Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft to Rent the Software It's Already Renting to Fight GNU/Linux Adoption



Summary: Microsoft's lowering of the cost of Windows and Office is a sign that GNU/Linux is gaining

LAST night we wrote about Microsoft's dumping of Office and Vista 7. They are trying to block GNU/Linux and OpenOffice.org adoption [1, 2, 3, 4] in all sorts of nefarious ways.



The Microsoft boosters from ZDNet and CNET have just stated that Microsoft will allow "renting" of Office and Vista 7, but perhaps they fail to understand that this already is rental; that's what proprietary software with licences to run binary code is all about. They should read the EULA.

Here is what Directions on Microsoft (which we mentioned yesterday for its Microsoft boosting) had to say about this development:

Until Microsoft added this option, DeGroot said, Microsoft really only had the option of threatening to shut down a business or potentially pushing rental businesses toward Linux and OpenOffice.


That seems like a symbolic move which shows just how concerned Microsoft has become about significant gains of Free software on the desktop. Here is another new story (from yesterday) about a man who rejects Vista 7 and decides to abandon Microsoft altogether. He will be moving to GNU/Linux, not the Hype Company.

Freeing myself from the vile clutches of Microsoft



I’ve decided that Windows 7 holds absolutely no appeal for me. According to what I’ve heard, most of the new and “improved” features gear more towards people who couldn’t handle Vista or otherwise just don’t know how to use a PC. Plus, I’ve also read that it has the same software compatibility issues as Vista does, so that’s no good. And, lastly, $120 USD for an upgrade to the HOME version is friggin’ ridiculous, especially in this economy. So, I’m officially working on leaving Microsoft.


It is stories like this which make Microsoft nervous. It knows better than anyone else what is really happening because Windows reports to Microsoft which programs are installed (that's a verified fact), maybe even which partitions.

"I'm not one of those who think Bill Gates is the devil. I simply suspect that if Microsoft ever met up with the devil, it wouldn't need an interpreter."

--InfoWorld Editor Nicholas Petreley

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Peter Moon's (Computerworld) Interview With Richard Stallman
Stallman: If you want freedom don't follow Linus Torvalds
At What Point Does Outsourcing Constitute Malpractice?
Brett Wilson LLP's new staff page is misleading
From Do Your Own Research to Do Your Own Search
The Web is full of garbage; search engines amplify this garbage
 
IRC Proceedings: Monday, June 23, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, June 23, 2025
The "Tarzan Effect" in Compilers and Software
What happens when you forcibly make things 'work', either by hacks or by disregarding warnings (like those that compilers tend to issue)?
Gemini Links 23/06/2025: Mass Tourism, Hair Love, and Google Gemini as a Googlebomb
Links for the day
Law Firm Burgess Mee Does Not Fully Deny Participating in Abusive Litigation for Serial Strangler From Microsoft
I am not unfamiliar with these tactics
The Modus Operandi of Wayland Pushers: Make It Political
do what I say or you're a nazi...
Links 23/06/2025: RFE/RL Contributor Vladyslav Yesypenko Released, Recording Industry Cutbacks
Links for the day
Brett Wilson LLP Solicitors (M): Over 99.9% of Our E-mail is Self-Marketing, We Send You 3.5MB E-mails for Less Than 1KB of Text
Why would tech people entrust legal matters to such people?
United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sailing to GNU/Linux, According to statCounter
countries in that region will quickly learn the price of neglecting digital sovereignty
More People Moving to Geminispace?
at age 6+ Gemini Protocol seems to have gained some maturity and it seems like more people use it
Permutation in LLMs Does, Inevitably, Change Meanings and Therefore LLMs Cannot Properly Rephrase or Summarise Texts
LLMs lack actual grasp or comprehension of what they spew out
Links 23/06/2025: Many Security Breaches, Population Declines
Links for the day
Gemini Links 23/06/2025: "America at the Crossroads" and OpenWRT Surgery
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, June 22, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, June 22, 2025
Pure Dove
Different means different, and sometimes those who "deviate" from "the norm" have a point
Censorship is a Sign of Weakness Which Invites More Censorship Attempts
revolutionaries don't succumb to pressure from bullies
Why It's Unlikely That LLM Slop Will Dominate the Web in the Long Run
Slopfarms will eventually perish (they have no actual value) and "survivors" on the Web will be sites that never depended on search engines and social control media
GNU/Linux in Argentina Now Measured Near 5%
Like in central Europe, they must be seeing an increasingly hostile US
BetaNews is Fake News, Composed by LLM Slop
nothing in BetaNews is written by humans anymore
Links 22/06/2025: Giving Up on Smartphones and 'Jaws' at 50
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/06/2025: Furniture Construction and Bubble for Comments
Links for the day
Links 22/06/2025: Windows TCO Tales and YouTube Getting More Hostile to Users
Links for the day
The FSF Board and FSF Beard
So the FSF's Board has grown
Law Firms Facing the Consequences for Patently Abusive Litigation on Behalf of Microsoft Employees Who Got Arrested for Strangulation and Had Done Even Worse Things
Having spent 1.5 years bullying me with patronising letters on behalf of Microsofters, last week they got served a massive bill and, in effect, lost the Hearing
New Report From the EPO's Staff Representatives in The Hague (LSCTH) Reveals Many Unsolved Issues
Local Staff Committee The Hague (LSCTH) wrote to staff just before the weekend
LLMs Breaking Everything
Computing and the Net became a playground for scammers and "bros", like people who "invented" fake currencies and also try to tell us that LLMs spewing out things will have some real value
Links 22/06/2025: More Slop Lawsuits (Copyrights) and "America’s Oligarch Problem"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/06/2025: Gigantic Toolchest and Annoying Bots
Links for the day