Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft-connected Mesosphere Threatens to Eliminate Free Software in the Datacentre

Data Center Operating System (DCOS) is a proprietary trap

"I’d be glad to help tilt lotus into into the death spiral. I could do it Friday afternoon but not Saturday. I could do it pretty much any time the following week."

--Brad Silverberg, Microsoft



Summary: Hiding behind a misleading 'open' label while actually backed by Microsoft (and based on new rumours may join Microsoft), Mesosphere wishes to eradicate Free and back doors-free software in large datacentres hosting a lot of physical and virtual servers

WE have patiently been watching with great concern a company called Mesosphere. We have been watching it for quite some time, but have not yet properly covered it in Techrights (except incidentally). I personally complained about it many times in social media sites, not just because it's backed by Silverberg (some Microsoft-centric publications call him "Mr. Windows" these days) but because it's basically proprietary yet pretends to be 'open'. It's a big deception. Mesosphere is a parasite that has been often (and mostly) promoted by friends of Microsoft over the past year. Mesosphere is one of those companies that only people bribed by Microsoft (like Om Malik and his increasingly-defunct 'news' network) would actually openwash, excepting perhaps some gullible journalists who truly believe that there is genuine openness at Mesosphere or merely repeat what others are writing (the corrupting effect of manufactured hype).

Thankfully, Mesosphere is now showing its true colours, so we need not merely speculate or accuse Mesosphere with relatively weak evidence. Mesosphere has nothing to do with FOSS, except the fact that it wants to replace it with its own proprietary operating system. It can be viewed as a Microsoft Trojan horse with Microsoft veterans backing it -- the same sorts of people who would distribute "Microsoft loves Linux" buttons (spreading a Big Lie) to help themselves devour the GNU/Linux market.

"Avoid Mesosphere, Mesos, and the Data Center Operating System (DCOS). Treat them as a creation of Microsoft, emanated silently to entrap the competition."A Microsoft propaganda site (and by extension a network) recently showed Microsoft's anti-Linux plan of entryism [1, 2], trying to make GNU/Linux just subservient to Windows, essentially demoting it. Other Microsoft propaganda sites did the same thing at the same time. Then we saw rumours that Microsoft was essentially ‘buying’ its own moles, just as it had done with Xamarin (now bankrolled by Microsoft veterans). All one has to do now is watch headlines from the financial press, for instance:



There are many more like the above, but we omit them for the sake of brevity.

I personally feel somewhat vindicated, having repeatedly accused Mesosphere of serving Microsoft's agenda. I said the same about Mono about a decade ago, well before it officially became a sort of Microsoft adjunct in the form of Xamarin. These are more like moles. They serve as Microsoft's bridge into the heart of the competition.

Mesosphere ought to be treated as a Trojan horse or a proprietary software company with Microsoft roots (intending to replace GNU/Linux at datacentres). It shows true colours with articles such as "Why Microsoft Could Reportedly Want To Buy Cloud Startup Mesosphere Even At $1 Billion".

Watch what Microsoft boosters are writing right now [1, 2, 3]. Headlines such as "Windows Server Getting Open Source Mesos Container Technology for Scaled Operations" or "Mesosphere And Microsoft Bring Mesos To Windows Server" speak volumes.

Microsoft's many attacks on GNU/Linux and Free software can only be as effective as GNU/Linux users can be dumb, gullible, defeatist, or lenient. Scott M. Fulton III, a Microsoft expert, wrote the other day that:

Developers outside of Microsoft will be able to experiment for the first time with new classes of applications that run partly on Windows, partly on Linux.


As one response to this framed the key message: "It’s hard to imagine anyone actually wanting to build an application that is part-Linux, part-Windows. Or, to go one step further, to intentionally engineer a server-based program that straddles two very, very different flavors of operating system.

"Why on Earth would anyone build or use an application that needs two operating systems to function?"

Why would anyone need a platform from Mesosphere to manage GNU/Linux? It's not even Free software, so back doors are to be expected (voluntary or not), compromising the security of everything down the hierarchy/stack.

Avoid Mesosphere, Mesos, and the Data Center Operating System (DCOS). Treat them as a creation of Microsoft, emanated silently to entrap the competition. Time will tell what Mesosphere really is and where it's heading.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Red Hat Staff Says IBM Policy Has Stigmatised Him as a Tool and a Slopper With Plagiarism Tools
IBM is killing Red Hat with slop
Freedom of Choice or Freedom Versus Choice (or When All Choices Are Incompatible With Freedom)
When some business asserts that it gives people different options, then it can rightly argue that it offers some choices, but that is not the same as freedom
Techrights IRC Turns 5 Without a “Code of Conduct”, “Code of Conduct Committee”, and All Those Bureaucratic Nightmares
18+ years if one counts our time in Freenode as well
Why U No Use AI???
Many hype waves come and go
There Are Still Slopfarms in Google News
Google is trying to participate in if not lead this pyramid scheme
The Cyber Show Explains How Slop and Promotion of Slop is About Taking Control Away From Computer Users
"On making a trustworthy machine"
Keeping Available the Site at All Times
Informal arrangements and crowdfunding keep our work available despite resistance (including from people who break the law)
What If "Era of AI" and "AI Revolution" (Fake News) Never Happened?
So how much longer before the bust (or bubble-burst)?
GNU/Linux Approaches 5% in Australia
5% by year's end?
How We Do Techrights (and What's Changing Next Week)
Many former news sites no longer yield much non-meaningless news (not anymore); there's a gap to be filled
Europe/EU is Moving Towards Independence, Fast to Adopt Free Software
More and more states (governments, public sector) in Germany are dumping Microsoft
GNU/Linux Grows at the Expense of Windows
People who want to get work done already left Windows
Tux Machines Growing as a Volunteers-Run Site
Historically the site did not have many original stories, but this changed as the audience grew and the site gained more recognition
Links 12/07/2026: European Commission Versus ‘Addictive Design’, "Google Loses Final Appeal Over $4.7 Billion EU Android Antitrust Fine"
Links for the day
GNU/Linux Market Share Increases Some More Today, statCounter Measures It at 7.3%
Will more such thresholds and records be broken?
Gemini Links 12/07/2026: Studying Languages and 2026 Old Computer Challenge (OCC)
Links for the day
EPO "Cocaine Communication Manager" - Part XIII - At the EPO, Cocaine Addicts and Their Friends Are "Protected Class"
What does that tell us about the EPO?
Increasing Output by Focusing on Originals
It's probably more important to carry on with these than it is to keep abreast of non-crucial news
Amid Strikes and Industrial Actions, Young Professionals at the European Patent Office (EPO) Kept on 'Short Leash', According to the Local Staff Committee The Hague
Issues affecting Young Professionals
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 11, 2026
IRC logs for Saturday, July 11, 2026
Blogs May be Making a Comeback (They're Not Fediverse, They Are Joined by RSS Feeds)
Don't fake expansion where none existed
ChromeOS and GNU/Linux in the United Kingdom Reach 11%
the UK shows signs of digital maturity
Corporate Media: Blame the People Who Enter the Abandoned IBM Buildings, Not IBM for Abandoning Workers in Pursuit of IT Sweatshops
When the media spreads falsehoods stocks can go up (a lot higher), but at whose expense and how long for?
Canonical is Selling Microsoft, It Pays The Register MS to Sell Microsoft
It's all about money to them. And they call this journalism.
When Red Hat's HR Becomes the Same as IBM's HR (Bluewashing)
Red Hat keeps sacking very experienced engineers and adding temporary interns
GNU/Linux Growing in East Asia
Assuming this is more or less accurate, we could use a plausible explanation
SUEPO Munich Report on the Recent EPO Demonstration and Rolling Strikes That Continue to Grow
"increasing registrations for the 'rolling strikes' running until autumn"
Over a Week After Microsoft Discontinued Some XBox Models It Apparently Exits Some Markets Altogether
We seem to be witnessing the end of XBox
Gemini Links 11/07/2026: Old Computer challenge, Poems, Antenna, and More
Links for the day
Links 11/07/2026: "Trademark wars of Influencer Culture", Xinuos Uses Copyrights Versus UNIX
Links for the day
North America: GNU/Linux Measured at 10%
To better understand what contributes to the gains
Following Corrections and Adjustments statCounter Sees GNU/Linux at 7.1%, an All-Time High
There is a lot of layoffs at Microsoft this month
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 10, 2026
IRC logs for Friday, July 10, 2026
Links 11/07/2026: Wednesday-Saturday News Catch-up
Links for the day
Prioritising High-Importance News
In order to fully catch up with news we'll not publish many new articles until next week
The Register MS: "AI" More Than 80 Times in One Article. But It's Not an Article, It's Sponsored Keyword-stuffed Page.
The Register MS is being paid to actively promoted this scheme
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 09, 2026
IRC logs for Thursday, July 09, 2026
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, July 08, 2026
IRC logs for Wednesday, July 08, 2026