Bonum Certa Men Certa

Apple Helps Microsoft Attack Google's Linux While Google Spreads GNU/Linux, ODF

Ballmer money



Summary: Mishmash of news; Apple's helping hand to Microsoft is reappearing now that GNU/Linux and ODF gain traction, partly thanks to Google

IT WAS only yesterday that we wrote about Bill Gates' gradual monopolisation of the schooling system. This is not news [1, 2, 3, 4] but it continues to appear as though schools become the ownership of companies that use the curriculum to train and recruit young people. From the New York Times:



Professional organizations and major technology companies, including Google, Microsoft and Intel support the broad agenda, though companies are not getting into curriculum details.


What's even more disconcerting is that companies like Google and Microsoft are almost trying to monopolise healthcare too, essentially by capitalising on inevitable digitisation of data. Using an atrocious new press release, Microsoft is trying to lure in more hospitals for them to hand over their patients' data. They keep pretending that giving a convicted monopolist control of people's intimate information and also allowing lock-in is actually "put[ting] Patients in Charge". This is an amazing, total reversal of the truth, or "newspeak" as our reader Fewa labeled it last night. Google pulls similar tricks to get access to/possession of medical information, but that's another story. Neither schools nor hospitals should permit this privatisation by self-serving companies that perceive children and patients (respectively) as mere clients.

Also in this week's news we have found this report that suggests Apple is liaising with Microsoft against mobile Linux. It is no secret that Apple and Microsoft are still "buddies" who think alike and help each other out.

We have found more reports about it, e.g.:

i. Apple and Microsoft vs. Google for Smartphone Dominance?

Apple and Google were once seen as best friends in their fight against mutual enemy Microsoft, but as Google has ventured into Apple’s turf with the Chrome OS and Android smartphone OS, their BFF status has been in jeopardy. Google CEO Eric Schmidt resigned from Apple’s board of directors, citing a conflict of interest, and Google Latitude and Google Maps Navigation have been released for Android but not iPhone. Meanwhile, Microsoft’s Bing search engine is now available for iPhone.


ii. Will Apple and Microsoft Join Forces To Fight Google?

Apple and Google have historically been very friendly. But in recent months, the tenor of that relationship has changed. Apple rejected Google Voice for the iPhone. And now it appears that the relationship may get a bit cooler with all the talk of a Google phone.


Microsoft is now adding Messenger for Mac 8 and it sure seems like they have found new common enemies. The proprietary giants must hate the idea of Free-as-in-almost-freedom platforms like Android (Linux based) gaining so much traction quite so quickly.

“The proprietary giants must hate the idea of Free-as-in-almost-freedom platforms like Android (Linux based) gaining so much traction quite so quickly.”Apple and Microsoft are also opponents of ODF. Apple has helped Microsoft with OOXML for several years now. Google, on the other hand, vocally protested against OOXML and its online software suite -- even though it is proprietary -- actually supports ODF.

For what it's worth, Bart Hanssens has just augmented his list of ODF-supportive software to include OfficeReader, ezComponents, and a Drupal module. We wrote about this a few days ago.

Open source viewer for Symbian phones, supporting ODF text (.odt), spreadsheets (.ods) and presentations (.odp)

The project is sponsored by the NLNet Foundation and Odendahl-SEPT.


 

This Drupal module allows one to import ODF files into the popular WebCMS. Currently only the content of ODF text documents (.odt) is imported, future releases will support other ODF types as well as importing styles.


Google is expanding its assault on Microsoft's #1 cash cow, Microsoft Office, using this new acquisition:

i. Google to buy DocVerse, introduce Microsoft Office doc collaboration

Google has been positioning Google Apps as an Office killer and encouraging companies to adopt it. Meanwhile, Microsoft countered with a web-based component to Office 2010. The latest move comes from Google, though, with the acquisition of DocVerse.


ii. Google acquisitions may signal big push against Microsoft Office

I use Google Docs for almost all of my writing, and I’ll be the first to admit that it’s pretty bare-bones compared to Microsoft Office. But that may change next year.

[...]

By the way, Google declined to comment on the DocVerse acquisition rumor (as it always does), and the startup didn’t even bother to answer my email. DocVerse raised $1.3 million from Baseline Ventures and assorted angel investors.


iii. Google Targets Microsoft Office with DocVerse Deal

No company is attacking Google as much as Microsoft (see the Murdoch incident for a recent display or power [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13]), so it's understandable that Google should aim for Microsoft's jugular and try to render its cash cow obsolete. Microsoft does exactly the same thing against Google's bread and butter (again,the Murdoch incident shows precisely that). Except the fact that Microsoft is a criminal company, a fundamental difference between those two is that Microsoft attacks GNU/Linux, whereas Google embraces it.

Clint Boulton from eWEEK's Google Watch has a couple of new articles about this commercial rivalry:

i. Debate Rages On in Microsoft Vs. Google Web War

ii. This Is Why Microsoft Is So Far Behind Google on the Web

Microsoft has billions of dollars to spend, and more market clout than any software company in the world, thanks to its Windows and Office hegemonies.

Isn't it stunning that the company is far behind Google and even Yahoo in the online space? Why is that? It's not for lack of resources and talent.


With more and more deals, Google's reputation grows stronger and Microsoft resorts to some kind of bribery, as usual.

Talks between Microsoft and News Corp. show the software company is willing to trade revenue for market share to put pressure on Google


Rupert Murdoch is one example of this tactic, but another recent example is Verizon. Pogue from the New York Times has just written about it:

It’s Microsoft Bing or nothing. (The BlackBerry used to offer Google, Wikipedia and others.) Why? Because Microsoft paid Verizon $500 million, according to The Register.

I don’t know. Maybe Verizon heard that there were six people left on Earth who didn’t have a reason to dislike it.


In a similar fashion, Microsoft has used kickbacks to block GNU/Linux [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]. Intel is being punished for it [1, 2]. It is illegal, it's a violation of the law, and thus it's a crime.

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