation of this situation.

Will Poole recently entered a company that distributes many GNU/Linux solutions to schools and we have already explained why this is troubling [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]. There is this new article about him with a portion that ties him to another malicious part of Microsoft.

Poole is one of the most prominent ex-Microsofties to leave the company in the past year. Until last September, he was vice president of Microsoft’s Unlimited Potential Group (one of the better division names, in my opinion), and was in charge of providing software to markets in less-developed nations around the world. Before that, he was responsible for the Windows desktop operating system, so he knows a few things about shipping large-scale products. He first came to Microsoft in 1996 through its acquisition of eShop, a company he co-founded in 1991. Some of his post-Microsoft insights can be found on his “creative capitalism” website here.

[...]

Poole says NComputing is having a “profound effect on markets that were previously unable to use computer infrastructure because of cost.” His role is to help the company build its business from a strategic perspective, using his knowledge and contacts from around the world. “The exciting thing about NComputing is they’re already at scale,” he says. “It’s cheaper to fill up a school [with these PCs] than any other choice out there.” Poole says NComputing has about 150 employees in 14 countries, and they’re currently selling into 90 countries.


This can be more sinister than it sounds assuming children are turned into clients of foreign companies, only to be exposed to artificial limitations such as DRM.

Sprint Nextel



Another Microsoft executive has landed inside the board of another company, this time Sprint Nextel. It's worth bearing in mind in case Microsoft signs some deal or collaborates with Sprint Nextel in the not-so-distant future.

Sprint Nextel Corp. has appointed a former Microsoft executive to the Clearwire Corp. board.

Brian McAndrews’ appointment to the Clearwire board took effect immediately, Clearwire said in a Tuesday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He most recently led the advertiser and publisher solutions group of Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) as senior vice president and also is a director of Fisher Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: FSCI).


Wipro



Wipro was recently banned for malpractice, but most people may recognise Wipro as Microsoft's 'shill' in India [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] because it helps suppression of GNU/Linux and freedom across the country. Here is Wipro doing a lot more legwork for Microsoft, based on this new report.

Wipro says that it has deployed Office Communications Server 2007 to more than 80 customers, who range in size from 10,000 to 80,000 employees.


Wipro has a role in what locals sometimes call Microsoft's “Axis of Evil”, which together with the EDGI programme (see above) makes it clear that the country is exploited, as opposed to offered any real help. As we noted before, the India Daily said that "Wipro is just a servant of Microsoft facilitating Indian cyber slavery under the American corporate banners."

Slate



We have already dissected Microsoft's relationship with Slate and further elaborated this in an analysis of the Microsoft-Abramoff tie. This new article from the New York Times (a Microsoft hostage too [1, 2]) reiterates important facts:

SOMEWHERE at Microsoft, there is a closet packed with leftover Slate umbrellas — a monument to the folly of asking people to pay for what they read on the Internet. These umbrellas — a $20 value! — were the premium we offered to people who would pay $19 for a year’s subscription to Slate, the Microsoft-owned online magazine (later purchased by The Washington Post). We were quite self-righteous about the alleged principle that “content” should not be free. The word itself was an insult — as if we were just making Jell-O salad in order to sell Tupperware.


This is why people must be skeptical about what they see in the media. Microsoft owns portions of it and as we demonstrated just hours ago, it shows.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Microsoft Has Not Much Left to Show Investors, Shares Fall Almost 20%
It's not even clear how Microsoft makes money anymore
The Fall of the Open Source Initiative (OSI): The OSI Election is Rigged, Biased Against People Who Oppose the Openwashing of GPL-Violating Bots Operated by Microsoft for Profit (OSI Gets Paid to Promote This)
they reckon that pretence of calm would serve them best, helped by puff pieces
In Vietnam, statCounter Sees Microsoft Windows Falling Below 7% "Market Share"
Can Microsoft still demand $500 or more per Windows licence?
Fresh IBM Layoffs Reported in Europe and North America, Jobs Allegedly Moved to South Asia (Low Salaries)
As usual, IBM does not talk about this
The Ludicrous Mythology of Commonality as Signal of Value, Merit, Popularity
Devalue what's true, promote marketing?
 
EPO Central Staff Committee: "The Strategy of the Office Lacks Transparency and Cannot be Understood"
Microsoft and the EPO violate data protection laws
Links 11/03/2025: Spring and Misfin Server
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 10, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, March 10, 2025
Latvia (and Lithuania) Stepping Away From GAFAM, Microsoft
Windows becomes unessential as Android and GNU/Linux rise
Microsoft Layoffs Are Infectious (Don't Get Acquired or Become a Partner)
It seems like companies choosing to become "buddies" with Microsoft are dooming themselves and their products
A Closer Look Inside the EPO, Courtesy of Benoît Battistelli's Submissive Lapdogs Roberta Romano-Götsch and Elodie Bergot
new report comes from the Local Staff Committee Munich (LSCMN)
Links 10/03/2025: Staff Strikes, Mass Layoffs in Gaming Industry
Links for the day
Gemini Links 10/03/2025: "Eat The Rich" and Two-Year Anniversary of the 'Space Elevator' Orbit (Like 'Webring')
Links for the day
Links 10/03/2025: Small Web Praised, LLM Chatbots Exposed as Worse Than Useless Again
Links for the day
A Call for GNU/Linux and BSD Developers to Unite Against GAFAM and the Regime They Empower
We have long encouraged and continue to encourage people who value Software Freedom to altogether boycott GAFAM
[Video] Richard Stallman on the Four Essential Freedoms (Manuel Cuda News, 2025)
Added to a channel several days ago by Manuel Cuda News
Gemini Links 10/03/2025: Realisation About Young People, Punks, and Discord IPO
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 09, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, March 09, 2025
[Video] Richard Stallman on Understanding the Misconception of So-called 'Artificial Intelligence'
to "know and understand"
FSF's Defective by Design (DBD): Amazon Tightens the Digital Handcuffs
Reproduced verbatim
The Fall of the Open Source Initiative (OSI): Plenty of Issues, Plenty of Censorship
The OSI is abusive on many levels!
EPO Staff Appraisals Apparently Benefit Kakistocracy, Including Cheaters Who Grant Illegal Patents and Punish Good Patent Examiners (Who Find Valid Reasons for Denials)
In prior reports the staff representatives said that rewards typically went to people who granted many patents, i.e. didn't do proper examination and instead just allowed many fake patents get enshrined as EPs, causing fiasco (from which some patent attorneys could profit)
As The Web Gets Drowned Out, Sinking in a Pool of LLM Slop, Real News Sites With Real News Become Increasingly Rare If Not Extinct
This is a real problem
Links 09/03/2025: Moderna Patents Thrown Out, Climate United Sues E.P.A.
Links for the day
Gemini Links 09/03/2025: Lagrange 1.18.5 and Writing Mannerisms
Links for the day
Links 09/03/2025: FiveThirtyEight Killed by Disney, Nature (Journal) Chooses Suicide by Slop
Links for the day
Links 08/03/2025: International Women's Day, Software Patents Being Squashed
Links for the day
Hiding Problems Doesn't Work
transparent organisations will be more stable and sustainable
The Harder They Try to Censor, the Bigger the Scandal (and the Impact) Will Be
We don't plan to self-censor our coverage; sometimes we just delay publication a little
Gemini Links 09/03/2025: Leasehold Derangement Syndrome, Raspberry Pi, and More
Links for the day
All-Time Low for Microsoft in Africa
it helps show how irrelevant Microsoft is becoming
French woman (frontaliere) trafficked to promote unauthorised cross border Swiss insurance
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
New York Times & Guardian reporting on Modern Slavery Act prosecution of Glodi Wabelua
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Diana & Adrian von Bidder-Senn, EVP, Palm Sunday & Debian death on wedding day
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
The RTO (Return-to-office) Layoffs or 'Soft' Layoffs at IBM and Red Hat
There are certainly many layoffs going on there, but many are described as "resignations" or "retirements" after RTO or some other form of relocation
Under the Pen Name "John O'Donnell" (LLM Slop, Not Real Article or Author) LinuxLinks Pushes Spammy Page
it happened some hours ago.
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, March 08, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, March 08, 2025