Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft Proxy Attack on GNU/Linux Continues With TurboHercules

TurboHercules



Summary: Microsoft partners continue to attack GNU/Linux (on IBM mainframes) for its dominance that poses a threat to Windows Server

LAST WEEK we showed that Microsoft was coordinating a proxy attack on IBM's mainframes, which run GNU/Linux (mostly SUSE but also Red Hat). The campaign is ironically called "OpenMainframe.org" as though Windows is open and non-profit. This proxy attack is not something new and we have already gathered evidence about it in posts such as:



Microsoft is just SCOing IBM like it's SCOing Google and even admits doing this.

According to the following new press release from France, some rather obscure company called TurboHercules pulls an antitrust motion against IBM. Watch TurboHercules' connections:

IBM said TurboHercules was a member of organisations funded by rivals such as Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) "to attack the mainframe", which is IBM's main business.

TurboHercules, a privately-held company set up in 2009, is a member of a non-profit trade group called the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), which counts Microsoft and Oracle Corp (ORCL.O) as members, but not IBM.


But wait. Microsoft paid millions of dollars to CCIA. We explained this before (see the posts above). Here it is again:

"Having yet another complaint in Europe -- by an open-source company, no less -- points to a systemic pattern of behavior by IBM directed at anyone who threatens its mainframe monopoly," said Erika Mann, CCIA's executive vice president and head of its European office in Brussels.


Who paid your agency, Erika? Remember that company from Redmond?

Either way, a lot of press coverage omitted these crucial details [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8], which are so simple to conveniently ignore. Mainframes continue to replace Wintel servers (Windows on x86) in some places, so Microsoft needs to do to IBM what it openly admitted doing to Google. It requires tremendous discipline to be unable to see it.

"On the same day that CA blasted SCO, Open Source evangelist Eric Raymond revealed a leaked email from SCO's strategic consultant Mike Anderer to their management. The email details how, surprise surprise, Microsoft has arranged virtually all of SCO's financing, hiding behind intermediaries like Baystar Capital."

--Bruce Perens

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Web Developers in the US Can Already Disregard Mozilla, Firefox, and Firefox Users
"Last month, Firefox turned 21"
The Fate of "Blockchains" and "Metaverse" as a Sign of Things to Come for Slop ("AI")
Doesn't that tell us a lot about the modus operandi of these companies?
A Year After the Owner of X (Twitter) Performed Several Nazi Salutes on Stage the Germany-Based and Microsoft-Funded 'FSFE' Decides to Exit X (Twitter)
Will the real Free Software Foundation (FSF) follow suit?
EPO: What Comes Next
European media seems to have been sedated by soft bribes from cocaine addicts
Slopwatch: The Volume of Slop Has Certainly Gone Down a Lot Lately, Slop Image Providers Abandoned/Changed
It's a big improvement compared to past months
Thousands Laid Off at IBM, "Last Day" Yesterday
IBM is a dying company. This is a problem for Red Hat.
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, December 04, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, December 04, 2025
Gemini Links 05/12/2025: Espressif ESP32-C5 UEXT Module, Pixelfed, and the Web Getting Much Worse
Links for the day
Links 04/12/2025: "People Hooked on [Slop] Far Are More Likely to Experience Mental Distress", Monopolies in Europe, and "Blogging Makes Me Feel Like A Worse Writer"
Links for the day
Dr. Andy Farnell: Can we regain control (of technology)?
"Technology as spiralling mass hysteria has the unsettling potential to draw even rational sceptics like myself into disaffection"
Links 04/12/2025: "Hey Hi" Implosion and Half of Europeans See Cheeto Trump as Enemy of Europe
Links for the day
Communication Needs Open Standards and Open Data
Standards are imperative
The "Hey Hi" House of Cards
The "Hey Hi" bubble is living on borrowed time (days or weeks) and it can implode any time now
Supporting the Free Software Foundation (FSF) Also Supports GNU Development
The FSF is mostly raising money to pay salaries
IBM's "AK Sez" Campaign
In today's media, to be characterised as important and smart one needn't be important and smart
Microsoft's Vista 11 Not Gaining, Just Plateauing or Even Going Down (Over Time)
"Desktop Windows version Market Share Worldwide"
Bubbles Popping, "Hey Hi" (AI) a Passing Fad
"Microsoft slides amid report it's cutting software sales quotas tied to AI"
At The Register MS, "Exclusive Webinar" Means Sponsored Video Ad Disguised as an Article
Why would one choose to watch these?
IBM Forces Staff to Sign an NDA If They Want Severance Package, in Effect Bribing Them or Denying Them Money They're Entitled to If They 'Disparage' IBM
We wrote about the legality or illegality of this in relation to Microsoft two years ago
IBM and Red Hat Not Done With 2025 Layoffs ("RAs") Yet
IBM isn't quite done laying off people this year, with only 3 weeks till Christmas
Gemini Links 04/12/2025: Christmas Looms, Devuan, and Programming
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, December 03, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, December 03, 2025
Loads of People Exit IBM Tomorrow
Way to slam the door on on those who march or walk on
Slopwatch: It's Blowing, Jim (Gym), the Bubble is Blowing Up
Let's race to "zero GPT"
At IBM, "Last Day" Can be Same as Layoffs ("RAs"), Might be Euphemism Advanced by PR/HR Under NDA-Tied Conditions
They try to act all happy cheerful (in public) about becoming unemployed
Links 03/12/2025: "Disastrous Hey Hi (AI)", Breaches of Confidentiality, and "Global Democratic Recession"
Links for the day
Fake Security and 'Free' Certificates as a Trap of Planned Obsolescence and Top-Down Centralisation
The boiling frogs
Links 03/12/2025: UK Budget Leak and Criticism of Peace Posturing Over Ukraine
Links for the day
So Far Rust in Ubuntu Has Turned Out to be an Expensive Mistake
it is certainly seeming or feeling like the wrong people are in charge and they make bad decisions based on false reasoning
Gemini Links 03/12/2025: Obsession, Ubuntu, and Programming With Scheme
Links for the day
The Next Stages of EPO Coverage (and Why That Matters)
What's at stake here?
Wayland Rejection Is Not Racist
We need to collectively reject that
Reflections on a Month of Techrights Search
it looks like we've survived nearly a month without the search functionality being leveraged to stage DDoS attacks
New Year's Resolutions 4 Weeks Ahead of 2026
the main New Year's Resolution was... sleep
IBM Layoffs: It's Like They Read From a Script, Like They've Signed a Non-Disparagement Agreement/Clause
Some new departures
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, December 02, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, December 02, 2025