Bonum Certa Men Certa

Strengthening Windows by Marginalising the Freedom Component

Likewise as Microsoft



Summary: News from Microsoft-oriented companies (or companies that are run by former Microsoft employees, sometimes promoting .NET) such as Likewise, OpenLogic, IDG, and Daydream

EVERY now and then we write about Likewise, which pretends to be GPL but is actually 'open' core [1, 2, 3], i.e. proprietary. Likewise has a new press release and also a new deal which helps the strengthening of Windows (Likewise comprises former Microsoft employees):



Likewise announced membership in the NetApp Alliance Partner Program as an Advantage Alliance Partner. As an Advantage Partner, it can assist NetApp customers with heterogeneous environments to leverage their investments in Microsoft Active Directory to achieve unified directory access.


Another company headed by former Microsoft staff we consider to be quite ambivalent when it comes to "Open Source". It's called OpenLogic. Its new press release is about Open Source and GPL, but it talks mostly about violations, which is how OpenLogic is trying to make money. This time they focus on mobile for some publicity and one article says: "Open source licenses are being widely used inside of mobile app store applications, according to a new study from software services and support vendor OpenLogic.

“So they are just trying to sell some proprietary software, just like Black Duck (also with roots in Microsoft).”"OpenLogic analyzed over 450 Apple App Store and Google Android apps and found that 88 percent of Android and 41 percent of Apple iOS apps had an open source component. The data helps underscore OpenLogic's new commercial service called OLEX App Store edition, which is intended to help enable App Store developers and managers to identify and maintain compliance with open source licensing requirements."

So they are just trying to sell some proprietary software, just like Black Duck (also with roots in Microsoft). "Be very afraid of the GPL" is typically their marketing message. To quote further from this article:

"We suspected that there would be a lot of open source used in mobile apps, since there is so much open source used in software in general," Weins said. "What was a bit surprising was the level of GPL usage in iOS apps given the recent statements by the Free Software Foundation about the incompatibility with the iTunes Store Terms of Service."

OpenLogic found that GPL type licenses represent 8 percent of the Apple apps and only 3 percent of Android apps. Weins added that in this research, OpenLogic scanned for a subset of all the possible open source licenses.


What was the scanning done for? Was it an academic study? Was it promotional (to 'plug' a proprietary software product into articles)? Either way, this helps intimidate people to a degree (fear of GPL compliance/penalties, not a celebration of its wide use).

Over at IDG there is new promotion of Microsoft's parallel universe of something it calls "open source" (it's typically just addons for Windows, Office, and other proprietary software).

It's no secret that not all software is designed as it should be. Thankfully, for Windows admins, a wealth of tools can be found to bridge the gap between what our software can do and how we'd like it to perform. And some of the best of these tools can be had for free, as any perusal of the CodePlex open source project hosting website will show.


CodePlex is a joke and it is hostile towards software freedom. Here we have a new press release about a .NET application masquerading as AGPL (surely it needs Microsoft's proprietary software just to run). From the press release:

Leading digital asset management software vendor, Daydream, have announced a public beta release of their DAM system, FocusOPEN under an AGPL open source licence, providing a tried-and-tested, fully featured .NET DAM system to more businesses at zero cost or risk.

Leading digital asset management vendor, Daydream, have announced a public beta release of their .NET open source digital asset management system, FocusOPEN Digital Asset Manager under an Affero General Public (AGPL) open source licence. Offering a public release marks a strategic change for Daydream, who have been providing high-end enterprise digital asset management software to corporations worldwide since 1995.


Microsoft and its partners are finding new ways of using the term "open source" to refer to Microsoft-dependent software and to isolate/marginalise software freedom (as the FSF/GNU defines it). At the same time Microsoft openly mocks "open source" while claiming the opposite depending on the venue/motive [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].

Software patents are a top issue this Software Freedom Day and Microsoft is a top threat with the embodiment of a company as opposed to a phenomenon. No company is trying to impose software patents on free/open source software as much a Microsoft does [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7].

Recent Techrights' Posts

Turns Out LLMs for Code Don't Save Time and Don't Improve Quality
Neither legal nor useful
 
Links 13/07/2025: Climate Crisis, GAFAM Poisoning the Water
Links for the day
The Microsofters Will Have an Obligation to Compensate Us
This story isn't just about Microsoft. It's also about corruption, there are many women victims, there is abject "abuse of process", and many more scandals to be illuminated in years to come.
Reproducing at the EPO Instead of Producing Monopolies for Foreign Monopolies With Their Price-Fixing Cartels
Does the EPO recognise the need of well-educated Europeans to bear kids?
Valnet Inc. Dominates Real (Not LLM Slop) GNU/Linux Coverage in 2025
And likely in prior years, too
Free Software Foundation (FSF) Fund Raiser Goes on
Later this month we'll expose another OSI scandal
EPO Staff Representatives Issue a Warning About Staff's Health and Inadequate Care
Even the EPO's own stakeholders (money sources) are openly protesting against what the EPO became
Links 13/07/2025: Partly Assorted News From Deutsche Welle and CBC
Links for the day
Gemini Links 13/07/2025: Board Games and Battle Styles
Gemini Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 12, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 12, 2025
Plunder at the Second-Largest Institution in Europe
cuts, neglect, health problems, even early deaths
Links 12/07/2025: Political Developments, Attack on Opposition, Climate Actions
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/07/2025: Melodic Musings and Small Web July
Links for the day
Links 12/07/2025: Jail in China for Homoerotica, South Korea Discriminates Against Old Workers
Links for the day
If Only Everything Was Rewritten in Rust, We'd Have No More Security Issues?
Nope.
Links 12/07/2025: Birdwatching and Fake/Misleading Wall Street 'Valuation' Figures
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/07/2025: How to Avoid Writing, Apps for Android
Links for the day
Using SLAPPs to Cover Up Sexual Abuse and Strangulation
The exact same legal team of the Serial Strangler from Microsoft and Garrett already has a history fighting against "metoo"
EPO Staff Committee on Harassment in the Workplace
slides
Adding the Voice of Writers to UK SLAPP Reform
The journey to repair antiquated (monarchy era) laws will likely be long
EPO Takes More Money From Staff for Speculation (Pensions), Actuarial Study Explains the Impact
"The key change in this year’s Actuarial Study, due to cascading the new “risk appetite” from the financial study, is a significant increase of the total pension contribution rate of 5.7 percentage points, up to a total of 37.8%. This is driven by an unprecedented decrease in the discount rate of 105 bps down to 2.2%."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 11, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, July 11, 2025
Microsoft - Like IBM - Does the "Relocation" Tricks (Start Over Elsewhere, Then Get Sacked by Microsoft)
It is a "low blow" or a "dick move"
After the Free Software Foundation's Campaign to Raise Money Let's See Campaigns to Finish Off Microsoft (Vista 11, GitHub etc.)
Microsoft is in effect collapsing
Your Publications Have No Major Impact Unless or Until You "Get Some Heat"
we're on the right track
Slopwatch: A Cause for Hope, the Hype is Dying
For about a month we showed that becoming a slopfarm - for several weeks - resulted in utter failure and ruin for BetaNews
Links 11/07/2025: Censorship Worsening, 3D Printing Success Stories, UK and France Unite Around Nukes
Links for the day
Gemini Links 11/07/2025: Zorin OS and Scriptonite Updates
Links for the day
Links 11/07/2025: Hardware, Russia, and China
Links for the day
Links 11/07/2025: Intel Collapsing and Microsoft Resorts to Bribery to Push Slop Via Obligatory Education
Links for the day
The EFF Sided With the Team That Strangles Women and Tells Women to Kill Themselves
They say that apathy and inaction are a form of a "stance"
"Nat [Friedman] and [the Serial Strangler From Microsoft] Were Always Exceptionally Close," Says Former Housemate and Colleague
Now Alex (hiding behind another name when that suits him) not only attacks women but also people who merely report what he did to women
Exemplary List of Things That Are Not Artificial Intelligence or Even Intelligence
The "age of AI" or "era of AI" or "AI revolution" mostly boils down to rebranding, just like "the cloud"
New Letter From the European Patent Office Explains How the Office Plots to Grant Many Illegal Patents, a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy of 'Growth'
Open letter to Mr Rowan (VP1) and Mr Aledo Lopez (COO)
Abuse of Process
5RB is employing people who help violent men
What Microsoft's Nat Friedman and Microsoft Lunduke Have in Common
"Get in da car; No time to explain, loser"
Microsoft and IBM Don't Have Much of a Future (They Mostly Pretend at This Point)
IBM and Microsoft are in some ways alike but in many ways different
It's Not Just Twitter (or X.com) That's Dying, Microsoft's Equivalent is Dying Also
Unable to find a business model
GitHub Copilot Can Cause the Bankruptcy of GitHub to Come Sooner and GitHub to be Shut Down Just Like Skype
Some publicly available information suggests that even for each paid subscriber for plagiarism (LLM 'coding') GitHub Copilot still loses more money than it makes
Wayland is Bad for the Planet
If you use Wayland, it'll take you longer to accomplish tasks and you will consume more energy (or battery life)
Legitimising Those Who Sabotage You
Microsoft is a very malicious company
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 10, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, July 10, 2025
On Microsoft Layoffs
we might be looking at about 60,000 Microsoft layoffs since 2023
EPO Management Already Breaks Its Own Promise (Lie) on "Bringing Teams Together"
This gut-punching move happened just 2 days ago
Gemini Links 11/07/2025: Occupation of 2025 and "Old Man Yells At Soundcloud"
Links for the day
Our Lawsuits Against the 'Cancel Mob' (Ringleaders) Helped Reduce Anti-Free Software Online Abuse
That's not to say that lawsuits are the best way to handle terrible people. But that can help.