Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft: From Glitch to Leech

Microsoft blue ribbon



Summary: Having failed on technical merit and lost despite anti-competitive tactics, Microsoft is now adamant about destroying the winner (Linux or android) from the inside

MICROSOFT is not winning. It is definitely losing, but it sure tries hard to ensure that its competition too is losing. Several years ago Microsoft started infiltrating the Open Source community. "Shared Source" did not take (people were not gullible enough), so they tried CodePlex, but people still knew it was just s shell of Microsoft. So Microsoft renamed it a bit, using the more obscure name "Outercurve" (which many people do not associate with Microsoft because they don't know any better). Using this fake shell that promotes proprietary Microsoft software under an "open" flavour, it is still openwashing everything with PR fluff, using paid press releases that no journalist seems to even pay attention to anymore (based on what we could gather anyway).



"Microsoft is a company on the steep decline (Windows sales have declined for several consecutive quarters since 2009) and the company is now turning into a leech that feeds on GNU/Linux and FOSS for its survival."Several years ago Microsoft also infiltrated Linux and OpenOffice.org development through Novell, putting Hyper-V and OOXML in those two products, respectively. This was part of Novell's obligation to Microsoft, as clearly stated in their 2006 patent deal, which was sort of renewed when the Attachmate-owned SUSE signed a document without even consulting the SUSE community and then pocketed more Microsoft money (with strings attached). As we pointed out some days ago (a criminally under-covered story), Microsoft has just found itself another 'Novell' in China and its boosters are ecstatic. The point of it is to tax the use of GNU/Linux and control the way it is being used, through the hypervisor at the very least. This new mostly covered by pro-Microsoft writers (all except one that we found, namely LinuxDevices). Why are GNU/Linux sites ignoring all the reports and not rebutting the sheer spin? This is terrible news and we need to shed light on it.

Microsoft is a company on the steep decline (Windows sales have declined for several consecutive quarters since 2009) and the company is now turning into a leech that feeds on GNU/Linux and FOSS for its survival. My cohost Tim put it well last night when he argued that Microsoft has "fear of the future", which seems to revolve around servers and mobile devices for accessing those servers. To quote:

When looking at a diverse range of technology topics, it’s very rare that I will write a rebuttal post (of sorts). Its even rarer that the post which forms the foundation of the article is from Microsoft themselves. In Redmond “The land of make-believe” it seems that Microsoft wants to tell us how things are and of course the desktop is not dead, that is of course because its vital to Microsoft that the Desktop PC stuffed with Windows continues on.

The question for today will be “What will be the future form factor of choice for the mainstream home user?”.

Think of the average users in your experience, the mainstream, the following masses. With those people it’s all Facebook, Twitter, Farmville and YouTube. Perhaps the very user Microsoft has ensnared with Windows is now to assist in the downfall because of lack of need in respect of the more “traditional” form factors.


Those who perceive themselves as belonging to the GNU/Linux community or even fair competition proponents like yours truly need to counter Microsoft's attack on both. Apple too is participating in this attack on operating system as a commodity. It's a class war. So Apple too has become an integral part of the problem, however it hardly infiltrates the GNU/Linux community in the same way Microsoft does (we do have few Apple agitators in our IRC channels). People need to openly talk about these serious issues. They need to name those who conspire against them or sell the community out.

Recent Techrights' Posts

FSFE (Ja, Das Gulag Deutschland) Has Lost Its Tongue
Articles/month
Ian Jackson & Debian reject mediation
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
How to get selected for Outreachy internships
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Red Hat Corporate Communications is "Red" Now
Also notice they offer just two options: MICROSOFT or... MICROSOFT!
Links 26/04/2024: XBox Sales Have Collapsed, Facebook's Shares Collapse Too
Links for the day
 
Microsoft: Our "Goodwill" Gained Over 51 Billion Dollars in the Past Nine Months Alone, Now "Worth" as Much as All Our Physical Assets (Property and Equipment)
The makeup of a Ponzi scheme where the balance sheet has immaterial nonsense
Almost 2,700 New Posts Since Upgrading to Static Site 7 Months Ago, Still Getting More Productive Over Time
We've come a long way since last autumn
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, April 26, 2024
IRC logs for Friday, April 26, 2024
Overpaid lawyer & Debian miss WIPO deadline
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Brian Gupta & Debian: WIPO claim botched, suspended
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Microsoft's XBox is Dying (For Second Year in a Row Over 30% Drop in Hardware Sales)
they boast about fake numbers or very deliberately misleading numbers that represent two companies, not one
[Meme] Granting a Million Monopolies in Europe (to Non-European Companies) at Europe's Expense
Financialization of the EPO
Salary Adjustment Procedure at the EPO Challenged
the EPO must properly compensate staff in order to attract and retain suitably skilled examiners
Links 26/04/2024: Surveillance Abundant, Restoring Net Neutrality Rules (US)
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/04/2024: uConsole and EXWM and stdu 1.0.0
Links for the day
Albanian women, Brazilian women & Debian Outreachy racism under Chris Lamb
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Microsoft-Funded 'News' Site: XBox Hardware Revenue Declined by 31%
Ignore the ludicrous media spin
Mark Shuttleworth, Elio Qoshi & Debian/Ubuntu underage girls
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Karen Sandler, Outreachy & Debian Money in Albania
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, April 25, 2024
IRC logs for Thursday, April 25, 2024
Links 26/04/2024: Facebook Collapses, Kangaroo Courts for Patents, BlizzCon Canceled Under Microsoft
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/04/2024: Music, Philosophy, and Socialising
Links for the day
Microsoft Claims "Goodwill" Is an Asset Valued at $119,163,000,000, Cash Decreased From $34,704,000,000 to $19,634,000,000 and Total Liabilities Grew to $231,123,000,000
Earnings Release FY24 Q3
More Microsoft Cuts: Events Canceled, Real Sales Down Sharply
So they will call (or rebrand) everything "AI" or "Azure" or "cloud" while adding revenues from Blizzard to pretend something is growing
CISA Has a Microsoft Conflict of Interest Problem (CISA Cannot Achieve Its Goals, It Protects the Worst Culprit)
people from Microsoft "speaking for" "Open Source" and for "security"
Links 25/04/2024: South Korean Military to Ban iPhone, Armenian Remembrance Day
Links for the day
Gemini Links 25/04/2024: SFTP, VoIP, Streaming, Full-Content Web Feeds, and Gemini Thoughts
Links for the day
Audiocasts/Shows: FLOSS Weekly and mintCast
the latest pair of episodes
[Meme] Arvind Krishna's Business Machines
He is harming Red Hat in a number of ways (he doesn't understand it) and Fedora users are running out of patience (many volunteers quit years ago)
[Video] Debian's Newfound Love of Censorship Has Become a Threat to the Entire Internet
SPI/Debian might end up with rotten tomatoes in the face
Joerg (Ganneff) Jaspert, Dalbergschule Fulda & Debian Death threats
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Amber Heard, Junior Female Developers & Debian Embezzlement
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
[Video] Time to Acknowledge Debian Has a Real Problem and This Problem Needs to be Solved
it would make sense to try to resolve conflicts and issues, not exacerbate these
Daniel Pocock elected on ANZAC Day and anniversary of Easter Rising (FSFE Fellowship)
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
[Video] IBM's Poor Results Reinforce the Idea of Mass Layoffs on the Way (Just Like at Microsoft)
it seems likely Red Hat layoffs are in the making
Ulrike Uhlig & Debian, the $200,000 woman who quit
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, April 24, 2024
IRC logs for Wednesday, April 24, 2024
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day