Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft's Goodwill is to Obey the Law

Microsoft's Linux code is from Microsoft, for Microsoft, which fights Linux

Love tag



"The government is not trying to destroy Microsoft, it’s simply seeking to compel Microsoft to obey the law. It’s quite revealing that Mr. Gates equates the two."

--Government official



Summary: Microsoft's Linux module was made GPL-licensed only because the law required it after accusations of GPL violation

THIS will hopefully be the last post about an issue that we previously covered in:



A blog post that we linked to the other day revealed that Microsoft merely did what it had to do. It was a legal obligation, not a moral obligation. The pro-Microsoft folks wrote about it by citing the blog with the original claim.

As revealed by Stephen Hemminger - a principal engineer with open-source network vendor Vyatta - a network driver in Microsoft's Hyper-V used open-source components licensed under the GPL and statically linked to binary parts. The GPL does not permit the mixing of closed and open-source elements.


This is further confirmed in Mary Jo Foley's blog and there is wider coverage of this in Slashdot and OSNews, which chose the headline "Microsoft's Linux Kernel Code Drop Result of GPL Violation"

To put things in the right order, also consider the headline from IDG: "Engineer: Microsoft Violated GPL Before Linux Code Release"

So, in hindsight, it was not Microsoft's intention to release the module as Free software. Microsoft screwed up. Linus Torvalds responds to this too, but in his assessment he makes the mistake of comparing Microsoft's patches to IBM's. IBM is not the company which is attacking Linux; Microsoft is very unique in that regard. Why would Torvalds refuse to see that Microsoft writes code to advance the competitor/s of GNU/Linux, which is what makes Microsoft's code different from code of Intel or IBM? Matthew Aslett says that "we should all be very grateful for Linus Torvalds." We probably all are (I sure am), but this does not imply that there should be no disagreements at times. As Aslett noted:

Glyn Moody reminds us that there has always been a divide between purists and pragmatists, and that actually there is value in that divide in that debate helps expose weaknesses and refine arguments.


We wrote about this a couple of hours ago.

The Microsoft-faithful (and Microsoft investor) Synder daemonises those who warned about Microsoft's code, so it's clear that these folks are trying to bury something. Specifically, he writes:

In case you missed it, Microsoft has released 20,000 lines of Hyper-V device driver code to the Linux kernel community. The news prompted a number of commentators, including InfoWorld's own Randall Kennedy, to go full-bore ballistic. You'd think the black helicopters were about to swoop down on Linuxland.


The other day we noticed the same type of denial in Beta News, which is typically biased in Microsoft's favour. They are very specifically targeting critics of the big patch. It has always been self serving and it would be foolish to expect otherwise. Here is another interesting take on the subject.

Now ask yourself this question: would Microsoft have released their virtualization drivers as Open Source if they could have been included in the kernel as binary drivers? Probably not! (especially if as some suggest Microsoft had little choice)


The bottom line is that Microsoft did nothing out of altruism (companies are not like humans with compassion and ubuntu), so to claim this was a change of heart is to totally miss the point and to tactlessly embrace Microsoft's PR.

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Imposters Inheriting Institutions
Dealing with the "imposter syndrome"
[Meme] The Ponzi Scheme That Eats Rivals (by Paying Them to Stop Competing)
Why compete when you can bribe and defang antitrust authorities?
In 2006 We Had a Novell Problem and Now We Have Several Novells
Microsoft thorns inside the community
Richard M. Stallman (RMS) Debunks Misconceptions About What Free Software Means and Explains How It Works
Free software means people (including users and developers) exercise control over the program, not the programmers
 
Microsoft Has Infiltrated the OSI and Its Moles (Whom It Pays to Speak 'for' OSI) Control the Narrative
This is utterly grotesque
Saudi Arabia and Its Footprint in X/Twitter
a massive proportion of pro-ISIS accounts in Twitter were operated from Saudi Arabia or by Saudi Arabians
Links 12/09/2024: Apple Owes a Lot of Money, Repressions and Censorship of Activists Noted
Links for the day
Anniversaries Coming Up
Probably the funnest year of our lives, and definitely the most productive
In Europe, Vista 11 Grew Only 3% (Relative to Other Windows Versions) This Year
That's a huge problem for Microsoft
Google's YouTube Censorship Has Gotten a Lot Worse and Anti-scientific (for Commercial Reasons)
By today's standards, YouTube is not something RMS can (or would) use
Google Appears to Have Broken Every Single Instance of Invidious. It's a Wake-up Call, Please Stop Uploading Videos to YouTube.
Including videos of Free software events
[Meme] Video Uploads Improved
The tools are all in our self-hosted Git repository and the licence is, as usual, AGPLv3
Apple Event as Fine Example of the "IT" Circus
It's not clear if the enemy of Free software is a company like Apple is simply public ignorance that Apple keeps fostering
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, September 11, 2024
IRC logs for Wednesday, September 11, 2024
Gemini Links 12/09/2024: Clean Island and VCFMW19
Links for the day
Links 11/09/2024: EPO Patents Tossed Out by Courts, Software Patent Reveals Ford "Tech That Listens to Driver Conversations to Serve Ads"
Links for the day
More "Linux" SEO SPAM, Wrapped Up as Clown Computing, Composed by a "Bullshit Generator" (LLM)
linuxsecurity.com at it again this week
"Linux" and Linux.com Diploma Mill
The front page of Linux.com right now is the usual nonsense
Links 11/09/2024: ROOPHLOCH Report, Small Web Experiences, and Cohost Effectively Dead
Links for the day
Links 11/09/2024: Russia Enters Latvia With Drone, Truth Social Stock Crashes
Links for the day
Certificate Authority Let's Encrypt Has Fallen From 12% in Geminispace to Just 1.2% in Two Years (Capsules Usually Self-Sign Their Certificates)
Don't ask the imposters about security
The "IT Industry" is Full of Imposters (It's a Growing Crisis)
They often manage the companies
Richard Stallman Explains Stochastic Parrots (LLMs)
From his latest talk
The Toys of Today's Kids and Coordination Woes, Not to Mention a Lack of Social Skills
Too much time indoors, too much screen time
Dispelling the Notion That Microsoft is Political Left
Microsoft not only got bailed out (several times) by Donald Trump but also approached him to take over TikTok without paying for it
Linus Torvalds, the Son of a Politician, Tries to Stay Out of Politics (or Political Topics)
"I'm just a geek" has its limits in practice
Richard Stallman Still Deals With Politics
Stallman's gonna Stallman
GAFAM Not Invincible
The US has an election very soon and Microsoft is already bribing candidates for deregulation and favours, based on press reports
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, September 10, 2024
IRC logs for Tuesday, September 10, 2024
The Greatest Show on Earth (Buzzwords Circus)
What next? Being denied medical service because you don't have a Facebook account?
Gemini Links 11/09/2024: Happiness, Improvised Nebuliser, and olden Age of Palm OS
Links for the day
Julian Assange's Father Turns 80 and They Show Themselves in Melbourne
Will he be active in Wikileaks soon?
Slow But Ongoing Mass Layoffs at EPO, Estimates That Nearly Half of the FOs Will be Made Redundant Soon
When you cease to care about validity and quality of patents you're granting why bother with humans at all?
[Teaser] EPO Tightening Its Belt
who didn't see this coming?
Are Lawsuits Over EPO Corruption Next?
Why does the mainstream media not cover it?
Europe's Second Largest Institution, the EPO, Exploits Lack of Oversight to Commit Crimes Every Day
Immunity begets impunity, which in turn begets crime
[Video] Richard Stallman's New Talk in Germany Covers What Free Software Means, Why LLMs are "Bullshit", and Lots More (Web3 Summit 2024 Berlin)
Closing Keynote Day 3 - Dr. Richard Stallman - Web3 Summit 2024 Berlin
Transcript of Latest Public Talk by Dr. Richard M. Stallman (RMS), Delivered Last Month at Web3 Summit 2024 Berlin
quick-and-dirty transcription
Links 10/09/2024: Big Brother Awards Germany 2024 and Telling the Unemployed to 'Drive Uber'
Links for the day
Gemini Links 10/09/2024: DUIs and Useless Analytics
Links for the day
The Peril of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Illuminates the Dangers of Founders Leaving or Being Forced Out
Whatever you may think they stand for, you risk being fixated on what they originally were and perhaps what their Web sites still say
Difficult Times at Soylent News
We hope that Soylent News will recover from this
New Article in redhat.com: How to Install Microsoft Windows
That's just about as bad as that sounds...
Crimes of the EPO Are Costing Everybody in Europe
Since virtually everyone in Europe is a user of software (almost nobody is a forest dweller like in countries near the equator), this impacts everybody
OSI's Blog is Still 100% Microsoft-Sponsored Attacks on Free/Open Source Software
OSI is a compromised, defunct body. It exists to serve the enemies of its original mission.
A Decade Ago Things Became So Bad at the European Patent Office (EPO) That Staff Jumped Out the Window During Working Hours
Colleagues saw the suicide; the EPO's response wasn't to tackle the causes but to bolt down the windows (like factories in China installing controversial 'suicide nets')
Red Hat is Suing to Protect From Patent Trolls
Why doesn't Red Hat (IBM) also lobby to eliminate all software patents once and for all?
COVID-19 Ushered in Attacks on Human Rights and Things They Said They Had Introduced Temporarily Are Still in Effect/Operation Today
COVID-19 changed a lot of things
Quitting Academia When Its IT Systems Are Dominated by Clowns Who Outsource
It seems like a common trajectory
Why the Free Software Foundation (FSF) Owning or Renting Office Space Mattered
"In the long term, the FSF needs to own its future office space, but then the deadly risk is that the property ownership becomes the end goal rather than software freedom."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, September 09, 2024
IRC logs for Monday, September 09, 2024
Free Software Foundation (FSF) Probably Has No Choice But to Shut Down Its Office
Net Income -$686,366
Nearly Two Years After Quitting My Job
My colleagues and I were bullied by managers (grievance complaint got filed) who didn't even know what "Linux" was
Terms of Service (TOS) Under Scrutiny - Part XVIII - In Conclusion
Many activities can be done offline without having to sign anything