Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft .NET Tries to Piggyback OLPC, Novell Helps the Same Cause

“They’ll get sort of addicted, and then we’ll somehow figure out how to collect sometime in the next decade.”

--Bill Gates



OLPC in Cambodia



Summary: Microsoft drone Syncfusion uses 'donation' to spread .NET

SOME MONTHS ago we showed a Comes vs Microsoft exhibit where Microsoft's true feelings about OLPC are expressed. The company from Redmond only perceives it as an opportunity to profit some more. Moreover, if the project gets 'infected' by Microsoft (staffing and software), then it may turn off goodwill and GNU/Linux grassroots efforts. Surely a win-win for Microsoft, even if it abandons the project, just as it's abandoning sub-notebooks at the moment. Microsoft has a monopoly, so a techno-medieval status quo is wonderful to it. Microsoft is not interested in disruptive trends; it is interested in squashing/destroying them, sometimes by momentarily dumping to get into them and then decommissioning them from the inside. As Robert X. Cringely put it, "They [Microsoft] have the deepest of pockets, unlimited ambition, and they are willing to lose money for years and years just to make sure that you don't make any money, either. And they are mean, REALLY mean."



Now we find a company called Syncfusion. The company is about .NET, Silverlight and other Microsoft lock-in, based on its Web site. It has just issued this press release to show that it donates "addiction" (see Gates quote at the top), but it's not even a donation per se. It's just licences for binaries and the same illusion of "donation" Microsoft makes extensive use of when it puts a price on mere copies of binary files (or licences to run them rather).

ASP.NET MVC developers will be able to order the new Syncfusion Essential Studio ASP.NET MVC binary edition for only $5 and receive thirty days of subscription service. All proceeds from the one-day sale will be donated to the non-profit organization One Laptop per Child (OLPC). In addition, Syncfusion will match every dollar donated, up to $1,000.


OLPC should reject this 'gift'. Other attempts were seemingly made against LiMo and Novell did this to Android. Based on internal Microsoft correspondence (antitrust exhibits) we already know why Microsoft wants to put .NET/Mono in devices.

“They are pretending to be a friend when in fact they were GPL violators who are suing Linux companies for using Linux.”Is it not funny how Microsoft -- often through its partners -- always invades FOSS mailing lists, habitually injects Microsoft content into FOSS conferences, and forcibly pushes its wares into university departments, etc.? Even our IRC channel gets populated by them; they pretend to be friends while trying to shoot down the true FOSS people or at least shoot down their goals [1, 2, 3, 4].

Right now, for instance, IDG is 'marketing' Microsoft as a friend of Open Source for resolving a GPL violation [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]. Yes, those 14,100 lines of Microsoft code are used by Microsoft for PR purposes. They are pretending to be a friend when in fact they were GPL violators who are suing Linux companies for using Linux.

And in other news about .NET, watch what Novell staff is working on at the moment. MonoDevelop helps windows, but that's OK with Novell. Another Novell employee is using Mono to help iPhone.

We have reached feature completion status for our MonoTouch project and we are looking for some adventurous iPhone developers that might be interested in trying out Mono for the iPhone and the MonoTouch APIs (A C# API for building Cocoa applications).


Novell's Mono Web site already raves about it and Heise gave it some coverage.

The Mono developers have announced a limited beta and September release of MonoTouch, an edition of Mono for the Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch devices. The open source .NET implementation has had some hurdles to overcome to be able to work within Apple's technical and legal requirements.


For those who think that complaining about Mono is "unproductive", read the following new post from Mono-Nono.com.

Anytime someone squeezes out a discredited pro-Mono argument, anyone who has bothered to read this blog knows that person is ignorant. Anytime someone tries to pretend that every single Mono critic is a frothing-at-mouth irrational zealot, anyone who has bothered to read this blog knows that person is ignorant. And so on. So I’m thinking that I’m meeting my goals and being productive just fine, thankyouverymuch.

It’s easy to make the other side look like a failure if you redefine thier goal, methods and motivations.


Opposition to Mono is a matter of advancing GNU/Linux. Mono is helping Windows, not GNU/Linux [1, 2, 3]. Mono is also helping Novell.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Sounds Like IBM is Preparing for Mass Layoffs/Redundancies in Red Hat, Albeit in "PIP" (Performance Improvement Plan) or "Relocation" Clothing
This isn't the "old" IBM; they're applying pressure by confusion and humiliation
Gemini Links 17/04/2025: Role of Language and Back to Mutt for E-mail
Links for the day
Microsoft's Attack Dogs Have Failed. Now What?
It would be utterly foolish to assume that Microsoft has any intention of changing
 
Free Software and Standards - Not Marketing Blitz - Needed Amid Growing Severity of Dependency on Hostile Suppliers (or Another Country's Sovereignty)
ZenDiS can be described as the "Center for Digital Sovereignty of Public Administration"
When It Comes to the Web, Google is Evil and It Destroys the Web's Integrity With LLM Slop
Even academia, which is meant to keep standards high, is being lured into LLM slop
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, April 18, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, April 18, 2025
Links 18/04/2025: "Fentanylware (TikTok) Exodus Continues", Chinese Weapons Allegedly in Russia Already
Links for the day
Gemini Links 18/04/2025: Price of Games and State of Tinylog
Links for the day
"Sayonara" (さよなら), Microsoft
Windows had fallen below iOS in some countries
Links 18/04/2025: Layoffs at Microsoft Infosys and Qt Becoming Increasingly Proprietary (Plus Slop)
Links for the day
Google News is Dying
treating MElon's algorithmic/biased site as a source of verified news
All Your "Github Projects" Will be Gone One Day (Just Like Skype)
If you have code you wish to share and keep, then start learning how to do so on your own
To Understand Who's Truly Controlling You Follow the Trail of Censorship (or Self-Censorship)
Do not let media steal and steer the narrative; CoCs are not about "social justice", they're about corporate domination
Fedora Already Lost Its Soul Under IBM
Fedora used to be very strict compared to many other distros and it had attracted very bright volunteers
Microsoft is Still Attacking GNU/Linux and the Net
Microsoft bribed the government using money that did not even exist
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, April 17, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, April 17, 2025
Gemini Links 18/04/2025: Pinephone Pro and Linux is too Easy
Links for the day
Links 17/04/2025: Calling Whistleblowers at Microsoft, Slop Doing More Harm Everywhere
Links for the day
Links 17/04/2025: Russian Bot Farms Infect TikTok (Which US Government and SCOTUS Decided to Block January 19), US Hardware Stocks Crash Due to Tariffs
Links for the day
Gemini Links 17/04/2025: Sticking to Free Software, Smolnet, and Counting the Reals
Links for the day
Open Source Initiative (OSI) Privacy Fiasco in Detail: In Conclusion and Enforcement Action Proceeds Against OSI at the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA)
There's too much to cover in one single part
When You Fail to Filter Your Clients You End Up SLAPPing Reporters on Behalf of Bad People From Microsoft in Another Continent
“American Psycho”
Links 17/04/2025: LayoffBot and Tesla Cheats Buyers
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, April 16, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, April 16, 2025