Bonum Certa Men Certa

Divide and Conquer in FOSS is Microsoft, Not Microsoft Critics

People at work



Summary: Why Web sites which are critical of Microsoft should not be considered the problem; rather, they help counter the problem in a reactionary fashion

THERE is a point that must be addressed as it seems to be a recurrent subject that is used to bemoan and belittle the efforts of sites like Groklaw. Enemies of the site have been suggesting that since the SCO saga had pretty much ended with the ruling and the bankruptcy in SCO case, Groklaw then moved on to dismissing another so-called 'boogeyman' or 'scapegoat', such as Microsoft. Now, if these disruptors of FOSS had paid attention, they would understand the relationship between SCO and Microsoft. In the eyes of the sceptic, Groklaw was using a tactics similar to the Nazis', which is outright ridiculous and we ought to explain why. To paint Groklaw as the intolerant side is like calling the cop who nails a thug down to the ground "violent".



"When reality is a commodity, spin and lobbying is all they need to invest in for daemonisation of good people."To claim that Groklaw gained power from Microsoft disdain is to completely ignore what Groklaw showed about Microsoft. It is Microsoft -- not sites like Groklaw -- that sought to increase its own power by dividing the free and open source software communities, further signing divisive patent deals starting in 2006 with Novell. It was Microsoft which did this, not its critics who merely highlighted it. To suggest that reactionary writings are somehow worse than Microsoft using patent litigation to fracture the community is like putting the whistelblower in prison rather than the criminal this whistelblower helped expose (and this too we know tends to happen, especially when the whistelblower is small and the crook is a too-big-to-fail entity in a suit). One bit of disinformation that I sometimes see is that I "hate Linus" and "hate open source". That's a bald faced lie and a complete reversal of reality, probably intended to incite people against me. This is the type of reversal Microsoft spinners use to call FOSS people "zealots" (stereotypical) when in fact the biggest zealot out there is Microsoft. When reality is a commodity, spin and lobbying is all they need to invest in for daemonisation of good people.

So please, to all those who somehow suggest that Groklaw feeds on hatred, do a sanity check. The side spreading hatred is not the one reporting about it.

In a later post we will show how Microsoft is 'owning' Linux, using backroom deals which are probably illegal and distort what markets actually mean, using software patents, bribes (like Novell's), retaliatory lawsuits (sometimes via proxies), and collusion. We are going to deal with that in a separate post. In the mean time, see Groklaw's latest update on SCO bankruptcy and debt:



SCO's Chapter 11 Trustee, Edward Cahn of Blank Rome, finally has filed SCO's monthly operating reports for February. Yes. February. Didn't they do that already? No. In February, they filed for November of 2010.

And what do you know? He finally shows us his handiwork as trustee. The company has basically no money. In fact, it's deeply in debt. So SCO, which was solvent when it filed for bankruptcy protection in September of 2007, has managed to not only lose everything it had back then -- it is in debt. What oversight! What skills! It's precisely all the professional advice SCO has been favored with that put it into this debt.


Also recall this old research from Groklaw:

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates' father's law firm, known as the firm that represents Microsoft, has just filed a Notice of Entry of Appearance and Demand for Notices and Papers [PDF] in the SCO bankruptcy on behalf of MSLI


Microsoft is not a scapegoat and Gates is not benevolent. It's all just part of the PR. And remember this: Groklaw as not divisive; it unifies people against a common threat which is actively attacking them, usually planning these attacks behind closed doors. Do not allow spin to portray as "villains" people who sacrificed their time and career.

"In the fall of 1982, Pam Edstrom [of Waggener Edstrom], a diminutive woman with piercing blue eyes, was recruited by Microsoft. [...] In modern-day business, flacks were responsible not only for avoiding bad press, but for spinning the good. [...] Hanson and Edstrom would spin a whole new image for Gates himself. They would tap the best and worst of Chairman Bill, changing his clothes, his voice, and his allegiances, driving him to become not just the boss, but, essentially, the company mascot—a sort of high-technology Colonel Sanders." --Pam Edstrom's daughter

Recent Techrights' Posts

If You Don't Control Your Online Platform, Then Someone Else is Controlling You
be (or become) independent
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Has a Policy on Racism and Sexism
In then future we'll show the misogyny and racial slurs
Links 22/09/2025: Murdochs Might Join Fentanylware (TikTok) 'Investors' (Masters), United Kingdom Recognises Palestinian Statehood
Links for the day
The 50-Pound Note Experiment and the "War on Cash"
Britain is actually seeing a rebound in cash payments, and it's not a temporary phenomenon
 
What Scares Them the Most is Independent News Sites That They Cannot Control and Censor
Wikileaks was a good example of this
Oracle Started This Year With Slop. Then It Stopped.
Passing fads are like this
Distros That Run on PCs Made 20 Years Ago and Don't Use Systemd
Betas for now
The Complaint About Brett Wilson LLP - Part I - Abusing British Women on Behalf of American Men Who Abuse American Women
Transparency is important to us, so we've decided to make this series
Slopwatch: Google News and the Evident Slopfarm Infestation
This is what people get about Linux when they query Google for Linux
Gemini Links 22/09/2025: Esperanto Music History and Apps For Android
Links for the day
Links 22/09/2025: More American 'Censorship' (Retaliation for Journalism), Cheeto "Might Be Losing His Race Against Time"
Links for the day
The Blob Slop
Give me more words, give me some text
Slopwatch: Blaming the Victims for Microsoft's Failures and Plagiarising Phoronix
That's what Google has been reduced to: slop and slopfarms
Links 22/09/2025: Breaches, Windows TCO, and Arrests
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/09/2025: Rabbit Hole and DeGoogling Fairphone
Links for the day
Links 22/09/2025: Russian War Planes Invade NATO Airspace While Dihydroxyacetone Man Escalates Attack on Free Speech Because of Critics
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, September 21, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, September 21, 2025
Links 21/09/2025: "Hey Hi" (Hype) Under Fire, Fakes Identified; Tesla Burns Family
Links for the day
Google's Software is Malware and Malware in Mobile Devices
Originally posted by Rob Musial
Links 20/09/2025: Hegemony Coming to a Close, Luigi Mangione Ruled Not Terrorist
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/09/2025: "Charlie Kirk Was a Hateful Piece of Shit" and Slop Code Attempted by Microsofter
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, September 20, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, September 20, 2025
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Snowy Photos and utism is a Spectrum
Links for the day
Microsoft-Sponsored Xenophobia and Nationalism
IBM is very similar in this regard
Vintage is Sometimes Better
Why can't we get back to "simple" if (or where) "simple" means better?
Climate Breakdown Means We'll be Publishing More, Not Less
Press freedom will be a common, recurring theme
Our 5-Year Geminispace Anniversary is Coming Up
I still remember when Gemini Protocol was quite new
It's Right to Point Out Violence From the Right
Violence is a recurring theme
Tentative Summary of Things to Publish in Project 2030
I'll still be in my forties by then
Web Browsers That "Do Hey Hi" (AI)
State-of-the-art plagiarism or "autocomplete on steroids" (not coined by us, nevertheless a nice description) don't have much/any prospect
Links 20/09/2025: Hardware Projects in View, Some Independent Publishers About Russia Prosper After Cheeto Cuts Funding
Links for the day
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Options and TV Time Machine
Links for the day
Links 20/09/2025: Retrocomputer, Antique Phone Experience, and More
Links for the day
Links 20/09/2025: Internet Shutdowns, Media Censorship, and Climate Worries
Links for the day
About 700 New Gemini Capsules in 13 Months (or 54 Per Month)
4.8K would represent a 20% increase
Rust People: Drain the Swap, You're Holding It Wrong
Does Rust make sense?
Techrights the Name Turns 15
About 6 weeks from now we turn 19
Microsoft is Running Out of Time and Floating Fake Figures, Fake Projects, Fake Narratives, Fake Excuses
Also, a lot of Microsoft's "revenue" claims are circular financing (i.e. Microsoft buying from itself, which means Ponzi-like fraud)
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, linuxconfig.org, and Plagiarised Phoronix
Many articles out there are nowadays fake
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, September 19, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, September 19, 2025
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Navigating the Pressures of Modern Life and SpellBinding Accidentally Wrote Another Gemini Server
Links for the day