Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Attacked/Attacker Paradox

"If you can’t make it good, at least make it look good."

--Bill Gates, Microsoft



Gates animation



Summary: Microsoft's cult-like tactics have never been this blatant; the Microsoft 'mascot' keeps doing 'media tours', pretending to be an expert at things he hasn't the slightest clue about, pretending to save the world because he cannot even save his own company anymore (and the other co-founder died years ago)

Paradoxically perhaps, if not as expected, when one 'wins' one becomes the target of attacks. The famous saying goes like this (attributed to various people, with slight variations): "First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." (Usually attributed Mahatma Gandhi).



"Microsoft's entryism, including takeover of GitHub (on which Microsoft loses loads of money each quarter, desperate to somehow control the rivals), may in fact be somewhat symptomatic of the fact that GNU/Linux and Free software take over everything and Microsoft tries -- even at great expense (expenditure) -- to sneak its ugly head into the photograph."What we're trying to say here is, in 2020 GNU/Linux makes big gains on servers (even Azure uses GNU/Linux on almost two-thirds of instances) and on the desktop, not to mention Android in mobile and all sorts of embedded devices or gadgets (Linux is almost the de facto standard on all). Windows lost majority market share about a decade ago (depending on what form factors are counted). Being Microsoft's common carrier, without Windows domination the Microsoft we once knew cannot sell all sorts of other junk. They go in bundles. There have been many Microsoft layoffs since Vista and quarterly losses were sometimes announced (then spun by media moles).

Microsoft's entryism, including takeover of GitHub (on which Microsoft loses loads of money each quarter, desperate to somehow control the rivals), may in fact be somewhat symptomatic of the fact that GNU/Linux and Free software take over everything and Microsoft tries -- even at great expense (expenditure) -- to sneak its ugly head into the photograph. Remember that, as per insiders' account, Azure loses loads of money. Datacenteres are being shut down, customers complain about provisioning problems, and Munich is said to have dumped Microsoft partly due to this. It's in the French media this week.

"Are they so desperate to fake the number of users that exist on GitHub?"Whatever concerns we have about Microsoft hijacking projects using GitHub, sometimes by bribing the projects at hand (Python is one recent example of it) or infiltrating them by hiring particular people, we need to assess the exit barriers/costs. GitHub is proprietary software designed to entrap and 'addict'; using the network effect it makes it hard for developers to leave. The other day I checked my GitHub account which I deleted within hours of rumours of Microsoft buying GitHub. Turns out, they never truly deleted it. Even request for complete deletion cannot be honoured by thugs from Microsoft and it's still publicly listed (yes, a deleted account). Are they so desperate to fake the number of users that exist on GitHub? We once heard that many GitHub projects and users had quit, causing somewhat of a panic at Microsoft. Did they pay for a dud after all? Is there a long-term plan/business model?

"Microsoft therefore resorts to the mentality of sacrificial death cults or suicide bombers, trying to cause us all to drown along with Microsoft."Bill Gates left Microsoft a couple of months ago to further pursue his political career, pushing his patents for power and for profit. He too may have realised that Microsoft doesn't have much of a future. He took his money and ran, looking to profit at vastly higher rates from billions of "shots" and maybe implants. We'll spare the mention of conspiracy theories related to this; the actual facts were covered here before and they're different from what a bunch of yahoos on the Web claim rather baselessly, doing a disservice to informed critics of Gates. The Gates-funded publishers/broadcaster (NPR for example) spend a hufe amount of space and time ridiculing them, collectively painting all Gates critics as outright insane. A couple of days ago NPR 'journalists' started blocking Twitter users who merely pointed out that Gates had paid part of their salary as recently as 2018 (they pay in 'installments' -- conditionally -- to ensure NPR keeps saying what Gates wants... to keep that money coming).

Gates lost the argument ("letter to hobbyists") a long time ago. Free software is the way to go. Paul Allen is dead. Our prediction is that Microsoft will die before Bill Gates. His father is still alive (albeit clinically demented, as acknowledged by the media), so "Junior" might be around for a few more decades, sowing destruction and poverty, as usual.

The fight or the 'war' isn't over. But it's rather clear that in terms of "mindshare" and market share GNU/Linux is 'winning'. Microsoft therefore resorts to the mentality of sacrificial death cults or suicide bombers, trying to cause us all to drown along with Microsoft. Don't cooperate with them; never negotiate with radicals. Only the radicals stand to gain.

"Where are we on this Jihad?" [Against Linux]

--Bill Gates

Jihadi John



Recent Techrights' Posts

Microsoft Has Spent Months Preparing Lists of People to Cull in Massive Wave of Layoffs (Allegedly Start of July)
There is some consensus that we're weeks away from mega-layoffs at Microsoft
Gemini Links 06/06/2026: "Competing" With LLMs and "Automation of Any Kind"
Links for the day
IBM is "Making an Exit". Only the Executives Will Get Rich.
failure disguised as success
2026 is the Year of Blockchains, Says IBM's CEO a Decade Ago?
"falling upwards"
Most Coders Used to be Women, Not Men (and Men Who Dropped Out of College Now Plunder Everything They Can)
"Ethics For Hackers"
 
Microsoft Fell to All-Time Low in Monaco Last Month
So says statCounter anyway
Lawsuits That Don't Work
Not as expected anyway
SLAPP Censorship - Part 99 Out of 200: Graveley and Garrett Seem to Have Crashed Brett Wilson LLP (Worse Than Taking Russian Oligarchs as SLAPP Clients)
a state of disarray
Links 06/06/2026: 'Linux' Foundation Openwashing Slop on Microsoft's Payroll, Ukraine Wants Permanent Ceasefire With Russia
Links for the day
50% of the 'Gains' Made by "Quantum" Hype Already Evaporated
"It was all hype about quantum nonsense. Heading back to reality now. Expect sub-$220 after earnings release next month."
Heap of Trash Online, Not Just the Fault of LLM Slop But Enabled by Slop
Google News has just promoted a pair of prolific slopfarms
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, June 05, 2026
IRC logs for Friday, June 05, 2026
Links 05/06/2026: Lawyers in Trouble for Citing Cases That Don't Exist (Slop Too Bad to Justify Costs; Even It It Did Work, It Would Still be Far Too Expensive)
Links for the day
Gemini Links 05/06/2026: Bears in the Streets, WWII Revisionism, and Westworld
Links for the day
Microsoft's LinkedIn Called "Dying Platform" by One Who Worked There
The co-founder of LinkedIn has just stepped down too
GAFAM (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft) Layoffs Are Due to Surging Debt, or About 120 Billion Dollars Borrowed in One Year Alone
It's well above 150 billion dollars if one adds Oracle
After One Jeffrey Epstein Associate 'Leaves' Microsoft's Board Another Jeffrey Epstein Associate Steps Down, Workers Concerned About the Mass Layoffs
How many more loans can Microsoft receive? Those loans are becoming increasingly risky.
IBM Exploits Overambitious, Hungry Young Men to Help the "Great Quantum Hype Campaign" (Pumping the Stock Based on Deliberate Misinformation or Outright Disinformation)
The boot-licking campaign is live...
What Will Likely Happen When the Slop Bubble Pops (and When It'll be Widely Accepted That It Popped)
all the "most successful" slop companies are so deep in debt
The Register MS is Part of the Problem, It's Publishing "AI" SPAM Because it's Paid by Chinese Military-Connected Firms
Given that The Register MS is run by a Microsofter (since last summer), destruction seems inevitable
IBM's CEO Does Not Use GNU/Linux, So Why Did He Suggest Buying Red Hat Only to Lay Off Its Workers, Market Slop Instead of Linux, and Sack UNIX Professionals?
Shortly after IBM had bought Red Hat and there were mass layoffs we pointed out that Red Hat's CEO was not using GNU/Linux
If You're Not Focusing on Software Freedom, All You'll Get is Slopware and Buzzwords
If you're not focusing on attaining Software Freedom (and remember "Linux" is just a brand), then you're losing sight of the goals that actually matter
Red Hat/IBM: Microsoft is Our Partner of the Year
Red Hat is a really bad gravy
Gemini Links 05/06/2026: Enshittification of Institutes for Project Management, Codebases Contaminated With Slop, Personal Stories
Links for the day
Communicating With Freedom - Part II - Quibble Breathing New Life Into LibreJS
Notice how work on one thing led to thousands of lines of code added to a mostly dormant (but nevertheless important) project
Slop Has no ROI, an Economy Built on False Assumptions of Slop is Doomed
we're all going to suffer from this Ponzi scheme
Links 05/06/2026: More GAFAM Layoffs, Google Faces Regulatory Crackdown in UK Over Plagiarism in "AI" Clothing
Links for the day
Rumour That Layoffs at Microsoft Will Kick Off on July 1st, 2026 (Impacting 10,000 or More Workers)
this is what the rumour mill or the word through the grapevine is
Mission:Libre, Which Teaches Young People Free Software Ideals, Needs Financial Backing
plea for assistance with Mission:Libre
The Slop Ponzi Scheme is a Problem and Threat to All of Us (Even Those Who Don't Invest in or Use Slop at All)
This problem is systemic, not contained
"Blind Justice" Examines the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Turning a Blind Eye to Abuse by British Solicitors
We have some jaw-dropping examples of how the SRA does not do actual regulation - to the point where its staff does not actual work and does not look into any evidence at all!
7 Days From Now the FSF's Founder Gives a Talk in Bern, the FSF Has Just Advertised This
Meanwhile the FSF (or GNU) processes and uploads many recent talks by RMS
European Patent Office (EPO) Series: Down But Not Out – Costa's Comeback
he managed to secure a top-level EU position in June 2024
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, June 04, 2026
IRC logs for Thursday, June 04, 2026
Links 04/06/2026: Self-hosting Remotely and GemText Emphasis
Links for the day
Links 04/06/2026: Ukraine’s Daily Moment of Silence and Uber Lays off 23% of HR
Links for the day
SLAPP Censorship - Part 98 Out of 200: Microsoft Threatening Real Security Researcher With Criminal Investigation for Talking About Microsoft's Bug Doors/Back Doors
The crime should be the back doors (deliberate attack on every user's data protection), not talking about those back doors
Microsoft Would Get Away Even With Pedophilia
"Microsoft should never be above the law"
Journalists Should be Ashamed for Parroting False Claims From IBM Management About "Quantum Computing", Say IBM Insiders Who Work on "Quantum Computing"
IBM is a buzzwords vendor. International Buzzwords Machines.
Free Software is Nourishment to Software Users, Unlike Proprietary Software
Quit treating "mere users" of software "like animals"
The "Peanut Gallery" of GAFAM Has Infiltrated Free Software Projects or Disrupts Free Software Communities
They contribute nearly nothing and do substantial damage; they're freeloaders who attack the most productive members of projects
Coding is Not a Quantity Game (It Never Was!)
"less is more"
Exposing Corruption Using a Highly Resilient Platform
Growing levels of trust, based on our track record, help us attract whistleblowers
Mass Layoffs Expected at Microsoft in July 2026
They're preparing more "lists" of people
Reflection on EPO Leadership That Harbours Cocaine, IBM Leadership That Pumps-and-Dumps the Shares, and More
ManCity replaced Manuel Pellegrini with a more famous manager it didn't envision winning 20 titles in 10 years (it could only hope) [...] Team-building is something that "Pep" seemed to be good at, as was Jürgen Klopp
Pump and Dump by IBM Insider Traders: Nickle LaMoreaux, Gary Cohn, James Kavanaugh, Arvind Krishna, Robert Thomas, and Others
the shares are already collapsing
FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) Has Weakened If Not Ruined What's Left of Big Media
Many things that have existed for decades are now being rebranded as "AI"
SLAPP Censorship - Part 97 Out of 200: Garrett in Hiding (From the Simple Observable Fact He's Closely Connected to the Microsofter Who Strangles Women, Tells Women to Kill Themselves, and Worse)
They use one another; they are coordinating this via the SLAPP industry in another continent
Links 04/06/2026: Microsoft Threatening Security Researcher for Naming Back Doors in BitLocker, "Demand is Booming for" Old Tech
Links for the day
Gemini Links 04/06/2026: "Word Vomit", Slop", and Moving to Gopher/Gemini
Links for the day
Rust Outsources its Financing (or Financial Control) to Microsoft
How long before the third "E"?
"Format Sovereignty" Can Only be Accomplished With LaTeX or OpenDocument Format (ODF) or Vendor-Neutral Standards for Editable Documents
Microsoft is, in effect, above the law
IBM's Shares Fell Nearly 13% in One Day (Including After Hours)
its main product is false promises
The Cyber Show on the Importance of Software Freedom and Why GNU/Linux Could Not be Stopped
an excellent article
Drew DeVault Can Still Redeem His Reputation. Revisiting His Attacks (and Attack Site) on Richard Stallman Might be a Good Start.
DeVault has openly apologised (this past spring)
The Register MS is Publishing Paid SPAM; Some of It is Designed to Prop Up the "AI" Pyramid Scheme
The Register MS participates in scams
European Patent Office (EPO) Series: "Operation Influencer"
Costa's political career was far from finished
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, June 03, 2026
IRC logs for Wednesday, June 03, 2026