[Bradford] Is Microsoft swallowing linux?

[David Spencer]

> From what I read on Techrights, MIcrosoft  is buying up Linux companies
> and financing linux standards bodies.
> Is this true, is the end in sight for Linux, or will it be like microsoft's
> buyout of Apple where Apple eventually re-emerged ?
> Is it just paranoia on the part of Techrights?

I admire Dr Schestowitz's moral compass, long term commitment
(especially in the face of some of the worst online abuse I have ever
seen), and diligence in keeping a highly valuable archive.
Unfortunately (in my opinion) he does tend to overextrapolate from the
source material. On Techrights, one data point constitutes a trend,
but clicking a crossreference is a voyage into disappointment.

But paradoxically, I don't think Dr Schestowitz is cynical enough.
First, we know exactly what usually happens to acquisitions -- they
lose continuity, they wither and die. This is generally true, but in
Microsoft's case it is always spectacularly true. You can see the life
being squeezed out of Minecraft even before Day One of MS's ownership
at http://www.wired.com/2015/06/minecraft-book-excerpt/

Secondly, I think we should all be delighted to get shut of the venal,
amoral, ungrateful kind of Linux company that would joyously give up
its existence for a quick bung of Microsoft's filthy money. It leaves
more room for the kind of company that would tell Microsoft to bugger
off.

As for standards, well, if this is about the container thing, first, I
repeat, one data point does not constitute a trend; secondly, may I
remind the world we are not sheep and we do not all have to jump on
that stupid broken bandwagon; thirdly, most of the other participants
are just as evil as Microsoft; and fourthly, there's not a cat in
hell's chance that those corporate tossers will manage to produce
anything at all inside three years, let alone anything workable. If
this is *not* about the container thing, well, I apologise, but the
Techrights website is so broken at the moment that I can't see a damn
thing.

-D.