Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft Booster at the Microsoft-Leaning Ars Technica: UEFI Restricted Boot is Good

Hannity banner



Summary: Ars Technica hardly pretends to be journalism anymore; advertisers get the bias they must be paying for (money for ads in expectation of reciprocity, e.g. in coverage)

GIVEN what we know about the NSA (thanks to whistleblowers), UEFI Restricted Boot is quite the horrific thing which blocks choice and can also remotely brick PCs (at hardware level). Germany has already banned UEFI on its PCs, perhaps precisely for these reasons (advice from its secret services must have led to this).

Peter Bright, a longtime Microsoft booster who gives Ars Technica somewhat of a tabloid's reputation (and he is not alone), is trying to Windowswash the GNU/Linux-powered Steambox and his disgusting (sub)headline says: "In the brave (relatively) new world of UEFI, things happen to mostly just work."

That's utter nonsense; UEFI is still a mess for GNU/Linux users (new example in [1]) and even Microsoft could not properly deal with UEFI. It bricked PCs. To Bright's credit, he has shed off his camouflage a bit. He recently changed his bio to better show his real agenda (more like a mole). He now describes himself as "Microsoft Contributor at Ars." He also moved to Texas.

So, Microsoft is a whole section at Ars Technica now? Good to know. Well, it sure seems to be accepting a lot of advertising money from Microsoft (sometimes the front page of the site is a collage of Microsoft ads and promotions); it must feel like it needs to give something in return, much like CBS (grossly filled with Microsoft boosters and even former Microsoft employees).

Once upon a time Ars Technica had an "Open Source" section. It has been dead for years (the only person who sometimes covers FOSS over there is a Microsoft booster from a FOSS-hostile site, Network World/IDG), just like the analogous section at CBS sites like CNET and ZDNet.

We need to identify sites that seed disinformation and pin down the reasons for it. Sometimes the choice of authors is a managerial choice made by publishers seeking to appease particular sponsors.

Related/contextual items from the news:



  1. Tech Note: How To Install Linux On A Laptop With UEFI


Recent Techrights' Posts

Bruce Perens & Debian public domain trademark promise
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Links 28/04/2024: Shareholders Worry "AI" Hype Brings No Income, Money Down the Drain
Links for the day
Lawyer won't lie for Molly de Blanc & Chris Lamb (mollamby)
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, April 27, 2024
IRC logs for Saturday, April 27, 2024
Links 27/04/2024: Spying Under Fire, Intel in Trouble Again
Links for the day
Lucas Kanashiro & Debian/Canonical/Ubuntu female GSoC intern relationship
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Pranav Jain & Debian, DebConf, unfair rent boy rumors
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Links 27/04/2024: Kaiser Gave Patients' Data to Microsoft, "Microsoft Lost ‘Dream Job’ Status"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 27/04/2024: Sunrise Photos and Slow Productivity
Links for the day
Microsoft: Our "Goodwill" Gained Over 51 Billion Dollars in the Past Nine Months Alone, Now "Worth" as Much as All Our Physical Assets (Property and Equipment)
The makeup of a Ponzi scheme where the balance sheet has immaterial nonsense
Almost 2,700 New Posts Since Upgrading to Static Site 7 Months Ago, Still Getting More Productive Over Time
We've come a long way since last autumn
FSFE (Ja, Das Gulag Deutschland) Has Lost Its Tongue
Articles/month
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, April 26, 2024
IRC logs for Friday, April 26, 2024
Overpaid lawyer & Debian miss WIPO deadline
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Brian Gupta & Debian: WIPO claim botched, suspended
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Microsoft's XBox is Dying (For Second Year in a Row Over 30% Drop in Hardware Sales)
they boast about fake numbers or very deliberately misleading numbers that represent two companies, not one
Ian Jackson & Debian reject mediation
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
[Meme] Granting a Million Monopolies in Europe (to Non-European Companies) at Europe's Expense
Financialization of the EPO
Salary Adjustment Procedure at the EPO Challenged
the EPO must properly compensate staff in order to attract and retain suitably skilled examiners
How to get selected for Outreachy internships
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Links 26/04/2024: Surveillance Abundant, Restoring Net Neutrality Rules (US)
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/04/2024: uConsole and EXWM and stdu 1.0.0
Links for the day
Red Hat Corporate Communications is "Red" Now
Also notice they offer just two options: MICROSOFT or... MICROSOFT!
Links 26/04/2024: XBox Sales Have Collapsed, Facebook's Shares Collapse Too
Links for the day
Albanian women, Brazilian women & Debian Outreachy racism under Chris Lamb
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Microsoft-Funded 'News' Site: XBox Hardware Revenue Declined by 31%
Ignore the ludicrous media spin
Mark Shuttleworth, Elio Qoshi & Debian/Ubuntu underage girls
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Karen Sandler, Outreachy & Debian Money in Albania
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, April 25, 2024
IRC logs for Thursday, April 25, 2024
Links 26/04/2024: Facebook Collapses, Kangaroo Courts for Patents, BlizzCon Canceled Under Microsoft
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/04/2024: Music, Philosophy, and Socialising
Links for the day