Bonum Certa Men Certa

It Feels Like IBM and Canonical Are Intentionally Not Promoting GNU/Linux on Desktops/Laptops (Given Yet Another Golden - Albeit Missed - Opportunity)

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Dec 22, 2023

Portrait of a Forest Fire Fighter

One day ago: Red Hat (IBM) 'Principal Product Manager' Nikhil Mungale is Pushing Windows Today in RedHat.com

Two days ago: Canonical Nowadays Shamelessly Behaving Like a Division of Microsoft, Selling Notorious Proprietary Software, Back Doors, and TPM/DRM

LAST week we wrote (here and in the sister site too) about Microsoft leaving Windows Vista 10 users to rot. Or alternatively, ripping them off for security patches at a time of financial perils (worldwide). Should poor people be left with known and actively-exploited 'bug doors'? Is that Microsoft's vision for the world???

"Move to GNU/Linux then," says a rational person. Or even to a BSD...

Who will tell the media about it? Canonical? IBM?

Nope, they're too busy shilling Windows and Microsoft's proprietary 'apps' (spyware), clown computing, and rancid philosophy...

They've moreover helped Microsoft with restricted boot, which further complicates if not technically prohibits putting any GNU/Linux distro on a so-called 'Windows PC' (no such thing; a PC is hardware, Windows is not).

Forest Fire: Forest Burning into the Night

According to news reports [1, 2] (some in Daily Links already), Microsoft's latest decision is an attack on the planet, on the environment too! Don't ask the Linux Foundation to comment on that because this utterly rogue foundation gets paid by Microsoft to greenwash Microsoft. It's deceit and sellout as a "business model" - a model that is of course not sustainable.

One reader of ours argues that Canonical (Ubuntu) and IBM (RHEL) are both too infiltrated by Microsofters to be making hay with this; the reader asserts it is a recurring event as "Microsoft + Intel ratchet down towards hardware level DRM" (TPM and DRM).

The reader asked me: "Would the UK Green Party be interested in reducing 240M kg (~ 240Gg?) of e-waste next year?"

"It' something they should at least debate, and pick a stance one side or the other."

Well, German politicians are in bed with Microsoft (even bagging bribes), so don't expect such debates in the EU or central European nations.

Working to Put Out a Forest Fire

Suffice to say, Microsoft stands to gain the most from sabotage of Free software and it is worth noting that DRM violates the Doctrine of First Sale. That can be revisited some time soon. What Microsoft, Intel and useless brands like "Ubuntu" are doing this month is an attack on the universal consumer's rights, never mind software freedom.

One needn't even be a software freedom 'fanatic' to care about this. This is an attack on all computer users, irrespective of their views on software freedom.

One brand we've not mentioned here is SUSE (of Novell infamy). Well, "open" SUSE wants to outsource control over SUSE PCs to Microsoft... as per their latest (very lengthy) strategy document. Suffice to say, this is a really bad move, wrongly marketed as "security". This is what happens when the media bags money from Microsoft, politicians bag money from Microsoft, companies like Novell/IBM/Canonical sign deals with Microsoft, and Microsofters get hired and then promoted to management positions, where they serve Microsoft while receiving a salary from SUSE/IBM/Canonical.

GNU/Linux needs a stronger and much bigger community element. Microsoft keeps 'buying' corporations like IBM/Canonical, or at least units of theirs which were meant to compete with Windows. Infiltration by Microsofters is an aspect we've long covered here and we have provided many concrete examples.

Microsoft hates Linux. Microsoft need only pretend otherwise to infiltrate the opposition and then derail it from the inside. Microsoft has done this for decades already. Apparently just talking about it would be a "CoC violation" nowadays.

“Linux infestations are being uncovered in many of our large accounts as part of the escalation engagements.”

--Microsoft Confidential

Other Recent Techrights' Posts

Techrights Will Spend the Next Few Years Writing a Lot About Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs)
It's a growing problem
The State of EPO Staff's Health in Rijswijk or The Hague
We're going to cover the EPO some more later in the month
NVIDIA Corp Lost 36% of Its "Value" Since Cheeto Inauguration, But "Gen Hey Hi" (GenAI) is Totally Not a Bubble
Selling loads of unneeded hardware based on hysterical hype; like selling shovels during a Gold Rush
 
Open Source Initiative (OSI) Privacy Fiasco in Detail: What Was Reported to the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA)
We hope to finish this whole lot within a week, then move on to election, lobbying etc.
Links 05/04/2025: Tariffs Backfiring, YouTuber Arrested, X/Twitter Set to be Fined
Links for the day
Gemini Links 05/04/2025: Offline is For Everyone, Copyright Colonialism, and More
Links for the day
Links 05/04/2025: TikTok Unsold (Still), Royal Society is Dead
Links for the day
GNU/Linux Growing in East Asia, Windows by Default No More?
GNU/Linux is now on the shelf
Slopwatch: Anti-Linux 'Articles' From Linux-Hostile LLMs
It is almost always negative things and nobody can be held responsible for it except the charlatans prompting the LLMs
Links 05/04/2025: Fentanylware (TikTok) "Sale Looks Highly Imminent" (US), Stock Market Drowning in Panic
Links for the day
Gemini Links 05/04/2025: Moving Plants, No to Smartwatches, RAID Hygiene
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, April 04, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, April 04, 2025
Techrights Has Dealt With More Potent SLAPPs Than Violent Microsofters Begging to Hide What They Did to Women
I became accustomed to SLAPPs
Links 04/04/2025: Fury in South Korea, Flight MH370 Remains Mystery
Links for the day
Gemini Links 04/04/2025: Anger and Raspberry Pi CM4
Links for the day
Links 04/04/2025: LLM Slop Bubble Bursting and Korea Music Copyright Association Bans Slop 'Music'
Links for the day
Traf-O-Data, the Company That Jeffrey Epstein's BFF (Bill Gates) (Co)Founded 53 Years and Went Out of Business Due to Heavy Losses
Who will die first, Bill or Microsoft?
Why Microsoft's Shares Sank Almost 20% in Recent Months (the Bubble is Imploding)
verified press reports from the past 24 hours
A Note on SimilarWeb
Or why SimilarWeb is meaningless for more than 99% of the sites on the Web
GNU/Linux Rises to Almost 5% in Algeria While Windows Sinks to All-Time Low
GNU/Linux grew tenfold
Where to Get More Gags
A valued reader recommended that to us
Links 04/04/2025: Tech Stock (Inc. GAFAM) Fall, Google Pretends to Do End-to-End Encrypted Emails (With Google in Control)
Links for the day
IBM Said to be Shutting Down Offices or Sites in the United States
the press can no longer avoid admitting that IBM moves many jobs to India
To Participate in Fedora Diversity You Must Use Proprietary Software
Not for the first time either
LLM Slop as Attack Vector on the Reputation of Linux
The attacks on Linux have escalated to information warfare
Yandex About to Be Three Times Bigger Than Microsoft (Bing) in Asia
That's about 60% of the world's population
Gemini Links 04/04/2025: Decoupling Updates, Elaho as Gemini Client
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, April 03, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, April 03, 2025
Microsoft's Trouble in Africa and Asia
A new all-time high for GNU/Linux
Brett Wilson LLP Reported to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)
The saddest thing in all this is that law firms can maintain high standards shall they wish to
Links 03/04/2025: Tariff Pains and C.D.C. Cuts
Links for the day
StatCounter: Microsoft is Masking a Disaster, It's Way Behind DeepSeek Already and Interest in LLMs Has Waned
it turns out the money "raised" for "Open" "AI" may not even exist at all
Links 03/04/2025: SoftBank Money for Microsoft "Open" "AI" Probably Doesn't Even Exist, Wikimedia Foundation Blasts LLM Nuisance While Microsoft Admits Demand Has Shrunk
Links for the day
Gemini Links 03/04/2025: Patch Panel and Pictures
Links for the day
Islamic Republic of Iran: GNU/Linux at All-time High This Month, Windows Falls to 12%
Vista 10 is up this month despite being "end of life" (EoL) soon
Indonesia: All-Time Highs for GNU/Linux
What's noteworthy right now is the growth of GNU/Linux
statCounter Says GNU/Linux Usage is Up Again (Internationally)
some preliminary April data
Only on April 1st Can the Free Software Foundation Associate With Microsoft's Open Source Initiative (OSI)
We saw some pranks that day linking the FSF to Microsoft (e.g. "endorsing" Windows)
Confirmed in the Mainstream Media: A Lot of Microsoft "Workloads" Were Just LLM Slop (Helping to Fake Growth for Years, as Microsoft Had Paid "Open" "AI" to Become a "Client") and Demand is Rapidly Waning, Datacentres Canceled and/or Shut Down
Anything to facilitate further accounting fraud
Taiwan's Media Covers Closure of Microsoft's "AI" Lab, It's Time to Talk About the Gradual Death of Windows and Implosion of the "AI" Bubble
Earlier this week we showed that mostly Asian media had the 'nerve' to mention Microsoft silently shutting down its 'AI' lab
IBM Gets Rid of Kelly Chambliss as Mass Layoffs Reported in IBM Consulting, IBM Loses Key Contracts/Graft
IBM Consulting has been in disarray lately
More Gains for GNU/Linux, Based on Web Surveys
the Steam site shows rapid growth for "Linux" this month
Slopwatch: Anti-Linux Articles, Not Even Written by Humans
Why aren't Web sites more vocal about this problem?
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, April 02, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, April 02, 2025
Links 03/04/2025: Apple Fined Over Secret Surveillance, "Elegant Writer For A More Civilized Age"
Links for the day