Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft Inside -- Part I: Don't Get Close to Microsoft, It's Not a Love Story

As Sir Humphrey Appleby famously said in Yes Minister: "It is necessary to get behind someone in order to stab them in the back."

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Summary: Today we start a mini series about how Microsoft plans to 'deal' with GNU/Linux (of course while pretending to "love" it; that's just a very old modus operandi of Microsoft)

THERE is a tendency to wrongly assume that Microsoft is not trying to kill GNU/Linux (probably because it cannot anymore; it's almost too late). Nothing would please Microsoft more than killing GNU/Linux and pushing Windows to fill the newly-created gap; the whole "Microsoft loves Linux" thing is "sour grapes" in reverse; they lost the battle (in most areas or form factors), so they pretend to be happy about it regardless (and want to steal a share of the pie, e.g. with Azure). As we keep reminding people, Windows is fast becoming minority market share in more segments of the market, with desktops/laptops being a last-remaining stronghold (that monopoly too is waning as Windows rapidly drops in share). They don't like to admit this, so they rely on biased and ridiculously selective measures (to make the shareholders think they maintain about 90% of "the market"). The takeover of GitHub wasn't just expensive; it's an ongoing money burner with no signs of turnaround (GitHub is "successful" in the same sense Uber is). They bought it in an attempt to occupy the competition (spying, imposing disproportionate censorship, undermining one way or another). If they don't pull it off, it'll be another write-off like Nokia. More losses. Remember that last year Microsoft shed off a lot of staff, including in supposedly "successful" divisions like Azure. There were layoffs and Microsoft is exceptionally paranoid about its clients and shareholders finding out.



"In this series we will share some stories we've heard throughout the month. Microsoft has some rather malicious plans and by explaining those plans we hope to 'inoculate' the community, developing a sort of "herd immunity" (to the tactics or the generic strategy)."Earlier today I caught up with video coverage about what Microsoft had done to the Raspberry Pi. Having already seen plenty of articles about it (almost 50 articles, not even counting forum threads, social control media, comments and so on), I belatedly turned to video coverage. It takes a lot more time to digest video as it cannot be 'scanned' like text. I'm pleased that we at Techrights were the ones to break the story -- a fact publicly recognised even at the front page of Raspbian. Following that revelation of ours a lot of the media brought highlights and spotlights to the backlash, putting intense pressure on Raspberry Pi (Foundation), which instead of making things better only made things worse, at least in the short term, probably due to secret contractual obligations. Half a decade ago we did the same to Lenovo, which resorted to censorship of customers (because Lenovo didn't want to change its misguided policy, at least not immediately). Based on what happened with Lenovo (in years that followed it gradually warmed up to GNU/Linux, even if just to avoid the hate) our prediction is that if Raspberry Pi has some potential for expanding a Microsoft partnership, it would give that a pass. They hopefully learned their lesson/s; Microsoft tried something similar several years ago (putting Windows on Pi devices). That's just how corporations work (even if they call themselves "foundation" instead of "limited") and engaging with them on a financial level and PR level is the only way to accomplish something. I know this having spent like half a decade of my life (at expense to myself and my health) opposing Novell. It worked. It really worked. A decade or so later Novell's last CEO still feels hurt by the whole thing.

In this series we will share some stories we've heard throughout the month. Microsoft has some rather malicious plans and by explaining those plans we hope to 'inoculate' the community, developing a sort of "herd immunity" (to the tactics or the generic strategy). The patterns are mostly familiar, we've covered some of these before (e.g. EDGI), but they merit emphasis in light of new examples, not a supposedly 'old Microsoft' but this year's Microsoft.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Amid Online Reports of XBox Sales Collapsing, Mass Layoffs in More Teams, and Windows Making Things Worse (Admission of Losses, Rumours About XBox Canceled as a Hardware Unit)...
Windows has loads of issues, also as a gaming platform
 
Consent & Debian's illegitimate constitution
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
The Time Our Server Host Died in a Car Accident
If Debian has internal problems, then they need to be illuminated and then tackled, at the very least in order to ensure we do not end up with "Deadian"
China's New 'IT' Rules Are a Massive Headache for Microsoft
On the issue of China we're neutral except when it comes to human rights issues
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, March 27, 2024
IRC logs for Wednesday, March 27, 2024
WeMakeFedora.org: harassment decision, victory for volunteers and Fedora Foundations
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 27/03/2024: Terrorism Grows in Africa, Unemployment in Finland Rose Sharply in a Year, Chinese Aggression Escalates
Links for the day
Links 27/03/2024: Ericsson and Tencent Layoffs
Links for the day
Links 27/03/2024: BBC Resorts to CG Cruft, Akamai Blocking Blunders in Piracy Shield
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Android Approaches 90% of the Operating Systems Market in Chad (Windows Down From 99.5% 15 Years Ago to Just 2.5% Right Now)
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Sainsbury's: Let Them Eat Yoghurts (and Microsoft Downtimes When They Need Proper Food)
a social control media 'scandal' this week
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, March 26, 2024
IRC logs for Tuesday, March 26, 2024
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
Windows/Client at Microsoft Falling Sharply (Well Over 10% Decline Every Quarter), So For His Next Trick the Ponzi in Chief Merges Units, Spices Everything Up With "AI"
Hiding the steep decline of Windows/Client at Microsoft?
Free technology in housing and construction
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
We Need Open Standards With Free Software Implementations, Not "Interoperability" Alone
Sadly we're confronting misguided managers and a bunch of clowns trying to herd us all - sometimes without consent - into "clown computing"
Microsoft's Collapse in the Web Server Space Continued This Month
Microsoft is the "2%", just like Windows in some countries
Links 26/03/2024: Inflation Problems, Strikes in Finland
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/03/2024: Losing Children, Carbon Tax Discussed
Links for the day
Mark Shuttleworth resigns from Debian: volunteer suicide and Albania questions unanswered, mass resignations continue
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 26/03/2024: 6,000 Layoffs at Dell, Microsoft “XBox is in Real Trouble as a Hardware Manufacturer”
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/03/2024: Microsofters Still Trying to 'Extend' Gemini Protocol
Links for the day
Look What IBM's Red Hat is Turning CentOS Into
For 17 years our site ran on CentOS. Thankfully we're done with that...
The Julian Paul Assange Verdict: The High Court Has Granted Assange Leave to Appeal Extradition to the United States, Decision Adjourned to May 20th Pending Assurances
The decision is out
The Microsoft and Apple Antitrust Issues Have Some But Not Many Commonalities
gist of the comparison to Microsoft
ZDNet, Sponsored by Microsoft for Paid-for Propaganda (in 'Article' Clothing), Has Added Pop-Up or Overlay to All Pages, Saying "813 Partners Will Store and Access Information on Your Device"
Avoiding ZDNet may become imperative given what it has turned into
Julian Assange Verdict 3 Hours Away
Their decision is due to be published at 1030 GMT
People Who Cover Suicide Aren't Suicidal
Assange didn't just "deteriorate". This deterioration was involuntary and very much imposed upon him.
Overworking Kills
The body usually (but not always) knows best
Former Red Hat Chief (CEO), Who Decided to Leave the Company Earlier This Month, Talks About "Cloud Company Red Hat" to CNBC
shows a lack of foresight and dependence on buzzwords
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 25, 2024
IRC logs for Monday, March 25, 2024
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
Discord Does Not Make Money, It's Spying on People and Selling Data/Control (38% is Allegedly Controlled by the Communist Party of China)
a considerable share exists
In At Least Two Nations Windows is Now Measured at 2% "Market Share" (Microsoft Really Does Not Want People to Notice That)
Ignore the mindless "AI"-washing
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) Still Has Hundreds of Thousands of Simultaneously-Online Unique Users
The scale of IRC