Techrights
Microsoft's Demise in the Global News Cycle is Rather Telling
Posted by Roy Schestowitz on Oct 02, 2023,
updated Oct 02, 2023
THIS past weekend I decided to write about a conspicuous lack of Microsoft in GNU/Linux sites some time later in the summer (this year), especially the sections that cover HowTos. This is a refreshing change because in prior years we kept seeing obnoxious articles echoing lies such as "Microsoft loves Linux" (Phoronix has just done something to that effect, as usual) or telling people how to install proprietary software (and spyware) such as Visual Studio Code. We hardly see this anymore. We don't know the reason, but it mostly stopped.
It should be noted that Microsoft is, in general, no longer prominent or dominant in news headlines. Maybe that's due to major cuts in the company's "media" budget. In past years (or the past 2-3 decades) Microsoft was everywhere in tech news. It was hard to avoid. Nowadays we're more likely to see headlines about the As (Amazon and Apple) than about Microsoft. It's rather mystifying; this curious change comes after a paid-for media SPAM campaign for chaffbots - a stunningly noisy deluge of 'articles' that ended up in deep Microsoft losses* and an anti-climatic finish.
Speaking of Microsoft in Linux sites, "there is no software which uses OOXML," it should be said about this new article from Igor, "not even MSO" (Microsoft Office), an associate noted. Why don't more people get it? We said it dozens of times 15 or so years ago. This shows that people forget or incorrectly remember the past. It's a good thing that we're restoring our archives, which contain many articles about this subject. We don't need OOXML compatibility because OOXML exists only in theory. We need to tell people to abandon proprietary software and dump Microsoft, then adopt OpenDocument Format (ODF), not whatever "OOXML" happens to be. █
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- Just because many people gave the chaffbots a try doesn't mean Microsoft profited. There was never a business case or a "business model" for this. Microsoft is acting like "crypto bros" (frauds), pretending to be wasting a ton of energy as if that's the equivalent of profits rather than hefty power bills. To be profitable one will need efficiency. It should also be noted that from Microsoft's point of view, "paying" the bills of "open" HEY HI (a so-called 'investment') is a net loss, not a "win". It did nothing for Azure except cost a lot of money. It helped fake "usage" numbers (not clients).