Bonum Certa Men Certa

Use of False Promises to Attract Free Software Developers

"If thought can corrupt language, then language can also corrupt thought."

--George Orwell



Further to a couple of previous posts about MicroFOSS [1, 2], it seemed important to provide evidence of Microsoft's plan to imprison FOSS developers inside its proprietary stack, whose direction and cost it always controls. Over the past decade (or more), Microsoft has exploited control of its stack to discriminate against hospitable rivals like Netscape. FOSS developers who refuse to recognise this are doing so at their own peril.



According to Linux Magazine, Microsoft is so serious about pulling FOSS developers away from GNU/Linux that it now dedicates a whole technology centre to the task. It's located in Europe.

Microsoft Corporation has opened an Open Source Interop Technology Center near Munich, Germany that should promote open source software on Windows and improve the relationship of its products with the free software community.


There is some more information about this general theme with focus on content management systems.

Surprisingly, Microsoft is aiding administrators with installing popular open source software packages — including WordPress, Drupal, DotNetNuke, phpBB and Graffiti CMS.


This is not a victory for FOSS projects. It's merely part of a strategy that Microsoft unveiled (or let leak) a year ago. Alastair at Tectonic has surprisingly, once again, helped promote this notion that Microsoft wants open source developers... merely to enrich lock-in like Silverlight (XAML) and cloud computing.

Microsoft has announced its cloud computing initiative and it’s called Azure. The company also says that Azure will include support for open source web development tools.


Open development tools for proprietary clouds? Spin, spin, spin. They tried the same thing with Silverlight [1, 2]. They cast this as something that's open source-oriented when it fact it is very much the opposite because it strives to replace or destroy open and free alternatives. It wrecks a commodity.

Compatibility with Microsoft's #1 rival is another important factor. Yes, GNU/Linux is #1 rival, according to a recent admission from Microsoft's CEO, who complements the spin with lies that are repeated over and over again.

“There's a lot of Linux out there -- much more than Microsoft generally signals publicly -- and their customers are using it...”

--Paul DeGroot, a Directions On Microsoft analyst



It was roughly 6 months ago that Microsoft's intent to leave GNU/Linux out of its cloud became visible. Robert Scoble, formerly of Microsoft, pointed this out.

There is another certain item that stood out in yesterday's open source news. It's about Blackboard [1, 2, 3], a Microsoft-funded patent-loving attacker, which is facing a battle against attractive Free software competitors like Moodle and Sakai. Blackboard seems to be trying to embrace and envelope these competitors, making them part of itself. From a new press release:

Blackboard Inc., a leading provider of educational enterprise technology, announced today that it has partnered with Iowa State University to develop software that will allow institutions to connect their Blackboard(R) learning environment with the open source Moodle course management system.

In July, Blackboard announced a similar partnership with Syracuse University to develop an integration for the open source Sakai course management system. Both efforts -- which will be made available at no cost to institutions in the Blackboard community -- are part of Project NG, Blackboard's multi-year, multi-release effort to deliver a next generation teaching and learning


Are they trying to lump FOSS in just so that it becomes part of a Blackboard 'prerequisite'? Like Microsoft wants to put GNU/Linux applications on top of Windows to leave Linux dried up? Here is another new article about it.

While open source advocates tend to view Blackboard’s for-profit, license-based model with disdain, the company has responded with a public commitment to embrace free sharing of code when possible. Its first effort to that end, earlier this year, was a partnership with Syracuse University to develop a free software plug-in that would bridge the divide between the Blackboard interface and data from Sakai, one of the main open-source course management packages.

Today, at the annual conference of Educause, the higher education information technology group, Blackboard is announcing a similar project to integrate with Moodle, the other primary open source alternative. Although it was previously known that Moodle would be next, the announcement revealed that Iowa State University would develop the plug-in with support from Blackboard.


As noted in the news several hours ago, Blackboard is dropping in terms of market share, much like Microsoft still loses to Apache (in the month of October).

Meanwhile, although enterprise, license-based learning management platforms continue to dominate the higher education landscape (56.8 percent use Blackboard, down from 66.3 percent last year), the potential for increasing open source adoption remains.


I ought to admit that I am not intimately familiar with the diplomatic affairs of educational software, so maybe this is all benign. It does, however, resemble Microsoft's attempts to devour Free sofwtare projects.

“Forty percent of servers run Windows, 60 percent run Linux...”

--Steve Ballmer (September 2008)

Recent Techrights' Posts

1989: Free Software as "Open" Software (OSI Didn't Coin "Open Source", It Also Predates Linux)
"One man's fight for Free software"
Linux Journal Might Have Become the Latest Slopfarm Targeting "Linux", the Trends Are Concerning for Dying News Sites
They tarnish the Web with junk and then die
On "Learning to Code"
quality may suffer, plus things get bloated
Quick Points Regarding This Week's Court Hearing
it paves the way for us to squash all the SLAPPs from Microsofters
 
Links 21/06/2025: Data Breach With 16 Billion Passwords, Dutch Government Recommends Children Under 15 Stay off TikTok and Instagram
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/06/2025: Notes about Typst (and LaTeX) and Opos
Links for the day
Microsoft's Competition Tactics: Sabotage GNU/Linux Installs, Block Chrome
Edge is dying
The Microsoft OOXML Modus Operandi: Throw 1,000 Pages of Other People's Work for a Judge to Read Ahead of a One-Hour Meeting
No time to discuss this - that's the point
Formalities Officers (FOs) at the EPO Are in Trouble, Reveals Internal Report
We already know, based on an HR pattern we saw at IBM and elsewhere, that reallocating roles can be prerequisite for dismissal and those who do so expect many to resign anyway
The Web is Slop and FUD, Let's Go to Gemini Protocol
Lupa sees self-signed capsules at 92.4%
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, June 20, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, June 20, 2025
Links 21/06/2025: Phone Bans for Concerts, Tensions in Taiwan Strait
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/06/2025: Spoilers, Public Yggdrasil Node, Changes to AuraGem Search
Links for the day
"Six years of Gemini!"
From gemini://geminiprotocol.net
Gemini Links 20/06/2025: Summer Updates and Hardware Failures
Links for the day
Links 20/06/2025: Google Shareholder Sues Google and Google Sued for Defamatory Slop ('Hey Hi') Word Salads ('Summaries')
Links for the day
Common Mistake: Believing Social Control Media Will Document Your Writings/Thoughts and Search Engines Like Google Will Help You Find These
Many news sites wrongly assumed that posting directly to Twitter would be acceptable
The Manchester Bees and This Hot Summer
We have had a fantastic week so far this week
Gemini Protocol Enters Its Seventh Year, Growth Has Accelerated!
Maybe in June 20 2026 there will be over 3,500 active capsules?
Mastodon and the Fediverse Have an Issue: Liability for Content (Even in Other Instances) and Costs
self-hosting is the only logical path forward
Why Microsoft and Its 'Hey Hi' (Slop) Frenzy Fail While Sinking in Deep, Growing Debt
Right now, like Twitter around the time it was sold to MElon, "open" "hey hi" is a big pile of debt with a lot to pay for that debt (interest payments)
Europe is Leaving Microsoft, the Press Coverage Isn't Sufficiently Helpful
The news is generally positive, but the press coverage leaves so much to be desired
Slopwatch: Linuxsecurity, BetaNews, and Linux Journal
slippery slope
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, June 19, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, June 19, 2025
Gemini Links 20/06/2025: Gemini Protocol Turns 6!
Links for the day
Links 19/06/2025: Ghostwriting Scam and Fentanylware (TikTok) Buying Time
Links for the day
Microsoft's Windows is a Niche Operating System in Africa
African nations aren't a large contributor to Microsoft's income, but if many African nations move away from Windows, then the monopoly is at risk
Gemini Links 19/06/2025: Unix Primitivism, Zine Club, and Gemini Protocol Turns 6 at Midnight
Links for the day
Links 19/06/2025: WhatsApp Identified as Assassination 'Crosshairs', Patreon Now Rips Off People Even More
Links for the day
"Told You So": Another Very Large Wave of Microsoft Layoffs Now Confirmed in Mainstream Media
So we were right to believe the rumours, based on the credibility of prior such rumours
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, June 18, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, June 18, 2025