AS Microsoft so desperately combats the zero-cost advantage of GNU/Linux it uses not facts but fiction. We have grown accustomed to seeing advertising pieces like this one (journalists as Microsoft couriers or copywriters), pretending that Windows is "free" and that it may become "open source" because of some blurb from three months ago. "A per this Wired article," wrote this author, "open sourcing is no longer optional, even for Apple. Even for Microsoft. Even for Windows." Actually, all of these are proprietary, so evidence does not support the argument. Nice try though...
"They are blurring the distinction between "open" and "closed" or between "free" and "proprietary"."Wired has been quite notable in the "googlebombing" of "Microsoft open source" or "Windows open source". It has been quite an effective propaganda campaign that culminated over the past year and we see more of it in light of this proprietary software release that is heralded with headlines such as "Microsoft's Power BI is coming July 24th, adds a bit of open source and Android seasoning" and "Microsoft Says Power BI Will Come Out Of Preview On July 24, Open Sources Visualization Stack". This is not Open Source at all, but Microsoft-friendly sites are openwashing Microsoft's proprietary software. Sometimes even Linux sites fall for it as it's not helping when Microsoft's propaganda channel (Channel 9) is openwashing proprietary software such as Visual Studio. This example from Channel 9 is again fitting a pattern that we first noted one week ago. This openwashing 'thing' is very much 'in'. The Microsoft-controlled Channel 9 increasingly chimes in to amplify the noise.
"Embrace, extend, extinguish" moves are now being used to make Apache software tied to Windows-powered and Microsoft-controlled servers (Azure). Isn't that great? They are blurring the distinction between "open" and "closed" or between "free" and "proprietary".
"Hadoop," says ZDNet, "started out using an open source implementation of Google's MapReduce as its exclusive processing engine." Well, now Microsoft wants it all for itself, to run under Windows (proprietary and pricey) as well as under Microsoft's control (with rental payments for hosting).
Microsoft is acting like a bandit, operating from the inside when it comes to Android as well (see "Windows 10 to allow easy porting of apps from Android and iOS platforms"), not to mention the underlying kenrel, Linux. Watch this new example of bad code that Microsoft has put inside Linux to promote proprietary software like Hyper-V, which runs on Windows (hyper-visor with NSA back doors implied) to control GNU/Linux guests. ⬆
"I would love to see all open source innovation happen on top of Windows."
--Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO