07.19.08
Posted in Microsoft, Deception, Standard, Europe, Open XML, Ecma, ISO at 4:49 am by Roy Schestowitz
Buying the elections because the world stays asleep
You would not believe this unless you have already seen the hundreds — if not thousands — of documented cases where the OOXML process had been abused.
Watch this new observation:
Next week on Monday and Tuesday there will be an SC34 meeting, where the maintenance of the inexistant DIS29500 specification will be discussed. Surprise, half of the seats will be occupied by Microsoft and ECMA:
Adam Farquhar (Ecma)
Alex Brown (UK)
Benjamin Henrion (BE)
Brett Roberts (NZ)
Dave Welsh (US)
Doug Mahugh (Ecma)
Francis Cave (GB)
Isabelle Valet-Harper (Ecma)
Istvan Sebestyen (Ecma)
Jasper Hedegaard Bojsen (DK)
Jean Paoli (Ecma)
Jean Stride (GB)
Jesper Lund Stocholm (DK)
Jirka Kosek (CZ)
Keld Simonsen (NO)
Ken Holman (CA)
Kimmo Bergius (FI)
Manu Setälä (FI)
Michiel Leenaars (NL)
Murata Makoto (JP)
Patrick Durusau (US)
Pia Elleby Lange (DK)
Rex Jaeschke (Ecma)
Shahzad Rana (NO)
Wemba Opota (CI)
Some of them, Jesper Lund Stocholm for instance, are Microsoft partners and fans [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]. This is a joke, right? And Alex Brown [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21]? Should they also bring Fidel Castro in to cast a vote on democracy?
Additionally, be sure to learn who Adam Farquhar is [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11]. Isn’t he also with Microsoft and the British Library? This is ridiculous; it’s a syndicate of money and influence taking over shell establishments like ISO. Some of these people trade Microsoft products for a living!
“Microsoft (and its ecosystem) is set to decide on Microsoft (and its ecosystem).”Let’s pick some other examples. It’s most amazing how Microsoft employees are ‘dressed up’ as ECMA employees. Doug Mahugh at ECMA? He works for Microsoft. Is he swapping hats for cover-up? Again? What is ECMA doing there anyway? ECMA is being paid handsomely by Microsoft. Remember Jan van den Beld, who changed directives especially for Microsoft and then left ECMA to join a Microsoft lobbying arm and behave even more aggressively?
How about Rex Jaeschke? Follow the links at will. It’s all too clear to see what is happening here.
At the moment, Rick Jelliffe [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7] accuses concerned people of being “afraid of openness”. He refers to OOXML, which is definitely not open. In fact, the word “Open” in the acronym should be forbidden given all the binary components which are undocumented, not to mention allergy to open source software (Microsoft reserves the right to sue open source implementations over OOXML-related patents it applies for).
One could go on and on analyzing one person at the time, or at least those who attend to serve Microsoft. The motives say it all. Microsoft (and its ecosystem) is set to decide on Microsoft (and its ecosystem).
Remember how Bryan complained and prematurely left ISO after a long career there, having witnessed how his committee got stuffed by Microsoft? He even spoke out about it.
Be sure to view this list of the attendants at the OOXML BRM. It’s equally appalling, just like the BRM itself [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12]. it was controlled by ECMA, Microsoft and some other OOXML-sympathetic figures.
ISO should be utterly ashamed of itself. Ashamed. And humiliated. Tim Bray, who attended the BRM, had this to say:
“This was horrible, egregious, process abuse and ISO should hang their heads in shame for allowing it to happen. Their reputation, in my eyes, is in tatters. My opinion of ECMA was already very negative; this hasn’t improved it, and if ISO doesn’t figure out away to detach this toxic leech, this kind of abuse is going to happen again and again.”
–Tim Bray
ISO is being abused by Microsoft and its affiliates that exploit ISO for their wallets. To make matters worse, ISO chose to try and bury all of this under the rug. This makes it an accomplice in a sense.
You could take a rich crook and put him in a suit. But it’s still a crook in a suit, who probably made a fortune ‘thanks’ to bad behaviour. This must not be tolerated.
Despite all of these dirty tricks, ODF is going strong. Yesterday we wrote about NATO and ODF without sufficient certainty. It’s finally more official, based on Andy Updegrove’s Web site and even Heise.
NATO has included the International Standardization Organization’s (ISO) certified Open Document Format (ODF) in its list of mandatory standards to promote interoperability. NATO’s standards list includes Rich Text Format (RTF), extensible markup language (XML) and Office XP formats as requirements for the sharing of data.
Don’t ever let dirty tricks and misconduct of biblical proportions take over your precious personal documents. Stand up for justice and digital preservation. █
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Posted in Microsoft, GNU/Linux, FUD, Deception, IBM at 4:23 am by Roy Schestowitz
Microsoft’s poisoning of the literature, the press, and the World Wide Web continues to fascinate. it’s not a secret. It’s all very real and overwhelming heaps of evidence exist to support it.
This subject was dealt with several times in the past. Microsoft dubbed those involved in it “Munchkins” and none of this has ever stopped [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].
Today’s gem from Microsoft is about newsgroups and how Microsoft expressed its plan to subvert and incline them to its advantage.
Right from the horse’s mouth (Microsoft). [PDF]
Channel of Information, On-line Forums
- Monitor the relevant Usenet groups at all times
- Write well
- Be exceedingly formal and polite
-
- It is very easy to give offense
- Always assume that you are wrong; ask others to explain it to you
- Developers are impressed by clear, precise, polite communication
- Don’t sound like a prig
This was worth bringing up in light of the personal abuse directed at several people in Linux newsgroups. Some of these discussion groups are occupied by former Microsoft employees (you have to squeeze out of them to finally admit this). In the Linux advocacy newsgroup, for example, you could find regular posters Greg Cox, Larry Qualig and John Bailo. All are former Microsoft employees who bother to pay a visit to Linux newsgroups in order to praise a former employer. Why? Might the answer lie above in Microsoft’s own literature, which leaked our to the courtroom?
At the moment, there is another class of Munchkins there and they admit extending and branching out to Slashdot and Digg (you can see their comments, but they admittedly use pseudonyms). Some are extremely rude Internet trolls that try to drive away readers using insults, libel, xenophobia, homophobia, ugly imagery and personal threats. According to one member of Groklaw, he disengaged from OS/2 advocacy after he had received death threats.
Yes, going back to OS/2 days, there are some fairly well-documented testimonies. To this date, Microsoft marketing people exist not just in fictitious blogs but also in newsgroups and in government. It is not just unethical but also illegal in the European Union. Microsoft’s political power is immense though, so it’s unlikely to be punished.
There is a lot more to be explored on this subject. Going back to the document at the top, be sure to read some of the things around page 45, including this from Microsoft:
During the mopping-up phase, ensure that the enemy technology is routed. Use the press, the Internet, etc. to heighten the impression that the enemy is desperate, demoralized, defeated, deceased.
Remember how people complained about the press taking things out of proportion when Wal-Mart said it would continue selling GNU/Linux on-line but not on store shelves? Microsoft has a lot of power over the press, some of which it owns. Literally. Big Lies are no exception here. █
“Ideally, use of the competing technology becomes associated with mental deficiency, as in, “he believes in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and OS/2.” Just keep rubbing it in, via the press, analysts, newsgroups, whatever. Make the complete failure of the competition’s technology part of the mythology of the computer industry. We want to place selection pressure on those companies and individuals that show a genetic weakness for competitors’ technologies, to make the industry increasingly resistant to such unhealthy strains, over time.”
–Microsoft, internal document [PDF]
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07.18.08
Posted in Red Hat, Microsoft, Deception, Patents, Security, Europe, FOSS at 1:58 pm by Roy Schestowitz
Meet Microsoft, a High-brow Software Patents infringer
T
he lawsuit over Silverlight was mentioned a fortnight ago, along with other new evidence of an out-of-control system. People in Microsoft Watch and elsewhere seemed very curious about the status of this case. Between the Lines offers some details.
Silverlight suit: Microsoft’s conduct is “unlawful” and “willful”
[…]
In its complaint, filed July 2, Gotuit alleges that Silverlight, Microsoft’s rival to Adobe’s Flash for Video and the technology powering the online video coverage of the games, infringes on Gotuit patents that allow “for the enhancement, personalization and monetization of video and other media.”
You can explore further the ridiculousness of this. Microsoft now drinks from the same well which it poisoned.
Begging for RAND and Intellectual Monopolies
It has only been a week since IDC, Microsoft and the BSA (all are financially linked) pulled their usual stunts in Europe in attempt to legalise software patents, make RAND the standard in standards, and push forward the proprietary software agenda with propaganda terms like “piracy”. Well, it’s happening again, according to The Register.
BSA: Software piracy’s ‘tragic’ impact on US society
[…]
The BSA-sponsored IDC study, available here (pdf), pinpointed eight US states in the report. It found significant variations from the national piracy figure of 20 per cent.
Be sure to learn what Microsoft and the BSA have been doing recently [1, 2, 3]. It barely receives media attention, so it tends to progress under people’s noses. It doesn’t meet the sheer resistance it truly deserves.
It was only weeks ago that the BSA (and maybe its hired associates like IDC) were pushing for RAND on behalf of Microsoft et al (the funding sources). Meanwhile, and probably independent from this, the EU is also strengthening intellectual monopoly laws.
Following the April 2007 initiative on “Enhancing the patent system”, the European Commission has now published a communication on a European industrial property rights strategy (PDF). It hopes this will improve access to the patent system and to trademark protection for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The Commission has also announced that it intends to work harder on ensuring the quality of patents granted and the promotion of innovation associated with it.
European Commission sounds new patent offensive
Following the April 2007 initiative on “Enhancing the patent system”, the European Commission has now published a communication on a European industrial property rights strategy (PDF). It hopes this will improve access to the patent system and to trademark protection for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The Commission has also announced that it intends to work harder on ensuring the quality of patents granted and the promotion of innovation associated with it.
Patent Busting
We wrote about the Peer-To-Patent project only yesterday. There are some more details about it in Mark Webbink’s blog.
In my last blog I talked about the PeerToPatent project and how it is attempting to improve the U.S. patent system one patent at a time. As you may see in the press today, my interest in PeerToPatent is not benign. Starting back on June 1 I have joined New York Law School as a visiting professor and as executive director of the new Center for Patent Innovations, home of PeerToPatent.
The need for patent busting is evident and fruits of this project imminent. There is already this new report about a major claim getting binned because of a patent’s obviousness (it got invalidated).
Finisar, which makes high-speed data transmission equipment, accused Comcast of infringing with its digital cable systems. Alsup invalidated the only claim asserted by Finisar because of obviousness. Morgan & Finnegan represented Finisar.
Trend Micro Begs for FOSS Forgiveness
Trend Micro shot the wrong target using the wrong weapon
It’s feeling the heat as a result. Perhaps.
Trend Micro, potentially terrified due to the boycott (on top of poor business health at the moment), bothers to repeat Chen’s claim via another executive. In CBR he insists that the software patent lawsuit is not about Free software (well, it sure is in practice). Maybe they have regrets now. It’s a tad amusing to see the ‘damage control’ that they do. Interestingly enough, in this article from Jason Stamper they also sneak in the sentence: ‘Dean Drako, president and CEO of Barracuda Networks, said: “Innovation will lead to a safer Internet, litigation will not.”’ He said this elsewhere too. █
“I would much rather spend my time and money and energy finding ways to make the Internet safer and better than bickering over patents.”
–Dean Drako, Barracuda’s CEO
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07.17.08
Posted in Microsoft, Novell, Deception, Office Suites, OpenDocument, SUN, Open XML, OpenOffice at 1:56 pm by Roy Schestowitz
Novell’s promotion of Microsoft OOXML and bringing of Microsoft .NET (Mono) closer to OpenOffice.org hasn’t escaped developers’ attention. Moreover, their confrontation with Sun Microsystems over control of the project was quite nasty [1, 2, 3, 4]. Novell was seen as self-serving at the time.
Novell has a double commitment. On the one hand, it is a partner of Microsoft, so sales of Microsoft Office are important, even if they are defended through elevation of Microsoft formats. On the other hand, Novell works with Sun, which competes against Novell and Microsoft on several fronts while also collaborating. The question is: in which way would Novell lean?
According to recent communication among OpenOffice.org developers, Novell may slowly be alienating itself. Consider, for instance, what Michael Meeks writes.
Hmm, “they are in alpha, beta, whatever stage” 
I beg to differ. Yes - some of the patches in ooo-build are experimental, but we [Novell] disable these by default on stable branches so they are not applied. Everything else that is applied to our product Novell offers L3 support for - if you find something broken, we will fix it (well, if you’re a paying customer - but we’re interested in bugs of course anyway).
Interestingly, when you look at our L3 work-load, only a tiny fraction of our bugs are specific to our changes - almost all are present in the “conservative” up-stream OO.o. Conversely, in many other cases the fix for a bug is not in the “conservative” up-stream OO.o - so up-stream users suffer it, but not ours
That is of course just selfish, but it’s part of a broader picture. The thread as a whole is worth seeing.
The basic premises of Michael Meeks are a lie. OpenOffice.org versions that are produced by the Novell build system are typically much buggier than the ‘vanillas’.
More importantly, the thread above teaches us about that old admission that Novell is refusing to contribute to the codebase of OpenOffice.org. It then accuses Sun Microsystems of standing in its way (see the links at the very top again). Not nice.
Novell is not a team player. It did, after all, sell out the GNU/Linux ecosystem as well, did it not?
With ‘friends’ like these, who needs Microsoft? █
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Posted in Microsoft, Deception, OpenDocument, Europe, Open XML, IBM at 4:43 am by Roy Schestowitz
It’s not an ISO standard
Yesterday we mentioned a mysterious press release from Alex Brown. We failed to recognise its motive/s because a closer look was necessary.
Alex Brown is already being criticised for suggesting in his press release that OOXML is an ISO standard (it’s NOT). This shows yet again that the convenor of the horrific OOXML BRM [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12] intrudes areas beyond his remit and dismisses perfectly-valid appeals. These appeals slam the BRM, among other things, so Brown uses deception for defense.
Given that OOXML is under appeal in ISO/IEC, I don’t think it’s right to refer to OOXML as being recently standardized unless you count what happened in ECMA. Given how it happened in ECMA at a lightning fast pace that produced a gargantuan document filled with problems, I certainly don’t.
Further to this, Bob Sutor suggests that people should advise Europe to avoid the lock-in associated with Microsoft’s ‘lego bricks’ engineering.
In my opinion, it is very important that Europeans who are interested in open standards and interoperability look at, comment, and, if appropriate, express their support for this draft or portions thereof.
Through the grapevine I have heard that the usual suspects who oppose open standards and support the “buy all your products from a single vendor and use the specifications they dictate” philosophy of interoperability plan to come out against portions of this draft.
Do not let their voices drown out yours if this is important to you. You have a little bit more than two months in which to comment. Encourage others to do so as well.
While on this subject, Europe should also avoid IBM products where they are proprietary software (e.g. Lotus Symphony). IBM loves harping about standards and “open” stuff, but it still seems allergic to the notion of Free software. When it comes down to implementation, it typically keeps things proprietary. Even the abandoned OS/2 it refuses to let go of. █
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07.16.08
Posted in Microsoft, Deception, OpenDocument, Open XML, ISO at 3:22 pm by Roy Schestowitz
A
month or so ago, Microsoft argued that ODF had won. It tried to escape this comment later, but Erwin thought (he wrote so in his last blog post at Sun Microsystems) that it was part of Microsoft’s plan to get closer to ODF (and maybe poison it more successfully from the inside). That too is something that got Microsoft’s management pointing at Boycott Novell. They were concerned enough about our arguments to rebut, not to ignore.
Anyway, there’s a bit of a deja vu now that the Microsoft-faithful Alex Brown [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21] publicly announces that ODF is in the lead.
OOXML will take second place following Microsoft’s announcement to support ODF, says Dr Alex Brown
[…]
NOTES TO EDITORS
About Dr Alex Brown
Alex Brown was convenor of the ISO/IEC DIS 29500 (OOXML) Ballot Resolution Process, and is convenor of the group overseeing its maintenance processes. He has recently been nominated to represent the publishing industry on the panel advising the British Library on handling digital submission of journal articles.
Why would he issue such a press release? Why bother? Why go out of his way?
Could he be trying to get people off his back? He got lots of flak, that’s for sure. At least one person called for his resignation following involvement in the BSI fiasco. For information about the BSI, see previous posts such as:
Either way, whatever Alex Brown’s motive was with his new press release, it’s akin to that “ODF has clearly won” remark from Microsoft. It makes an illusion of apathy and reduces scrutiny. It’s a dangerous apathy that neutralises hostility. Microsoft does this a lot when invading “Open Source” (if you reject their posturing they call you a “Microsoft hater” or use some other insulting labels that paint you as a fringe lunatic).
From a technical standpoint, think along the lines of embracing (and extending or crippling) HTML5 while having XAML devour the real standard, (X)HTML and JavaScript, including Ajax.
You also have to wonder why Brown still recommends that the British Library should use Microsoft’s OOXML. It was pointed out earlier today.
It is rather funny to see ISO officials denying wrong deeds and irregularities because Even Alex Brown argued that ISO directives had failed. He recently wrote:
Unlike ODF and OOXML, however, I am beginning to believe the Directives have got to a state where they cannot be redeemed by evolution and amendment. It may be time to start again from scratch.
Brown was not alone:
Let’s face it. OOXML is been a farce from start to finish. As The Inquirer put it a couple of days ago: The customer counts for nothing.
And as far as compatibility is concerned, you need not look further than Microsoft. It has been investing billions in its new wannabe-open format, which is actually a poxy pile of unstable zipped XML files - various bugs have been reported, especially concerning Excel. We should also mention that the document describing the standard is a six thousand-page monstrosity, which compares quite sadly to the less than one thousand pages description paper for the OpenDocument format.
It is important never to forget the truth about OOXML. █
“Microsoft corrupted many members of ISO in order to win approval for its phony ‘open’ document format, OOXML. This was so governments that keep their documents in a Microsoft-only format can pretend that they are using ‘open standards.’ The government of South Africa has filed an appeal against the decision, citing the irregularities in the process.”
–Richard Stallman, June 2008
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07.15.08
Posted in Microsoft, Deception, FOSS at 5:13 am by Roy Schestowitz
The ‘history rewrite’ phenomenon is all too common
Two like-minded crooks, Carl Icahn and Microsoft, continue to bully Yahoo. In the process, they are trying to rewrite an embarrassing history.
Rewriting of stories about atrocious behaviour is dangerous. It permits criminals to persist with old practices without getting reprimanded or a disturbing patterns be identified to justify severe punishment. It means that many will be harmed in an unstoppable path of destruction.
“It means that many will be harmed in an unstoppable path of destruction.”Joe Barr published a variety of very interesting (albeit old) articles that are worth exploring. He brought up a lot of truth during the course of his career. Amid the overrhyped departure of Gates, others do the same. Some who even cite Barr call it a case of rewriting history.
We criticised Slashdot before, taking into account a variety of reasons, notably the promotion of Microsoft technologies that try to sway open source developers away from GNU/Linux and the GPL. If anything, Slashdot has become less biased over the years, but the Microsoft-sympathetic crowd continues to dislike it.
Remember Microsoft Jack? He is once again attacking the messenger, in this case Slashdot, USENET and other sources of information that are not funded or sheltered by Microsoft.
Slashdot: ‘The downside of nerdy sites is that they attract lots of nerds’
[…]
Unfortunately, one of the downsides of nerdy sites is that they attract loads of nerds. These are the people who don’t have girlfriends or proper jobs; who live on pizza in their parents’ basement, and rarely see the sun; who have an encyclopedic knowledge of Star Wars but no common sense.
[…]
Slashdot’s standard nerd hypocrisy is another running gag. Everyone knows that anything related to Apple/Linux/open source is innovative and cool, whereas if Microsoft had done exactly the same thing, it would be evil and monopolistic. Double standards rule.
How is it a double standard?
He sees nothing wrong with a company which does all these things. █
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07.14.08
Posted in Microsoft, GNU/Linux, FUD, Deception, Marketing, IBM at 2:50 am by Roy Schestowitz
Great man, beautiful mind
M
r. Barr, an excellent writer and Free software evangelist, passed away a few days ago. The news about him was very sad as he was not only a great man but also huge asset to the GNU/Linux community. Among his legacy was this page about Microsoft Munchkins. He understood very well how Microsoft had been operating. It is, without a doubt, a must-read.
By Joe Barr
Originally published September, 1996
SLIME 1. Spin, Lies, and Insults by Microsoft Employees. The extension of Microsoft’s corporate ethic to online community.
One place that’s been SLIME’d is Canopus, the forum on CompuServe
that had become my regular online habitat. At one time it was a
bastion of independent thought, consisting of contrary but
industry-wise regulars who were never afraid to criticize the
powerhouses in the industry, be they IBM or Microsoft or anybody
else.
[…]
I think the change began about the time Win95 debuted. For one thing,
honest debate and sincere conversation began to decline with the
arrival of Arnold Krueger. Whatever it is that brought him to
Canopus, or keeps him there, it is definitely not honest discourse.
Arnold is a one-man propaganda machine, boosting Win95 and dis’ing
everything else. He is the kind of guy who belongs in one of the
comp.os.___.advocacy newsgroups. And no where else. Since the first
day he arrived, his message has been simply this: Win95 is it, if you
don’t use it you are stupid, if you computer won’t run it, it’s a
piece of crap.
One unfortunate reality of Microsoft’s reputation for dishonesty is
that its employees can immediately gain credibility by claiming not
to be MS employees. Steve Barkto and Bill Diamond are two of the best
known examples.
[…]
And spin he does. He is easily the most gifted liar the forum has
seen. He is not a buffoon-like bozo like Arnold Krueger who puts out
so much crap that it is laughable. No, Richard Shupak does it with
style. He mixes truth, fact, and bullshit in amounts calculated to
bring the most believability a spin-doctor can hope for. He uses
inuendo like a scalpel. Almost always his goal is to deceive.
A couple of days ago, Groklaw thanked Mr. Barr for this gutsy response to Rob Enderle.
Not many people have the experience of going deep down into Microsoft’s dirty tricks. The same type of slimy tricks live on to this date. We have accumulated some examples in:
Ever seen a company withdrawing GNU/Linux from its store shelves? Check this one out.
Two weeks ago a startling post by a Canadian Canopian claimed that
London Drugs, a chain of stores, had an agreement with Microsoft that
prohibited them from displaying OS/2 on their shelves. I knew it
couldn’t be true. Microsoft is hard at work trying to have Sporkin
removed as the presiding judge at the hearings on their consent
decree. This sort of restraint of trade would blow up in their face
at just exactly the wrong time. Still, I decided to track it down.
I got the phone number for the store in Edmonton, Canada, and called
and asked for the computer department. Color me surprised when the
clerk told me that it was true, that they could not display Warp,
although they kept it in the stockroom and sold it on request. I
asked to speak to a manager. Said manager repeated the same thing,
that for ‘certain considerations’ from Microsoft, they kept OS/2 off
their shelves. This was too hot to hold for the next issue of
Tech-Connected, so I passed it on to a well-known and highly
respected newspaper man.
Joe Barr will be sorely missed. His more technical writings have always been superb.
OOXML too received its “In Memoriam”.
So swiftly moving on, I really don’t think OOXML is worth wasting much time over any more. Even M$ it seems doesn’t really want IS29500. The rest of us really care little about it, especially now there are so many other avenues for preservation of our data and the world is finally starting to “grok” what Open really means.
No matter how pointless or tedious it gets, it would be wrong not to talk about OOXML because the level of abuse needs to be shown, especially in the face of endless denials and disinformation. Moreover, the OOXML fiasco has taught us a lot about sources of corruption and led to the departure of some people. █
“Microsoft has announced the “Microsoft BlogStars” contest, to Hunts for Developer Bloggers in India. After feeling the power and increase of the Bloggers community in India, Microsoft tries to trap and hunt Bloggers in India to buildup the blogging community, for writing blog posts supporting towards Microsoft Technologies.”
– Microsoft Traps and Hunts for Bloggers in India !!
“Two Microsoft employees threatened to sue me if I wrote about their behavior online, so I not only wrote the story, I mailed each of them a personal copy.”
–Joe Barr, Free Software Hero
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« Previous entries ·
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.