Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft-connected Mesosphere Threatens to Eliminate Free Software in the Datacentre

Data Center Operating System (DCOS) is a proprietary trap

"I’d be glad to help tilt lotus into into the death spiral. I could do it Friday afternoon but not Saturday. I could do it pretty much any time the following week."

--Brad Silverberg, Microsoft



Summary: Hiding behind a misleading 'open' label while actually backed by Microsoft (and based on new rumours may join Microsoft), Mesosphere wishes to eradicate Free and back doors-free software in large datacentres hosting a lot of physical and virtual servers

WE have patiently been watching with great concern a company called Mesosphere. We have been watching it for quite some time, but have not yet properly covered it in Techrights (except incidentally). I personally complained about it many times in social media sites, not just because it's backed by Silverberg (some Microsoft-centric publications call him "Mr. Windows" these days) but because it's basically proprietary yet pretends to be 'open'. It's a big deception. Mesosphere is a parasite that has been often (and mostly) promoted by friends of Microsoft over the past year. Mesosphere is one of those companies that only people bribed by Microsoft (like Om Malik and his increasingly-defunct 'news' network) would actually openwash, excepting perhaps some gullible journalists who truly believe that there is genuine openness at Mesosphere or merely repeat what others are writing (the corrupting effect of manufactured hype).

Thankfully, Mesosphere is now showing its true colours, so we need not merely speculate or accuse Mesosphere with relatively weak evidence. Mesosphere has nothing to do with FOSS, except the fact that it wants to replace it with its own proprietary operating system. It can be viewed as a Microsoft Trojan horse with Microsoft veterans backing it -- the same sorts of people who would distribute "Microsoft loves Linux" buttons (spreading a Big Lie) to help themselves devour the GNU/Linux market.

"Avoid Mesosphere, Mesos, and the Data Center Operating System (DCOS). Treat them as a creation of Microsoft, emanated silently to entrap the competition."A Microsoft propaganda site (and by extension a network) recently showed Microsoft's anti-Linux plan of entryism [1, 2], trying to make GNU/Linux just subservient to Windows, essentially demoting it. Other Microsoft propaganda sites did the same thing at the same time. Then we saw rumours that Microsoft was essentially ‘buying’ its own moles, just as it had done with Xamarin (now bankrolled by Microsoft veterans). All one has to do now is watch headlines from the financial press, for instance:



There are many more like the above, but we omit them for the sake of brevity.

I personally feel somewhat vindicated, having repeatedly accused Mesosphere of serving Microsoft's agenda. I said the same about Mono about a decade ago, well before it officially became a sort of Microsoft adjunct in the form of Xamarin. These are more like moles. They serve as Microsoft's bridge into the heart of the competition.

Mesosphere ought to be treated as a Trojan horse or a proprietary software company with Microsoft roots (intending to replace GNU/Linux at datacentres). It shows true colours with articles such as "Why Microsoft Could Reportedly Want To Buy Cloud Startup Mesosphere Even At $1 Billion".

Watch what Microsoft boosters are writing right now [1, 2, 3]. Headlines such as "Windows Server Getting Open Source Mesos Container Technology for Scaled Operations" or "Mesosphere And Microsoft Bring Mesos To Windows Server" speak volumes.

Microsoft's many attacks on GNU/Linux and Free software can only be as effective as GNU/Linux users can be dumb, gullible, defeatist, or lenient. Scott M. Fulton III, a Microsoft expert, wrote the other day that:

Developers outside of Microsoft will be able to experiment for the first time with new classes of applications that run partly on Windows, partly on Linux.


As one response to this framed the key message: "It’s hard to imagine anyone actually wanting to build an application that is part-Linux, part-Windows. Or, to go one step further, to intentionally engineer a server-based program that straddles two very, very different flavors of operating system.

"Why on Earth would anyone build or use an application that needs two operating systems to function?"

Why would anyone need a platform from Mesosphere to manage GNU/Linux? It's not even Free software, so back doors are to be expected (voluntary or not), compromising the security of everything down the hierarchy/stack.

Avoid Mesosphere, Mesos, and the Data Center Operating System (DCOS). Treat them as a creation of Microsoft, emanated silently to entrap the competition. Time will tell what Mesosphere really is and where it's heading.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Microsoft Windows Falls to All-Time Low of ~60% in Switzerland, GNU/Linux Among Top Gainers
What will it take for mainstream media (not just geeks' site) to cover it?
 
Culture of Harassment Inside Microsoft, Says Former Director at Microsoft
listen to Microsoft insiders
Drone Strikes on Amazon (GAFAM) Datacentres Highlight Azure's Miniscule Share
Azure is failing
SLAPP Censorship - Part 35 Out of 200: How to Make ~10,000 Pound Sterling (13,220.50 United States Dollars) by Copy-Pasting and Editing 10 Pages
Today it's Easter Sunday, so we'll keep this part relatively short
Gemini Links 05/04/2026: Artemis II Mission Tracker, Meditation on Copyright, Alhena 5.5.5, "Gemini as the Final Frontier of Human Cognition"
Links for the day
Mainstream Media on "Practical Survivalism"
Suffice to say, panic buying begets more panic and price surges
Cloud Computing as a Cloud of Smoke (Your Hosting Provider is a "Legitimate" Military Target)
When a French datacentre went up in flames people joked that the "cloud" meant a cloud of smoke
Andreas Tille Congratulates Sruthi Chandran Before the Election for Debian Project Leader (DPL) is Even Over
Andreas Tille, the current Debian Project Leader (DPL) who has been in this role for nearly 24 months
When You Try to Change the World for the Better and Somehow They Find a Way to Say You Are the Villain
Don't be a fool. Don't fall for inversions of narratives.
Slop Was a Flop and Energy Crisis Will be Slop's Final Blow
Today we see no slopfarms in Google News
Links 05/04/2026: "Taiwanese Airlines to Hike Fuel Surcharges 157%" and Openly Racist Voter Suppression Starts in the US
Links for the day
Gemini Links 05/04/2026: Playing with Hyprland and Migrating Antenna Filters
Links for the day
Links 05/04/2026: "Confidential Computing" as Proprietary Bundle of False Promises and "The Web Is an Antitrust Wedge"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, April 04, 2026
IRC logs for Saturday, April 04, 2026
SLAPP Censorship - Part 34 Out of 200: The Necessity of Transparency, Illuminating Garrett's and Graveley's 'Tag-Team' Act, Misusing the British Docket (From Far Away in America) in Efforts to Hide Bad Behaviour
Transparency is paramount
Red Tape at Red Hat (IBM)
Now the guiding principles are the whims and moods of people who peddle buzzwords to manipulate IBM's share prices
The So-called 'AI' (Slop) Companies Will Have the Plug Pulled
It can vastly accelerate this bubble's implosion
Dr. Andy Farnell on a "Technology Plan B"
based around Free software
Windows Lows Across the Mediterranean
Judging by this month's data from statCounter
The Future of the Net is 'in Space'
Gemini Protocol is growing and GemText remains the same, so it's made to endure
Linux Foundation Profits From Scams, Fraud, and Grifting
Don't be misled by the name "Linux Foundation"
Too Hard for IBM to Keep Everybody Silent About How the Company Has Gone South
IBM is busy trying to keep disgruntled or ex workers silent using NDAs
Microsoft Transmits Malware and Back Doors to GNU/Linux Servers, Media Points the Finger at Everyone But Microsoft's Servers
Is Microsoft too poor to vet and check what it hosts and transmits?
Gemini Links 04/04/2026: "Fuzz Guy", "Reusing Old Computers with Arch Linux and DWM", and Bubble v10.0 Released
Links for the day
Links 04/04/2026: eBay Scam, "Music Publishers’ X Copyright Lawsuit Officially on Pause"
Links for the day
Links 04/04/2026: Social Control Media Verdict and Bans, Whistleblower (Axel Rietschin) Explains How "Microsoft Vaporized a Trillion Dollars"
Links for the day
Reaching the End/Event Horizon of LLM Slop
Are we moving towards a post-LLMs world?
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, April 03, 2026
IRC logs for Friday, April 03, 2026
Gemini Links 04/04/2026: STXGE and Computer Relationships
Links for the day
SLAPP Censorship - Part 33 Out of 200: Garrett Sued by My Wife and I, Then His Microsoft Acquaintance Files Another Lawsuit and Our Webhost Receives Legal Threats Too
Today we also show how our solicitor Mark Lewis responded to it
Good Friday, Leaving IBM for Good
Even on holidays
Links 03/04/2026: Rejection of More Software Patents and Social Control Media in Several Continents
Links for the day
Malware in Proprietary Software - Latest Additions by Rob Musial
Original published yesterday in gnu.org
Visual Evidence/Documentation of IBM Dying Like the Dinosaurs
IBM has many of these giant white elephants lying around, with some getting demolished
Links 03/04/2026: USPTO’s Latest Greenwashing and Internet Blackouts Impact Journalists in War Zones
Links for the day
SLAPP Censorship - Part 32 Out of 200: Garrett Made Spurious Requests (Later Withdrawn) the Same Week Someone He Later Spoke to by E-mail Sent Threats to Our Webhost
The "plot thickens" because there's a multi-party tag-team act, as confirmed by Garrett after he had sworn on the Bible
IBM is a Dying Company, Nowadays It Kills Red Hat With Slop
when your last day is a national holiday in IBM's country
"Independence Drives" and Community-Run Sites
Independence in reporting is a much-valued trait
When Charlatans Are Only Good at Losing Money and Storytelling (e.g. About Investment in Them)
Wait till a a barrel of oil costs $300
What Apple Fans Are Missing
Apple is a bad company
The "Pale Blue Dot" Moment Had Returned
To many people, the "bitter-sweet" observation of how small we are
Saudi Arabia Does Not Rely Much on Microsoft/Windows
Putting aside politics, this is good for Free software
Almost 12 Years of Exposing Corruption in Europe's Second-Largest Institution
The "unready" President is now an abandoned President
Easter Moon Mission and Its Reminder of IBM's Demise
A lot of NASA operations now rely on GNU/Linux
When Power is Scarce and GNU/Linux Has Power
In Cuba, GNU/Linux has long enjoyed high adoption rates
Don't Totally Dismiss the 'Survivalists'
'Survivalists' or similar terms are used to describe a particular mindset of people who prepare for some really awful scenarios
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, April 02, 2026
IRC logs for Thursday, April 02, 2026
A Much Better Use of Fuel Than Slop
Something positive for a change
Hoping for Peace
There are still many things to be enjoyed, including nature and kind people
Gemini Links 03/04/2026: "Slide Rule Triple Multiplication" and End of "Picture Pages"
Links for the day
Rumours of Microsoft Layoffs This Season
Just how much trouble is Microsoft in at this point?
GNU/Linux Measured at All-Time High in Sweden
Can 'influencers' have played a role