Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft's Mole Strategy Against Free Software Spreads OOXML, Surveillance, Other Malice to the Real, Potent Alternatives

The Microsoft Trojan horse spreads 'diseases' like OOXML

Trojan



Summary: Free/Open Source Software (FOSS) is being disrupted by Microsoft from the inside, using the same people who used to openly attack FOSS and now keep a lower profile

TECHRIGTHS is distrubed (albeit not entirely surprised) to see that some people still fall for the "Microsoft loves Linux" (or FOSS) nonsense, which has become a hallmark of Microsoft's latest strategy against FOSS. There are many names for such a strategy. "Killing With Kindness" is one such names and it is often used in foreign policy by the occupier (or an occupying army).



"This is an assault disguised as love."Last night a reader called iophk showed us more of Microsoft's (strong NSA ally) ambitions to grab hold of people's RAM, CPU etc., not just software and data. Microsoft is "pushing lock-in on the files themselves, not just their encoding format," wrote iophk, sharing this report about Bing bribes (Microsoft has offered many bribes to promote Bing over the years). They are trying to get more data stuck in OOXML, which Microsoft bribed and corrupted officials for. There is no altruism here, only crime.

Doug Mahugh, who was part of these crimes for OOXML (we wrote a lot about him around 7 years ago), is now "Lead Technical Evangelist @ Microsoft Open Technologies, Inc." (a Microsoft proxy and mole inside FOSS) based on his Twitter profile. So the same crooks who spent years attacking FOSS are now in "Microsoft Open Technologies", eh? Watch this timeline of tweets of his. See how Mahugh is promoting the infamous "embrace and extend" of FOSS in various projects, including in Moodle. This is an assault disguised as love. The goal of infiltrating Moodle, for example, is to make teachers and children dependent on OOXML since a relatively young ago. If these teachers and children turn to Google they will at least use OpenDocument Format (ODF), which Google and Android have begun embracing.

Speaking of infiltrations, Cyanogen is a rogue company that is now used by disruptors of Android other than itself, not just Facebook and Nokia but also Amazon, which has disrupted Android since many managers from Microsoft joined its Kindle division (we covered this years ago). Cyanogen is now acting like a Microsoft proxy and one new report says:

Cyanogen, the startup behind the popular aftermarket firmware CyanogenMod, is reportedly seeking investors that are willing to bet on it wresting control of Android from Google.

Rumours have been circulating for months that Yahoo, Samsung, Amazon, and Microsoft may be keen on taking a stake in Cyanogen. More recently, the Wall Street Journal reported that Microsoft was interesting in participating in a $70m funding round that would value Cyanogen at hundreds of millions of dollars, following two rounds last year in which it raised a total of $30m.

Now, a report in Recode has added fuel to the fire, with the publication's sources saying Cyanogen has talked to "a broad range of companies," including both Amazon and Microsoft, as it seeks to establish an Android ecosystem that's not controlled by Google.


Also distrurbing is what happens to Raspberry Pi. In response to what someone wrote about Microsoft influence in Raspberry Pi the official Twitter account pf Raspberry Pi offered nothing but insults and sarcasm, not true reassurance that Microsoft has no influence in Raspberry Pi (foundation) after months of collaboration (and most likely payments).

"We need to slaughter Novell before they get stronger….If you’re going to kill someone, there isn’t much reason to get all worked up about it and angry. You just pull the trigger. Any discussions beforehand are a waste of time. We need to smile at Novell while we pull the trigger."

--Jim Allchin, Microsoft's Platform Group Vice President

Recent Techrights' Posts

Why We Publish Information About the SLAPPs (But Not About the Legal Process), an Abuse of Process by Americans Trying to Silence Critics of Their Employer, Microsoft
It doesn't take thousands of pages to explain something simple
 
The Register MS Says "AI Web Crawlers Are Destroying Websites", So Why Does The Register MS Help 'AI' Companies? (Spoiler: Money)
People need to call out The Register MS on its hypocrisy
Slopfarms Already Peaked, They Will Die When Slop Companies Run Out of Money to Borrow
slopfarms will lack an actual "engine"
Links 02/09/2025: Attacks on Unions, Microsoft TCO, and DDoSing a Growing Problem
Links for the day
Internet Relay Chat Didn't Fall Off a Cliff
IRC will turn 40 in less than 3 years from now
The UEFI 9/11 - Part V - This is Not a Drill (Disable "SecureBoot" Now)
A "9/11" Coming
There's No Obligation to Speak to Anybody
The very fact that "bkuhn" is till spending time in social control media says a lot about his poor judgment
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, September 01, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, September 01, 2025
Microsoft Trying to Force People to Resign (Amid Mass Layoffs) a Strategy That Takes Its Toll
Microsoft seems to be circling down the drain and the "final flush" will be the moment the "hey hi" (AI) bubble implodes completely
Google Simply Cannot Be Trusted
Only fools would trust GAFAM
Admission That a Third Party (or Parties) Funds the SLAPPs Against Techrights
This can end up costing them over a million dollars
Modifying and Writing One's Own Computer Programs is Not a Crime (or: Google Proves That Stallman Was Right)
We're generally gratified to see so many positive mentions of him
Why We Stopped Publishing Videos (for Now)
We'll probably get back to videos one day, but it's hard to say when or to what extent
What Animal Rights Activism Teaches Us About Sympathy and Focus
It's possible to believe that the planet is warming, that we must do something about it, and still eat eggs and butter
When You Turn Web Sites About Tech Into Political Sites
A lot of people fall into the trap of catering only for particular groups
Gemini Links 02/09/2025: ROOPHLOCH 2025 and Lagrange 1.19 Released
Links for the day
Gemini Links 01/09/2025: News Corp. WSJ and A Month With NixOS
Links for the day
“Sideloading” Never Killed Anybody
There are many online discussions this week about the misnomer "sideloading"
Slopwatch: Google News as FUD Vector Against Linux and Plagiarism Enhancer, Serial Slopper (SS) Uses LLMs to Googlebomb "Linux"
Slop destroys the Web not just by screwing with search engines and helping plagiarists. It's also responsible for de facto DDoS attacks...
Links 01/09/2025: "Attacks on Science" and China's "Soft Power" Grows
Links for the day
Links 01/09/2025: Fresh Backlash Against Slop and "Norway’s Electricity Crisis is About to Hit Britain"
Links for the day
Writing and Coding Isn't Always Enough
Last year we had to assume a role we didn't have before: litigants
Links 01/09/2025: Catching Up (Mostly via Deutsche Welle), "Windows TCO" Effect in UK
Links for the day
Gemini Links 01/09/2025: Linguistic Barriers and "Web 1.0 Hosting"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, August 31, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, August 31, 2025
Autumn Has Come
Autumn should be exciting in all sorts of ways; it'll also mark our anniversary
The UEFI 9/11 - Part IV - External Interference
They all seem to be playing a role in crushing Software Freedom and self-determination for users
Links 31/08/2025: Baggage Claim Scams, an Insurrectionist’s War on Culture, and a Sudden Robotics Hype
Links for the day
Gemini Links 31/08/2025: Reviewing Netsurf and Slightly Less Historic Ada Design
Links for the day
IBM Has Taken Control of GNOME
Don't expect a successor to be found any time soon
Links 31/08/2025: Google Gmail Data Breach and LF Puff Pieces for Pay
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, August 30, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, August 30, 2025
This is What Google News Has Become
Moments ago