The Microsoft Guide to the Open Source Galaxy

Dr. Roy Schestowitz

2019-05-13 04:07:18 UTC
Modified: 2019-05-13 04:09:59 UTC

Microsoft B0rg

Thou shalt not host a FOSS project outside GitHub (otherwise it won't 'count')
Thou shalt not edit code without Visual Studio (which now has an "open" -- albeit spying and malicious -- component for openwashing purposes)
Thou shalt not code without .NET (or Mono)
Thou shalt not use a voting machine without Windows (we have just announced some openwashing component to make up for the NSA back doors that compromise elections worldwide)
Thou shalt not boot GNU/Linux as a standalone operating system (UEFI might not permit this anyway, unless we sign for approval)
Thou shalt not get get a GNU/Linux distribution outside our Store
Thou shalt not buy a computer without Windows preinstalled; those are "naked PCs" and everyone who buys such PCs is a "pirate"
Thou shalt not disparage or even publicly criticise our staff (that would be in violation of GitHub rules, a Code of Conduct, T&C and so on)
Thou shalt not report back doors in our software or leak NSA tools that take advantage of these (there's a prison sentence for doing so)
Thou shalt not write in mass media things that refute our narrative (proving that we are chronic liars); we would bribe the publication using advertising money and have you sacked
Thou shalt not use open formats such as OpenDocument except inside Microsoft Office, which is incompatible with all other software (by design)
Thou shalt not distribute Linux without paying Microsoft for patents; we're still suing companies (in 2019) for having the audacity to do so
Thou shalt not host a site or a service outside Azure; we'd sic patent trolls at you
Thou shalt not oppose Microsoft's lock-in and proprietary software shims inside Linux; we'd send our media partners (Condé Nast) to oust you, at least for a month if not permanently
Thou shalt not report our crimes to the authorities; doing so would make you a "toxic", "intolerant" person
Thou shalt not use the GPL unless all other options have been exhausted
Thou shalt not adopt a Web browser other than MSIE or our rebranded Chrome, also known as Edge; we'd occasionally tinker with your computer's settings to remind you to quit using other browsers or refuse the download of such "malware"

Last Week's EPO Strike Was the Biggest (Highest Participation Rate), Hours Ago General Assembly Discussed Next (Growing) Intensity of Strikes: Well done and well attended
Gemini Links 23/03/2026: "Mandatory" Bad Things and Dangers of Perfection Aspirations: Links for the day
SLAPP Censorship - Part 20 Out of 200: All Roads Lead to Rome and to GAFAM Funding: Now about 10% into this series
Mass Layoffs at HashiCorp, IBM Hid Them: The media did not mention those layoffs
Microsoft Downgraded on Concerns (Lack of Growth) Amid Silent Layoffs in 2026: The press isn't functioning anymore
Links 23/03/2026: Gulf Water at Risk, Heatwave in Malaysia: Links for the day
Slop Means False, New Article by Cybershow: "We are living in a world that is rapidly divesting from reality."
Debianism election 2026 community poll created, everybody can vote: Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 23/03/2026: "Shocking Peter Thiel Antichrist Lectures", Robert Mueller Remembered: Links for the day
The Scandal Bigger Than IBM/Red Hat Layoffs is the de Facto "Media Blackout" About Those Layoffs: So we have a media crisis, aside from the economic crises
Gemini Links 23/03/2026: Geminispace/Elpher Enhancement and the Cerberus Cinco: Links for the day
Fear is Not a Legitimate Factor: Smart people know that trying to prevent moral people from doing the "Right Thing" will backfire
Fuel Autonomy and What It Teaches Us About Software Autonomy (or Software Freedom): Need we wait until a "software Pearl Harbor" or protect ourselves proactively by weaning ourselves off of GAFAMware?
Scheduled Maintenance This Coming Wednesday: Other than that, all is the same and we carry on as usual
Most Press Articles About IBM Are LLM Slop, Sometimes With Slop Images: IBM basically laid off almost 1,000 people last week [...] At the moment about 75% of the 'articles' we see about IBM (in recent days) are some kind of slop
Links 23/03/2026: Security Breaches, Energy Shortages, Another SRA Scandal, and Patents on Nature: Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 22, 2026: IRC logs for Sunday, March 22, 2026
Streisand Effect and Justice: This weekend this site has served over 8 million Web requests
Gemini Links 22/03/2026: "Woman of Tomorrow" and "First Steps in Geminispace": Links for the day
SLAPP Censorship - Part 19 Out of 200: They Were Ill-prepared for Tough Questions in Cross-Examination: Very ill-prepared for the deteriorating situation caused by their clients' past behaviour towards many people, including high-profile figures who offered to testify
The Media Sold Out to Slop Bros: If you wish for the hype to stop, then stop participating in it
EPO Strike a Week From Now, After That Strikes Can Become Permanent: A week from tomorrow there will be another strike
The Only Non-IBM Staff in Fedora Council/Leadership Attacks Booting Freedom (Just Like the Master Wants): Last week IBM laid off almost 1,000 people in Confluent and the media didn't write anything about it, so don't expect anyone in what's left of the media to comment on Fedora's demise and silent layoffs at Red Hat
Just Like a Founder of XBox Said, Microsoft XBox is Collapsing, Management Continue to Jump Ship: Nowadays Microsoft tries to promote this idea that Windows is XBox and XBox is Windows
Links 22/03/2026: Slop Triggers Emergency at Meta, Energy Prices Rise Sharply: Links for the day
Links 22/03/2026: Microsoft 'Open' 'AI' in Legal Trouble (Plagiarism, Distortion, Misrepresentation); Facebook/Meta Kills Off "Horizon Worlds": Links for the day
Racism Dressed Up as "Choice": Racism is rampant at IBM
Probably an All-Time Record: Our investment in our own SSG is paying off
Your Site Should Implement Its Own Search (Before It's Too Late): GAFAM was never trustworthy
Gemini Links 22/03/2026: LLM Slop Attacks USENET, Announcing Pig (New Game in Gemini Protocol): Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, March 21, 2026: IRC logs for Saturday, March 21, 2026
SLAPP Censorship - Part 18 Out of 200: Third Parties Funding Attacks on the Messengers, Lawsuits Against GAFAM-Critical Voices That Uphold Real National Security: Women are like kryptonite to them
Never Trust People Who Write Their Own Wikipedia Pages (Vanity Pages About Themselves) or Ask Friends to Do So. Also: Jono Bacon is Married to Microsoft.: We'd hardly be the first to point out Wikipedia isn't what it seems
No Tolerance for Attacks on Family Members: Being a Free software activist ought not lead to "collateral damage" like attacks on family members, including doxing
Sirius Open Source is Just a Zombie Firm With Shell Entities: Many companies fake their health and their size
Communities Can Only Survive When Trust Prevails: PCLinuxOS is still a vibrant and authentic community
Techrights Was Always a Community Site: The harder we're attacked, the more people participate in the site
Maintenance Reminder: We'll carry on publishing
Behind the PR Smokescreen and Microsoft-Sponsored Chaff, Microsoft Layoffs in "AI" Alleged This Month: In an age when ~1,000 simultaneous layoffs aren't enough to receive any media coverage, what can we expect remaining publishers to tell us about Microsoft layoffs in 2026?
EPO "Cocaine Communication Manager" - Part VIII - Mobbing and Silencing of Dissenting Staff: that's the very cornerstone of functional democracies with real opposition parties
Bluewashing at Confluent: Some Workers to Leave Within 3 Months (IBM Mass Layoffs): Is the "era of AI" an era when none of the media will mention over 800 layoffs? [...] There's a lesson here about the state of the contemporary media, not just IBM and bluewashing
Microsoft OpenAI, Drowning in Debt and Forced to Make Significant Cuts (as Reports Reveal This Month), Does Hiring Disguised as "Takeovers" to Fake Value or Alleged Potential: Remember what happened to Skype last year
Reader Shares Recent Memes on Slop and 'Coding' by LLMs: "just some funny memes I thought were relevant to current coverage."
Slop Does Not Replace Art, It Contaminates Everything With Reckless Nonsense: many Computer Scientists do not want programs to get contaminated by slop
Coders Don't Just Reject 'Vibe Coding' Because They're "Luddites", They Just Know the True Cost of Slop: if some programmer says slop sucks, don't rush to assume selfishness or defence of one's occupation
When Nobody Else Covers the News: There's an obvious "media blackout" regarding the mass layoffs
Links 21/03/2026: David Botstein Dies, Slop as Censorship Apparatus: Links for the day
Links 21/03/2026: Metastablecoin Fragmentation and Crescent Moon: Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/03/2026: Historic Ada Docs; The Lurking LLM on the SmolNet: Links for the day
HSBC the Latest Failed Bank Using Slop as Excuse for Its Financial Failure: "HSBC is planning on cutting as many as 20,000 jobs in the near future as the company allies with AI revolution."
Invitation to General Assembly After 1,200 EPO Workers Participated in the Demonstration 3 Days Ago: "the strike of 19 March was also very well followed."
A/Prof Susan G Kleinmann, Enkelena Haxhija & Debian-private risk to MIT: Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, March 20, 2026: IRC logs for Friday, March 20, 2026

The Microsoft Guide to the Open Source Galaxy

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