Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft Views 'Open Source' as a Zero-Cost Heist Opportunity (Making Proprietary Software/Spyware Using Other People's Free Labour)



"Usually Microsoft doesn't develop products, we buy products."

--Arno Edelmann, Microsoft



Summary: Making GPL-licensed (copyleft) software and hosting it outside Microsoft's jaws is the best way to counter the abusive monopolist, which still says it "loves" what it is actually attacking

THE crooks have taken a Web browser that they did not develop (it started with KDE). They have also taken and now spy on an operating system they slimed for 3 decades. They've built a proprietary Web browser and a proprietary operating system using those bits.



"Microsoft isn't open source (or Open Source) but proprietary."When Microsoft says something to the effect of being "open source company" we must also remember that GitHub is proprietary software controlled by Microsoft. Anything that's there is basically controlled by Microsoft, so it's hardly surprising that Microsoft shelved many of its things there since 2014 (when it reportedly planned to buy GitHub and mostly ambushed that platform).

Microsoft isn't open source (or Open Source) but proprietary. Those who relay the ‘Microsoft ❤️ Linux’ and/or ‘Microsoft ❤️ Open Source’ lies say a lot about themselves. They're more often corrupt rather than gullible (they lie intentionally).

People who still push code into GitHub basically give that code as a 'gift' to Microsoft. Not too clever a thing to do in 2020...

"Their own products are major failures (VoIP, CodePlex, MSN Spaces and so on), so they try making up for it by taking more loans/debt (from misguided shareholders)."Similarly, social control media typically means you're a 'guest' at 'your' platform and clown computing ("cloud") means you're a 'guest' at 'your' own business. Listening devices obliterate any remnants of one's dignity (and that of one's family, house guests etc.) -- a subject more sites ought to speak out about.

Only with Free software -- copyleft in particular -- people can make sure they control their own destiny. If their host does not respect software freedom, then that host is merely stalking and exploiting. Arno Edelmann's words (at the top) say quite a lot about what Microsoft was back then and remains to this day, bar the acquisitions (except of entire platforms, such as Skype, GitHub and LinkedIn). Their own products are major failures (VoIP, CodePlex, MSN Spaces and so on), so they try making up for it by taking more loans/debt (from misguided shareholders). Yes, despite the lies they sometimes lose a lot of money. It's not even a new problem.

"Microsoft, the world’s most valuable company, declared a profit of $4.5 billion in 1998; when the cost of options awarded that year, plus the change in the value of outstanding options, is deducted, the firm made a loss of $18 billion, according to Smithers."

--The Economist, 1999



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