07.09.19
Gemini version available ♊︎If Microsoft is Still Attacking Even Its Very Own Partners, Why Believe It Will Treat GNU/Linux Any Better?
Recent: The Corporate Media Deliberately Distorts the Public’s Opinion on Microsoft and Its ‘Love’ for Linux
When scorpions meet tortoises it rarely ends well
Summary: Microsoft Partner Network (MPN) debacles serve to show that Microsoft is as untrustworthy as ever; those who invite Microsoft to join Linux aren’t helping anyone but Microsoft
AN article mentioned in passing and added to our daily links over the weekend merits special attention. A reader has just sent us one more report on this subject [1] and it’s worth taking it into account now that we’re told “Microsoft loves Linux” (which Microsoft considers to be the biggest competition and called for a "Jihad" against). Yes, the word “Jihad” was used by Bill Gates.
“Little by little, Microsoft seizes greater control/power over its competition. This way Microsoft also controls the narrative.”The short story is, Microsoft is squeezing some of its closest partners and it recently did the same to CERN (hiking costs tenfold!); if this is what Microsoft does to friends, then just imagine what it’s planning to do to actual rivals.
Hours ago (just earlier today) we mentioned a couple more reports (in our daily links) [2,3] from Microsoft apologists — both connected to the Linux Foundation — who eagerly open the door to Microsoft's control over Linux. Little by little, Microsoft seizes greater control/power over its competition. This way Microsoft also controls the narrative. “The “Linux” links these days are all Microsoft spam,” one reader told us, “with only a few exceptions. With the help of Google and its search engine, Microsoft is doing to Linux and GNU/Linux what it did to VistA.” (VA’s FOSS, not Windows)
Before destroying Novell Ron Hovsepian said “Microsoft Corp is using scare tactics to exert pressure on PC vendors not to explore the potential of desktop Linux…”
GNU/Linux is the “most potent operating system competitor,” according to Bill Gates, who now shifts his attention to Android (lots of puff pieces about it earlier this month). ZDNet, a prime promoter of the “Microsoft loves Linux” lie (they’re big Microsoft advertisers with Microsoft staff among them), published an article entitled “What if Microsoft had invented Android?” only 2 days ago.
Microsoft hates Android. Watch what it’s doing to Android/inside Android [4] (other than patent blackmail which carries on) and see older coverage (last week) about Microsoft Partner Network (MPN): “Microsoft’s worst move in 30 years” [5]. Microsoft has not changed; only the PR strategy has changed somewhat. They pretend to be friends or in love with whatever they attack, usually from the inside. █
Related/contextual items from the news:
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Microsoft has caused an uproar among its partners by canceling one of their favorite perks: software for their own use [paywall]
Over the course of the next year, Microsoft will stop allowing its partners to use its software for their own businesses as a perk — and instead, charge them, same as anybody else.
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Microsoft admitted to private Linux developer security list
Most open-source development work, like the name says, is done in the open. The exception is the first stages of security work. Unpatched security holes, however, are discussed and fixed behind closed doors. Now, Microsoft has been admitted to the closed linux-distro list.
Microsoft wanted in because, while Windows sure isn’t Linux, the company is, in fact, a Linux distributor. Sasha Levin, a Microsoft Linux kernel developer, pointed out Microsoft has several distro-like builds — which are not derivative of an existing distribution — that are based on open-source components.
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Confirmed: Microsoft Will Join The Private Linux Kernel Mailing List
However, it wasn’t all praise. Levin had to prove to the community whether it qualifies to join the list or not. After a long and quite intensive discussion, it all but certain that Microsoft will be accepted into the mailing list, possibly, by the end of this week.
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Microsoft is slipping app ads into Android menus
If you use a Microsoft app on your Android phone, Microsoft might be quietly advertising its other apps in your “Share” and “Open” menus. Android Police has pointed out that some Microsoft mobile apps add extra options to your menus when you interact with a file. These icons show Microsoft apps that aren’t on your phone, taking up real estate that’s usually reserved for programs you chose to install.
Android Police tested this with multiple Microsoft apps, and The Verge confirmed that it’s definitely happening with Your Phone Companion, an app for syncing Android and Windows devices. When I shared a photo from my phone with Your Phone Companion installed, my sharing menu included an extra icon labeled “Microsoft OneDrive (Install).” Tapping the icon would open Your Phone Companion, then quickly redirect me to the Google Play Store. Android Police found similar results when, say, opening a PowerPoint presentation file with Microsoft Word installed.
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‘Microsoft’s worst move in 30 years’ – MPN changes spark uproar
Microsoft partners have been left “flabbergasted” at the vendor’s decision to withdraw what are seen in some quarters as two key benefits to Gold and Silver reseller partners.
The vendor revealed in an online document that it intends to withdraw the internal use rights it grants to those who are part of its Microsoft Partner Network (MPN).
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