Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft Says It Will Reward 'Open Source' Code That Helps Microsoft Sell Proprietary Software

Microsoft behind the mask

Gas mask



Summary: Microsoft's disdain and intolerance of software freedom continues to be shown, but one must look behind the mask of spin and rhetoric

THE SHAM which is Microsoft "open source", notably projects that help proprietary software but are described as "open source" (Microsoft's code hosting sites are notorious for that), continues to exist but not to thrive. We hardly hear about those things anymore (they don't make the press as much as they used to). We are talking about projects that are portrayed as "open" but actually require .NET, Microsoft SQL Server, or something along those lines. iophk calls it "poisoning the wells," alluding to the fact that such projects really help dilute the term "Open Source".



According to this new article, Microsoft takes its deceptive strategy further. The author asks: "Is Microsoft really just still saying that the only valuable open source is that which extends Microsoft products in its own view?"

Yes, indeed.

Adrian Bridgwater writes something to that effect as well. The headline is "Microsoft: open source developers not yet fully recognised by Microsoft MVP Programme," but this is not true.

Consider Microsoft MVP Miguel de Icaza, who created Mono for Microsoft API infection in FOSS. His company is rumoured to be in the process of becoming part of Microsoft and he was a Microsoft MVP.

"The Microsoft spinner wants to pretend that Microsoft is a friend of Free/Open Source software even though Microsoft is still actively attacking Free/Open Source software."Looking at where this spin originally came from, it it that annoying Microsoft revisionist Scott Hanselman. The Microsoft spinner wants to pretend that Microsoft is a friend of Free/Open Source software even though Microsoft is still actively attacking Free/Open Source software.

Speaking of the spin, watch how ex-Microsoft manager Neela Jacques frames Open Source as "Collaborative Development". This is familiar spin that we saw coming from Microsoft itself, reducing Freedom and even Openness to just "Collaboration" or "Choice". Neela Jacques also frames this as "Freedom from Vendors", which is a little similar to the "Choice" line. Those who are accustomed to hearing Stallman's views on Freedom (here is how he put them last month on television) will pick this up easily. Neela Jacques writes: "Do you want free software or do you want supported, enterprise grade software? Many people think that’s the question. It’s not."

He does not mean Free/libre software, he means gratis software. Sadly, the Linux Foundation put this man in charge. He does not grasp freedom.

"Microsoft hates freedom. It's not in its business model and not in its 'DNA'."Now, let's look at another new example from Nokia and Microsoft, which are pretending to be embracing Free software through Android but are actually turning it into proprietary surveillance that people can foolishly install to replace Free software with lesser privacy violations. Nokia and Microsoft are trying to make this the norm now [1] and yesterday we saw Microsoft unleashing yet more FUD about Android (the 'security' FUD flavour) along with Indiana University, showing of course that Microsoft does not care about Android, except the turning of Android into proprietary Microsoft system (with Microsoft blobs) and patent shakedown against Android vendors.

Do not believe for even one second that Microsoft likes or is willing to change for Free software. Microsoft hates freedom. It's not in its business model and not in its 'DNA'. Microsoft's co-founder Bill Gates makes it clear repeatedly and consistently when he misrepresents and demonises Free software, as he first did back in the 70s, moving us from a world of Free software into a world dominated by proprietary (especially in the 90s).

Related/contextual items from the news:



  1. Nokia tries to lure Android porters with free Nokia X mobes
    Nokia has started encouraging Android developers to support its Nokia X platform. The phones, primarily aimed at developing markets, run a highly customised version of Android and to ensure compatibility Nokia has wound up its developer outreach programme.




Recent Techrights' Posts

Dalai Lama Succession as Evidence That Determined, Motivated People Can Reach Their Nineties
And we need to quit talking about their death all the time
Many Lawyers (for Microsoft) and 1,316 Pages to Pick on a Litigant in Person Who Exposed Serious Microsoft Abuses
Answers must be given
Layoffs and Shutdowns at IBM, Not Just Microsoft
Same as Microsoft
With Workers Back From a Holiday Weekend, Microsoft Layoffs Carry on, More Waves to Come
Now it's Monday and people are bad to work, even some journalists
You Need Not Wave a Rainbow Flag This Month to Basically Oppose Arseholes Looking to Disrupt and Divide the Community
Don't fall for it
What Miguel de Icaza and Microsoft Lunduke Have in Common
Similar aims, different methods
The 'Corporate Neckbeard' is Not the "Good Guy"
Works for IBM
 
More on "Lunduke is Actually Sending His Audience to Attack People"
"pepe the frogs"
Links 08/07/2025: Sabotage of Networking Infrastructure, Microsoft XBox Game Pass Deemed “Unsustainable”
Links for the day
Gemini Links 08/07/2025: Ancillary Justice and Small Web July
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, July 07, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, July 07, 2025
The FSF's (Free Software Foundation, Inc.) 2025 Summer Fundraiser Already Past Halfway Line
This is where GNU/Linux actually started
Mozilla Had No Good Reason to Outsource Firefox Development to Microsoft
What does Mozilla plan to do when GitHub shuts down?
Mozilla Firefox Did Not Die, It Got Killed
To me it'll always look like Mozilla got killed by its sponsors, especially Google, which had a conflict of interest as a sponsor
Dan Neidle, Whom Brett Wilson LLP SLAPPed (on Behalf of Corrupt Rich Tax Evaders), Still Fighting the Good Fight
Neidle fights for the poor people
Wayland Should Start by Dumping Its Very Ugly Logo
Wayland wins the "ugliest logo" award every year
Stop Focusing on Hair Colours, Focus on Corporate Agenda
If someone commits a crime, it does not matter if his or her hair was mostly white or there was no hair or a wig or whatever
Links 07/07/2025: Science, Conflicts, and a Fictional K-pop Group
Links for the day
Gemini Links 07/07/2025: Being a Luddite and Announcement of Gotify
Links for the day
Links 07/07/2025: XBox Effectively 'Dead', DMCA Subpoena Versus Registrar
Links for the day
The Nasty Smear (and Stereotype) of "Neckbeard" or "Greybeard" is Ageism
This is the sort of stuff they might try to volley at critics of Wayland
Why Many of Us Use X Server and Will Continue to Use It For Many Years to Come
Don't make this about politics
Microsoft's Nat Friedman Became Unemployed the Same Time the SLAPPs Against Techrights Started Coming From His Friends (Weeks After We Had Exposed Scandals About Him and the Serial Strangler, His Best Friend, Who Got Arrested a Few Days Later)
Nat Friedman is not "Investor, entrepreneur"
Brett Wilson LLP Uses Threats to Demand Changes to Pages or Removal of Pages Without Even Revealing Which Staff Member Does That (Sometimes People From Another Firm!)
This has been in the public for years
Dan Neidle Said "It Really Then Became a Job of Tormenting" Lawyers Like Brett Wilson LLP (Who Threatened Him for Exposing Crimes, Just Like They Threatened My Wife a Few Months Later)
he and his wife decided to take on the evil people and their evil lawyers
Large Language Models (LLMs) Externalise Their Cost to the Free Software Foundation (FSF)
"The forty-sixth Free Software Bulletin is now available online!"
Weeding Out Extremism in Our Community
To me it seems like Microsoft Lunduke is rapidly becoming like a "hate preacher" who operates online, breeding an extremist ideology or trying to soften its image
Censorship Versus Fact-Checking and Quality Control
It's not censorship but a matter of quality control
Reinforcing the Allegations Some More, Bryan Lunduke Digs His Own Grave
In his latest episodes he merely repeats his own lies, which I debunked using evidence right from his own mouth
Global Warming and Free Software as a Force of Mitigation
we'll need to think about Software Freedom, not just brands like "Linux"
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, July 06, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, July 06, 2025
Gemini Links 07/07/2025: BaseLibre Numerical System and TUI Rant
Links for the day
[Video] "Copyleft Isn't a Bug."
"Copyleft isn’t a bug. It’s a feature. GNU GPL forced the world to treat code like a public good."
Being in Social Control Media Means Exposing Oneself to Heckling
Richard Stallman does not (either himself or directly) post to any social control media
Links 06/07/2025: Airlines Perils, Scams, and Breaches
Links for the day
Two Risks to Companies: The Microsoft Culture and the Microsoft Tools
Novell was killed by a form of "social engineering" by Microsoft
It's Hard to Trust People Who Worked - Not Only Those Who Still Work - at Microsoft
Bryan Lunduke is just what people would call an "arsehole of a person"
For the Second Time, Bryan Lunduke From Microsoft is Siccing Racist Trolls and Vandals at Me
You're only reinforcing the point we made yesterday
Links 06/07/2025: End to End Encryption at Risk, Reuters Twitter ("X") Account Withheld in India
Links for the day
Gemini Links 06/07/2025: Tinylog and Certification Rotation
Links for the day
Links 06/07/2025: Climate Change and "The Right to Criticise"
Links for the day
PCLinuxOS Sites Coming Back, Gradually
let's just be patient
Social Control Media, Even If Based on Free Software, Still Has Many Problems
a distraction from what actually mattered and still matters
IBM is Not Your Master
IBM makes friends with people who exclude the majority of the population: women
Help Fund the Free Software Foundation (FSF)
If you have some dollars to spare, go support the FSF
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 05, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 05, 2025
A Short History of Attacks on Techrights (and Boycott Novell Before That)
good opportunity to tell again the story of several (not all) attempts to silence us
The Mainstream Media Took 4 Days to Realise Microsoft Shut Down Its Operations in Pakistan and Fired Everybody
We estimate that Microsoft has had about 29,000 layoffs since January
Leadership in Free Software
Don't let IBM lead. It's a terrible flag bearer.