Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft is Doing to 'Open Source' (OSI) What it Did to W3C

"Mind Control: To control mental output you have to control mental input. Take control of the channels by which developers receive information, then they can only think about the things you tell them. Thus, you control mindshare!"

--Microsoft, internal document [PDF]



Summary: The corporate/mainstream media keeps telling us that Microsoft has changed and can now be trusted within its competition, but this media merely plays along with an expensive PR campaign which is intended to shift attention and systematically launder Microsoft's reputation

THE OSI is responsible for the term "Open Source" and thus the FSD. Jargon and history aside, even though OSI has become pretty irrelevant (it does not do much enforcement of the brand anymore), it still represents something pretty important. It was only a matter of time before Microsoft managed to sneak in (the requirement is basically little more than a payment).



"It was only a matter of time before Microsoft managed to sneak in (the requirement is basically little more than a payment)."We are not interested in writing about Microsoft. We would rather focus on the EPO and patents in general. But seeing what happened to the mainstream media, we cannot keep silent. It not only promoted proprietary Microsoft software in "Linux" (or "open") clothing but also engaged in rather gross revisionism and misrepresentation of the Free/Open Source software community. It's almost as though the mainstream media now actively and consciously participates in a PR campaign.

Earlier today the head of the FSFE wrote a couple of tweets. The first one said: "Microsoft is doing a mini-"survey" @OpenSourceLx on their "relationship" with Linux."

Notice the tongue in cheek-like tone. "Send me your answers," he wrote, "I'll use the best ones."

"Watch what Microsoft does with patents and see what it is doing in Munich, too. There's no doubt about it; Microsoft attacks GNU/Linux.""Finally got round to filling in the Microsoft survey," he wrote later (there are photos with these tweets).

As one can tell, FSFE does not like Microsoft and people out there don't like Microsoft either. But based on what the mainstream media tells us, we're supposed to think or believe otherwise. Hence the necessity of this post. Watch what Microsoft does with patents and see what it is doing in Munich, too. There's no doubt about it; Microsoft attacks GNU/Linux.

The mainstream media, conveniently enough, rarely writes about these attacks. It certainly looks the other way every time Microsoft sends some patent trolls to attack rivals. What happened to investigative, independent journalism? No money in it?

The mainstream media was certainly right on the scene to mention Microsoft joining (i.e. paying) the OSI. We posted links to many articles about it; it's in our daily links (with some accompanying commentary). It went further with all these ridiculous characterisations of Microsoft as an "Open Source company" which now "loves Linux". Obviously a lot of people out there raised their eyebrows and shrugged. "This isn't true," they said to themselves. The media, moreover, tried to get across the message that FOSS geeks are now "OK" with Microsoft. Even Tim Bray wrote a post to that effect the other day (we argued about it and he eventually accepted my point).

"As these lies keep spreading around the Web people might be misled and therefore a rebuttal may be needed, not just in commenting sections/replies (almost all the comments we have seen are against Microsoft as readers are rejecting the assertions made by the articles' authors)."Geeks are not "OK" with Microsoft, but a lot of marketing is supposed to give us the impressions that things have changed and only "radicals" still "hate" (they use that word to describe reactionary distrust) Microsoft. Today we even saw LWN writing about it, linking to the party which Microsoft has just paid (obviously it can only say positive things; it's being paid to do that).

As these lies keep spreading around the Web people might be misled and therefore a rebuttal may be needed, not just in commenting sections/replies (almost all the comments we have seen are against Microsoft as readers are rejecting the assertions made by the articles' authors). The media keeps writing about it, even today [1, 2], so it's hard to keep track of all the nonsense and rebut it all in one place. It's now scattered everywhere. In one example from today Microsoft and/or gullible reporters are trying to reframe "Linux" as just a "feature" of Windows. How about this for a headline today?

On Windows, PowerShell vs. Bash comparison gets interesting



We are saddened to see this. So is Richard Stallman, who is reading Techrights and recently had the opportunity to comment (in the mainstream media) on things like the above.

Microsoft PR money (or covert 'bribes') to supposedly FOSS-centric organisations can show that we're not any more immune/robust to subversion than W3C was (the DRM crisis). "Microsoft loves Linux" is nothing but an expensive PR campaign designed to disguise/distract from a patent attacks (like the Novell deal of 2006). I spent many years of my life refuting their lies about that.

"Microsoft PR money (or covert 'bribes') to supposedly FOSS-centric organisations can show that we're not any more immune/robust to subversion than W3C was (the DRM crisis)."As I put it yesterday, I had stopped writing articles about Microsoft a few years back. But I find it hard when they (1) attack GNU/Linux secretly and (2) bribe media for PR. Meanwhile, Microsoft is blackmailing GNU/Linux for billions of dollars; what does the media say? Hey, let's focus on millions of dollars it invests in W3C-type entryism and frame it as "altruistic".

This morning we saw Mike Milinkovich‏ (Eclipse Foundation chief) linking to this article. Responses to apologists of this move are more revealing than the apologists. Just see the comments; "since Microsoft is now paying your foundation," I told him, "you would rather think it won't stab you in the back like it did W3C" (the DRM thing).

"Now they have effectively kill[ed] the web, they move on to OSS," one comment said.

"No amount of sponsorship will make the Halloween documents from Microsoft disappear down the memory hole," said another comment. "This is just another EEE play" (Embrace, Extend, Extinguish).

"Meanwhile, Microsoft is blackmailing GNU/Linux for billions of dollars; what does the media say? Hey, let's focus on millions of dollars it invests in W3C-type entryism and frame it as "altruistic"."I added: "How can we ignore Microsoft blackmailing Free software and GNU/Linux using software patents in 2017?"

Citing a famous video that we used before, another person wrote [1, 2]: "Sir Humphrey Appleby explains why Microsoft is joining the Open Source Initiative: You have to get behind someone in order to stab them in the back. Windows and Office are proprietary. Microsoft doesn't respect user freedom" (or even openness).

In 2017 Microsoft's strategy is:

  1. Pass patents to trolls.
  2. Blackmail/'monetise' GNU/Linux
  3. Bring money to LF/OSI/Linux OEMs
  4. "That'll keep em quiet!" (3)


Microsoft is now behaving like Monsanto or Saudi Arabia. It now gives money to those who criticised it and pays the media to commission 'articles' (PR) while gagging itself when it comes to criticism (biting the hand that feeds). Quite a few writers who cover GNU/Linux now need to wear a badge (or add a disclosure) to the effect of (partly) "Microsoft-funded" because those who pay them to write articles are receiving a lot of money from Microsoft. That includes the Linux Foundation, which sometimes 'forgets' to add disclosures.

Based on comments that I have seen online (not so-called 'journalists' paid/commissioned by Microsoft-funded organisations), people aren't falling for the PR campaign. Not many people bother reading comments, however, so the PR might still be effective.

"Paying the media to relay messages (and sometimes graphics/banners) like "Microsoft loves Linux" may be a waste of money."Microsoft will learn the hard way that GNU/Linux users aren't stupid enough (or stupid as Microsoft needs them to be). Maybe MBAs who make technology choices are sometimes gullible enough, but not technical people. Paying the media to relay messages (and sometimes graphics/banners) like "Microsoft loves Linux" may be a waste of money. It sometimes only angers if not enrages those who truly care about -- not merely exploit -- GNU/Linux.

Here is one comment from Phoronix:

Microsoft is charging Android manufacturers $1B/yr for Linux patents, and giving a couple million back in PR (and to keep that revenue stream going). And if you don't think that Microsoft's lawyers are working on figuring out how its contributions in software and dollars can be used to claim ownership, then you're probably too young to remember the thousands of companies that Microsoft consumed to get where it is. Remember, patent law allowed a company to take away the lawn string trimmer ("Weed Eater") from the man that invented it. It's not about logic or what's right, it's what lawyers do.


Whatever you read about Microsoft these days, be careful. They're pouring a lot of money into PR and a charm offensive. They are literally paying to relay lies about themselves. There's a whole industry which does just that and in the US alone it's valued at over a trillion dollars.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Open Source Initiative (OSI) Resists Software Freedom, Even by Attacking Its Own
The OSI is compromised
 
Links 28/08/2025: Chatbots Distorting/Fabricating History and Also Driving Suicide
Links for the day
Gemini Links 28/08/2025: Back in Japan and Why "Hacker News" Sucks
Links for the day
A Much-Needed Wake-up Call to Users of Wordpress.com, Blogspot, Substack and All Those Other Outsourced (and Centralised) Platforms
There are several lessons in there
The UEFI 9/11 - Part II - Campaign of Censorship and Defamation Against Critics
In dictatorships, humour serves an important role. It's tragic.
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, August 27, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, August 27, 2025
Slopwatch: linuxsecurity.com, Slopfarms in Google News, and More
Some readers of ours end up sending us links that are from slopfarms, not realising those are slopfarms
Gemini Links 27/08/2025: Katrina Memories and Google Versus Software Freedom
Links for the day
Links 27/08/2025: Police Against Media Freedom in the UK, Energy-Hungry Countries Targeted by China
Links for the day
Microsoft Windows Fell to All-Time Lows in Egypt This Summer, Vista 11 Adoption Decreases While GNU/Linux Increases
Vista 11 is going down rather than up
Links 27/08/2025: Microsoft Demoralises Staff With Slop Demands, Leaving Mastodon Explained
Links for the day
12 Hours Ago The Register MS Published a Fake (Paid-for) Article, But This One for a Change Did Not Promote a Ponzi Scheme
There are also Free software alternatives, but they don't pay The Register MS for "synthetic" so-called 'journalism'
More People Need to Call Out and Put a Stop to Serial Sloppers
Unless slopfarms are stopped, people will read and share Microsoft propaganda made by chatbots
Gemini Links 27/08/2025: Headphones and Tartarus
Links for the day
Morale at Microsoft is Terrible (Proprietary Plagiarism Machines Have No Future, LLM Slop is a Bubble)
The slop sceptics/critics are going to have lots of "told you so" moments
GNOME "governance issues, staff reduction, etc." amidst Albanian whistleblowing and women trafficking
Notice the connection to Software Freedom Conservancy (SFC) and GNOME
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, August 26, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, August 26, 2025
Richard Stallman (RMS) Was Right About "Sideloading" in 1996
We now have computers that treat booting GNU/Linux like an act of "Sideloading"
Panama: Windows Down From 97% "Market Share" to Less Than 30%
In 2009, Windows was measured at 97.24% (compared to 62.32% right now or less than 30% if one also counts Android)
The UEFI 9/11 - Part I - Introduction to Impending Catastrophe (Microsoft Preventing People From Booting Non-Windows Systems)
eight-part series
Why Techrights is Slow Today (Bot Floods)
We don't know if those bots are connected to LLMs (we have not checked), but that is a possibility
Slopwatch: DDoS Slop, LinuxBSDos.com Spam, and Slopfarms in Google News, Including webpronews.com
Among the news we also found fakes, albeit not so much today
Links 26/08/2025: "Ballooning Debt" in France and "Transnational Repression in the UK"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/08/2025: Listening to Alcest and Google Doing Evil (Users Installing Software is "Sideloading" and Prohibited)
Links for the day
Links 26/08/2025: DNS Tampering and TikTok Layoffs
Links for the day
Microsoft's Windows "Market Share" Overestimated
Microsoft's income sources are shrinking
We Shall See...
My wife and I are hardly the first victims of Brett Wilson LLP
This New Determination on a Case Echoes the Modus Operandi of Microsoft's Serial Strangler vs Techrights (Its Online Decision/Judgment Says Truth and Public Interest Defend the Publisher)
Noel Anthony Clarke hopefully has enough money left to pay his victims, which include the publishers
Going Offline
There was life before the Net
The Register MS Has Apparently Shut Down Its Office
It is basically a fake address on the face of it
There Are Also Expectations of IBM Layoffs Very Soon With "Narrative Control."
Some of them mention Red Hat and how IBM failed to achieve anything substantial with that acquisition
After at Least Two Rounds of Mass Layoffs in August Microsoft Said to Have "September Layoff Confirmed - Performance Based"
Those "M5 level meetings" sound plausible
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, August 25, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, August 25, 2025