● 01.02.09
●● It’s Not a Donation, It’s Addictionware
Posted in Finance, Free/Libre Software, GNU/Linux, Microsoft at 8:37 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Telling apart good deeds from dumping
An issue that we alluded to about a week ago is Microsoft's endowment to schools, which is intended to just make more children dependent on Windows and Office. In turn, when entering employment, Microsoft’s products will be favoured by these students as a direct result of this… and also be paid for, so it’s really an investment, not a donation. Moreover, it is government-based promotion of software that denies people’s freedom.
This is not education, it’s subjugation.
This cycle of drugware (or “addictionware”) carries on, but Microsoft characterises the addiction of children as a “donation” while trying — or daring rather — to claim credit for it.
In today’s economy, as more people are finding themselves on the other side of the workforce, or unemployed, Microsoft is reconfirming its commitment to ensuring that people have the tools and the skills to be a more productive citizen and a better employee.Microsoft understands the importance of technology job skills in today’s downsizing economy. In the last five years, Microsoft has given and matched employee gifts totaling more than $85.9 million in cash, curriculum and software to nonprofits throughout Illinois that help people in underserved neighborhoods gain workplace skills.“It’s our goal at Microsoft to make sure that everyone has access to develop the technology skills needed to compete in today’s work environment,” said Shelley Stern, Microsoft’s citizenship director for the Central Region.
By “workplace skills” they refer to memorisation of menu layouts in Microsoft’s overpriced products that limit interoperability and mobility, by design.
“By “workplace skills” they refer to memorisation of menu layouts in Microsoft’s overpriced products that limit interoperability and mobility, by design.”Microsoft’s treatment of education is a farce. It mistreats/harms those who are supposedly educated and spins it as a positiver thing. As stated among these comments, “The marginal cost of the additional copies of each piece of donated software is mere pennies, but they claim hundreds of dollars. This is akin to stealing from taxpayers, as these are deductible as charitable donations and decrease their tax liability.”
Here is a new example of Microsoft ‘helping’ a foundation in Malta, using the notorious anti-GNU/Linux programme, better known as “Unlimited Potential.” The people of the foundation could happily use Free software and be in control of their destiny, but Microsoft stepped in.
Microsoft Malta, under the Unlimited Potential Scheme, supported Richmond Foundation by donating software which will enhance the operations of this non-governmental and non-profit making organisation.
It’s almost amusing that the author calls Unlimited Potential a “Scheme”, because that’s just what it is. We wrote about this scheme before [1, 2, 3, 4] and explained how it suffocates both users and competition. █
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