Bonum Certa Men Certa

Now It's Groklaw's Turn

Groklaw criticises Novell VP. Awaiting response in 3... 2... 1...

Army drill versus Groklaw



Summary: Groklaw comes under fire for speaking about taboo areas; More examples that are given here are a case of spin and authors not sticking to facts.

Discrediting Groklaw is a convenient tactic for those who want to bury its latest analysis of Mono, Miguel de Icaza, and Microsoft. The same thing happened when Groklaw 'dared' to criticise Novell for its fork of OpenOffice.org*. GreyGeek wrote in response to Groklaw's analysis:



PJ shows that de Icaza is NOT ignorant of patent law, or the patent status of the many components of MONO. In fact, as I pointed out in another talkback, in a 2004 interview he was asked about the patent problems of the GUI components of MONO and reported that he was aware of them and was removing IP tainted code from MONO. In July of this year, when it was revealed that those very same components were STILL IN MONO and not covered by ECMA 334 & 335, he said he was putting the MONO team to work "removing them into a non-free repository". Apparently de Icaza is going to depend on using GTk2+ bindings to give MONO visual appeal, but that raises the question of why using MONO at all since GTK supplies all the tools necessary to build native Linux applications, as de Icaza's own GNumeric and Evolution, have proven.


There are many other interesting bits in that comment. Many people support Groklaw's point of view, whereas others choose to mock it (or mock the messenger). We choose not to link to these, for obvious reasons. But how so very typical! Someone who admits doing work for Microsoft at the moment joins OStatic and the very first item on his agenda (first post ever) is an amateurish attack on Boycott Novell. How predictable, much like those Microsoft TEs who smeared us here without disclosure [1, 2].

Anyway, there are other items of deception or FUD worth noticing out there today. Here are some lies that compare Microsoft dumping (gratis, short-term illusion of savings) to FOSS. We addressed this stunt the other day. It's actually an anti-FOSS move.

A publication called "The Big Money" (from Slate Magazine and therefore with Microsoft/Gates influence [1, 2]) mocks rivals of Microsoft Office despite the fact that Office is losing ground (smaller margins, lost market share) and there is other possible propaganda at Forbes Magazine, which uses "crowdsourcing" opinions to dismiss the business models of mass participation, despite many success stories (e.g. Wikipedia).

So what's my problem? Why does it bug me that people think crowdsourcing is something it is not? Why do I care that people think a crowd is capable of individual virtuosity? What bugs me is that misplaced faith in the crowd is a blow to the image of the heroic inventor. We need to nurture and fund inventors and give them time to explore, play and fail. A false idea of the crowd reduces the motivation for this investment, with the supposition that companies can tap the minds of inventors on the cheap.


The article is filled with fallacies and it is hostile to whatever threatens existing business franchises. Well, that's just Forbes being Forbes. The author is also using "open source" and Linux as examples to downplay. ____ * When Richard Stallman spoke about Mono the same thing happened, namely attempt to diminish the messenger's impact.

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Autumn Has Come
Autumn should be exciting in all sorts of ways; it'll also mark our anniversary
IBM Has Taken Control of GNOME
Don't expect a successor to be found any time soon
 
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, August 31, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, August 31, 2025
The UEFI 9/11 - Part IV - External Interference
They all seem to be playing a role in crushing Software Freedom and self-determination for users
Writing and Coding Isn't Always Enough
Last year we had to assume a role we didn't have before: litigants
Links 31/08/2025: Baggage Claim Scams, an Insurrectionist’s War on Culture, and a Sudden Robotics Hype
Links for the day
Gemini Links 31/08/2025: Reviewing Netsurf and Slightly Less Historic Ada Design
Links for the day
Links 31/08/2025: Google Gmail Data Breach and LF Puff Pieces for Pay
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, August 30, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, August 30, 2025
This is What Google News Has Become
Moments ago
The Slopfarm WebProNews Has Turned Google News Into a Laughing Stock Full of Plagiarism by Slop
If Google News dies of neglect, that's one thing. It's starting to seem like active neglect by Google is a form of participation.
Do What is Moral, as What's Legal Isn't Always Moral
Do what's objectively moral, no matter the costs and the risks
Slopwatch: Google News Assisting Plagiarism and Anti-Linux FUD, Serial Slopper Rips Off Linux-Centric Journalists
This makes the Web a much worse place and lessens the incentive to do journalism
Links 30/08/2025: NVIDIA Fakes Results to Hide a Bubble Already in Implosion Phase, Data Breaches Galore, Important Win for Workers' Union in Canada
Links for the day
Representing and Speaking for Animals
If I ever choose to take this matter to tribunal with animals-centric NGOs on my side, it'll get some press coverage for sure
The UEFI 9/11 - Part II - Campaign of Censorship and Defamation Against Critics
In dictatorships, humour serves an important role. It's tragic.
In Kazakhstan, Yandex Estimated to be 20 Times Bigger Than Microsoft
Bing is measured as down this month
Shutterstock Not Enough? The Register MS Uses Slop Images in Articles (Seemingly More and More Over Time)
Cost-saving trajectory amid office shutdown?
Gemini Links 30/08/2025: Games, PostmarketOS, and Slop
Links for the day
Links 30/08/2025: Imgur Uproar and Many Ukraine Updates (Mediazona Reports Over 200,000 Russians Died for Putin)
Links for the day
How Not to Build Software
code forges that need a Web browser perhaps fill some 'niche' demand
GAFAM and "MATA"
The use of dark humour there hopefully helps illuminate what a lot of "modern" technology became like and how it interacts with human civilisation (to what ends and whose gain)
Birds Are Not "Pests and Vermin", Privacy is Not a Crime, and GNU/Linux is Not 'Hacking Platform'
I could not help but think of Free software analogies
The Sites Should Be Very Fast Again
That issue is now resolved
Flying in 2025
worse than ever before
Activists, Including Technical Activists, Need Not Pursue Affirmation
Techrights doesn't play or participate in a "popularity contest"
The UEFI 9/11 - Part III - Chaos is Scheduled to Happen Second Thursday of September (No Matter What the Microsofters Tell You)
The clock is ticking
Downplaying the Impact of "UEFI 9/11" is a Losing Strategy
we won't publish much whilst on holiday
Government Sites Should Run Free Software
Not proprietary bloatware with buzzwords
LLM Slopfarms Take No Breaks
When people run sites by bots they don't need to worry about "breaks"
GNOME Having a Meltdown Again
Thanks and farewell to Steven Deobald
Gemini Links 30/08/2025: Low Tech and Hunchbin 1.0.6
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, August 29, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, August 29, 2025