Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft Aggression and Deflection (Against Linux)

Video download link | md5sum e6992ceaa55d089f64f07013fd228f56 Microsoft Loves Linux FUD Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0



Summary: Today we wish to take stock of a bunch of misleading, sensationalist coverage about "Linux"; as usual, Microsoft is connected to that, even more directly than one might expect...

THE TECHNICAL sabotage by Microsoft is easily demonstrable, e.g. in Mesa and in Linux (the "contributions" by Microsoft are to Microsoft, not to Linux, and they promote proprietary surveillanceware, not Software Freedom). In the video above I discuss NTFS in Linux (indirect link to bypass sites we boycott).



"Nothing Microsoft does benefits anyone else,"Ryan said moments ago in IRC, "except for a few odd cases that were usually less than 100 lines anyway. Which someone else probably would have done regardless at some point..."

"They try to minimize the usefulness of their "Linux" work to anyone else, because they don't want to make "Linux" work better except in shackles under their Azure crap."

More importantly, however, so far this week I've seen many Linux-hostile headlines, usually in Microsoft-friendly and/or Microsoft-connected sites which have historically been Linux-hostile.

Ignoring deliberate holes in Microsoft products, such sites would have you believe that Linux is the least secure thing on the entire planet!

As we put it in the latest batch of Daily Links, "while CISA admits Microsoft is full of holes that are actively exploited Microsoft and its faithful media operatives try to shift attention to "Linux" [as we demonstrated a few days ago, linking directly to CISA's site]..."

So what on Earth is going on here? "Microsoft concern-trolling Linux while putting NSA back doors in Windows," to quote our editorial comment? Speaking of actively exploited holes, two months after a patch had been made widely available we see this article. "This was patched a very long time ago," we noted this morning, and "meanwhile, there are dozen of zero-day flaws in Windows that are remotely exploitable, not local privilege escalation..."

So it seems like there might be distraction going on. And maybe there's more to it than meets the eye...

Not only is it very hard for a malicious, unknown actor to actually leverage such a bug; it's also hard to prove that Microsoft manipulates the media consciously in this case. We'd need to see leaked communications to actually prove such an assertion.

The net effect is the same and Microsoft staff now feeds the media with anti-Linux talking points. The stories are run by moles of the company, Microsoft-sympathetic 'gurus' who have moreover infiltrated the Linux Foundation (an organisation that nowadays ACTIVELY PARTICIPATES in such anti-Linux campaigns of semi-false talking points).

This keeps happening. We see it once in a few months, and this time it culminates in "old news" being rerun (about a bug properly patched more than 50 days ago [1, 2, 3, 4] and before it was even known to the general public).

The real problem, according to CISA, is Microsoft. But CISA's "blog" almost never mentions "Microsoft". It just maintains a catalogue many Microsoft flaws.

"If there is a problem affecting non-Microsoft systems," an associate told us today, "then that is unusual and therefore news. If there is a remote exploit in the wild being actively exploited against Microsoft systems, that is the normal situation and thus not news."

Towards the end of the video I show this new blog post from Debian's Russell Coker, noting that Microsoft gives the NSA et al direct access to PCs, so no "security" measures from Microsoft should be taken seriously, to quote the latest Daily Links.

To quote Ryan, who is a former Microsoft MVP: "Local Privilege Escalations are bugs, yes, but they are of low concern (and do get fixed). Anyone with direct physical access to a computer can elevate their privileges eventually. And on Windows there's a ton of them which sometimes even bypass the TPM and Bitlocker. There was one in the print spooler, for example, last summer. But it happens all the time on Windows and you don't even see it much in "the news". Any user on the machine could become SYSTEM and read your files, even if they were "protected". So that's Windows for you."

bnchs noted that "in GNU/Linux, you would have to boot to another OS to get root."

Quoting Ryan some more: "Becoming SYSTEM is an even bigger disaster than becoming ADMINISTRATOR, because in Windows, this means that you're...well, part of the system. You can even patch and hook into things that are "secured" and off limits to ADMINISTRATOR. Stuff that normally requires digital signing no longer requires digital signing. So at this point, rootkit? Sure. And all it takes is someone running as a Guest or as a user with no administrator hat to run a file that knows where the vulnerabilities are. Microsoft was in the news (their news) recently for raising the bug bounty. It's still less than Google's, and way less than what those things are worth to nation state attackers, terrorists, and ransomware outfits. By a factor of $10,000:$1 sometimes."

MinceR said it's "still wasted money from their perspective [as] that could be better spent on corruption, ads and lawyers..."

Ryan continued: "Even if you get $40,000 out of Microsoft's bug bounty system somehow, the ransomware gangs can just exploit it and make $20 million or more on one hit. So they'll pay better each time and it's simply up to the conscience of whoever found the problem in Windows as to what they want to do with it at that point. So the bug bounties are a ruse, a smoke screen, and the illusion of responsibility. In Linux, people find and fix bugs all the time. The code isn't hidden. That leads, usually, to inevitable discovery, and quick patching."

"People want to find bugs in Linux and report and fix hundreds of the same type, so they develop tools that can do things like that. Microsoft is annoyed that you reported one. Even over a decade ago before profiling tools were not as robust, not by a long shot, Coverity Scan admitted that "open source software, in general" was less than half as buggy as a comparable proprietary program. The proprietary software is sort of like the worst case situation for your security because they have little incentive to fix it unless there's already malware out there and they just can't hide the bugs any longer."

"It's like General Motors [GM] putting defective ignition switches in millions of cars for a decade after they knew they were shutting off the car unexpectedly and killing people in accidents. GM figured it'll cost $1 a car to fix this problem, then come all of the recalls, and we'll just grind them down with stall tactics and lawyers and stuff if they ever find out, and the settlement will still cost less. So that's what we do."

Update: Since we made the video above a bunch of other Microsoft boosters (with history) joined this FUD campaign. Of course they don't mention what happened to Windows this past week (CISA reports). Left out from the video (3 examples) are:



And about half a dozen more. Screenshot below:

Microsoft- anti-linux FUD

But yes, Microsoft loves Linux...

Microsoft loves Linux FUD.

Recent Techrights' Posts

IRC Proceedings: Saturday, August 30, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, August 30, 2025
Representing and Speaking for Animals
If I ever choose to take this matter to tribunal with animals-centric NGOs on my side, it'll get some press coverage for sure
The UEFI 9/11 - Part II - Campaign of Censorship and Defamation Against Critics
In dictatorships, humour serves an important role. It's tragic.
How Not to Build Software
code forges that need a Web browser perhaps fill some 'niche' demand
GAFAM and "MATA"
The use of dark humour there hopefully helps illuminate what a lot of "modern" technology became like and how it interacts with human civilisation (to what ends and whose gain)
Flying in 2025
worse than ever before
 
Links 31/08/2025: Google Gmail Data Breach and LF Puff Pieces for Pay
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
This is What Google News Has Become
Moments ago
The Slopfarm WebProNews Has Turned Google News Into a Laughing Stock Full of Plagiarism by Slop
If Google News dies of neglect, that's one thing. It's starting to seem like active neglect by Google is a form of participation.
Do What is Moral, as What's Legal Isn't Always Moral
Do what's objectively moral, no matter the costs and the risks
Slopwatch: Google News Assisting Plagiarism and Anti-Linux FUD, Serial Slopper Rips Off Linux-Centric Journalists
This makes the Web a much worse place and lessens the incentive to do journalism
Links 30/08/2025: NVIDIA Fakes Results to Hide a Bubble Already in Implosion Phase, Data Breaches Galore, Important Win for Workers' Union in Canada
Links for the day
In Kazakhstan, Yandex Estimated to be 20 Times Bigger Than Microsoft
Bing is measured as down this month
Shutterstock Not Enough? The Register MS Uses Slop Images in Articles (Seemingly More and More Over Time)
Cost-saving trajectory amid office shutdown?
Gemini Links 30/08/2025: Games, PostmarketOS, and Slop
Links for the day
Links 30/08/2025: Imgur Uproar and Many Ukraine Updates (Mediazona Reports Over 200,000 Russians Died for Putin)
Links for the day
Birds Are Not "Pests and Vermin", Privacy is Not a Crime, and GNU/Linux is Not 'Hacking Platform'
I could not help but think of Free software analogies
The Sites Should Be Very Fast Again
That issue is now resolved
Activists, Including Technical Activists, Need Not Pursue Affirmation
Techrights doesn't play or participate in a "popularity contest"
The UEFI 9/11 - Part III - Chaos is Scheduled to Happen Second Thursday of September (No Matter What the Microsofters Tell You)
The clock is ticking
Downplaying the Impact of "UEFI 9/11" is a Losing Strategy
we won't publish much whilst on holiday
Government Sites Should Run Free Software
Not proprietary bloatware with buzzwords
LLM Slopfarms Take No Breaks
When people run sites by bots they don't need to worry about "breaks"
GNOME Having a Meltdown Again
Thanks and farewell to Steven Deobald
Gemini Links 30/08/2025: Low Tech and Hunchbin 1.0.6
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, August 29, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, August 29, 2025
Financiers and Sponsors of the Slop Hype (Pyramid Scheme Waiting to End, Bubble That Will Inevitably Implode)
It's also burning the planet
Slopwatch: Fake Articles About "Linux", Google Helps Ponzi Schemes and Slopfarms in Google News
Slopfarms are a real pain
Gemini Links 29/08/2025: Retiring at 62 and URL Filtering HTTP(S) Proxy on Qubes OS
Links for the day
Links 29/08/2025: Lisa Cook Sues Convicted Felon and Backdoor Mandate in UK Resisted
Links for the day
Links 29/08/2025: Arti 1.5.0, War on Public Health (CDC), and Slop 'Bros' Made to Pay for Their Mass Plagiarism
Links for the day
No, 4Chan is Not Fighting for You by Lawyering Up Against Ofcom (UK)
Don't mistake proto-fascists for people who "fight for you". They don't.
In Many Places in the World Vista 11 "Market Share" is Going Down, Not Up
In some countries Windows is already down to third place or lower
More Microsoft-Connected Layoffs, at Least Third Time This Month! (Also Another Death on Campus)
Microsoft as a "gaming" company is where studios, projects, games, and even developers come to die
Slopwatch: Fake Articles About "Linux", Slop Images in VentureBeat, Linux Foundation Spam Made With LLM Slop and Slop Images
The only relief or upside - if any exists - is that the pace of slop was down a bit this week
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, August 28, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, August 28, 2025
Gemini Links 29/08/2025: Poems, Games, and Java 25 Performance
Links for the day