Summary: Gates' investments in US libraries as a long-term venture that keeps GNU/Linux out of multi-user environments that people who are less able to afford Windows actually use routinely

LAST WEEK we wrote about the Gates Foundation blocking GNU/Linux and Free Software in national libraries with the help of Microsoft software. We often emphasise the fact that the Gates Foundation and Microsoft are inseparable, for obvious reasons (the new CEO of the Gates Foundation has also come from Microsoft).

This week we can offer newer evidence to show what Gates is doing to national libraries using software donations and so-called 'studies' that are funded by Gates to promote his agenda. This latest article also reveals the role of the Washington Post where Melinda Gates has some special control as board member [1, 2] and occasional story planter.

The Washington Post reported that a study released by the UW and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation found that 44 percent of people living below the federal poverty line went to public libraries to use computers and the Internet.

This morning we wrote about Microsoft using the University of Washington to produce propaganda that helps Microsoft escape taxation (The Gates Foundation is also exempt from tax, but we'll write about this later). The Gates Foundation -- like Microsoft -- loves using the University of Washington for self-serving 'studies'. To quote last week's news:

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation paid the University of Washington Information School to conduct the study of library use. Researchers found that people are using library computers to look for jobs, connect with friends, do homework and generally improve their lives. The study adds ammunition to public libraries that are competing harder than ever for funding to support services, including Intenet access.

"The study adds ammunition," eh? That's quite a combative way of phrasing it. Who are they using the ammunition against? Well, last week we wrote about the Gates Foundation spreading SteadyState, which is somewhat of a Trojan horse inside libraries. To whit:

Of course, where some see a Microsoft blunder, others see a Linux opportunity.

There are lots of ways to solve this problem under Linux, but none of the ones I can think of offhand are easy or automatic:

1. You can run your shared-access PC from a Linux "Live CD." It's impossible to corrupt the operating system, and you can get a clean start with every reset. Disadvantage: live CDs are slow; also ties up the CD-ROM drive.

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The original article is from Yardena Arar, who is a Microsoft booster that writes for a Microsoft Windows site right now. As we pointed out in last week's post, Microsoft is requiring all sorts of software updates, so the libraries receive computers with Microsoft strings attached to them.

Here is another new example from several days ago:

On March 10, the library got a delivery of two new computers, a color printer and a scanner, all of which have proved immensely popular and useful, according to branch librarian Tom Gardner, Jr.

“Both computers are equipped with a range of software, including Microsoft Office programs,” Gardner explained. “Only one of our old computers had the Microsoft Office software, and it was in constant demand. Many of the other library branches still have only one computer equipped with Microsoft Office.”

Are users still waiting for those addons to be bought through Microsoft, thus making many children "addicted" to Microsoft? The assumption is that many users of libraries are young people, although not based on the Gates study which tells the sob story of helping the poor... with Windows. Earlier today we showed how Microsoft treats the unemployed... with Windows indoctrination. How opportunistic. The people who are least able to afford Microsoft software are being made "addicted" to it. ⬆

“They’ll get sort of addicted, and then we’ll somehow figure out how to collect sometime in the next decade.”

--Bill Gates