Bonum Certa Men Certa

Jack Schofield Accused of "Lack of Professionalism" for Daemonising Mono Sceptics

Microsoft Jack



Summary: How the news about Mono gets distorted by Microsoft zealots, whereas some blogs are willing to acknowledge that the biggest loser in Monocalypse is actually Microsoft

TECHRIGHTS has published many short posts about the layoffs, e.g. this one. There is a lot of coverage out there [1, 2, 3, 4] and none celebrates this news. The Mono boosters lie about Techrights celebrating the layoffs, but it's merely part of the attempt to daemonise Techrights and distance people from the site. We do not like the layoffs as they are sometimes harmful to everyone. We know the workers will have an opportunity to do well and some are going to find jobs elsewhere despite the "tough time". Senior and former staff is doing well based on recent appointments in other companies, even in Diebold. Well, they no longer need to serve the Novell interest, which got mingled with Microsoft's and stayed that way for almost 5 years. Novell used to be a great company. IDG's Dave Kearns wrote about Novell's Craig: 'Craig was one of the first employees of Novell Systems in the early 1980s, being named VP of marketing in 1984. In his book "Surfing the High Tech Wave," Roger White says of Burton: "Craig proved an exceptionally good planner and articulate spokesman for the open systems marketing and technology approach." White credits Burton and his future wife, Judith Clarke, with creating the powerhouse that Novell was in the late 1980s.'

“White credits Burton and his future wife, Judith Clarke, with creating the powerhouse that Novell was in the late 1980s”
      --Dave Kearns
Our problem is Novell's management, which did deserve to be fired. And there is no need to cry for it, either. These people are still paid massive benefits, even when their staff is laid off massively.

Those who misrepresent/misinterpret this site's view often use the words of people who merely read or link to the site, pretending that it somehow constitutes the site's stance. It does not. The Mono lobby is lying and distorting the truth. Microsoft Jack (SCOfield) has been using the same sort of tactics for a long while, and not just against Techrights, either. He uses his position to daemonise other Microsoft critics, too. We are going to show some of his latest deeds in just a moment because his disgusting, rude, filthy personal attacks on me (that link quite knowingly to libellous USENET posts with my name in them) deserve this response. Microsoft Jack is to journalism what Monckton is to climate science.



For those who wish to cut to the chase, watch this borderline PR (masquerading as objective news) from Microsoft Jack, a longtime pro-Microsoft zealot. He covers Linux issues only when he has something negative to say, just like Microsoft Florian (whom he speaks to). He also badmouths Android, obviously. It was only yesterday that we wrote about groups or people masquerading as rights group when in fact they are attack dogs looking for companies to hire them to attack competitors. They prey on corruptible reporters.

So anyway, what is it about Microsoft Jack's latest? Well, for starters, he tries to describe people whom he disagrees with as "Microsoft haters" and this time too he does this by typing: "This effort, which should make Linux more attractive to businesses, has led to some hostility, particularly from the Microsoft-hating faction of the free software movement." Jack's boogeyman is "Microsoft haters".

The first comment rebuts this as follows:

I have to find your lack of professionalism rather appalling.

Rather than take the technical reasons why Mono is not a good idea for free software, you choose to reduce it to a tabloid style 'haters will hate' blurb.

Laziness both physical and intellectual can ruin even the best of plans. They also take away any credibility you might have.

There are scores of very well known free software developers as well as activiists like Eben Moglen (who is called all kinds of names by mono proponents who you seem to emulate) who dont agree with including a non-free infrastructure from both technical and legal reasons, not too mention ethical ones as well.

Of course, Ive followed the attacks on people like Simon Phipps by Mono proponents who dare to even suggest that Mono isnt a good idea. Phipps who is extremely well respected compared it like talking about Scientology. They too see 'haters will hate' as some kind of excuse.

When it comes to the Novell/Mono group against people like Jeremy Allison, Phipps, Perens, Moglen and others who are all gentlemen who keep the discourse polite, I will go with the first group every single time.

You could take a lesson from writers like Glyn Moody and try to inform your readers rather than cheeky soundbytes. Maybe then you could gain some respect like Moody has.


The Mono booster who created an account just to attack me in that site at one time (going by the name "TheKernel", ironically enough) soon appears at the scene to do some PR for Mono (comment #2). How typical. For background see [1, 2]. Well, in the remainder of the comments it's just amicable chat between Jack Schofield and the anonymous Mono booster who created a puppet account just to smear me and defend Mono when ZDNet wrote about me.

“I personally used to have 'don't worry, be happy' approach to Mono, but since the recent patent litigation explosion, I've become a lot more cynical regarding the project.”
      --Thom Holwerda
Now, one might say that Jack's coverage is defensible. But then, how come he is the only one doing this? Compare that to Neil from IDG. He put it more professionally and he gives validity to Mono critics by writing: "Some will say good riddance. The specter of Microsoft has always haunted Mono, particularly among those zealots who consider any technology from Redmond to be anathema to the open source movement. They fear Microsoft will wait until the Mono platform is mature enough, then subvert it by asserting hitherto-undisclosed patent claims, leaving anyone who developed applications using Mono in a lurch (and presumably, beholden to Microsoft)."

Moreover, due to the issues explained by the FSF, this is a popular opinion. And even a Microsoft apologist like Thom Holwerda, who among other things remarked on SUSE, had this to say about the Monocalypse: "Mono, of course, has always been a controversial project. It implements several technologies patented by Microsoft, and as such, has been shunned by many Linux distributions. I personally used to have 'don't worry, be happy' approach to Mono, but since the recent patent litigation explosion, I've become a lot more cynical regarding the project. It would be understandable if Attachmate wanted to kill their involvement with Mono out of fear of possible patent litigation, but it would seem that isn't the case at this point."

Other Microsoft boosters covered the news without mocking Mono's critics, either. It's just Jack and his zeal. It's nothing new. Here is yet another example among many that we have accumulated [1, 2, 3]. It is possible to be objective if one describes himself or herself as a real journalist and as this one site correctly put it, "Mono is now important to Microsoft as a way of ensuring that .NET is cross-platform at no cost to it."

Yes, and this is why Mono is not liked by some people, understandably. There are other fake 'reporters' whom we know are being handed material to "plant" for Microsoft (and attack Linux). One of them, a notable member of he SCO/Microsoft fan club, covered the news with the headline "Attachmate Guts Novell".

In other pro-Microsoft circles, apart from some Novell takeover coverage [1, 2] there is some fair coverage as Ravi Mandalia correctly states: "If the report is to be believed, it is indeed a major setback, if not devastating for Microsoft, as well as for the whole of the .NET community."

Yes, Microsoft will suffer from the Monocalypse. GNU/Linux can triumph. GNU/Linux does not need cheap copies of Microsoft's patented APIs. It's all about API domination, which is what Microsoft spent billions on yesterday (Skype).

Mono is not totally dead yet. Mono's legacy includes Pinta, a pastime project of a Novell employee. Without Novell's financial support the interest will hopefully be lost. Meanwhile, the Microsoft/Mono boosters are trying to poison Android and Ubuntu. There is news like this with others joining in to promote Mono in Android:

Resco is announcing the awaited release of Android edition for MobileForms Toolkit 2011, shortly after the official release of Novell’s MonoDroid.


Well, a site that promotes a lot of .NET weighs in by stating: "The third aspect of Mono is the mobile tools line, another commercial venture. Here we find the most angst amongst the general community. Developers are increasing turning to MonoTouch and Mono for Android as an alternative to completely rewriting their applications for each type of mobile device. Unlike enterprise developers who can continue to use the free/open source version of Mono or move back to .NET, mobile device developers are betting heavily on this technology and if the platform is abandoned they face a major rewrite."

It is premature to celebrate the end of Mono, but this will probably happen unless Microsoft or one of its partners rescues the project (which might in fact happen). Mono is about spreading .NET, not about Open Source. The "Open Source" part is just a marketing proposition.

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

European Patent Office Illegally Gutting and Outsourcing Its Functions, Acting Like an Above-the-Law Commercial Business (It Won't Stop at Formalities Officers (FOs) and Classification Slop at the EPO)
breaking/violating laws and conventions
Links 19/09/2025: Lobbyist of American GAFAM Becomes Data Protection Commissioner in Europe
Links for the day
The Right to Punch People (Apparently)
At Brett Wilson, Brett's job title is "Head of Crime" and Wilson normalises calls for violence
Brett Wilson LLP Seem to Have Had Only One Litigation Client in 2025, He Was Previously Charged, Just Like the Serial Strangler From Microsoft (Whom They Now Represent)
Karma is superstition, regulators are not
Project 2030 to Cover How "Project 2025"-Styled Anti-Media Zealots From America Targeted Techrights and Tux Machines
The common denominator is also their attacks on women
Brett Wilson LLP Failed to Meet Deadlines Set by Judge 7 Months Earlier, Tried to Ruin Our Holiday, Then Had the Audacity to Ask Us for Over 3,000 Pounds for Its Own Lateness
As a matter of principle we will never respond to assassin while we are on holiday
 
Links 19/09/2025: Press Freedom Dying in US, Anti-Austerity Strikes in France, and Alan Rusbridger to Leave 'Prospect'
Links for the day
Offloading to the Sister Site
In the interest of not overwhelming readers
Links 19/09/2025: Coffee Club and "SpellBinding is Now Absurdly Fast"
Links for the day
Links 19/09/2025: Media Freedom Ceases to Exist in US, "Consider Dropping Twitter/X"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 19/09/2025: Thinking and Insect Bites
Links for the day
Microsoft E.E.E.: Git Will Now (or Very Soon) Fully Depend on Rust, Which is Controlled by Microsoft
Microsoft now makes Git dependent on Rust, or making Git dependent on GitHub, which is proprietary
Slop or Fake Articles Have Turned Linux Journal From a Pioneering/Trailblazing "Linux" Magazine Into a Nuisance
some sites with former reputation - good reputation - turn into cesspools
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, September 18, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, September 18, 2025
On Claims That After Bluewashing Red Hat Will Increasingly Become an Indian Company
Discussed this week (long and detailed)
Americans Attacking British Sites Only Months After They Leave America
We find it kind of funny if not ironic that this site, originally an American site, got legal harassment only from Americans and only months after it had moved to the UK
Despite Losing Over a Quarter Million Dollars a Year Software in the Public Interest (SPI) Gives Helping Hand to Libreboot
SPI's financial state depends a lot on its public image or its reputation
Slopwatch: Google Helps Plagiarism and Sends Traffic to Ripoff Artists
That Google as a company helps spamfarms is noteworthy
If You Want to Know the Future, Listen to the Free Software Foundation (FSF) and Andy Farnell
We're sure the FSF will have plenty of its own output
Links 18/09/2025: A Taliban Ban on Internet Access and Troubled US Job Market
Links for the day
Gemini Links 18/09/2025: Computer Literacy and Accessing Alhena's Database
Links for the day
Links 18/09/2025: US War on Media (Truth Banned, Cancel Culture by the Hard Right), NYT Chief Executive Warns Cheeto is Deploying ‘Anti-press Playbook'
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, September 17, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, September 17, 2025
Slopwatch: Fake Articles, Fake Text, Fake Images, Negative Slant on "Linux"
Google News has lost its value; the signal-to-noise ratio has fallen off a cliff
Gemini Links 17/09/2025: Relax-and-Recover on Proxmox and New Smolweb File Transfer Service
Links for the day
Fact: EFF Got Corrupted by Corporate Money. Microsoft Lunduke (Political Noise): The Issue With EFF is, It Kills Babies.
Microsoft Lunduke - as usual - finds a way to make it about abortions
Pacing Publication Up a Bit
The news cycles have gotten rather light and slow
Links 17/09/2025: Power Outages, Digital Controls, and Attacks on the Mainstream Media (by Insecure and Corrupt Dictators)
Links for the day
Gemini Links 17/09/2025: Flashing LineageOS and ROOPHLOCH
Links for the day
Links 17/09/2025: Long COVID Study, "Exposing Pegasus", and Chatbots Exposing Sensitive Data
Links for the day
Links 17/09/2025: Secret Settlement for Internet Archive and Google’s LLM Slop Summaries Attracting Lawsuits
Links for the day
The True Cost of 'Generative Models'
Funded and promoted by the companies that profit from the waste
'Big Slop' Attacks Contemporary Information/Knowledge and Creative Works, 'Big Copyright' (Cartel) Attacks the Old
Someone at IA will hopefully "blow the whistle" on what they actually agreed
Why We Find It Difficult to Trust Rust
A comparison between C/C++ and Rust
Slop Nihilism is Funded by Big Oil
Eventually human civilisation will destroy itself
Watching the OSI: Our Series Will Carry on Irrespective of the Chief's 'Resignation'
the OSI isn't even the real guardian of the term "Open Source"
Professor Eben Moglen Recovering From Open Heart Surgery
From his public pages (this is not secret)
Just What LibreOffice Needs? Another Language? (Rust)
what's all this concern about memory safety?
Many Microsoft Managers Are Leaving
"Hey hi" chaff or chaff about "hey hi" cannot eternally distract from the difficulties inside the company
There Are Red Hat (IBM) Layoffs, But Google News is Infested With Slopfarms
It contributes a lot to misinformation and it encourages plagiarism
Tomorrow, Microsoft's Tim Anderson's 'The Register MS' Offshoot Will Have Been Inactive for 2 Months (There's Also a Slop Problem)
We've already caught The Register MS using LLM slop for articles
Microsoft's Chief Legal Officer Leaves Microsoft After Nearly 30 Years
And not retiring
Even Windows Users Are Having Problems With "Secure Boot"
When it comes to security - Microsoft strives for the very opposite
Another Competition Crime of Microsoft, Long Facilitated and Advocated by a Bad Actor, Who is Funded by a Third Party to Commit Extortion Against People Who Have Correctly and Repeatedly Warned About It for Over 13 Year
We must always go back to the core issues
3 More Reasons to Replace Mozilla Firefox With LibreWolf
Thankfully there are de-enshittified versions of Firefox
USA Not a Place for Free Speech
In America, as in the US, the attacks seem more enhanced or advanced these days
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, September 16, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, September 16, 2025
Links 17/09/2025: Google Layoffs in "Hey Hi" (AI), Perplexity Hit With More "Hey Hi" (Plagiarism) Lawsuits
Links for the day
Gemini Links 17/09/2025: Reclaiming Things in a Digital Age and Moon Phases in CGI
Links for the day