Bonum Certa Men Certa

Wishy-Washy 'Open Source' Microsoft

Laundry room



Summary: A look at reputation laundering from Microsoft and how easily it can be refuted, by showing that Microsoft still attacks software freedom, abuses US/international law, and harms programmers in general

IT has become either comical or upsetting to see the number of articles from authors gullible enough to be blinded by PR. One type of articles would say that Microsoft changed its behaviour and the other type would say that Microsoft is leaning towards Open Source. As we will show in another post (probably later today), Microsoft's CEO has just equated "Open Source" to "Linux" and he is fighting both as competitors of his.



Our reader Satipera has found this short post which falls under both categories/types. It's one of the many white-washy articles and the disclosure says: "Although we work closely with many mega software vendors, we want you to trust us more. Microsoft is currently a retainer client of Altimeter Group but not a client of Insider Associates, LLC."

“Microsoft says it has changed, competing companies would beg to differ.”
      --Satipera
The post/article is basically one of those typical opinions that conveniently leave out Microsoft racketeering [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7] and other very aggressive behavioural patterns that continue to evoke antitrust complaints filed against Microsoft (we gave the latest example just hours ago).

"Microsoft says it has changed," writes Satipera, "competing companies would beg to differ." To quote Mark Shuttleworth regarding Microsoft's patent racket: “That’s extortion and we should call it what it is. To say, as Ballmer did, that there is undisclosed balance sheet liability, that’s just extortion and we should refuse to get drawn into that game.”

How can Microsoft call itself a friend of Open Source?

It's easy for Microsoft to make such indefensible claims when .NET dependants are described as "open-source", such as in this new example from ZDNet:

An open-source Anti-XSS Web Protection Library, from Microsoft



The WPL, which is a set of .NET assemblies, is being offered as part of a defense in depth strategy to add an extra layer to any validation or secure coding practices.


It is rather laughable to call this "open-source" and also a bit of a stretch.

As for Microsoft's behaviour in general, recently we revisited corruption when dealing with the Pequot case [1, 2]. Here is another new article on the subject:

The S.E.C. only began looking at trading by Pequot in 2005, including some well-timed investments in Microsoft in April 2001. When it takes that long to start reviewing trades, evidence of how information may have been passed might not be available and the memories of witnesses can fade, making it difficult to put together a case.

[...]

Pequot and its chief executive, Arthur J. Samberg, settled with the S.E.C. by agreeing to pay nearly $28 million as disgorgement and a penalty, without admitting or denying liability, for trading in advance of a favorable earnings announcement from Microsoft. A former Microsoft employee hired by Pequot right around the time of the trading, David E. Zilkha, was named in an administrative complaint filed by the S.E.C. as being the source of the information.


Fortunately, Microsoft has been declining over the past 10 years (more evidence of that in a later post). A shift in computing slowly began to occur with the advent of the post-MSIE Internet (returning to the days of innovation on the Web, circa Netscape) and Free software that supported it and thrived in it (collaboration and sharing of code depended on the Internet). The Microsoft fan press has this story about a former Microsoft employee who left in 1999. Here is the cause:

When the Microsoft team dwindled, he moved to Colton's club based in Wallingford. In 1999, he left his job, in search of a new career.


Microsoft's neglect of US workforce is another subject we regularly cover. Let's not forget Microsoft's legalisation of its own tax evasion. How is that an example of Microsoft improving its behaviour?

Recent Techrights' Posts

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
Slopwatch: Fake Articles About "Linux", Slop Images in VentureBeat, Linux Foundation Spam Made With LLM Slop and Slop Images
The only relief or upside - if any exists - is that the pace of slop was down a bit this week
Richard Stallman (RMS) Talk in Ethereum Cypherpunk Congress Will be Remote
This past week RMS received lots of accolades online
Links 28/08/2025: Chatbots Distorting/Fabricating History and Also Driving Suicide
Links for the day
 
Links 29/08/2025: Arti 1.5.0, War on Public Health (CDC), and Slop 'Bros' Made to Pay for Their Mass Plagiarism
Links for the day
No, 4Chan is Not Fighting for You by Lawyering Up Against Ofcom (UK)
Don't mistake proto-fascists for people who "fight for you". They don't.
Downlplaying the Impact of "UEFI 9/11" is a Losing Strategy
we won't publish much whilst on holiday
In Many Places in the World Vista 11 "Market Share" is Going Down, Not Up
In some countries Windows is already down to third place or lower
More Microsoft-Connected Layoffs, at Least Third Time This Month! (Also Another Death on Campus)
Microsoft as a "gaming" company is where studios, projects, games, and even developers come to die
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, August 28, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, August 28, 2025
Gemini Links 29/08/2025: Poems, Games, and Java 25 Performance
Links for the day
Links 28/08/2025: Greenland 'Interferences' by US and Skinnerboxes to Get Banned in Korean Schools
Links for the day
The Register MS (Run by Microsoft Operatives): Free Software is Putin, Hence Evil and Dangerous
The current editor in chief is an American Microsofter, the previous one went to work for Google (US)
Gemini Links 28/08/2025: Back in Japan and Why "Hacker News" Sucks
Links for the day
A Much-Needed Wake-up Call to Users of Wordpress.com, Blogspot, Substack and All Those Other Outsourced (and Centralised) Platforms
There are several lessons in there
The UEFI 9/11 - Part II - Campaign of Censorship and Defamation Against Critics
In dictatorships, humour serves an important role. It's tragic.
Open Source Initiative (OSI) Resists Software Freedom, Even by Attacking Its Own
The OSI is compromised
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, August 27, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, August 27, 2025
Slopwatch: linuxsecurity.com, Slopfarms in Google News, and More
Some readers of ours end up sending us links that are from slopfarms, not realising those are slopfarms
Gemini Links 27/08/2025: Katrina Memories and Google Versus Software Freedom
Links for the day
Links 27/08/2025: Police Against Media Freedom in the UK, Energy-Hungry Countries Targeted by China
Links for the day
Microsoft Windows Fell to All-Time Lows in Egypt This Summer, Vista 11 Adoption Decreases While GNU/Linux Increases
Vista 11 is going down rather than up
Links 27/08/2025: Microsoft Demoralises Staff With Slop Demands, Leaving Mastodon Explained
Links for the day
12 Hours Ago The Register MS Published a Fake (Paid-for) Article, But This One for a Change Did Not Promote a Ponzi Scheme
There are also Free software alternatives, but they don't pay The Register MS for "synthetic" so-called 'journalism'
More People Need to Call Out and Put a Stop to Serial Sloppers
Unless slopfarms are stopped, people will read and share Microsoft propaganda made by chatbots
Gemini Links 27/08/2025: Headphones and Tartarus
Links for the day
Morale at Microsoft is Terrible (Proprietary Plagiarism Machines Have No Future, LLM Slop is a Bubble)
The slop sceptics/critics are going to have lots of "told you so" moments
GNOME "governance issues, staff reduction, etc." amidst Albanian whistleblowing and women trafficking
Notice the connection to Software Freedom Conservancy (SFC) and GNOME
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, August 26, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, August 26, 2025