[Video] Leaving Microsoft Behind for the Sake of National Security
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Escaping Microsoft Lock-in
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SO JUST the other day we wrote about Germany and GNU/Linux, in particular taking note of parts of Germany that had decided to abandon Microsoft. That was very well received and welcomed! Many Germans were very happy about it, even ones who do not use GNU/Linux. The very idea that the nation would have more autonomy appealed to the average German. And upon recollection, looking at the country's history, it would be beneficial at several levels, including politically and economically. Think of dependence on the US, NATO, and the EU/Schengen Area.
"About Germany's upgrade to GNU/Linux," an associate has reminded us, "it is always important to refer to the shenanigans which Microsoft perpetrated in Munich and elsewhere. However, looking forward it is essential to point out that with the increased importance of NATO in Europe, the most critical manoeuvre to start with is eliminating Microsoft products across the board. That is a staffing matter, not a technical problem."
We recently mentioned the latest bribery tactics of Microsoft (twice even in the past week). In Munich, Microsoft bribed the government in a number of ways and now we're observing a new pattern (even if the links were omitted on purpose because the articles relay Microsoft's lies, not actual information). The gist of the story is, in an effort to convince countries to outsource everything to Microsoft (US) they leverage buzzwords such as "hey hi" (AU) and "clown", framing "coupon" or "vouchers" or "credits" as "investment" (why not say "donation" too?).
Our associate has caught this new piece about Bill Gates, calling it "yet another bribe, with non-existent money."
We don't typically link to such Microsoft propaganda because we strive to inoculate against the lies. We do not spread the lies if we can avoid that.
Our associate has explained that "with the elimination of Microsoft, it is very critical to ensure that Microsoft design failures are not carried over into FOSS by Microsoft moles. Furthermore, "cyber" warfare has been very hot for more than a decade now. With an already hot "cyber" front in the war, data security is too important to be left to lobbyists for Cisco, Microsoft, Oracle, and other clowns. Sadly Oracle has its origins with a CIA project of the same name and despite the clever backronym does not officially stand for One Rich Asshole Called Larry Elison. The defense establishment fights itself though. You have on the one hand NATO pushing for open standards and, thus by extension, for FOSS. Then on the other hand, you have GCHQ hiring [redacted] and similar to troll and undermine the world's FOSS communities and development. c.f. CALEA2 (and CALEA)."
Microsoft's lobbying and lie campaigns ratcheted up a bit in recent days. After Microsoft got cracked both by China and Russia (not the same incident) we saw a bunch of puff pieces like:
- Microsoft Overhauls Cybersecurity Strategy After Scathing CSRB Report
- Microsoft details broad plan to enhance its cybersecurity practices
- Microsoft organizational changes seek to address security failures
- Microsoft unveils new security features for SOC teams to combat insider threats
- Satya Nadella tells Microsoft employees: Priority is security over new features. Read his complete memo here
There has been lots of other junk like this and some of the above are Microsoft-sponsored 'news' sites.
Remember that it's about the CSRB report. At the time, Microsoft's moles inside the Linux Foundation (or CISA) were trying to change the subject by talking about "Linux" in relation to "back doors" and days ago we saw Microsoft trying to shift attention to other platforms (Android) when its own core infrastructure gets completely cracked all the time, by multiple actors or nations.
Threats to "National Security" aren't some users with an Android phone but Microsoft at the root of things [1, 2]. █