Bonum Certa Men Certa

Misleading PR Campaign From Microsoft About “Open Source”

Microsoft still tries imposing itself upon its #1 competition

Beginning



Summary: Debunking the increasingly-widespread myth that Microsoft has changed and that it has an interest in Free/Open Source software

THERE seems to be some kind of "Open Source" PR effort from Microsoft. Usually, reporters are not gullible enough to fall for it, but Microsoft partners like like Ziff Davis [1, 2, 3] and IDG [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] have accommodated Microsoft-sympathetic people who run their "open source" sections and comply with Microsoft's publicity stunts, even linking to Windows- and Microsoft-only fluff. They probably do this out of ignorance, not deliberate deception. Another Microsoft apologist from Ziff Davis, Darryl Taft (they got rid of people who tell the true nature of Microsoft, such as SJVN), is parroting PR messages and not paying attention at all to deeds. Then again, eWEEK coverage is rarely accurate and when it covers "open source" is seems to be focused even on Mono promotion (for Windows). To be fair, eWEEK did not have this obvious bias in the past. It had different writers and we rarely found it striking deals with Microsoft, such as those deals that promote Windows Vista in exchange for payments from Microsoft and Dell. What's really sad is that such publications are deceiving the public through repetition and those who appeal to authority are then able to cite such Web sites and justify Microsoft sympathy or a decision to help Microsoft at the expense of peers' liberty.



“What makes Microsoft exceptionally hostile towards Free software is also what puts it in a rather unique position.”It was disheartening to see Borys Musielak (of PolishLinux), for example, neglecting to account for Microsoft's corruption of ISO, instead stating that Microsoft "started to work with standarization bodies like ISO". It sounds like comedy, but he probably meant it. What makes Microsoft exceptionally hostile towards Free software is also what puts it in a rather unique position. Most proprietary software companies are not in this position because they don't rely on proprietary operating systems for their revenue (Office, for example, still relies on Windows). Microsoft wants to hurt GNU/Linux after a series of illegal activities (with convictions) against other rivals.

Additionally, Microsoft is obsessed with software patents because of the increasing abundance of source code out there. We'll expand on that point in the next post about Microsoft's lobby for software patents in India, South Africa, and of course Europe. Microsoft is also a DRM proponent and one of the least ethical companies out there, based on present deeds. Musielak's post did receive some responses, such as "Microsoft has made noises and PR about it being OSS friendly, but it's all show." Oiaohm says that it "reads very much like a MS supporting PR guy," but it's far from it. All it shows is that Microsoft's PR campaign is deceiving some people whose judgment is usually sound.

“All it shows is that Microsoft's PR campaign is deceiving some people whose judgment is usually sound.”Matt Asay, for instance, was going to go to work at Microsoft (true story) but instead he ended up working for Canonical and we continue to worry as we repeatedly find that he indeed had something to do with a Microsoft and software patents booster [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] attending OSBC with him [1, 2] (he once invited Microsoft too [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]). They are trying to emulate proprietary software and still call it "open source" (or "open core", which is far from Free software but sometimes defended by Mac users and others who believe in "open source" as just a component of proprietary systems). Microsoft too has this type of vision where Windows, Office, SQL Server and other proprietary software become the services on which "open source" relies. This is not software freedom because the developers are locked into a platform which is controlled by a vendor (no less than an evident bully, too).

On a separate note, Canonical makes the mistake of still tying (via Yahoo!) [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6] its GNU/Linux distribution with Microsoft's lie machine, also known as "Bing". It's not a search engine and it wasn't intended to be one. It's heavily censored in a way that favours Windows and demotes GNU/Linux, even Free software. It's probably not a violation of any particular law, but it is a reason to drop this service like a hot potato. At the New York Times, calls were even made for a boycott of Bing.

Here is a new post that's titled "Is Microsoft Bing Trying To Kill Open Office?"

Microsoft Bing has many flaws, but this one seems to be the most outrageous one. If you try to search for OpenOffice on Bing, it will not show you the actual OpenOffice.org website but will show pages from random websites like OpenOffice.com or other non-OpenOffice.org websites.

On the other hand Google search shows OpenOffice.org as the first search result. Bing has gone to an extent that in fact you will not find the OpenOffice website even in the 5th page. So, a Bing surfer will never land on OpenOffice.org website.


Microsoft really loves “Open Source”, eh? It loved OpenOffice.org so much that it decided to extort its users behind the scenes. Microsoft's illusion of search does the same thing to "Ubuntu", according to readers of ours (we have not checked to verify this because it would only feed Microsoft).

Ultimately, Microsoft is trying to demote GNU/Linux, sometimes with Novell's help and some help from Xandros. This new Microsoft whitepaper shows that Microsoft is still trying to manage GNU/Linux from the Windows side, using "System Center".

It was approximately two years ago that Microsoft announced that customers running System Center would be able to leverage automated management across mixed source environments. It was at the Microsoft Management Summit (MMS) 2008 that Bob Muglia, senior vice president of the Server and Tools Business at Microsoft, revealed UNIX and Linux support in System Center. Fast-forward a couple of years, and it appears that customers are asking about the Redmond company’s plans to support future releases of UNIX and Linux as they will be released, according to Robert Hearn, Sr. program manager Customer & Partner Community System Center Cross Platform & Interoperability.


The headline and article above come from a known Microsoft booster, who also publishes "PHP on Windows Training Kit Gets Updated". Let's not forget Microsoft's vision. It's described by Steve Ballmer as follows: "I would love to see all open source innovation happen on top of Windows."

They are already trying to use software patents to suppress uptake of GNU/Linux. Fortunately, it's not working for them, not just because people distrust Microsoft and Windows is expensive. Microsoft products are generally very flaky, so PHP applications, for example, are deployed on GNU/Linux almost all the time. Nearly 4 years of a relationship with Zend have brought Microsoft next to nothing and here is new food for thought:

In 1991, during the Gulf war, American Patriot missile was deployed to combat Iraqi scud missile. In one of the incident, Patriot missile missed the Scud and that resulted the death of 28 American soldiers and 100 others got injured. There was an arithmetic error during calculation which resulted inaccurate calculation since Boot.

[...]

Microsoft’s Zune player stopped working on December 31, 2008 because of a simple software bug. The software was written in such a way that it would never terminate if the year is leap year and the total number of days is 366.


Had more servers run Microsoft software (the majority of Web servers run GNU/Linux, with confirmed estimates hovering at about 60% and probably more than that for Apache), where would the Internet be? The client side, i.e. Windows desktops, is where most issues occur. Should we not spread GNU/Linux on desktops then? “Open Source” or "Free software" developers should focus on technical merit, not Microsoft's 'religious' beliefs about platforms that it totally controls (that would be surrender, not a liberation of developers and users).

"Microsoft allowed us to [remove Internet Explorer from Windows] but we don't think we should have to ask permission every time we want to make some minor software modification. Windows is an operating system, not a religion."

--Gateway Computer Chairman Ted Waitt

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

GNU/Linux is Replacing Microsoft Windows. But We Need to Eradicate Microsoft, It's a Hub of Crime.
I have been writing about Microsoft since the 1990s when I was in school
Microsoft Staff Harassing Women, Strangling Women, Telling Women to Kill Themselves and Worse? Not a Problem!
Two women have left Brett Wilson LLP
 
Happy Independence Day to Our American Readers
Maybe tomorrow will be a good opportunity to explain to American people - in terms of concepts, not brands - which tools respect their independence
Slopwatch: Linux Journal, Linuxsecurity, and Google News Getting Even Worse (More Slopfarms Added Which Attack Linux With Bruce-Force SPAM)
Google News is part of the same problem
Links 03/07/2025: More Cuts and Cancellations at Microsoft Revealed
Links for the day
Gemini Links 03/07/2025: Favourite Child and Launching WikiGem
Links for the day
Mystery Surrounding the PCLinuxOS Sites and PCLinuxOS Magazine
Let's hope this isn't something major
People and Companies Do Learn Some Lessons From Their Mistakes (Stubborn Ones Don't)
Brett Wilson LLP is an example of one that would rather drown in mistakes
Links 03/07/2025: 'Hey Hi' Slop Ridiculed Some More and Microsoft's Layoffs Tally for 2025 Reaches About 29,000 in Just 6 Months (Almost 5,000 Per Month)
Links for the day
The Slopfarms Are Losing the Plot (and Google is Propping Up Rogue Sites)
Google is part of the attack on the Web, on information, and on technology
New BetaNews Realises There's No Potential or Future in Slopfarms, Prior Editor Wayne Williams is Back
They realise that slop (so-called "AI") cannot replace humans
Claims That Microsoft Looks for Staff That Works More and Gets Paid Less (or Can Only Code by Grabbing Other People's Code, Under the Guise of "AI")
People can form their own opinion
Richard Stallman Was Right About Reasons Not to Use Microsoft
last updated 2017
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, July 02, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, July 02, 2025
Gemini Links 03/07/2025: No to Cloudflare and Small Web July
Links for the day
Links 02/07/2025: Deep Microsoft Cuts, Macron Speaks to Putin
Links for the day
Confirmed: Microsoft Shutdowns Today, Not Only Mass Layoffs
"The Initiative is the only studio closure planned today, although some other teams have seen cuts of varying degrees."
Microsoft Windows Nosedives in Switzerland While GNU/Linux Leaps Above 6%
sooner or later they might have to make the move anyway
Anxiety at Microsoft: Many Workers (Maybe Over 10,000) Still Don't Know They're Being Laid Off Just Before US Independence Day
"Has anyone gotten the notification yet?"
Microsoft "Declined to Say How Many People Would be Laid Off," According to Associated Press
Some other prominent publications said they reached out for comment from Microsoft and received none
The X War is Over and the "Wayland People" Lost
People will gravitate towards what works for them
20 Years Since My Thesis
It's still online
GNU/Linux is Replacing Windows in Laptops/Desktops
The world will move on while Windows and Microsoft shrink
Now Comes the Expected Webspam, Framing Microsoft Layoffs as "Hey Hi" Success Story (False Marketing That's Piggybacking the Layoffs)
falsely marketed as "intelligence"
Hungary: Microsoft Windows Sinks to 17% "Market Share"
In many nations in Europe it seems like the era of Windows is coming to an end
Microsoft Media Operatives and Bill Epsteingate-Funded Sites Said Microsoft Lays Off 9,000, But Other Sites Say More (Including 2,300 in Redmond Alone)
We might never know the real number/s (Microsoft will keep the cards close to its chest) until there are leakers or unless there are whistleblowers with hard proof
Microsoft Layoffs in Spain, Portugal Record for GNU/Linux
in Portugal we see GNU/Linux at record levels
GNU/Linux Reaches All-Time High in the United States of America
Windows is trending down
Yes, Microsoft is Again Using Its Favourite Liars (Stenographers) to Seed Fake Layoff Numbers, Much Lower Than What's Really Happening
It is Jordan Novet again, just as we predicted
Will Microsoft Once Again Choose Its Favourite Liar to Spread Lies About Today's Layoffs, Quickly to be Replicated and Spread by Slopfarms?
What lies is Microsoft briefing its media moles to tell today?
"OSS Fetishism" Wins After Ferenc Zsolt Szabó Ousted (Microsoft Mole From Capgemini)
Many people said 2025 would be the "year of Linux on the desktop"
There is Nothing That LLMs Can Offer Honest People
LLMs are a passing fad; they're expensive and offer poor "value" for energy; they usually offer no value at all unless you are a cheater, spammer, and liar
What statCounter Shows Today Helps Explain Microsoft's Helplessness, Mass Layoffs
Since many US journalists are already away on holiday almost nobody will dare ask the difficult questions or give a voice to whistleblowers
Microsoft Gets the Chop in South America
The notion of digital sovereignty gained a lot of popularity
Europe Has an 'Exit'
Let's see what happens the rest of this year
El Presidente Talks, Canada Walks (Away From Windows)
GNU/Linux rising
Cities in France and Germany Move to GNU/Linux and statCounter Detects Big Differences
Will governments lead by example?
Microsoft Lost Its Foothold in Africa
How many of these are "old" Windows machines converted to GNU/Linux? Probably a lot.
Led by Europe, GNU/Linux Makes Big Gains This Month
statCounter started showing new/fresh stats
Links 02/07/2025: Massive Microsoft Layoffs About to Commence, "Tesla's Robotaxi Program Is Failing"
Links for the day
Why the Microsoft People Who Started SLAPPs Against Techrights Could Very Well be Sent Back to Prison
White-collar crime is also a crime
The Company Run by Former (and Last Proper) Red Hat CEO, Promoting Microsoft Mono, Faces Shock as Senior Partner Jailed for 33 Sexual Offenses Including Pedophilia
"As reported by The Oxford Mail in April 2025, the offenses include rape, sexual assault, engaging in non-penetrative activity with a child, and more."
Microsoft Lost 29% of Windows Users, Based on Microsoft, Now Come Massive Layoffs
Microsoft collapse is today
Slopwatch: Google Serves to People Linux Slop and Linux FUD (Made by Bots)
"Slopwatch" finds it difficult to ignore Google's role in encouraging LLM slop
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, July 01, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, July 01, 2025
"Wayland People" Behave Like the Googles and Microsofts of This World
Published yesterday by Igor Ljubuncic
Gemini Links 02/07/2025: Arch Linux and Fulfillment in Gemini
Links for the day
Links 01/07/2025: "Independence Day in Taiwan", Bounties on Software Patents
Links for the day
What Happens When Your Law Firm is Preoccupied With Harassing and Trying to Extort a Humble Couple in Manchester, Even on Behalf of Violent Microsoft Staff From Another Continent
It's good to see that law firms which operate in bad faith are perishing
Lawyer X, Law Firm X and Elon Musk's X: scandals linked by Old Xaverian
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 01/07/2025: Distraction-Free Writing and Hytale Mismanagement
Links for the day
Links 01/07/2025: "Beauty of Blogging" and "Etiquette of Collapse"
Links for the day
Microsoft Uses LLM Slop to Defraud (or Rob) Shareholders
Microsoft is basically defrauding its shareholders by LLM slop
The Web is a Dead End
We need to adopt alternatives
When Words Lose Their Intended Meaning
examples of words that, at least in the technical spheres, don't mean what they sound like
People Who Disagree With You on Technical Matters May or May Not Agree With You on Political Things (But Usually They Do)
What bothers me a great deal is seeing left-leaning people accusing other left-leaning people of being "nazis"
"Too Much Choice" and "Too Many Programming Languages"
What IBM and its apologists aim for was attempted in the 1930s and it failed
Microsoft Lost 400,000,000 Windows Users, According to Microsoft
more people adopt smaller computers and many people replace Windows with GNU/Linux, as they don't really need a new computer
The "Davos Effect": Tarnishing the Reputation of Places Not by Overtourism But by Oligarch Infestation
The last Venice needs is an affiliation with Venetian oligarchs
Half a Year Gone, What's to Come Next
In the second half of 2025 we expect to be done with the Microsoft SLAPPs
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, June 30, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, June 30, 2025
People at the Very Top of Microsoft Know How Bad Things Really Are
There's no product that can replace the former profitability of Windows licensing and stuff that went on top of Windows
Gemini Links 01/07/2025: Mid Year and a Tour of Old Languages
Links for the day