Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft Attacks Open Source by Comparing Today's Products to Open Source Rivals From Windows 2003 Era

Like the scorpion and the tortoise

Dead scorpions



Summary: Additional proof that the "Open Source" policy at Microsoft is still something along the lines of "We are not allowed to be seen as attacking Free software but quietly we have to"

THE RECENT REMARK from Hernán Rincón (insulting "Open Source" [1, 2, 3], which gets adopted widely where he works for Microsoft around Brazil) have helped a lot of people see that Microsoft it no friend of "Open Source", but this does not prevent Microsoft from carrying on with this PR charade. Microsoft's booster Marius Oiaga is helping them right now:



Microsoft, once the anti-open source poster child, says that the company has evolved as the world changed and that it is now committed to openness.


Watch them use their beloved Novell to spread this lie:

Microsoft made a critical move in 2006, when it inked a Windows and Linux interoperability alliance with open source vendor Novell.

Since then, both Microsoft and Novell have made investments into making sure that Windows Server and SUSE Linux can play nice together for customers that need to run both platforms in their heterogeneous environments.


Let's face it, Microsoft's biggest cash cow is suffering (that's Office) and while Microsoft keeps pretending to harbour "open source" on Windows it is actually attacking OpenOffice.org for Windows, even though it's "open source" and for Windows. What does that say about Microsoft's attitude towards "open source" on any platform at all?

Microsoft's hiring of people specifically to fight OpenOffice.org (and LibreOffice or Lotus, by extension) is something that we covered before [1, 2]. It has turned rather pathetic. Microsoft is now blatantly lying in new videos. "Source of one of the quotes in #MSFTvOOo video," says Jan from Red Hat, is a case "from 2006(!) about Windows 2003(!)" (he also gave a pointer to Microsoft.com). Someone who prefers to remain anonymous has chosen to study Microsoft's 'beef' in this latest FUD campaign and here is what he or she found, based on this video:

The people quoted in the spot against OpenOffice:

James Fleming, Infrastructure and Support Manager, Speedy Hire Jeff Cimmerer, Director of Technology for the Pittsford School District David Sterling, ICT Manager, Central Scotland Police Bülent Türker, Product Manager, Scarves Department, SARAR Group Eugene Mariotto, ICT Director, Cobra Automotive Technologies Eros Borgogelli, Information Systems Coordinator, Ciar Randall C Kennedy, InfoWorld Tisome Nugent, Educator, Orange County Public Schools Sergey Sakharov, Business Process Optimization Manager, Art of Transport Logistics Darek Muraszko, Information Systems Admninistrator, Kaczmarski Inkasso Igor Gentosh, Head of System Integration Department, Kredobank JSC Tiziano Battilana, Information Systems Coordinator, Euromobil Group Joerg Lenze, System Administrator, Heinrich Berndes Haushaltstechnik GmbH & Co. KG Leonid Medvediev, Head of IT Department, CJSC SPC, BorschagivskiyChemical and Pharmaceutical Plant Bailey Mitchell, Chief Information Officer, Forsyth County Schools

I am in the process of checking the quotes and I have noticed they are effectively taken from quite old "success" stories, here some examples:

David Sterling, ICT Manager, Central Scotland Police Source of the quotes:

http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Microsoft-Office-2003/Central-Scotland-Police/Central-Scotland-Police-Cuts-Maintenance-Costs-30-Percent-By-Replacing-Linux-Desktop/49609

This is a "success" story of 2006 about a migration to Office 2003/Windows 2003. Linux desktops in 2003 and OpenOffice in 2003 are ancient IMHO, not really a good way to convince customers NOW :-)

You can find more, for example:

Tisome Nugent, Educator, Orange County Public Schools

http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Case_Study_Detail.aspx?casestudyid=4000005095

Joerg Lenze, System Administrator, Heinrich Berndes Haushaltstechnik GmbH & Co. KG

http://65.55.21.250/caseStudies/Case_Study_Detail.aspx?casestudyid=4000006523

Etc. etc.

All you will find are arguments on how the lock-in of Microsoft Office makes sure noone can switch to alternatives.

Decide for yourself :-)


Here is some coverage about Microsoft's latest steps (the video is said to have been removed/gone private, probably for PR/damage control reasons):



Regarding that last one (a press release), the Microsoft booster just had to say something negative:

Oracle is spinning its participation in a forthcoming Open Document Format (ODF) event as proof of its continued commitment to the OpenOffice.org community.


Gavin seems to be the one spinning, not Oracle. He too seems interested in hurting OpenOffice.org, so it's not just Microsoft which does it very publicly right now. If it hurts Microsoft, it means we need more of the same. It's an indication of weakness.

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Turns Out LLMs for Code Don't Save Time and Don't Improve Quality
Neither legal nor useful
 
Gemini Links 13/07/2025: Sonpo Museum of Art and FCEUX
Links for the day
Links 13/07/2025: UnitedHealth's Censorship Campaign, Australia Wary of China
Links for the day
Firing Away With Nonsense
Or fighting fire with fire
Links 13/07/2025: Climate Crisis, GAFAM Poisoning the Water
Links for the day
The Microsofters Will Have an Obligation to Compensate Us
This story isn't just about Microsoft. It's also about corruption, there are many women victims, there is abject "abuse of process", and many more scandals to be illuminated in years to come.
Reproducing at the EPO Instead of Producing Monopolies for Foreign Monopolies With Their Price-Fixing Cartels
Does the EPO recognise the need of well-educated Europeans to bear kids?
Valnet Inc. Dominates Real (Not LLM Slop) GNU/Linux Coverage in 2025
And likely in prior years, too
Free Software Foundation (FSF) Fund Raiser Goes on
Later this month we'll expose another OSI scandal
EPO Staff Representatives Issue a Warning About Staff's Health and Inadequate Care
Even the EPO's own stakeholders (money sources) are openly protesting against what the EPO became
Links 13/07/2025: Partly Assorted News From Deutsche Welle and CBC
Links for the day
Gemini Links 13/07/2025: Board Games and Battle Styles
Gemini Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 12, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 12, 2025
Plunder at the Second-Largest Institution in Europe
cuts, neglect, health problems, even early deaths
Links 12/07/2025: Political Developments, Attack on Opposition, Climate Actions
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/07/2025: Melodic Musings and Small Web July
Links for the day
Links 12/07/2025: Jail in China for Homoerotica, South Korea Discriminates Against Old Workers
Links for the day
If Only Everything Was Rewritten in Rust, We'd Have No More Security Issues?
Nope.
Links 12/07/2025: Birdwatching and Fake/Misleading Wall Street 'Valuation' Figures
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/07/2025: How to Avoid Writing, Apps for Android
Links for the day
Using SLAPPs to Cover Up Sexual Abuse and Strangulation
The exact same legal team of the Serial Strangler from Microsoft and Garrett already has a history fighting against "metoo"
EPO Staff Committee on Harassment in the Workplace
slides
Adding the Voice of Writers to UK SLAPP Reform
The journey to repair antiquated (monarchy era) laws will likely be long
EPO Takes More Money From Staff for Speculation (Pensions), Actuarial Study Explains the Impact
"The key change in this year’s Actuarial Study, due to cascading the new “risk appetite” from the financial study, is a significant increase of the total pension contribution rate of 5.7 percentage points, up to a total of 37.8%. This is driven by an unprecedented decrease in the discount rate of 105 bps down to 2.2%."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 11, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, July 11, 2025
Microsoft - Like IBM - Does the "Relocation" Tricks (Start Over Elsewhere, Then Get Sacked by Microsoft)
It is a "low blow" or a "dick move"
After the Free Software Foundation's Campaign to Raise Money Let's See Campaigns to Finish Off Microsoft (Vista 11, GitHub etc.)
Microsoft is in effect collapsing
Your Publications Have No Major Impact Unless or Until You "Get Some Heat"
we're on the right track
Slopwatch: A Cause for Hope, the Hype is Dying
For about a month we showed that becoming a slopfarm - for several weeks - resulted in utter failure and ruin for BetaNews
Links 11/07/2025: Censorship Worsening, 3D Printing Success Stories, UK and France Unite Around Nukes
Links for the day
Gemini Links 11/07/2025: Zorin OS and Scriptonite Updates
Links for the day
Links 11/07/2025: Hardware, Russia, and China
Links for the day
Links 11/07/2025: Intel Collapsing and Microsoft Resorts to Bribery to Push Slop Via Obligatory Education
Links for the day
The EFF Sided With the Team That Strangles Women and Tells Women to Kill Themselves
They say that apathy and inaction are a form of a "stance"
"Nat [Friedman] and [the Serial Strangler From Microsoft] Were Always Exceptionally Close," Says Former Housemate and Colleague
Now Alex (hiding behind another name when that suits him) not only attacks women but also people who merely report what he did to women
Exemplary List of Things That Are Not Artificial Intelligence or Even Intelligence
The "age of AI" or "era of AI" or "AI revolution" mostly boils down to rebranding, just like "the cloud"
New Letter From the European Patent Office Explains How the Office Plots to Grant Many Illegal Patents, a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy of 'Growth'
Open letter to Mr Rowan (VP1) and Mr Aledo Lopez (COO)
Abuse of Process
5RB is employing people who help violent men
What Microsoft's Nat Friedman and Microsoft Lunduke Have in Common
"Get in da car; No time to explain, loser"
Microsoft and IBM Don't Have Much of a Future (They Mostly Pretend at This Point)
IBM and Microsoft are in some ways alike but in many ways different
It's Not Just Twitter (or X.com) That's Dying, Microsoft's Equivalent is Dying Also
Unable to find a business model
GitHub Copilot Can Cause the Bankruptcy of GitHub to Come Sooner and GitHub to be Shut Down Just Like Skype
Some publicly available information suggests that even for each paid subscriber for plagiarism (LLM 'coding') GitHub Copilot still loses more money than it makes
Wayland is Bad for the Planet
If you use Wayland, it'll take you longer to accomplish tasks and you will consume more energy (or battery life)
Legitimising Those Who Sabotage You
Microsoft is a very malicious company
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 10, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, July 10, 2025
On Microsoft Layoffs
we might be looking at about 60,000 Microsoft layoffs since 2023
EPO Management Already Breaks Its Own Promise (Lie) on "Bringing Teams Together"
This gut-punching move happened just 2 days ago
Gemini Links 11/07/2025: Occupation of 2025 and "Old Man Yells At Soundcloud"
Links for the day
Our Lawsuits Against the 'Cancel Mob' (Ringleaders) Helped Reduce Anti-Free Software Online Abuse
That's not to say that lawsuits are the best way to handle terrible people. But that can help.