Bonum Certa Men Certa

In Search of the Full Story About Swiss Canton and Microsoft

Small church perched on the hill



Summary: Microsoft Switzerland may still be playing dirty as people in charge of GNU/Linux migrations find their way out

THE government of Switzerland was sued by many vendors for falling into Microsoft's pocket -- a tough subject which we previous covered in:

  1. Microsoft Sued Over Its Corruption in Switzerland, Microsoft Debt Revisited
  2. Can the United Kingdom and Hungary Still be Sued for Excluding Free Software?
  3. 3 New Counts of Antitrust Violation by Microsoft?
  4. Is Microsoft Breaking the Law in Switzerland Too?
  5. Microsoft Uses Lobbyists to Attack Holland's Migration to Free Software and Sort of Bribes South African Teachers Who Use Windows
  6. ZDNet/eWeek Ruins Peter Judge's Good Article by Attacking Red Hat When Microsoft Does the Crime
  7. Week of Microsoft Government Affairs: a Look Back, a Look Ahead
  8. Lawsuit Against Microsoft/Switzerland Succeeds So Far, More Countries/Companies Should Follow Suit
  9. Latest Reports on Microsoft Bulk Deals Being Blocked in Switzerland, New Zealand
  10. Swiss Government and Federal Computer Weekly: Why the Hostility Towards Free Software?
  11. Switzerland and the UK Under Fire for Perpetual Microsoft Engagements
  12. Lawsuit Over Alleged Microsoft Corruption in Switzerland Escalates to Federal Court
  13. When Microsoft-Only/Lock-in is Defined as “Technology”


Some of the posts above contain links to other bits of evidence which show Microsoft's unethical and at times illegal activities in the country (concerning OOXML too).

There is a new Slashdot story linking to an article in German. As expected, there is another side to this story but it is not properly explored or told (we first mentioned this story two and a half years ago or more). The automated translation is poor and details are very limited. One of our readers has looked for additional information and a discussion took place some minutes ago (log below with typos not corrected and unrelated stuff not removed to avoid distraction). If anybody can add information about this subject, please share in IRC or in the comments. We expect the matter to be discussed in the news next week (English-speaking press) and we try to accumulate as much information as possible in preparation for it.

Techrights logo

IRC: #techrights @ FreeNode: September 19th, 2010

Join us now at the IRC channel.

twittergood morningSep 19 13:37
schestowitzHiSep 19 13:37
twitterSlashdot had a trolly story yesterday about an apparently failed migration http://linux.slashdot.org/story/10/09/18/0239243/Swiss-Canton-Abandons-Linux-Migration?from=rssSep 19 13:38
TechrightsBot-trTitle: Slashdot Linux Story | Swiss Canton Abandons Linux Migration .::. Size~: 182.34 KBSep 19 13:38
twitterany idea what that is all about?Sep 19 13:38
schestowitzWhat's the rebuttal to it?Sep 19 13:39
schestowitzI didn't see the commentrsSep 19 13:39
schestowitzSomeone in identica linked to thisSep 19 13:39
twitterI did not look into it, comments at Slashdot are not reliable or easy to look throughSep 19 13:39
schestowitzThe story did not mention intervention by Microsoft (could be omission)Sep 19 13:39
schestowitzMaybe they were offered a 'special deal', but one needs to ask those at the scenes, not epeculateSep 19 13:40
schestowitzMicrosoft did this in MunichSep 19 13:40
twitterDo you know the author?  I'm susupicious.Sep 19 13:40
twitter"Open Source" at HeiseSep 19 13:40
schestowitzTo send a "Warning" example to anyone else who 'dares' to show a Linux success storySep 19 13:40
twitteris it another one of those fake Open Source columnsSep 19 13:40
twitter?Sep 19 13:40
schestowitzHeise is relaibleSep 19 13:40
schestowitzNo, not fakeSep 19 13:40
schestowitzWorth seeing what people on the scene have to saySep 19 13:41
schestowitzAnd to what extent this is trueSep 19 13:41
schestowitzThere was a similar story last week in FranceSep 19 13:41
twitterI could not tell because I don't read German and the translated page is gibberishSep 19 13:41
twitterWhat does come out of the story does not make much sense.  The revolts are over applications, most of which probably won't run on Windows 7 which they run back to.Sep 19 13:42
-TRIdentica/#techrights-[royhugo/@royhugo] ♺ @jerezim: To illustrate your posts about the #GalloReport: http://ur1.ca/1obc4 #CopyrightRepression (call! http://ur1.ca/0juns) → I ♥ itSep 19 13:42
TechrightsBot-trTitle: File:Gallo Report private-copyright-CRS.png - La Quadrature du Net .::. Size~: 17.86 KBSep 19 13:42
TechrightsBot-trTitle: ur1 Generator .::. Size~: 1.93 KBSep 19 13:42
twitterHeise also mentioned Outlook, which is a real piece of garbage.  It's hard to imagine someone making something that sucks worse than Outlook.Sep 19 13:43
schestowitzLockinSep 19 13:43
schestowitzBut...Sep 19 13:43
schestowitzThey need to invest to escape itSep 19 13:44
schestowitzSimilar story in ViennaSep 19 13:44
schestowitzQuestion is, why was the CIO resigning?Sep 19 13:44
schestowitzWas he pressure like Quinn for example?Sep 19 13:44
schestowitzMicrosoft often puts some moles around these people and then cause them troubleSep 19 13:44
schestowitzGates Foundation does the same thingSep 19 13:44
schestowitzThey toss out those who stand in its waySep 19 13:44
twitterLockin is trouble but the sooner you get out, the more you save.Sep 19 13:45
twitterand it's not so badSep 19 13:45
schestowitzOr cut their research fundingSep 19 13:45
schestowitzWell...Sep 19 13:45
schestowitzAll I can say is, if you find out something beyond what /, say, let us knowSep 19 13:45
schestowitzIt's a Heise/Slashdot information 'monopoly' on this storySep 19 13:46
twitterI'm working in a Windows office and I'm able to get what I need from legacy apps through Windows terminal services.Sep 19 13:46
schestowitzI didn't get to see an independent report... yetSep 19 13:46
twitterOK, thanks, that's what I wanted to know.  There are a lot o missing details and the problems I mentioned above.Sep 19 13:47
twitterWindows 7 will bring all sorts of pain to places using XP.  I can't imagine how nasty a move from gnu/linux to Windows 7 would be.Sep 19 13:48
twitterI'm told that both samba and rdp are broken in Vista/Windows 7, so gnu/linux won't work in a place like that - complete shut out.Sep 19 13:49
-TRIdentica/#techrights-[glynmoody/@glynmoody] Redefining the Great Wall - http://bit.ly/axmhF9 "more accurately translated into English as 'The Great Town'": interesting #chinaSep 19 13:49
TechrightsBot-trTitle: Redefining the Great Wall .::. Size~: 91.21 KBSep 19 13:49
twitterok, comments from Slashdot.  Maxwell's Demon says, "Note that 80% of the users were satisfied with the new desktop, and a further 10% just complained about transient problems."Sep 19 13:53
twitterAnother big mistake, they made the decision to migrate in 2001 but only started to migrate in 2006.  That gave the Microsoft people lots of time to make trouble.Sep 19 14:00
schestowitz<twitter> OK, thanks, that's what I wanted to know.  There are a lot o missing details and the problems I mentioned above.Sep 19 14:01
schestowitzI haven't even mentioned this yetSep 19 14:01
schestowitzNot a single article in EnglishSep 19 14:01
schestowitztwitter: maybe you can accumulate this infoSep 19 14:01
schestowitzThen write an article with link to backing claimSep 19 14:02
schestowitzTo post a rebuttal to this piece, which is in German onlySep 19 14:02
schestowitzReaders would appreciate the other sideSep 19 14:02
-TRIdentica/#techrights-[richslxh/@richslxh] @pookito I think it would be a shame to see an established distro like Mandriva disappear. It has a sound community.Sep 19 14:02
twitterI can look around, but I think information will be lacking in English.Sep 19 14:02
twitterLike I said, it's very trolly.Sep 19 14:03
schestowitzThere's already one thing of importanceSep 19 14:14
schestowitzLike how many people were pleasedSep 19 14:14
schestowitzBut I don't have linksSep 19 14:14
schestowitzAnd it needs to be suimmarised concisely, I thinkSep 19 14:14
schestowitzThen we can published a more complete storySep 19 14:15
twitterI hate Slashdot's nasty java script.  It does not work with Konq 3.5, so I have to pull up iceweasel.Sep 19 14:17
-TRIdentica/#techrights-[richslxh/@richslxh] @pookito So far it looks like they're getting pretty organised and the future looks good if they can maintain the same standard.Sep 19 14:22
twitterHere's an interesting comment from an AC.  The problem with Linux and (F)OSS in Switzerland is manifold:- Microsoft has a strong lobbying group in Switzerland that figuratively "bought" several members of the parliament (even members of the socialist party, e.g. Mrs Pascale Bruderer, who worked for Microsoft Switzerland for a couple of years)Sep 19 14:23
twitter- Microsoft's tentacles even reach out to the Federal Council (Microsoft has strong ties to the current President of the Swiss Confederation, Mrs Doris Leuthard)Sep 19 14:23
twitter- Mr Stefan Meierhans, Swiss "Preisüberwacher" ("Mr Price", chief of one of the Swiss antitrust authorities), is a former PR expert and lobbyist of Microsoft Switzerland. He was appointed by Mrs Doris Leuthard (surprise, surprise).Sep 19 14:23
twitter- A couple of days ago, Mrs Leuthard announced the establishment of a new eEconomy Board [e-economy.ch] organization that is supposed to offer IT advice to the Swiss government and its related organizations. The appointed chief of this organization is the current CEO of Microsoft Switzerland, Mr Peter Waser. Other representatives of big US closed source software vendors are part of the board, but not a single representative of a local opeSep 19 14:23
twitterend interesting commentSep 19 14:24
twitterMaxwells Demon again, "The windows data base they were speaking about was a product named "Konsul" (a proprietary data base developed by a swiss company). No, I didn't hear about that data base before either (I had to google it to find out it was a swiss product, although I suspected it due to the name), and of course it got lost in the Google translation."Sep 19 14:26
-TRIdentica/#techrights-[mohanpram/@mohanpram] “Sent from Ubuntu” signature to be added to all mail sent from Evolution? http://ur1.ca/1obu3 (via @omgubuntu)Sep 19 14:30
-TRIdentica/#techrights-[pietercolpaert/@pietercolpaert] http://ur1.ca/1obud - Report of the #iRail meet-up 17th of September. Thanks for showing up, we'll keep you postedSep 19 14:30
TechrightsBot-trTitle: &ldquo;Sent from Ubuntu&rdquo; signature to be added to all mail sent from Evolution? .::. Size~: 30.07 KBSep 19 14:30
TechrightsBot-trTitle: iRail meet-up: Report €«  Bon sans nom .::. Size~: 24.8 KBSep 19 14:30
schestowitztwitter: could you summarise all these points?Sep 19 14:31
schestowitzI can make a reader's article based on that todaySep 19 14:31
schestowitzTo counter the AstroTurfing I see with this storySep 19 14:31
schestowitzSwitzerland's govt. was suedSep 19 14:31
twitteroften quoted troll hairyfeet talks about how cheap windows is, how wonderful AD is and how gnu/linux is only good for niche applications.Sep 19 14:31
schestowitzFor signing illegally a Microsoft dealSep 19 14:32
twitterhmm, I'm short on time and don't think I can get it done today.Sep 19 14:32
schestowitzOK, maybe later?Sep 19 14:32
schestowitzIt's maybe a case ...Sep 19 14:32
schestowitzNever mindSep 19 14:32
schestowitzI'll use what you put hereSep 19 14:32
-TRIdentica/#techrights-[royhugo/@royhugo] it seems like folks at #diaspora forgot the principle "release early, release often" http://is.gd/fhZ2lSep 19 14:32
-TRIdentica/#techrights-[gbraad/@gbraad] watching #Discovery's Into the Universe with #StephenHawking on our !dreambox http://is.gd/fhZ52Sep 19 14:32
schestowitzAnd summaris thatSep 19 14:32
TechrightsBot-trTitle: Trouble with Diaspora - Steve's Blog .::. Size~: 35.29 KBSep 19 14:32
TechrightsBot-trTitle: http://file.status.net/identica/gbraad-20100919T133202-h9fenwy.png - Identi.ca .::. Size~: 8.97 KBSep 19 14:32
twitterthanks, I'm busy moving.Sep 19 14:32
schestowitz_logokSep 19 14:33
twitterI've lived in this house for nine years and have lots of junk to pack.Sep 19 14:33
schestowitzI'll use the quotes and allSep 19 14:33
schestowitzFrom the loggerSep 19 14:33
twittercheck you latter, thanks for all the good work.Sep 19 14:33
schestowitzI'm putting the log aside to arrange laterSep 19 14:33
schestowitzLots of posts next week...Sep 19 14:33
twitterI do make time to read.  :)Sep 19 14:33


Recent Techrights' Posts

[Video] Dr. Richard Stallman at Technické Univerzitě v Liberci
New/via libre-liberec.cz
Security is Desirable, But Not When the Term Security is Misused to Imply Centralisation of "Trust" (Whose?)
'Security' is not an excuse for vendor lock-in
 
Science, Not Fast Food/Junk Food
The commercial exploitation of users won't stop until users exercise full control over their software or - more broadly - their computing (including data)
The Free Software Foundation, Which Has Appointed a 43-Year-Old President, is Looking to Add Another Board Member (or Treasurer)
expect the FSF to add more people
Richard Stallman Confirms Next Week's Talk at Technical University of Munich, We Urge EPO Staff to Attend
That's probably late enough for EPO staff to attend after work
Gemini Links 18/10/2025: Notifications and Geminaut
Links for the day
Many Red Hat People Are Leaving, But It'll Be Framed Publicly as Leaving IBM
Similarly, IBM layoffs (or "RAs" as they're called) include Red Hat layoffs
Expect More Waves of Microsoft Layoffs This Month (at Least Two Rounds Confirmed Already)
From what we can gather, assuming the recent rumours about XBox are true, there will be at least 3 waves of Microsoft layoffs this month alone
Security Issues in Cisco and Jenkins Passed Off as "Linux" Problems
Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt (FUD) tactics
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, October 17, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, October 17, 2025
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, Linux Journal (Slashdot Media), UbuntuPIT, and Google News (Noise)
egregious plagiarism
Links 17/10/2025: Better Answers Sought After Air Crashes, "China Fans Patriotic Sentiment as Trade War With U.S. Heats Up"
Links for the day
Links 17/10/2025: Fentanylware (CheeTok) Causing Problems, Japanese Government Blasts Slop
Links for the day
The Linux Foundation Seems to Have Turned Linux.com Not Only Into a Spamfarm But Also LLM Slopfarm
it's polluting the Web, even important domains like Linux.com, with spam and LLM slop
Links 17/10/2025: UK’s Largest Breach Penalty and Windows TCO Examples
Links for the day
Go Watch Video About Librephone, Get Microsoft Ads
Very ethical company...
Campaign of Defamation Against the People Who Built NixOS (and Are Now Pushed Out From Their Own Project)
We've already grown familiar with - and resistant to - such tactics
Links 17/10/2025: Nestlé Crisis, Canada Post Versus 'Gig Economy' [sic] and Vista 11 Breaks Itself
Links for the day
Tux Machines Has Helped Separate Opinions/Analysis From News
In September 2023 we decided to split things apart and not repeat links in both sites
Tux Machines Has Improved Navigation of GNU/Linux and BSD News
Some more 'wiring' work
What a World Would Look Like If Everyone Used Free Software Only
Freedom is what matters, not "Open".
The Media Helps Microsoft, Amazon and Others (GAFAM and Beyond) Lie About Mass Layoffs Amid Valuation Bubble
The media, instead of saying that there's an "AI bubble" crashing the economy might instead choose the narrative of "jobs replaced by AI"
Bad Tempered? You Might Have Just Given Away That You're Losing the Argument
Brett Wilson LLP is fully aware that it is being investigated
Richard Stallman (RMS) is a Target of Defamation Campaigns Because of His Views on Software (But Politics Are the Excuse for Defaming Him)
Here in this site we try to refrain from politics, except in Daily Links
End of Vista 10 and Rise of GNU/Linux as Client Side Operating System
It seems certain GNU/Linux will grow in popularity over time
Taking Stock of a Week's Worth of EPO Leaks
We remain committed to exposing EPO corruption as long as it keeps happening
Mathieu Parreaux claims FINMA knew since day one
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Calumny, Libel, Joerg Jaspert & debian-private untouchable cyberbullies
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, October 16, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, October 16, 2025
Techrights Turns 19 in 3 Weeks
coverage of suppressed topics and protecting all sources/whistleblowers
International E-Waste Day Same Day as End of Vista 10
message from Akira Urushibata
The EPO's Central Staff Committee Presents Evidence That Staff Compensation Lowered While the Office Increases Income by Illegally Granting Invalid Patents
These people become millionaires by doing illegal things
Second or Third Wave of Microsoft Mass Layoffs in October 2025, This Time Portugal
Those are just the ones we know about, there may be several more
'Help Net Security' (helpnetsecurity.com) May Have Become a Slopfarm as Well
Zeljka Zorz, Editor-in-Chief at Help Net Security, was reported to us
Gemini Links 17/10/2025: Rant About Network Solutions, Strange Anomaly on Lagrange
Links for the day
EPO Staff Representation Lacks Social Dialogue With Relevant Management, Controversial and Sometimes Illegal Policies Implemented Without Necessary Input
"In this open letter, the CSC requests that the President submits an agenda item in the next available General Consultative Committee (GCC) meeting on setting up regular meetings between the CSC and the higher management of DG1."
Links 16/10/2025: Political Leftovers and Gemini Protocol Links
Links for the day
Lies Need to be Corrected
the Court never invited us
Slopwatch: Guardian Digital (linuxsecurity.com), Slashdot, Google News, and More
Maybe one day, once the bubble pops completely, Google News will just outright delist all slopfarms
Lufthansa Modern Slavery, Joerg Jaspert (ganneff) & Debian NSB Softwareentwicklung charade
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 16/10/2025: US Starting More Trade Wars With China, CIA War on Venezuela
Links for the day
SUSE Blog is Still LLM Slop, Marketing Manager at SUSE Cannot Write
Would you buy from a company or seek support from a company that cannot even write (or fakes writing)?
Pretend You're Not Dead: Microsoft Spent Almost Two Decades Rebranding Things as "Cloud, Then "AI", Now "XBox" and "Quantum"
"AI" bubble pops, Microsoft harping about "quantum" already
IBM Allegedly Found New Tricks for Silent Layoffs: LPI, Then MIS (Not PIP)
Remember that "Red Hat layoffs" won't be reported after the bluewashing
Links 16/10/2025: Red Lines and Feeding of Microsoft Trolls
Links for the day
MIT as a Propaganda Mill of GAFAM, Paid by GAFAM
"the news" today
Links 16/10/2025: Lies Euphemised as ‘Dueling Versions of Reality’ and Microsoft "Open" "Hey Hi" Resorts to Porn as No Business Model Was Found
Links for the day
The Local Staff Committee Munich (Representation of the EPO's Staff) Explains When Cluster of Pregnancies May Result in Reduced Pay
"...even one week of part-time working is sufficient to reduce the salary you perceive during the entirety of your maternity leave."
Another Black Eye for 'Secure Boot', Microsoft Media Tries to Blame "Linux"
It enables Microsoft to remotely control computers, even computers that don't run Windows and never had any Microsoft software installed
Slopwatch: UbuntuPIT, linuxsecurity.com, and Various Slopfarms in Google News Attacking "Linux"
A new survey of the Web said that the majority of the Web is now slop (that's being said in the news this week)
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, October 15, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, October 15, 2025
Links 16/10/2025: Increased Use of Social Control Media Surveillance in US, French Rage Over Pensions
Links for the day