Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft Inside -- Part II: Microsoft Has Plans for the Raspberry Pi or Linux SBCs in General (and It Hides Its Role in That)

Nice product you got there...  would be a shame if something happened to it



Summary: Some 'former' Microsoft employees are looking to hire GNU/Linux developers/employees without revealing who they are and who they still work with (Microsoft)

IN THE first part we explained in general terms that Microsoft is intruding entering the digital territories of its competition in order to disrupt and undermine, or simply to switch people over... back to Microsoft's proprietary software. People who believe otherwise ought to reassess their views based on objective evidence, not Public Relations stunts (e.g. "Microsoft loves Linux").



"This is no joking matters and Debian GNU/Linux developers were extremely unhappy about what the Raspberry Pi Foundation had done."We recently became aware of a bunch of worrying stories in light of the story we broke and exposed regarding Raspberry Pi and Microsoft. We've been writing a lot about that since then. In short, Microsoft is trying to leverage Raspberry Pi devices to get people 'addicted' to Microsoft's proprietary software. It can also leverage data gathered from these devices for programmes such as EDGI and leverage these secret deals to impose Microsoft traps on pupils at schools. This is no joking matters and Debian GNU/Linux developers were extremely unhappy about what the Raspberry Pi Foundation had done. Their code was being misused to prop up Microsoft monopoly, via the Raspberry Pi Foundation. It never even bothered explaining what exactly it agreed on with Microsoft and why (or what for, e.g. how much money was paid for it). Some of those developers spoke to us privately. They were definitely not happy.

Additionally, a recent story was shared with us, illuminating the sort of relationship Microsoft is trying to forge with such developers. It's akin to an absorption -- the kind of trick Microsoft used against rivals in the recent and distant past (e.g. Borland). The details may be revealing to those involved; but for those not "in the loop" the identities will remain unknown. For those who are not familiar with the Borland story, here's an old report:

Borland and Microsoft

Here's some raw evidence and another old article:

Borland lawsuit

A month ago a recruiter/contact reached out to a GNU/Linux developer, saying: "I’d like connect w/you re: a [redacted] remote Linux Tech PM consultant w/STRONG tech doc skills."

Need: 1. Linux OS focused on OS development. 2. Embedded devices- building OS & modifying hardware, drivers. 3. Silicon architectures & embedded boards: ARM devices, [redacted]


This may sound benign on the surface. The recruiter asked: "Know anyone?"

This was followed by another contact/message:

Sorry my 1st msg was light on information. ...restricted the letter count...


The developer then responded: "...What you are looking for is a unicorn. I can ask around. Need someone who customizes distros? For like Dev kits that are iot based?"

The contact responded with: "Yes!!! Here’s a post I made to a group in [redacted]. It’s an unicorn!"

HIRING [redacted]: TECHNICAL PM - LINUX. REMOTE

I am an executive recruiting consultant helping a technical consulting firm in [redacted] staff a [redacted] consultant role. Info notes below.

Skills & knowledge we are looking for: 1. Strong Linux OS skills much more focused on OS development vs App development or Sys Admin. 2. Strong experience with embedded devices-building embedded OS and modifying hardware, drivers, etc. 3. Experience with silicon architectures and embedded boards such as ARM based devices, [redacted] & Raspbery Pi. 4. 5+ years experience as a Technical PM. 5. Strong technical documentation skills. 6. Expertise with Github and related tools. 7. SME with hands-on experience that can build and customize an OS (rather than interview SMEs and write it up.)


Notice Microsoft proprietary software toolsets w.r.t "Raspbery [sic] Pi". The location is near Microsoft.

On it goes:

Key knowledge & skills: (not all required but as much of this experience as possible is highly desired due to goals of this position.)

1. Embedded Linux, 2. Ubuntu, 3. Canonical, 4. Edge IOT devices, 5. Red Hat, 6. Yocto, 7. Wind River Linux, 8. ARM, 9. NXP

If you or someone you know are looking for a [redacted] Tech PM gig that requires Linux expertise, strong documentation skills and will last up to 6 months, please send your resume to me at... Thank you!


The developer likely lost interest, seeing where the job is and words like GitHub. It's a prison in PRISM, and moreover an attack on Free software.

But the contact persisted: "If you or anyone you know is open to this gig that’s up to 6 months and can lead to other great [redacted] consultant type opportunities, please let me know..."

Seeing that there was little understanding of the basics, the developer responded: "So canonical and Ubuntu...are the same..."

Notice how they list "Ubuntu" and "Canonical" separately.

The contact said: "It’s for a consulting company of senior tech ppl that left Msft and now do projects with the teams."

"The developer likely lost interest, seeing where the job is and words like GitHub."So there we go... those are people from Microsoft, who still work with Microsoft ("the teams").

Funny how this wasn't mentioned upfront, right?

"Oh yeah," the developer replied, "that's a good question.. will the person need to use proprietary software or is it completely free and open source?"

The contact apparently knew nothing about what s/he was talking about. The reply? "Oh! I didn’t realize they were the same!! I’ll ask about the question above which is great!"

"Yeah," the developer responded. "Canonical is the company. Ubuntu is the product/Distro..."

"Notice how they list "Ubuntu" and "Canonical" separately."In the next part we'll see that not only the team (working with "the teams" i.e. Microsoft) but also more people are in fact working for Microsoft or were working for Microsoft. Why are they trying to sort of 'poach' developers?

Remember this deals with "Raspbery [sic] Pi" and GitHub (Microsoft). That was a month ago, just about a week before the Raspberry Pi Foundation covertly inserted Microsoft keys and repositories into millions of Raspberry Pi devices.

Stay tuned for the next part. It gets better (or worse, depending on where you, the dear readers, stand).

Recent Techrights' Posts

GNU/Linux and ChromeOS in Qatar Reach 4%, an All-Time High
Qatar has money to spend, but not much of it will be spent on Microsoft, or so one can hope
This 'Article' About "Linux Malware" is a Fake Article, It's LLM Slop (Likely Spewed Out by Microsoft Chatbot)
They're drowning out the Web
Early Retirement Age: Linus Torvalds Turns 55 Next Week
Now he's almost eligible for retirement in certain European countries
 
Technology: rights or responsibilities? - Part XI
By Dr. Andy Farnell
Links 22/12/2024: Election Rants and More Sites Available via Gemini
Links for the day
Links 22/12/2024: North Pole Moving and Debian's Joey Hess Goes Solar
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/12/2024: Solstice and IDEs
Links for the day
BetaNews: Microsoft Slop is Your "Latest Technology News"
Paid-for garbage disguised as "journalism"
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, December 21, 2024
IRC logs for Saturday, December 21, 2024
Links 21/12/2024: EU on Solidarity with Ukraine, Focus on Illegal and Unconstitutional Patent Court in the EU (UPC)
Links for the day
[Meme] Microsofters at the End of David's Leash
Hand holding the leash. Whose?
Deciphering Matt's Take on WordPress, Which is Under Attack From Microsofters-Funded Aggravator
the money sponsoring the legal attacks on WordPress and on Matt is connected very closely to Microsoft
Gemini Links 21/12/2024: Projections, Dead Web ('Webapps' Replacing Pages), and Presentation of Pi-hole
Links for the day
American Samoa One of the Sovereign States Where Windows Has Fallen Below 1% (and Stays Below It)
the latest data plotted in LibreOffice
[Meme] Brian's Ravioli
An article per minute?
Links 21/12/2024: "Hey Hi" (AI) or LLM Bubble Criticised by Mainstream Media, Oligarchs Try to Control and Shut Down US Government
Links for the day
LLM Slop is Ruining the Media and Ruining the Web, Ignoring the Problem or the Principal Culprits (or the Slop Itself) Is Not Enough
We need to encourage calling out the culprits (till they stop this poor conduct or misconduct)
Christmas FUD From Microsoft, Smearing "SSH" When the Real Issue is Microsoft Windows
And since Microsoft's software contains back doors, only a fool would allow any part of SSH on Microsoft's environments, which should be presumed compromised
Paywalls, Bots, Spam, and Spyware is "Future of the Media" According to UK Press Gazette
"managers want more LLM slop"
Google Has Mass Layoffs (Again), But the Problem is Vastly Larger
started as a rumour about January 2025
On BetaNews Latest Technology News: "We are moderately confident this text was [LLM Chatbot] generated"
The future of newsrooms or another site circling down the drain with spam, slop, or both?
"The Real New Year" is Now
Happy solstice
Microsoft OSI Reads Techrights Closely
Microsoft OSI has also fraudulently attempted to censor Techrights several times over the years
"Warning About IBM's Labor Practices"
IBM is not growing and its revenue is just "borrowed" from companies it is buying; a lot of this revenue gets spent paying the interest on considerable debt
[Meme] The Easier Way to Make Money
With patents...
The Curse (to Microsoft) of the Faroe Islands
The common factor there seems to be Apple
Electronic Frontier Foundation Defends Companies That Attack Free Speech Online (Follow the Money)
One might joke that today's EFF has basically adopted the same stance as Donald Trump and has a "warm spot" for BRICS propaganda
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, December 20, 2024
IRC logs for Friday, December 20, 2024
Gemini Links 21/12/2024: Death of Mike Case, Slow and Sudden End of the Web
Links for the day
Links 20/12/2024: Security Patches, Openwashing by Open Source Initiative, Prison Sentence for Bitcoin Charlatan and Fraud
Links for the day
Another Terrible Month for Microsoft in Web Servers
Consistent downward curve
LLM Slop Disguised as Journalism: The Latest Threat to the Web
A lot of it is to do with proprietary GitHub, i.e. Microsoft
Gemini Links 20/12/2024: Regulation and Implementing Graphics
Links for the day
Links 20/12/2024: Windows Breaks Itself, Mass Layoffs Coming to Google Again (Big Wave)
Links for the day
Microsoft: "Upgrade" to Vista 11 Today, We'll Brick Your Audio and You Cannot Prevent This
Windows Update is obligatory, so...
The Unspeakable National Security Threat: Plasticwares as the New Industrial Standard
Made to last or made to be as cheap as possible? Meritocracy or industrial rat races are everywhere now.
Microsoft's All-Time Lows in Macao and Hong Kong
Microsoft is having a hard time in China, not only for political reasons
[Meme] "It Was Like a Nuclear Winter"
This won't happen again, will it?
If You Know That Hey Hi (AI) is Hype, Then Stop Participating in It
bogus narrative of "Hey Hi (AI) arms race" and "era/age of Hey Hi" and "Hey Hi Revolution"
Bangladesh (Population Close to 200 Million) Sees Highest GNU/Linux Adoption Levels Ever
Microsoft barely has a grip on this country. It used to.
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, December 19, 2024
IRC logs for Thursday, December 19, 2024