Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft Chose to Embrace the Linux Brand and Extend Windows

Embrace and Extend
Credit: unknown (Twitter)



Summary: Phoronix posts and comments highlight the sentiments of technical people, who aren't foolish enough to be impressed by Microsoft's "goodies" which target GNU/Linux users/developers

"Linux is a cult that captures the best-and-brightest kids," wrote Jim Gray (Microsoft Research) [PDF]. They're jealous because they know good developers reject Windows and Microsoft. The marketing lies don't bamboozle the world's hardcore programmers.



I recently asked Michael Larabel why his Web site, Phoronix, seemingly 'promotes' Microsoft stuff (sometimes). Larabel and I have long had amicable relations (at times he sent pointers to Techrights -- things we ought to cover), so he politely explained that it was done partly for entertainment reasons. This latest post says: "Not a particularly new feature itself, but recently Microsoft has begun promoting a workflow for developers of encouraging them to use Windows 10 to do Linux development by leveraging Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) and Visual Studio Code Remote."

"It's a retention plan for "DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS," but they might also use colleges to steer young developers towards their spyware, Vista 10.""It doesn't sound particularly compelling unless you're locked into using Windows to begin with," Larabel wrote a few hours ago. As we recently explained, they target people already on Windows to ensure they stay on Windows. It's a retention plan for "DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS," but they might also use colleges to steer young developers towards their spyware, Vista 10. That's a problem.

As someone noted earlier on in the comments: "I think Microsoft would be better off if they embraced Wine instead. It feels like their operating system is becoming irrelevant for everything than getting the most performance out of video games. Only old developers will be willing to put up with Windows out of habit, and maybe because they like to use Visual Studio for whatever reason."

"Surely people can spot "EEE" when they can see it this clearly."Microsoft has long discouraged the use of WINE and with its 2006 Novell deal it also sent implicit threats WINE's way (we covered it at the time). Microsoft does not want GNU/Linux users to run Windows software locally (almost natively with WINE as it's a compatibility layer rather than emulation and it does not require a Windows licence, i.e. no Microsoft 'rent')

"Sounds like a solution that requires additional unnecessary steps when compared to just developing on Linux," said another comment.

For those still wrestling to figure out Microsoft's strategy, it's basically calling Windows "Linux". This is causing a sort of "brand dilution" (confusion also), which devalues GNU/Linux and steers people away from the "real thing". Microsoft does not love Linux and it certainly does not want GNU/Linux to succeed, except on Microsoft's terms (and platform). Surely people can spot "EEE" when they can see it this clearly. Maybe journalists cannot see it when paid not to ("Travel & Lodging was sponsored by CNCF," say the Linux Foundation's 'choreographers').

Recent Techrights' Posts

The World's 'Richest Country' Chooses GNU/Linux
This has gone on for quite some time
Apple's LLM Slop Told Us Luigi Mangione Had Shot Himself, BetaNews Used LLMs to Talk About a Dead Linus Torvalds
They can blame it on some bot
Technology: rights or responsibilities? - Part XI
By Dr. Andy Farnell
GNU/Linux and ChromeOS in Qatar Reach 4%, an All-Time High
Qatar has money to spend, but not much of it will be spent on Microsoft, or so one can hope
This 'Article' About "Linux Malware" is a Fake Article, It's LLM Slop (Likely Spewed Out by Microsoft Chatbot)
They're drowning out the Web
Early Retirement Age: Linus Torvalds Turns 55 Next Week
Now he's almost eligible for retirement in certain European countries
 
Links 23/12/2024: The Book of Uncommon Beings, Squirrels, and Slop Ruining Workplaces
Links for the day
Links 23/12/2024: North Korean Death Toll in Russia at ~1,100, Oligarch Who Illegally Migrated/Stayed (Musk) Shuts Down US Government
Links for the day
Richard Stallman on Love
Richard Stallman's personal website includes a section that lists three essays on the subject of love
Microsoft, Give Me LLM Slop About "Linux" and "Santa", I Need Some Fake Article...
BetaNews is basically an LLM slop site
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, December 22, 2024
IRC logs for Sunday, December 22, 2024
Links 22/12/2024: Election Rants and More Sites Available via Gemini
Links for the day
Links 22/12/2024: North Pole Moving and Debian's Joey Hess Goes Solar
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/12/2024: Solstice and IDEs
Links for the day
BetaNews: Microsoft Slop is Your "Latest Technology News"
Paid-for garbage disguised as "journalism"
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, December 21, 2024
IRC logs for Saturday, December 21, 2024
Links 21/12/2024: EU on Solidarity with Ukraine, Focus on Illegal and Unconstitutional Patent Court in the EU (UPC)
Links for the day
[Meme] Microsofters at the End of David's Leash
Hand holding the leash. Whose?
Deciphering Matt's Take on WordPress, Which is Under Attack From Microsofters-Funded Aggravator
the money sponsoring the legal attacks on WordPress and on Matt is connected very closely to Microsoft
Gemini Links 21/12/2024: Projections, Dead Web ('Webapps' Replacing Pages), and Presentation of Pi-hole
Links for the day
American Samoa One of the Sovereign States Where Windows Has Fallen Below 1% (and Stays Below It)
the latest data plotted in LibreOffice
[Meme] Brian's Ravioli
An article per minute?
Links 21/12/2024: "Hey Hi" (AI) or LLM Bubble Criticised by Mainstream Media, Oligarchs Try to Control and Shut Down US Government
Links for the day
LLM Slop is Ruining the Media and Ruining the Web, Ignoring the Problem or the Principal Culprits (or the Slop Itself) Is Not Enough
We need to encourage calling out the culprits (till they stop this poor conduct or misconduct)
Christmas FUD From Microsoft, Smearing "SSH" When the Real Issue is Microsoft Windows
And since Microsoft's software contains back doors, only a fool would allow any part of SSH on Microsoft's environments, which should be presumed compromised
Paywalls, Bots, Spam, and Spyware is "Future of the Media" According to UK Press Gazette
"managers want more LLM slop"
Google Has Mass Layoffs (Again), But the Problem is Vastly Larger
started as a rumour about January 2025
On BetaNews Latest Technology News: "We are moderately confident this text was [LLM Chatbot] generated"
The future of newsrooms or another site circling down the drain with spam, slop, or both?
"The Real New Year" is Now
Happy solstice
Microsoft OSI Reads Techrights Closely
Microsoft OSI has also fraudulently attempted to censor Techrights several times over the years
"Warning About IBM's Labor Practices"
IBM is not growing and its revenue is just "borrowed" from companies it is buying; a lot of this revenue gets spent paying the interest on considerable debt
[Meme] The Easier Way to Make Money
With patents...
The Curse (to Microsoft) of the Faroe Islands
The common factor there seems to be Apple
Electronic Frontier Foundation Defends Companies That Attack Free Speech Online (Follow the Money)
One might joke that today's EFF has basically adopted the same stance as Donald Trump and has a "warm spot" for BRICS propaganda
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, December 20, 2024
IRC logs for Friday, December 20, 2024
Gemini Links 21/12/2024: Death of Mike Case, Slow and Sudden End of the Web
Links for the day