TechBytes Episode 11: Microsoft FUD and Dirty Tactics Against GNU/Linux - Part II

Dr. Roy Schestowitz

2010-11-21 23:57:31 UTC
Modified: 2010-11-23 23:04:29 UTC

Direct download as Ogg (2:03:17, 37.1 MB) | Direct download as MP3 (56.4 MB)

Summary: Second episode discussing Microsoft's perception tactics against GNU/Linux with a plethora of other topics around this theme

THIS is the second part of a discussion about ways in which GNU/Linux adoption is being discouraged, with or without Microsoft's direct involvement. Gordon, Tim, and Roy speaks about no article in particular this weekend; instead they concentrate on many examples from the past few years. Tim's site, OpenBytes, will publish some show notes very shortly. We made no preparations for the shows, so notes are put together only after the discussion.

Today's show ends with "SPARKLE" by Honey Sac (published in SXSW 2009 Showcasing Artists). Marti is working on a new intro for the show and we also hope to have him -- as well folks from Mageia -- on an imminent episode. We hope you will join us for future shows and spread the word if you enjoy this show. Also consider subscribing to the show via the RSS feed. If you have an Identi.ca account, consider subscribing to TechBytes in order to keep up to date. ⬆

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Our past shows:

Show overview	Show title	Date recorded
Episode 1: Brandon from Fedora	TechBytes Episode 1: Apple, Microsoft, Bundling, and Fedora 14 (With Special Guest Brandon Lozza)	1/11/2010
Episode 2: No guests	TechBytes Episode 2: Ubuntu's One Way, Silverlight Goes Dark, and GNU Octave Discovered	7/11/2010
Episode 3: No guests	TechBytes Episode 3: Games, Wayland, Xfce, Restrictive Application Stores, and Office Suites	8/11/2010
Episode 4: No guests	TechBytes Episode 4: Fedora 14 Impressions, MPAA et al. Payday, and Emma Lee's Magic	9/11/2010
Episode 5: No guests	TechBytes Episode 5: Windows Loses to Linux in Phones, GNU/Linux Desktop Market Share Estimations, and Much More	12/11/2010
Episode 6: No guests	TechBytes Episode 6: KINect a Cheapo Gadget, Sharing Perceptually Criminalised, Fedora and Fusion 14 in Review	13/11/2010
Episode 7: No guests	TechBytes Episode 7: FUD From The Economist, New Releases, and Linux Eureka Moment at Netflix	14/11/2010
Episode 8: Gordon Sinclair on Linux Mint	TechBytes Episode 8: Linux Mint Special With Gordon Sinclair (ThistleWeb)	15/11/2010
Episode 9: Gordon Sinclair returns	TechBytes Episode 9: The Potentially Permanent Return of ThistleWeb	17/11/2010
Episode 10: Special show format	TechBytes Episode 10: Microsoft FUD and Dirty Tactics Against GNU/Linux	19/11/2010

Before the OSI Was Bribed and Hijacked by Microsoft via GitHub and Compromised Management...: The OSI isn't even remotely "woke"
The OSI Has Been Silent for Over 3 Weeks, It Has a Severe Trust Issue After Promoting Microsoft and Proprietary GitHub: OSI took a lot of money from Microsoft to become a Microsoft lobbyist
Bribery is OK If You Work for Microsoft (No Punishment Expected): It's very troubling and a symptom of a broken society/system when particular laws or rules are applied and enforced against some people but not against others
Someone Should Remind Microsoft Lunduke That Microsoft Hires Many Sexual Criminals and Pedophiles as Well: Microsoft Lunduke on an "expedition" to find one or more perverts, then generalise to everyone in the "community"
Cash Machines (ATMs) Make Mistakes and They're Proprietary Software: Correcting mistakes is a colossal challenge
Yes, Microsoft is the Problem: "I am no MS shill."
Another Failed Use Case for Chatbots (LLM): Legal Advice and Analysis: They're just some self-discrediting toy that costs way too much to operate
Gemini Links 29/07/2025: Wayland Unfit for Use and LLM Slop Faking One's Language Skills With Robot Communications: Links for the day
Nailing the "Hey Hi" (AI) Hype Bubble: So-called "hey hi" as they define it now is all about large companies or regimes remotely controlling the processes running on your machine and even your very own behaviour on your machine, which is in effect no longer your machine but some remotely controlled apparatus
"Four decades; Four freedoms; For all users" Now as a T-shirt: That's shown along the sidebar
Links 29/07/2025: Bad Climate and "Fair Software Licensing" Blasts Microsoft: Links for the day
Links 29/07/2025: Data Brokers Gone Wrong/Rogue and "Copyright Thicket": Links for the day
Slopwatch: Linuxconfig.org, Linuxsecurity.com, Fagioli, The Register: Today's "Slopwatch" isn't the first article about LLM slop
We Cover Topics Other Sites Are Too Afraid to Cover (Even When They Know the Facts): It's not that they doubt the truth, they just realise there may be consequences for talking about it
They Try to Tell Us the Free Software Foundation Inc is Dying, But Its Revenue Doubled Since the Dot-Com Bubble Burst: Being in "Activism" is never easy; but it does positive things for society
It's About the Cost of Workers, Not the Fictional Skills Shortage (That Does Not Exist, the Media Spreads False and Sometimes Self-Fulfilling Narratives): This issue isn't limited to computing, some dub it "globalism"
Links 29/07/2025: More Pushbacks Against Slop and More Praises of Tom Lehrer: Links for the day
Gemini Links 29/07/2025: Purple Yarrow and Understanding Op Amps: Links for the day
This Monday WebProNews Absolutely Flooded the Web With Fake (LLM Slop) 'Articles' About "Linux", Google News Promoted Them as Legitimate: All of the following are fake articles attributed to pseudonyms or authors that don't exist; the images are also slop. Why does Google promote these?
Linuxiac is Not a Slopfarm, But at Least Some of Its Articles Are Machine-Generated Fakes: what we said about it was correct
Expect More Microsoft Layoffs: "Are more job cuts coming?"
Microsoft Behaving Like It's Running Out of Money to Pay Salaries: Does that seem like the behaviour expected from a company which claims it is "worth" trillions?
LWN Downtime Due to Linode, Not LLM Bots: "I’ve received an email letting me know that there is a potential for data loss."
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, July 28, 2025: IRC logs for Monday, July 28, 2025
Nonfree Software in My Bank, by Richard Stallman: Updated 8 hours ago
Links 28/07/2025: Science, Health, and Conflicts: Links for the day
Gemini Links 28/07/2025: Healthy Self-Image With Autism and a "New Life": Links for the day
Links 28/07/2025: COVID-19 Sped up Brain Aging, "Circumvention is More Popular Than Compliance": Links for the day
Richard Stallman is Usually Right Because He Thinks "Outside the Box": he is able to observe society (mores and norms) as somewhat of an outsider
LWN Has Been Down for a Long Time, Another Casualty of LLM Bots?: Time will tell. How much time though?
Slopfarms Versus 'Linux' (and Against People Who Write Real Articles About GNU/Linux): LLM slop in slopfarms by Brian Fagioli and Redazione RHC
Gemini Links 28/07/2025: Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray and Running pkgsrc in a FreeBSD Jail: Links for the day
Microsoft Turns News Sites Into Spamfarms: Is the site The Register MS the next IDG?
The Register MS/The Register US: On Saturday I contacted them for a comment (before issuing criticism)
Hacking revelations at Vatican Jubilee of Digital Missionaries: Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, July 27, 2025: IRC logs for Sunday, July 27, 2025
The Week to Come: Planning ahead
LLM Slop Has Only Been a Boon for Misinformation Online: The very same companies that were supposed to maintain quality (again, not limited to Google with PageRank) are now actively participating in generating and spreading slop
When They Tell You It's Free, Does That Mean No Charges (If So, Who's Paying and Why)?: there's "no free lunch"
We're Going to Focus Less on the Molotov Cocktail-Throwing Microsofters and More on Patents: We can get back to focusing on what we wanted to focus on all along
Just Trying to Keep Web Sites Honest (Journalistic Integrity): the latest articles in LinuxIac are real
Links 27/07/2025: Political Affairs, Data Breaches, Attacks on Freedom of the Press: Links for the day
Gemini Links 27/07/2025: Hot in Japan and Terminal Escape Codes: Links for the day
Links 27/07/2025: More Microsoft Layoffs Coming, Science and Hardware News: Links for the day
Links 27/07/2025: FSF Hackathon and "Hulk Hogan Was a Very Bad Man": Links for the day
Gemini Links 27/07/2025: DAW Mixer Chains and Simple Software: Links for the day
The Register MS is Inventing or Giving Air Time to New Conspiracy Theories so as to Distort the Narrative As High-Profile Agencies Fall Prey to Microsoft Holes: But the problem is holes, i.e. Microsoft making bad products; the problem is Microsoft
Most Editors at The Register Are American, Including the Editor in Chief, a Decade-Long Microsoft Stenographer (Writing Prose to Sell Microsoft): It's not easy to tell where the site is based (we tried) because it's hiding behind ClownFlare and CrimeFlare hasn't been well lately
Pushers of systemd Rewrite History (Richard Stallman Said UNIX "Was Portable and Seemed Fairly Clean"): Unlike systemd
"New Techrights" Soon Turns 2 (A Few Days Before the FSF Turns 40): We have a lot more to say about LLM bots
When Silence Says So Much: Garrett, a 'secure' boot pusher, will need to defend himself in the UK High Court
The Register in Trouble: There is not much that can be done at this point
Trajectory of The Register: From News Site/s Into "B2B"... and Into Microsoft Salespeople: Something isn't right at The Register
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 26, 2025: IRC logs for Saturday, July 26, 2025
Misinformation in Social Control Media: Social control media passes around all sorts of tropes
Slopwatch: Fake Linux 'Articles' and Slopfarms With "Linux" in Their Names/Domains: throwing bots at "Linux" to make some fake articles

TechBytes Episode 11: Microsoft FUD and Dirty Tactics Against GNU/Linux - Part II

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