Bonum Certa Men Certa

If Microsoft Loves Miguel and Novell, Then They Must be Good for GNU/Linux, Right?



Summary: A sanity check that touches on the facts when it comes to Microsoft, Miguel, and Novell

THE Microsoft blogs are still grooming Miguel de Icaza to help him shove .NET and other Microsoft software (and patents) like Mono and Moonlight into the #1 competitor of Microsoft. Here is the latest example. This Microsoft-rewarded blog pretends by calling Miguel de Icaza an "ex-rival" (of Microsoft), but he was never a rival; he was even looking to work for Microsoft over a decade ago, very shortly before he started GNOME.



The Source (sort of an offshoot of Mono-Nono) writes regarding Miguel de Icaza's Microsoft MVP award:

Great to see more official recognition from Microsoft to Mr. de Icaza on his tireless efforts supporting Microsoft products and technologies!


Other good new posts from The Source speak about Mono and Moonlight, as well as the attacks on Richard Stallman for daring to resist these.

"Fatal Flaw: On Competition



[...]

The Premise

Example: “Moonlight/Silverlight will force Adobe to step up its game, and that competition benefits everyone”

Example: “Mono/.NET will force Java to step up its game, and that competition benefits everyone”

The argument here is supporting Mono/Moonlight/Microsoft is at least indirectly beneficial — if not directly so — because competition benefits everyone.

[...]

When Microsoft talks about “killing” and “fucking burying” competition, driving competitors into a “death spiral” and “out of business”, stacks and bribes standard bodies, and so on, ad nauesum to the extent that courts around the world must step in to correct their behavior time and time again, then I submit to you, Gentle Reader, that is not a culture of co-operative competition.

Outside of a whole raft of general issues with competition (who benefits? for how long? at whose expense? what are the intended end results? what are the unintended side effects? etc), it is clear that not all competition is beneficial. Furthermore it seems clear to me (though I’m sure not so clear to everyone) that Microsoft chooses destructive competition.


Jason repeats an important point:

Thus I return again to my point that the vocal anti-Free Software critics are either ignorant or malicious.€¹ The FSF is quite good at laying out its philosophy in great detail on its website. You don’t have to sign an NDA or anything.

€¹ The sadly necessary disclaimer: I’m not suggesting there is no valid criticism out there, just that people who play the “zealot” card, ridicule RMS or the FSF for “hypocrisy”, or enage in other such fact and logic-free fallacies are to be dismissed with scorn.


It is not surprising that a lot of anti-Stallman sentiments arrive from the camp which is advancing Microsoft software in the form of surrogate implementations. Stallman is aware of the problem and he wrote to me about it earlier today. Those who attack Richard Stallman usually have a thing in common; they care about power, not freedom.

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

There's Nothing "Funny" About Attacking Free Speech and Software Freedom
persistent focus on the principal issues is very important
GNU/Linux Adoption in Africa, a Passageway Towards Freedom From Neo-Colonialism
Digi(tal)-Colonialism and/or Techolonialism are a thing. Can Africa flee the trap?
 
Links 05/12/2023: Microsoft's Chatbot as Health Hazard
Links for the day
Professor Eben Moglen Explained How Software Patent Threats Had Changed Around 2014 (Alice Case) and What Would Happen Till 2025
clip aged reasonably well
CNN Contributes to Demolition of the Open Web
Reprinted with permission from Ryan Farmer
Eben Moglen on Encryption and Anonymity
The alternate net we need, and how we can build it ourselves
Yet More Microsofters Inside the Board of Mozilla (Which Has Just Outsourced Firefox Development to Microsoft's Proprietary Prison)
Do you want a browser controlled (and spied on) by such a company?
IRC Proceedings: Monday, December 04, 2023
IRC logs for Monday, December 04, 2023
GNU/Linux Now Exceeds 3.6% Market Share on Desktops/Laptops, According to statCounter
things have changed for Windows in China
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news
Links 05/12/2023: Debt Brake in Germany and Layoffs at Condé Nast (Reddit, Wired, Ars Technica and More)
Links for the day
[Meme] Social Control Media Giants Shaping Debates on BSDs and GNU/Linux
listening to random people in Social Control Media
Reddit (Condé Nast), Which Has Another Round of Layoffs This Month, Incited People Against GNU/Linux Users (Divide and Rule, It's 2003 All Over Again!)
Does somebody (perhaps a third party) fan the flames?
Who Will Hold the Open Source Initiative (OSI) Accountable for Taking Bribes From Microsoft and Selling Out to Enable/Endorse Massive Copyright Infringement?
it does Microsoft advocacy
Using Gemini to Moan About Linux and Spread .NET
Toxic, acidic post in Gemini
Web Monopolist, Google, 'Pulls a Microsoft' by Hijacking/Overriding the Name of Competitor and Alternative to the Web
Gulag 'hijacking' 'Gemini'
Links 04/12/2023: Mass Layoffs at Spotify (Debt, Losses, Bubble) Once Again
Links for the day
ChatGPT Hype/Vapourware (and 'Bing') Has Failed, Google Maintains Dominance in Search
a growing mountain of debt and crises
[Meme] Every Real Paralegal Knows This
how copyright law works
Forging IRC Logs and Impersonating Professors: the Lengths to Which Anti-Free Software Militants Would Go
Impersonating people in IRC, too
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, December 03, 2023
IRC logs for Sunday, December 03, 2023
GNU/Linux Popularity Surging, So Why Did MakeUseOf Quit Covering It About 10 Days Ago?
It's particularly sad because some of the best articles about GNU/Linux came from that site, both technical articles and advocacy-centric pieces
Links 04/12/2023: COVID-19 Data Misused Again, Anti-Consumerism Activism
Links for the day
GNOME Foundation is in Reliable Hands (Executive Director)
Growing some good in one's garden
Links 03/12/2023: New 'Hey Hi' (AI) Vapouware and Palantir/NHS Collusion to Spy on Patients Comes Under Legal Challenge
Links for the day
'Confidential Computing'? More Like a Giant Back Door.
CacheWarp AMD CPU Attack Grants Root Access in Linux VMs
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, December 02, 2023
IRC logs for Saturday, December 02, 2023
Links 03/12/2023: CRISPR as Patented Minefield, Lots of Greenwashing Abound
Links for the day