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Posted in Europe, GNU/Linux, Microsoft, Vista 7, Windows at 9:04 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Microsoft Switzerland may still be playing dirty as people in charge of GNU/Linux migrations find their way out
THE government of Switzerland was sued by many vendors for falling into Microsoft’s pocket — a tough subject which we previous covered in:
Microsoft Sued Over Its Corruption in Switzerland, Microsoft Debt RevisitedCan the United Kingdom and Hungary Still be Sued for Excluding Free Software?3 New Counts of Antitrust Violation by Microsoft?Is Microsoft Breaking the Law in Switzerland Too?Microsoft Uses Lobbyists to Attack Holland’s Migration to Free Software and Sort of Bribes South African Teachers Who Use WindowsZDNet/eWeek Ruins Peter Judge’s Good Article by Attacking Red Hat When Microsoft Does the CrimeWeek of Microsoft Government Affairs: a Look Back, a Look AheadLawsuit Against Microsoft/Switzerland Succeeds So Far, More Countries/Companies Should Follow SuitLatest Reports on Microsoft Bulk Deals Being Blocked in Switzerland, New ZealandSwiss Government and Federal Computer Weekly: Why the Hostility Towards Free Software?Switzerland and the UK Under Fire for Perpetual Microsoft EngagementsLawsuit Over Alleged Microsoft Corruption in Switzerland Escalates to Federal CourtWhen Microsoft-Only/Lock-in is Defined as “Technology”
Some of the posts above contain links to other bits of evidence which show Microsoft’s unethical and at times illegal activities in the country (concerning OOXML too).
There is a new Slashdot story linking to an article in German. As expected, there is another side to this story but it is not properly explored or told (we first mentioned this story two and a half years ago or more). The automated translation is poor and details are very limited. One of our readers has looked for additional information and a discussion took place some minutes ago (log below with typos not corrected and unrelated stuff not removed to avoid distraction). If anybody can add information about this subject, please share in IRC or in the comments. We expect the matter to be discussed in the news next week (English-speaking press) and we try to accumulate as much information as possible in preparation for it. █
=> ↺ Slashdot story | ↺ an article in German | two and a half years ago or more
=> /
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twittergood morningSep 19 13:37schestowitzHiSep 19 13:37twitterSlashdot had a trolly story yesterday about an apparently failed migration http://linux.slashdot.org/story/10/09/18/0239243/Swiss-Canton-Abandons-Linux-Migration?from=rssSep 19 13:38TechrightsBot-trTitle: Slashdot Linux Story | Swiss Canton Abandons Linux Migration .::. Size~: 182.34 KBSep 19 13:38twitterany idea what that is all about?Sep 19 13:38schestowitzWhat’s the rebuttal to it?Sep 19 13:39schestowitzI didn’t see the commentrsSep 19 13:39schestowitzSomeone in identica linked to thisSep 19 13:39twitterI did not look into it, comments at Slashdot are not reliable or easy to look throughSep 19 13:39schestowitzThe story did not mention intervention by Microsoft (could be omission)Sep 19 13:39schestowitzMaybe they were offered a ‘special deal’, but one needs to ask those at the scenes, not epeculateSep 19 13:40schestowitzMicrosoft did this in MunichSep 19 13:40twitterDo you know the author? I’m susupicious.Sep 19 13:40twitter“Open Source” at HeiseSep 19 13:40schestowitzTo send a “Warning” example to anyone else who ‘dares’ to show a Linux success storySep 19 13:40twitteris it another one of those fake Open Source columnsSep 19 13:40twitter?Sep 19 13:40schestowitzHeise is relaibleSep 19 13:40schestowitzNo, not fakeSep 19 13:40schestowitzWorth seeing what people on the scene have to saySep 19 13:41schestowitzAnd to what extent this is trueSep 19 13:41schestowitzThere was a similar story last week in FranceSep 19 13:41twitterI could not tell because I don’t read German and the translated page is gibberishSep 19 13:41twitterWhat does come out of the story does not make much sense. The revolts are over applications, most of which probably won’t run on Windows 7 which they run back to.Sep 19 13:42-TRIdentica/#techrights-[royhugo/@royhugo] ♺ @jerezim: To illustrate your posts about the #GalloReport: http://ur1.ca/1obc4 #CopyrightRepression (call! http://ur1.ca/0juns) → I ♥ itSep 19 13:42TechrightsBot-trTitle: File:Gallo Report private-copyright-CRS.png – La Quadrature du Net .::. Size~: 17.86 KBSep 19 13:42TechrightsBot-trTitle: ur1 Generator .::. Size~: 1.93 KBSep 19 13:42twitterHeise also mentioned Outlook, which is a real piece of garbage. It’s hard to imagine someone making something that sucks worse than Outlook.Sep 19 13:43schestowitzLockinSep 19 13:43schestowitzBut…Sep 19 13:43schestowitzThey need to invest to escape itSep 19 13:44schestowitzSimilar story in ViennaSep 19 13:44schestowitzQuestion is, why was the CIO resigning?Sep 19 13:44schestowitzWas he pressure like Quinn for example?Sep 19 13:44schestowitzMicrosoft often puts some moles around these people and then cause them troubleSep 19 13:44schestowitzGates Foundation does the same thingSep 19 13:44schestowitzThey toss out those who stand in its waySep 19 13:44twitterLockin is trouble but the sooner you get out, the more you save.Sep 19 13:45twitterand it’s not so badSep 19 13:45schestowitzOr cut their research fundingSep 19 13:45schestowitzWell…Sep 19 13:45schestowitzAll I can say is, if you find out something beyond what /, say, let us knowSep 19 13:45schestowitzIt’s a Heise/Slashdot information ‘monopoly’ on this storySep 19 13:46twitterI’m working in a Windows office and I’m able to get what I need from legacy apps through Windows terminal services.Sep 19 13:46schestowitzI didn’t get to see an independent report… yetSep 19 13:46twitterOK, thanks, that’s what I wanted to know. There are a lot o missing details and the problems I mentioned above.Sep 19 13:47twitterWindows 7 will bring all sorts of pain to places using XP. I can’t imagine how nasty a move from gnu/linux to Windows 7 would be.Sep 19 13:48twitterI’m told that both samba and rdp are broken in Vista/Windows 7, so gnu/linux won’t work in a place like that – complete shut out.Sep 19 13:49-TRIdentica/#techrights-[glynmoody/@glynmoody] Redefining the Great Wall – http://bit.ly/axmhF9 “more accurately translated into English as ‘The Great Town’”: interesting #chinaSep 19 13:49TechrightsBot-trTitle: Redefining the Great Wall .::. Size~: 91.21 KBSep 19 13:49twitterok, comments from Slashdot. Maxwell’s Demon says, “Note that 80% of the users were satisfied with the new desktop, and a further 10% just complained about transient problems.”Sep 19 13:53twitterAnother big mistake, they made the decision to migrate in 2001 but only started to migrate in 2006. That gave the Microsoft people lots of time to make trouble.Sep 19 14:00schestowitz OK, thanks, that’s what I wanted to know. There are a lot o missing details and the problems I mentioned above.Sep 19 14:01schestowitzI haven’t even mentioned this yetSep 19 14:01schestowitzNot a single article in EnglishSep 19 14:01schestowitztwitter: maybe you can accumulate this infoSep 19 14:01schestowitzThen write an article with link to backing claimSep 19 14:02schestowitzTo post a rebuttal to this piece, which is in German onlySep 19 14:02schestowitzReaders would appreciate the other sideSep 19 14:02-TRIdentica/#techrights-[richslxh/@richslxh] @pookito I think it would be a shame to see an established distro like Mandriva disappear. It has a sound community.Sep 19 14:02twitterI can look around, but I think information will be lacking in English.Sep 19 14:02twitterLike I said, it’s very trolly.Sep 19 14:03schestowitzThere’s already one thing of importanceSep 19 14:14schestowitzLike how many people were pleasedSep 19 14:14schestowitzBut I don’t have linksSep 19 14:14schestowitzAnd it needs to be suimmarised concisely, I thinkSep 19 14:14schestowitzThen we can published a more complete storySep 19 14:15twitterI hate Slashdot’s nasty java script. It does not work with Konq 3.5, so I have to pull up iceweasel.Sep 19 14:17-TRIdentica/#techrights-[richslxh/@richslxh] @pookito So far it looks like they’re getting pretty organised and the future looks good if they can maintain the same standard.Sep 19 14:22twitterHere’s an interesting comment from an AC. The problem with Linux and (F)OSS in Switzerland is manifold:- Microsoft has a strong lobbying group in Switzerland that figuratively “bought” several members of the parliament (even members of the socialist party, e.g. Mrs Pascale Bruderer, who worked for Microsoft Switzerland for a couple of years)Sep 19 14:23twitter- Microsoft’s tentacles even reach out to the Federal Council (Microsoft has strong ties to the current President of the Swiss Confederation, Mrs Doris Leuthard)Sep 19 14:23twitter- Mr Stefan Meierhans, Swiss “Preisüberwacher” (“Mr Price”, chief of one of the Swiss antitrust authorities), is a former PR expert and lobbyist of Microsoft Switzerland. He was appointed by Mrs Doris Leuthard (surprise, surprise).Sep 19 14:23twitter- A couple of days ago, Mrs Leuthard announced the establishment of a new eEconomy Board [e-economy.ch] organization that is supposed to offer IT advice to the Swiss government and its related organizations. The appointed chief of this organization is the current CEO of Microsoft Switzerland, Mr Peter Waser. Other representatives of big US closed source software vendors are part of the board, but not a single representative of a local opeSep 19 14:23twitterend interesting commentSep 19 14:24twitterMaxwells Demon again, “The windows data base they were speaking about was a product named “Konsul” (a proprietary data base developed by a swiss company). No, I didn’t hear about that data base before either (I had to google it to find out it was a swiss product, although I suspected it due to the name), and of course it got lost in the Google translation.”Sep 19 14:26-TRIdentica/#techrights-[mohanpram/@mohanpram] “Sent from Ubuntu” signature to be added to all mail sent from Evolution? http://ur1.ca/1obu3 (via @omgubuntu)Sep 19 14:30-TRIdentica/#techrights-[pietercolpaert/@pietercolpaert] http://ur1.ca/1obud – Report of the #iRail meet-up 17th of September. Thanks for showing up, we’ll keep you postedSep 19 14:30TechrightsBot-trTitle: “Sent from Ubuntu” signature to be added to all mail sent from Evolution? .::. Size~: 30.07 KBSep 19 14:30TechrightsBot-trTitle: iRail meet-up: Report « Bon sans nom .::. Size~: 24.8 KBSep 19 14:30schestowitztwitter: could you summarise all these points?Sep 19 14:31schestowitzI can make a reader’s article based on that todaySep 19 14:31schestowitzTo counter the AstroTurfing I see with this storySep 19 14:31schestowitzSwitzerland’s govt. was suedSep 19 14:31twitteroften quoted troll hairyfeet talks about how cheap windows is, how wonderful AD is and how gnu/linux is only good for niche applications.Sep 19 14:31schestowitzFor signing illegally a Microsoft dealSep 19 14:32twitterhmm, I’m short on time and don’t think I can get it done today.Sep 19 14:32schestowitzOK, maybe later?Sep 19 14:32schestowitzIt’s maybe a case …Sep 19 14:32schestowitzNever mindSep 19 14:32schestowitzI’ll use what you put hereSep 19 14:32-TRIdentica/#techrights-[royhugo/@royhugo] it seems like folks at #diaspora forgot the principle “release early, release often” http://is.gd/fhZ2lSep 19 14:32-TRIdentica/#techrights-[gbraad/@gbraad] watching #Discovery’s Into the Universe with #StephenHawking on our !dreambox http://is.gd/fhZ52Sep 19 14:32schestowitzAnd summaris thatSep 19 14:32TechrightsBot-trTitle: Trouble with Diaspora – Steve’s Blog .::. Size~: 35.29 KBSep 19 14:32TechrightsBot-trTitle: http://file.status.net/identica/gbraad-20100919T133202-h9fenwy.png – Identi.ca .::. Size~: 8.97 KBSep 19 14:32twitterthanks, I’m busy moving.Sep 19 14:32schestowitz_logokSep 19 14:33twitterI’ve lived in this house for nine years and have lots of junk to pack.Sep 19 14:33schestowitzI’ll use the quotes and allSep 19 14:33schestowitzFrom the loggerSep 19 14:33twittercheck you latter, thanks for all the good work.Sep 19 14:33schestowitzI’m putting the log aside to arrange laterSep 19 14:33schestowitzLots of posts next week…Sep 19 14:33twitterI do make time to read. :)Sep 19 14:33
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