Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Biggest Back Doors Giant (Microsoft) Serves Malware to GNU/Linux Machines, Microsoft's Media Partners Blame 'Linux'

Another ongoing FUD pattern: ZDNet Calls Windows Ransomware “Linux” to Keep Pages About Linux Full of Fear-Mongering Nonsense | Kaspersky and Linux are slowly becoming a combustible mix (by Sam Varghese)

'Kaspersky and Linux are slowly becoming a combustible mix' by Sam Varghese



Summary: The ongoing attacks on the credibility of GNU/Linux (when it comes to security) are basically the framing of Windows ransomware as "Linux" and malware served by Microsoft's GitHub as a "Linux" problem

THE media (or real journalism) is dying. It lacks credibility because of its utterly rogue business model. It's not about information but about deflection and perception management. The other day we composed a rebuttal to one new example, as did Sam Varghese a few hours ago (link above).



Remember when Canonical's GitHub account got cracked and the media was quick to blast Ubuntu rather than Microsoft, the actual steward of GitHub, which is proprietary and secretive?

"The other day we composed a rebuttal to one new example, as did Sam Varghese a few hours ago..."Something similar could be observed this past week; we've been mentioning that in passing, especially in our Daily Links; Microsoft's propaganda network ZDNet doesn't like to mention how pretty much everything from Microsoft comes with back doors; instead it's defaming people who have long warned about such back doors.

One person told us this morning (regarding the latest FUD pattern):

"Microsoft blaming its security problems on Linux is nothing new. In the late 1990s they were getting owned continuously and constantly tried to spread the rumor that it was "Linux people" behind it. I've heard variant of that 10 years ago and with the GitHub problems, it seems they are still talking that way."


Microsoft is putting back doors in just about everything, then blaming "Linux" when those back doors are being exploited.

Regarding those back doors, nothing has changed since the Snowden leaks, which revealed PRISM (pioneered by Microsoft and the NSA).

From the The Investigatory Powers (Technical Capability) Regulations 2018 (old but still applicable): "These Regulations set out the obligations which may be contained in a technical capability notice given by the Secretary of State under section 253 of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 (c. 25). A technical capability notice imposes obligations on a relevant operator in order to ensure that the operator has the capability to provide assistance in relation to interception warrants, equipment interference warrants, or warrants or authorisations for the obtaining of communications data. A “relevant operator” means a postal operator, a telecommunications operator, or a person who is proposing to become either."

ZDNet latest LinuxAlec Muffett wrote: "Hi, my name's Alec., I used to be a Facebook engineer and I led the team which put End-to-End-Encryption into Facebook Messenger. I had these arguments. Re: "There is no "coercion" of companies on the EU level" - you are surely aware of "Technical Capability Notices" in the UK..." (there's a screenshot there)

Microsoft still has back doors in everything. But somehow that doesn't seem to interest ZDNet and the likes of it.

Boycott Microsoft propaganda networks such as ZDNet. The sad thing is that we noticed that "FOSS" or "Linux" sites linking to such FUD, in effect amplifying the propaganda, perhaps unwittingly. In practical teams, the boycotts will be effective when the links and the traffic stop; those sites really just need to retire, but they're funded by those standing to gain from the misinformation. "They must be subsidised by someone because their business model is unsustainable," one person noted in IRC this morning. "Just like Mozilla, EFF etc."

"Microsoft is actively attacking GNU/Linux with FUD and with 'drugs' (e.g. the openwashing of Visual Studio with the binary blob it calls "Code" -- complete with surveillance)."It should be noted that over the past fortnight or more ZDNet published/pinned only 7 stories in the "Linux" section (usually it's 3 times more). Is the boycott working? No story in 4 days now (the latest one is the FUD from Catalin Cimpanu). See the image to the right (screenshot from minutes ago).

Microsoft is actively attacking GNU/Linux with FUD and with 'drugs' (e.g. the openwashing of Visual Studio with the binary blob it calls "Code" -- complete with surveillance). Don't lose track of who's doing what in this attack.

"As many of you may know, we've actually kind of broadened the product portfolio of Visual Studio, targeting all the way from the low end with students and hobbyists, kind of competitive in that Linux space, making sure that every developer has a copy of .NET and is trained in writing .NET solutions. [...] I think it will really help us in our competition with open source."

--Eric Rudder, Senior Vice President, Microsoft (Financial Analyst Meeting 2005)



Recent Techrights' Posts

"systemd is essentially a corporate IBM/Redhat project and corporations of course will comply"
Microsoft and IBM care about users' freedom like Cheeto Lump cares about the US Constitution
Gemini Links 20/03/2026: Digital Identity Bifurcation and a "Return to Gemini"
Links for the day
 
Windows Down From 99% to ~50% in Republic of Seychelles (République des Seychelles)
Windows fell by a lot
Confluent Insiders: IBM Laid Over Over 800 at Confluent, Not Just 800
For the record, the layoffs at Confluent won't be over. After the bluewashing there will be "IBM RAs" impacting Confluent folks, aside from PIPs
The Layoffs at IBM Carry on (Shades of Enron)
Is IBM another Enron?
"IBM boss Arvind Krishna... financial package valued at $38 million in calendar 2025 - equivalent to the average collective pay of 765 Big Blue workers."
continues to ruin the company to enrich himself while pretending he has a strategy
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, March 19, 2026
IRC logs for Thursday, March 19, 2026
SLAPP Censorship - Part 16 Out of 200: Detailing the Actors and Explaining Techrights' Own Internet Relay Chat (IRC) Network
For those who have not followed our story
Microsoft "hiding behind bigger news of war, Epstein, other companies' layoffs"
They know what's coming, they just don't know when
Joerg Jaspert (Debian Account Manager/DAM) personally approved Raphael Hertzog's wife Sophie Brun
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Letter 'A' prohibited by Code of Conduct extremism
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Spoiler: Diversity & Debian means different things to different people
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Admits Failures and Criticism of Inaction on SLAPPs
many if not all solicitors and solicitor firms in the UK are in effect unregulated
Archiving or Preserving Pages About IBM Layoffs
Layoffs at IBM and the media does not talk about these
ABC, the American National Broadcaster, "Now Publishes Slop"
If the "big media" absorbs slop, it'll no longer be trusted and therefore not read/watched by the public
Links 19/03/2026: Culling Deepfakes of Artists’ Music and "Age Verification Isn’t the Answer"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 19/03/2026: "Aktion GPT-4" and "Kill All Descendants"
Links for the day
"AI" 15 Times in Short 'Article' From The Register MS. And The Register MS Got Paid to Publish It.
gets paid to do this
People Who Decided to Boycott Novell Over Its Microsoft Alliance Should Also Boycott Canonical
As an associate put it, "selling out further, due to Microsoft moles inside Canonical"
Links 19/03/2026: "AI Glasses" as Euphemism for Mass Surveillance and ABC (US) Has Begun Publishing Slop as 'News'
Links for the day
The European Patent Office, Europe's Second-Largest Institution, is on Strike Today
Lots more to come
What People Impacted by the Bluewashing Layoffs at IBM Confluent Say (While the Media Says Nothing at All, in Effect Burying the News)
Worse yet, the mainstream media spreads lies about it right now
IBM Has Turned Red Hat and Fedora Into Slop
This is IBM policy
IBM is Being Robbed, Companies and Jobs Are Destroyed
Companies taken over by IBM will be exploited and destroyed to keep a bubble inflated for a little while longer
In Confluent Layoffs, IBM Vapourises a Quarter of Its Workforce (IBM Buys Something That It Destroys Already)
In the past, such things were typically referred to as "media blackout"; now it's just "the norm".
IBM Effect at Confluent: Mass Layoffs and IBM's Business Conduct Guidelines (BCGs) Said to be Violated
For Confluent employees who survived the layoffs there will be "culture chock"
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, March 18, 2026
IRC logs for Wednesday, March 18, 2026
Links 19/03/2026: LLM Fatigue (It Doesn't Work as Advertised), "Small Web Feeds"
Links for the day
SLAPP Censorship - Part 15 Out of 200: Background and Particulars of Truth Regarding Techrights and Tux Machines
the basic facts (this has aged well, except the times/ages/numbers)
A Slopfarms Survey for Today (linuxteck.com, linuxsecurity.com, linuxjournal.com)
Not only did Google news link to a slopfarm; it linked to three run by the same team!
Links 18/03/2026: "Venture Capitalist Warns That It’s All About to Come Crashing Down" Due to Slop Bubble, "Birdwatching for Fun and no Profit"
Links for the day
IBM Red Hat is Still Promoting Restricted Boot Which Restricts Users' Control Over Their Computers
Red Hat under IBM is a total catastrophe
Arvind Says... Something Something "Hey Hi" (the State of Today's Media)
Look for news about IBM and most likely it'll boil down to some sound bites from an executive and nothing else
New Post Has Just Explained How IBM Gets Robbed by the People Who Fail IBM
Their plan for IBM is a personal plan
Slop-Spewing GAFAM LLM That Knows Nothing and Understands Nothing, It's a Stochastic Parrot That Cannot Even Figure Out Tux Machines is a Community That Started in Tennessee 22 Years Ago
RMS rightly calls those things "bullshit generators"
Cusdeb Makes New Presentation About Where GNU Hurd (Still a Possible Linux Replacement) Stands in 2026
coming from a generally RMS-friendly account
Gemini Links 18/03/2026: Librarians, Phone Anxiety, Growing 'Small' Net, and Slop Versus Software Engineering
Links for the day
Estimates That IBM to Lay Off Close to 10,000 Workers in 2026 (Not Counting People Pushed Out)
There's still chatter about Confluent mass layoffs
Smug Threat by Garrett to Put My Family and I in Prison Doesn't Prove We Did Anything Wrong, It Only Proves He's Truly Desperate to Stop Further Publications That Embarrass Him
his reputation is poor in the United States
systemd Increasingly Microsoft Project, Controlled by Microsoft and Slopware
Cannot allow choice
What IBM Meant to Red Hat: "Proprietary Bundling, Restricted Source Access"
Anyone or anything that joins IBM likely shortens its lifespan
IBM Thrashing Confluent Upon Arrival, Based on Rumours
We deem it a bigger issue that investigative journalism perished, not that one must rely on hearsay online or mere "rumours"
Slop Is Plagiarism, Not (Vibe) Coding, and It's Not Automated, It Doesn't Save Money
Reject misnomers, explain what's actually happening
UPC is Still Illegal and Unconstitutional (Kangaroo Court for Patents, Manned by Corporate Staff), Federal Court of Justice of Germany Receives Belated Complaint About It
What is happening to Europe???
EPO Demonstration Happening Right Now, Later This Week Things Will Only Escalate Further
The SUEPO The Hague Committee wrote to staff this morning
Sophie Brun, Raphael Hertzog & Debian sexual conflicts of interest
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 18/03/2026: Commodore's Hedley Davis Dies, Apple Not Good Enough, Cheeto "Floats Treason Charges for Iran War Coverage"
Links for the day
A Step Close to Shutting Down the European Patent Office (EPO)
Not going to work all month long
EPO Staff Demonstration Today
The demonstration will be live-streamed for those thousands of colleagues who don't live in Munich
Gemini Links 18/03/2026: Brazilian SYN Attacks and BGP
Links for the day
LibreLocal Also Coming to Jordan, Kenya, Mexico, New Zealand, and Spain
It helps raise awareness of Software Freedom
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, March 17, 2026
IRC logs for Tuesday, March 17, 2026