microsoft.html (8259B)
1 <!--#include virtual="/server/header.html" --> 2 <!-- Parent-Version: 1.96 --> 3 <!-- This page is derived from /server/standards/boilerplate.html --> 4 <!--#set var="TAGS" value="essays cultural evils" --> 5 <!--#set var="DISABLE_TOP_ADDENDUM" value="yes" --> 6 <title>Is Microsoft the Great Satan? 7 - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title> 8 <!--#include virtual="/philosophy/po/microsoft.translist" --> 9 <!--#include virtual="/server/banner.html" --> 10 <!--#include virtual="/philosophy/ph-breadcrumb.html" --> 11 <!--GNUN: OUT-OF-DATE NOTICE--> 12 <!--#include virtual="/server/top-addendum.html" --> 13 <div class="article reduced-width"> 14 <h2>Is Microsoft the Great Satan?</h2> 15 16 <div class="infobox"> 17 <p><em>This article was given a major rewrite in 2009. 18 The <a href="/philosophy/microsoft-old.html">old version</a> is also 19 available.</em></p> 20 </div> 21 <hr class="thin" /> 22 23 <p>Many people think of Microsoft as the monster menace of the 24 software industry. There is even a specific campaign to boycott 25 Microsoft. This feeling has intensified since Microsoft expressed 26 active hostility towards free software.</p> 27 28 <p>In the free software movement, our perspective is different. We 29 see that Microsoft is doing something that mistreats software users: 30 making software <a href="/philosophy/categories.html#ProprietarySoftware"> 31 proprietary</a> and thus denying users their rightful freedom. But 32 Microsoft is not alone in this; many other companies do the same thing 33 to the users. If other companies manage to dominate fewer users than 34 Microsoft, that is not for lack of trying.</p> 35 36 <p>This is not meant to excuse Microsoft. Rather, it is meant as a 37 reminder that Microsoft is the natural development of a software 38 industry based on <a href="/philosophy/free-software-even-more-important.html">keeping 39 users divided and subjugating them</a>. When criticizing Microsoft, 40 we should not focus so narrowly on Microsoft that we let other 41 proprietary software developers off the hook.</p> 42 43 <p>When we reject Microsoft's proprietary software, that is not a 44 boycott. The word “boycott” means rejection, as a 45 protest, of products that are otherwise acceptable. Rejecting a 46 product because it hurts you is not a boycott, just ordinary 47 rationality. To maintain your freedom, you need to 48 reject the software that takes away freedom, regardless of who developed 49 it or who distributes it.</p> 50 51 <p>There is no need to reject Microsoft non-software products, or 52 services that you can use without proprietary software. (When you use 53 a web service, whether Microsoft's or not, watch out for 54 <a href="/philosophy/javascript-trap.html">nonfree JavaScript 55 programs</a> that it may try to slip into your browser.) When 56 Microsoft releases free programs, which it occasionally does, they are 57 acceptable in theory. Alas, most of them depend fundamentally on 58 Microsoft proprietary software, which we do need to reject, and that 59 makes them useless for anyone that chooses to live in freedom.</p> 60 61 <p>In the “Halloween documents,” leaked in October 1998, 62 Microsoft executives stated an intention to use various methods to 63 obstruct the development of free software: specifically, designing 64 secret protocols and file formats, and patenting algorithms and 65 software features.</p> 66 67 <p>These obstructionist policies were not new: Microsoft, and many 68 other software companies, had been doing them for years. Secrecy 69 and patents have obstructed us greatly, and they may be more damaging 70 in the future. For the most part, the companies' main motivation in 71 doing these things is to attack each other; now, it seems, we are 72 specifically targeted. Microsoft is using its patents directly to 73 <a href="https://www.redhat.com/about/news/archive/2009/9/microsoft-and-patent-trolls"> 74 attack the free software community</a>, and our community is fighting 75 back.</p> 76 77 <p>But Microsoft's patents are not the only patents that threaten us 78 (and software developers and users generally)—consider the harm 79 that the MP3 patents have done. Thus, defending against specific 80 attacks is necessary but not sufficient. The only full solution is 81 to <a href="https://endsoftwarepatents.org/">eliminate software 82 patents</a>. 83 </p> 84 85 <p>Other Microsoft practices specifically harmful to the adoption of 86 free software are the ones designed to build up social inertia that 87 obstructs migration to GNU/Linux. For instance, when Microsoft 88 “donates” copies of Windows to schools, it converts these 89 schools into tools for implanting a dependence on Windows. There are 90 indications that Microsoft systematically plans these 91 activities <a href="http://techrights.org/wiki/index.php/EDGI"> as 92 a campaign against the adoption of GNU/Linux</a>.</p> 93 94 <p>Each Windows “upgrade” augments Microsoft's power over 95 the users; Microsoft plans it that way. And each one is a step 96 forward in malicious features, which 97 include <a href="https://www.defectivebydesign.org/">Digital Restrictions 98 Management</a> and back doors. So the FSF runs campaigns to warn 99 users against “upgrading” 100 to <a href="http://badvista.fsf.org/">Windows Vista</a> 101 and <a href="http://windows7sins.org/">Windows 7</a>. We aim to reduce 102 the amount of inertia they will create.</p> 103 104 <p>We don't hate Microsoft, and we don't consider it the Great Satan. 105 But we do recognize it as the company that has separated more users 106 from their freedom than any other, and a powerful avowed enemy of 107 computer users' freedom. We act accordingly.</p> 108 </div> 109 110 </div><!-- for id="content", starts in the include above --> 111 <!--#include virtual="/server/footer.html" --> 112 <div id="footer" role="contentinfo"> 113 <div class="unprintable"> 114 115 <p>Please send general FSF & GNU inquiries to <a 116 href="mailto:gnu@gnu.org"><gnu@gnu.org></a>. There are also <a 117 href="/contact/">other ways to contact</a> the FSF. Broken links and other 118 corrections or suggestions can be sent to <a 119 href="mailto:webmasters@gnu.org"><webmasters@gnu.org></a>.</p> 120 121 <p><!-- TRANSLATORS: Ignore the original text in this paragraph, 122 replace it with the translation of these two: 123 124 We work hard and do our best to provide accurate, good quality 125 translations. However, we are not exempt from imperfection. 126 Please send your comments and general suggestions in this regard 127 to <a href="mailto:web-translators@gnu.org"> 128 <web-translators@gnu.org></a>.</p> 129 130 <p>For information on coordinating and contributing translations of 131 our web pages, see <a 132 href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations 133 README</a>. --> 134 Please see the <a 135 href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations README</a> for 136 information on coordinating and contributing translations of this article.</p> 137 </div> 138 139 <!-- Regarding copyright, in general, standalone pages (as opposed to 140 files generated as part of manuals) on the GNU web server should 141 be under CC BY-ND 4.0. Please do NOT change or remove this 142 without talking with the webmasters or licensing team first. 143 Please make sure the copyright date is consistent with the 144 document. 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