Bonum Certa Men Certa

Dirty Tricks by Proxy (Against GNU/Linux)

'They are telling HP that they wil NOT be part of this launch and that BillG has said "fxxk HP (all divisions) if they won't sign a Windows license."'

--Comes vs. Microsoft exhibit [PDF] (more here)



Wise men have said before that, from Bill Gates himself, there are not so many 'smoking guns' (there's no lack, either). He typically assigns the dirty jobs to some of his colleagues. This is shown more clearly in many of the exhibits from Comes vs. Microsoft.



At a corporate level, as a company, Microsoft uses the same technique to rid itself from guilt, liability, and legal risk. It can use one of its many partners (or a large combination thereof) to accomplish its business goals in return for something.

“Novell and Microsoft are undeniably a pair.”This type of discussion revolves around and transcends so many levels. Novell too is an example. At the sight of a particular Mono application, one reader told us yesterday (by E-mail): "Unfortunately there are many Mono apps out there now (the disease is spreading), but AFAICT this particular one is not in the core of Gnome, so it isn't something to be uniquely concerned about.

"Anyway, I've completely lost interest in Gnome now. If they want to sleep with the enemy then let them ... it's their funeral. I'll be using KDE from now on."

This is discouraging not for the most obvious reasons because Novell wants to control the GNU/Linux desktop along with Microsoft. Novell and Microsoft are undeniably a pair.

Another reader sent us another reason for concern. It's about ASUS and it's something that was previously covered here and here. ASUS says that it has a new tie with Microsoft. The reader argues: "One thing I noticed this summer and going back to last year is that the pre-installed linux systems sell out fast, but take ages and ages to restock. That makes it look like the production is not following the law of supply and demand. Here's an example with Asus:

Asus produces Linux and XP Eees in equal numbers, she claimed, and will continue to do so: the Linux Eees are the better selling models. "We think our version of Linux is how we will stand out from our competitors," she said.

That may explain why there aren't any now: they've been sold, leaving only the less popular XP models still available to buy.


"The article puts the blame on Intel, but Microsoft rarely works directly, see PX3096 for details. It's the same way elsewhere." says this reader.

"However, some hardware vendors are able to drop the leg shackles."

This could be another example where Microsoft is pressuring OEMs. There are heaps of proven history to teach about this. It required severe legal action before discovery because Microsoft's deal are typically focused on secrecy. Information disclosure is violation of the secret contracts.

Back to ASUS, they could be lying. Their excuses make a lot less sense than this report, which is based on this interview.

Hypothetically, says one reader, "I expect it's more like this:

Q: Did you force Asus to make it hard to buy Linux? Microsoft: No!

Q: Did you get Intel to force Asus to make it hard to buy Linux? Microsoft: No comment.

The reader then adds that it's "[l]ike fronting Business Software Alliance or RIAA/MPAA to take the bad press.

"It's just he's doing more to apply his business tactics to his personal quest for more power. Microsoft has basically been a political beast since he started hiring up the beltway lobbyists at the end of the 1990's. Now he's building further, but more personally associated with himself."

The close relationship between Intel and Microsoft was described and illustrated here, as well as in some other posts (remember the OLPC fiasco).

Further adds our reader: "IBM really has to start standing up to Microsoft.

"Which leads be back to the question I posed some months ago, what place in society is there for these people who have chosen to deceive every one else in regards to "IT" issues and have chosen to goad people and businesses into products that not only work poorly, compared to the competition, but actually cause harm."

Examples of work by proxy also include ACT and CompTIA [1, 2], which Var Guy has just written about.

CompTIA Breakaway: Open Source Misses Big Opportunity



[...]

CompTIA Breakaway, held in Orlando, Florida, this week, was a successful conference for hundreds of VARs and managed service providers. Foolishly, open source companies that need channel strategies skipped the show. Here’s why The VAR Guy was alarmed.


The comments may be more informative than the 'news'. Some recent examples of CompTIA's (leg)work for Microsoft:



Also see the notes on CompTIA's new OOXML lobbyist from EMCA [1, 2, 3]. It is an orgy of money and influence.

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Under the Guise of "MIT Technology Review Insights" the Site MIT Technology Review Posts Corporate Spam as 'Articles'
Some of the articles aren't even articles but 'hit pieces' against Free software and some are paid advertisements
Brett Wilson LLP Has Track Record in Scam Coin Cases (e.g. Craig Wright and More), Now It Works for 'Crypto' Scam Purveyors
But wait, it gets worse
Will Brett Wilson LLP Handle Its Own Winding Up Petition or be Struck Off for Overt Abuse of Process?
Today we sue not only the first Microsofter
Ubuntu Becomes Microsoft GitHub, Based on Decision Made by British Army Officer
You're hopeless, Canonical
Sharing Code and Recipes
It helps explain the triviality of software freedom
How Many Women Has Microsoft's Alex Balabhadra Graveley Already Strangled and Where Does That End?
If you too are a victim of this man and wish to share information, contact us
"We Might Save Somebody's Life"
I follow the example of my father
 
Links 17/07/2025: Science, Hardware, and Censorship
Links for the day
Gemini Links 17/07/2025: Staying in the "Small Web" and Back on ICQ
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, July 16, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, July 16, 2025
Exclusive: corruption in Tribunals, Greffiers, from protection rackets to cat whisperers
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 16/07/2025: Chip Bans and Microsoft’s “Digital Escort” Program
Links for the day
Revolving Doors: One Day You're a Judge, the Next Day You're an Attorney Paying Public Officials and Working for Violent and Dangerous Microsoft Employees
how the US justice system works
Slopwatch: Noise, Plagiarism and Even Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt/Fear-mongering/Dramatisation
What are we meant to do to prevent a false association or misleading connotations? Game the LLMs? No. Boycott slopfarms.
Gemini Links 16/07/2025: BaseLibre Numerical System and Simple Web Browsing with TLS
Links for the day
Links 16/07/2025: Fascist Slop Takes "Intelligence" Clothing, New Criminal Case Against MElon
Links for the day
Why I am Suing the Serial Strangler From Microsoft, Alex Balabhadra Graveley, in the UK High Court This Week
Out of respect to the process and to the Court, I shall not share any pertinent details about the case
Links 16/07/2025: China’s Economy Grows Steadily, France Takes Action Regarding Harm to Children by GAFAM and Fentanylware (TikTok)
Links for the day
It is Not About Politics
Beware the people who try to make this about politics
Good Journalism Saves Lives
a shocking number of women die or get seriously hurt every day due to violence from a partner
Recognition of Women's Contributions to Free Software
Being passive is not an option when bad things are happening
Slopfarms Are Going to Perish Because Public Opinion is Changing
Many slopfarms will simply go offline
19 Years of Standing Up for Justice, Equality, and Truth
This week we shall take it up a notch
Gemini Links 16/07/2025: Tmux and OCC25 Working TLS
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, July 15, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, July 15, 2025
Links 15/07/2025: LLM Pollution and Pushback in Ukraine
Links for the day
Gemini Links 15/07/2025: xkcd, New Cert, and Alhena Gemlog
Links for the day
Links 15/07/2025: Press Freedom at Risk and New Facebook Blunders
Links for the day
Reboots Should Never be Necessary
"BUT WHAT ABOUT SECURITY!!"
There's Still Hope for the World Wide Web
Let's hope that the trajectory of the Web won't be leading us to over-reliance on Google, nor will it reward worthless slopfarms
Gemini Links 15/07/2025: Smolweb and Alhena 5.1.7
Links for the day
The Danes Want GNU/Linux
David Heinemeier Hansson recently moved to GNU/Linux
Cory Doctorow Explains Why Software Freedom Matters, Whereas "Open Source" Misses the Point and Helps Monopolies
It's a very long article
BillPR (EpsteinGate-Bribed NPR) is Turning Into a Partial Slopfarm that Promotes Slop
"I went on a date with a chatbot!"
Two Weeks Passed Since Latest Large Wave of Microsoft Layoffs, More Expected Next Month
Blaming the debt on "AI" is just self-serving storytelling
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, July 14, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, July 14, 2025
Gemini Links 15/07/2025: Gemini "Style Sheets" and Switching From Microsoft GitHub to Codeberg
Links for the day