More "Mass Layoffs" at Microsoft and a Strategic Pivot to Trashing the Reputation of GNU/Linux, Instead
Broken Windows.
OUR LATEST BUT NOT LAST article about Microsoft layoffs ("Microsoft Dismantled Before Christmas: Layoffs and Even Wholesale Shutdowns") struck a nerve. It seems like many people at Microsoft read our articles about Microsoft layoffs - a subject long suppressed or massively downplayed by Microsoft-sponsored media.
This week there are reports of "mass layoffs" (see below; here's more context) at Microsoft, which was grifting with "defence" contracts (bailouts) under the guise of "HoloLens" years after it had already fired all the staff (of the company bought for 'hype factor').
Here's the latest. From today's news:
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Microsoft is nixing its Windows mixed reality platform
Additionally, Microsoft has made sweeping cuts throughout its VR division, leading to layoffs and the discontinuation of the AltspaceVR app.
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Microsoft deprecates its own VR platform, what will happen to the headsets?
The future of the Hololens AR headset is uncertain after mass layoffs...
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Microsoft’s End to AR: Which other Products would be Affected?
The shutdown involves discontinuing the Mixed Reality Portal app along with Windows Mixed Reality for SteamVR and Steam VR Beta. The exact date for these changes to take effect is unclear. The Deprecated Features page on Microsoft’s Learn website mentions that they will “be removed in a future release of Windows,” but no specific timeline is provided. The end of Windows Mixed Reality doesn’t come as a surprise, as Microsoft has been gradually reducing its focus on virtual reality (VR), as noted by TheVerge in their coverage.
We expect more to come, but maybe some of it will be Microsoft-sponsored face-saving slant/spin. Remember they count on these buzzwords for bailouts - we've covered this very subject for years already! They keep advancing to more (or newer) buzzwords to seem innovative ("market leader!") and spread puff pieces referring to such buzzwords as an "arms race" to lure the Pentagon into more insane contracts. The US Army contractors can make trillion of dollars - money created out of soaring debt, shouldered by American taxpayers (or offspring of theirs).
So what will happen to the Microsofters who lose their job? How many lost their job or contract (the latter term lets them hide the true scale of corporate layoffs; the media caught up with that)? 30,000+ Microsoft layoffs this year? Definitely well over 20,000, at least by our tally....
Earlier today we mentioned "The Microsoft Effect", a mindset floating the idea (FUD) that nothing works but that's ok because it's expected and normal for "tech" and therefore since it all sucks there is no point in exploring other options and one should just stay with Microsoft. It's a kind of enforced apathy or defeatism and yet very prevalent. "I also think that it's part of the various campaigns like the one still running which is distorting log4j's relevance," one person said to us.
Right now Microsoft (or Microsofters) is trying to sell this illusion that GNU/Linux is extremely unsafe [1, 2]. They've definitely ramped up the ridiculous attack pieces. We see it every this month. They attribute to "Linux" things that aren't Linux or blame breaches on "Linux" for systems not updated for over half a decade! The exploits aren't even targeting Linux. Sometimes the administrators install malware themselves!
Come on, who are you folks kidding?
Consider this new example ("Krasue RAT Malware: A New Threat to Linux Systems"). It's not new and it impacts not Linux but Apache, userspace etc. (we rebutted this before)
How would readers react of the media blamed "Windows" for Adobe Photoshop-caused breaches, taking advantage of Photoshop installations that have not been updated for 5 years despite critical (and known) flaws? And yes, Photoshop runs outside Windows too, adding to the ridiculousness of such an assertion.
Focus on Microsoft's collapse and be wary of "Linux" stigmatisation attempts. Companies and governments should not stay with Windows (legacy, burning platform); it's objectively dangerous and "Linux" is not "equally unsafe". █
'We recommend that we *informally* plant the bug of FUD in their ears. "Have you heard about problems with DR DOS?"'
--Internal Microsoft communication [PDF]