01.23.08
It’s Not Dumping Because They Call it “Charity”
In recent days we have covered a handful of incidents where Microsoft used its money and power to combat the adoption of GNU/Linux and Free software [1, 2]. This is nothing new, but only recently have we begun covering the issue in this Web site. Microsoft is not alone here. Classmate PCs, for instance, are given to Nigerians at Intel’s own expense (physical hardware, not software) just to eliminate OLPC, which uses AMD chips and GNU/Linux. This isn’t just Nigeria by the way. It’s not just OLPC either because similar tricks are used by Intel and Microsoft in Russian schools as we speak.
Groklaw has just published a response to this serious issue and it’s calling for the attention of the European Commission.
Please remember this day, next time someone tells you how philanthropic Mr. Gates is. Monopolies these days not only crush competition, they’re willing to crush a charity to make a buck. I would say any apparent cooperation with OLPC, therefore, is just for show, folks. Those “technical” difficulties won’t be solved, I figure, until this new market is glutted with Microsoft on Intel Classmates and Asus EEE’s, loaded with XP, that old-fashioned operating system, and none of their laptops can do for those children what the OLPC XO can do. P.S. Children don’t need training to use an OLPC XO. It’s designed to *not* need it. I hope OLPC patented everything before they show Microsoft a thing. For real. Otherwise, someday we’ll be looking for prior art to overturn a Microsoft patent or two.
Yoohoo, EU Commission! Are you watching these maneuvers?
PJ alludes to the Gates Foundation. We actually wrote about this before. This establishment is used for many good causes, but also for media control and various investments that cost lives. You are essentially being told what to think, so be wary. The Foundation serves as a moral shield (i.e. you are not allowed to criticise it) and sometimes as a peripheral bank account. For example, see what appears like a strategic donation in India around the same time of a “No” vote on OOXML. Let’s end with a quote.
“If it [the timing of the donation] had anything to do with the antitrust case, we would have told someone”
–Ms. Stonifer, Director of the William H. Gates Foundation
Reference: Responding to the question if the timing of Gates’ $3.3 billion gift… (more here) █
Highlight: Novell was the first to acknowledge that Microsoft FUD tactics had substance. Novell then used anti-Linux FUD to market itself. 
Highlight: Xandros let Microsoft make patent claims and brag about (paid-for) OOXML support. 
Highlight: Linspire's CEO not only fell into Microsoft arms, but he also assisted the company's attack on GNU/Linux. 
Highlight: Microsoft craves pseudo (proprietary) standards and gets its way using proxies and influence which it buys. 
Highlight: The invasion into the open source world is intended to leave Linux companies neglected, due to financial incentives from Microsoft. 
Analysis: Xen, an open source hypervisor, possibly fell victim to Microsoft's aggressive (and stealthy) acquisition-by-proxy strategy.