How Linux is being subverted

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Ein eindrücklicher, wenn auch etwas schwarzmalerischer „State of the Linux“-Artikel:

Linux is in great danger at the moment. That danger started when Microsoft cut their deal with Novell. Many open source advocates recognized this and there was a hue and cry over it. This furor has died down to a large extent and apathy has set in. To combat this the FSF brought out their GPLv3 but this seems to be too little too late.

It now appears that Microsoft have started their (in)famous embrace and conqueror strategy on the Linux front. By cutting the deal with Novell they are admitting the Linux threat to them. By claiming their support for Linux they are effectively and efficiently starting their ownership campaign of the Linux platform. Unless they are stopped then Linux will go the way of Netscape.

With large companies like BMW buying into the Winolux combination of WIndows, NOvell and LinUX they are helping to seal the doom of Linux as a free and open computing foundation. They are opening the door to the commercialisation of Linux where it would just become another Windows package with its own EULA and yearly licensing and support fees.

What many people may have missed is that Microsoft, with the Novell and Xandros deal, have already put a form of EULA on the versions of Linux that these companies produce. Windows uses the EULA as a legal way of forcing its customers to pay for the privilege of not being sued for a copy of their software. That is exactly what the deal with Novell and Xandros does. The customers who purchase the free Linux from those companies then become Microsoft customers.

In this way Linux and many other open source programs are being subverted while everyone sits around like a herd of cows and watches it happen. In fact many open source enthusiasts are helping it to happen by using the SUSE and Xandros distributions. The more people that use these distributions the more power is given to Microsoft to continue their takeover of Linux. Make no doubt about it. That is what Microsoft is trying to do and if effective action is not taken to prevent that then that is what Microsoft will do.

Even the GPLv3 is not phasing Microsoft with them dismissing it as of no importance. The FSF has vowed that this issue will be settled in the courts and it will one way or the other. However the courts are where Microsoft are very skilled and they are quite experienced at it and it is exactly what they want. This is because what Microsoft needs most of all is time to act. Court cases drag on for years and every week that Microsoft has to act just increases its strangle hold on Linux’s throat.

Microsoft is not sitting on their hands like most open source advocates. They are actively seeking and wooing potential companies and customers to further increase and perpetuate their point of view. What open source people can do, what you can do, is cut this off at the root. Refuse to use any SUSE or Xandros related distribution. They may be good distributions. They may be easy to use. That is the honey to catch the bear. Behind that honey is a steel trap waiting to snare your wallet and freedom of software use.

By not using these distributions you are reducing the power that Microsoft has over Linux and those distributions will quickly go the way of Corel’s Linux when they tried the same thing. Linux and open source is the future of computing. Only if we act and vote with our actions will that future become a reality. Otherwise, prepare for the Microsoft Matrix!

via ittoolbox.com