Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft Only Gave 14,010 Lines of Code

Source code



Summary: 14,010 lines of actual Linux code, not 20,000 as Microsoft claimed

Microsoft has claimed that its self-serving loadable module for Linux [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7], which only advances Microsoft's interests by polluting the kernel with Microsoft APIs, comprises 20,000 lines of code. Not quite the case, alleges Slated, who has taken a look at the code. Last night he wrote about this patch (managed by a Novell employee by the way):



For those who might want to keep an eye on what the Vole is injecting into the software we use:

http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/people/gregkh/gregkh..

The consolidated patch is here:

http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/people/gregkh...

This is essentially what it adds:

. Microsoft Hyper-V client drivers . Microsoft Hyper-V virtual storage driver . Microsoft Hyper-V virtual block driver . Microsoft Hyper-V virtual network driver

The kernel config options are listed as:

. CONFIG_HYPERV . CONFIG_HYPERV_STORAGE . CONFIG_HYPERV_BLOCK . CONFIG_HYPERV_NET

Here's the license:

Copyright (c) 2009, Microsoft Corporation.

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms and conditions of the GNU General Public License, version 2, as published by the Free Software Foundation.

This program is distributed in the hope it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA.

Authors: Hank Janssen <hjanssen[at]microsoft.com> ######



Oh and BTW, after removing all the non-Microsoft copyrighted code from the above consolidated patch, all the diff declaration headers, and all the empty lines, the number of lines remaining (i.e. the actual code Microsoft generously "contributed") is 14,010, which is a good six thousand lines short of Microsoft's claim.

That's OK though ... it's six thousand fewer lines for me to remove.


Microsoft contributes nothing to Linux, except lawsuits for the most part. Microsoft funded SCO's lawsuit against Linux (more than once) and right now Microsoft is suing companies for using Linux (also more than once). People who do not yet know all of this ought to wake up and get the facts. Microsoft is always attacking Linux and the code mentioned above is no contribution. If Oracle writes a new file system for Linux (btrfs as the example in mind), then that file system is valuable also to IBM, to H-P and even to us home users. It really enriches Linux. Microsoft's patch, on the other hand, is helping nothing but Windows, turning GNU/Linux servers into just a virtual appliance running under Windows.

“Microsoft funded SCO's lawsuit against Linux (more than once) and right now Microsoft is suing companies for using Linux (also more than once).”Whenever Microsoft claims that it "contributes" to Linux, remember that its long-standing CEO, Steve Ballmer, said: "Linux is a cancer that attaches itself in an intellectual property sense to everything it touches."

Ballmer never retracted that statement and under his leadership Microsoft has also paid SCO, as confirmed in the courtroom under oath. For background about the past month's SCO developments (a little from June too), see:



More bizarre twists in the SCO case have only led to the point where, according to Pamela Jones, SCO is nearly finished for good.

So those are the various possibilities I see. Do you see any good ones, if you are SCO management? I don't see even one. If we are marking on a curve, SCO's suggestion in its letter is the least toxic, but none of the possibilities now are really ideal from SCO's point of view, and how realistic do you think it is as a suggestion at this late date, considering all that came out in discovery and at the hearing?

I think this may be the very first time in the entire SCO saga where SCO seems to have no really good options on the table that I can see.

And that's probably why after the hearing on the 27th, I was overwhelmed by the incandescent realization that we had just turned a real corner, one that changes everything, and that we're in end-game territory, at last.


Microsoft may have moved on from SCO. Now it has Novell at its disposal -- the company which is the real owner of UNIX. SCO -- like Microsoft and Novell -- also used to contribute to Linux before chaos began.

"Pamela Jones [...] has told Infoworld that Microsoft will be the next SCO Group"

--Heise



Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Windows is an Unnatural Disaster, It is Also Avoidable
there's a wide window of opportunity opening
Killing the News With Spam and Slop Benefits Those Whose Desire is an Uninformed Population
adoption of Free software depends indirectly on political activities/activism
Open Source Initiative (OSI) Privacy Fiasco in Detail: An Introduction
Perhaps tomorrow or perhaps next week we'll share more information about what happened and what was reported to the California Privacy Protection Agency
IBM's BS (Bait, Switch) Regarding Ways to Stay Onboard
PIPs, RTOs, and forced relocations are just an illusion of choice (or ability to recover)
Banned evidence: Ars Technica forums censored email predicting DebConf23 death, Abraham Raji & Debian cover-up
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
 
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, March 29, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, March 29, 2025
Judges Would Never Rule for Men Who Strangle Women or Against Women Who Merely Wrote Articles About Abuse They Had Received From Men
We don't intend to do "trial by media", so we won't be disclosing claims and defences until it's over
Gemini Links 29/03/2025: Less YouTube and More Station
Links for the day
In Some Countries, Such as Thailand, Firefox is Already Measured at Less Than 2% (One Day Firefox Will Get Blocked, Not Only Lack Support)
Web consolidation around Chrom-isms will doom the Web as we know it
Links 29/03/2025: Trademarks Battles, Fires Destroy More Than 3,000 South Korean Homes
Links for the day
Links 29/03/2025: More Crackdowns on Science, "Hey Hi" Slopping is Flopping
Links for the day
Costa Rica Almost Bankrupt Because of Microsoft
the incidents in Costa Rica are Windows incidents
Gemini Links 29/03/2025: Art of Looking, Wireguard, EMacs
Links for the day
Links 29/03/2025: Attacks on Social Security and War Updates
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, March 28, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, March 28, 2025
Intimidation, Threats, and Bullying Not Tolerated by Techrights
When it comes to our reporting, safety always comes first
A World Without Rules
We're long insisted on better laws and actual enforcement of them (applicable to all, not selectively applied)
statCounter Sees Microsoft Windows Falling to New, Unprecedented Lows in Palau
Taking Android into account, Windows is now down to an all-time low of 14%
Google News Lost the Fight to LLM Slop (While Google Itself Sells Slop, Nowadays Under the Name "Gemini")
Many people say that "Google is getting worse"; that's almost an understatement
Links 28/03/2025: AirAsia Trouble Again, UMich Culls All DEI Programs
Links for the day
Gemini Links 28/03/2025: Alexa is for Gullible People, Rant About Feature Overload
Links for the day
The SLAPPs From the Microsoft Strangler (and Sidekick) No Better Than Patent Trolling
one must never settle with trolls
Something to Celebrate in Gemini Protocol
More capsules and users join in
Links 28/03/2025: Last Reminder "to Delete Your 23andMe Data", "UK's First Permanent Facial Recognition Cameras Installed"
Links for the day
Microsoft Canonical Continues Its FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) Campaign, Reveals Google Too Sponsored It
They're paid-for lies from a Chinese company that takes GAFAM money to write puff pieces about them
Android Rises Above 76% in Mozambique, Leaving Windows in the Dust
Windows may soon be measured as smaller than Apple's iOS
IBM, Red Hat and Microsoft Probably Also Manipulate Metrics (It Helps Con the Shareholders)
Wall Street's credibility will depend on enforcement of "checks and balances"
Slopwatch: trendhunter.com and Other Pure Junk From "Google News"
The need to vet sources is hardly new; anyone can spew out anything, anywhere. There's a need for vetting.
Gemini Links 28/03/2025: Rewatching The X-Files, Slop Concerns, and NOSTR Censorship
Links for the day
Links 28/03/2025: Australia at Risk, EPO Grants Illegal Patents With Illegal Effect
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, March 27, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, March 27, 2025