• Not just Apple: Microsoft has been quietly lobbying to kill Right to Repair bills

  Rep. Jeff Morris told iFixit Repair Radio that national Right to Repair legislation was killed by Microsoft, in a piece of horse trading that saw Microsoft backing funding for STEM education in exchange for Right to Repair (and unrelated privacy rules) dying.

• [Repeated] Microsoft played key role in stopping “Right to Repair” in Washington

  He shed some light on the kinds of things Microsoft lobbyists were doing, saying that last year, “Microsoft was going around telling our members that they wouldn’t sell Surface Tablets in Washington any longer if we passed the bill.”

  In our own conversations about the opposition to Right to Repair in Olympia, Microsoft’s full-throated opposition was often brought up by legislators, and it was to clear to us that the company was lobbying extensively against the bill, and was the most high-profile opponent.

• Microsoft is reportedly blocking the 'Right To Repair' bill through lobbying

  According to MSPowerUser, Jeff Morris, a Democrat member of the House of Representatives, has been using its influence to block a bill which, on the face of it, has support across the house and a whopping 87 per cent support amongst US citizens.

  He claims that, according to his sources, Microsoft had offered to support a tax which would be used to fund STEM education, but only if the Right To Repair bill was quietly dropped. A second stipulation surrounding privacy policies was also on the table.

• Microsoft has been quietly lobbying against Right to Repair legislation

  As a device OEM Microsoft has an interest in preventing customers from repairing their own devices, complicating their support and potentially reducing the need to buy a new device.

  87% of consumers however support Right to Repair and flexing their muscle in such an anti-consumer manner is extremely anti-democratic, especially when Microsoft paints themselves as socially responsible.

• TypeFox Ties Cloud-Based IDE to GitHub [Ed: TypeFox should instead offer an alternative to GitHub because it is in NSA PRISM.]

• Open source security GitHub applications you should be using [Ed: Let's pretend that Open Source is the same thing as GitHub and anything not on Microsoft's site simply does not exist]

• Microsoft and BMW want to open up manufacturing tech [Ed: Gross openwashing]

• Microsoft Contributes To Google Chrome Open-Source Code As It Improves Edge 04/09/2019 [Ed: Microsoft builds proprietary software and this is being spun as "contribution" (to surveillance).]

• How to download and install Microsoft Edge based on the open-source Chromium on Windows 10 [Ed: More openwashing of proprietary software from Microsoft; just because it contains others' code doesn't make it "open"]

• VSCodium is a clean VSCode build without the Microsoft customizations [Ed: Microsoft propaganda site MSPoweruser has just called Microsoft surveillance just "Microsoft customizations". Anyway, this is just "free bait" for proprietary MSVS.]

• Which Browser Engine Powers Your Web Browsing—And Why Does It Matter?

• OpenGamma raises $10M in a growth funding round led by Dawn Capital [Ed: openwashing of OpenGamma]

  This open-source approach was designed to disrupt the proprietary software platforms.

• Mad Science: David Ishee And His Open Source DIY Gene Hacking

• Broadband Forum Launches Open Source USP Agent, Fast-Tracking Connected Home Interoperability in the IoT Age

  Broadband Forum announced it will provide an open source USP Agent implementation as it continues to evolve its User Services Platform (USP) to facilitate tomorrow’s Connected Home and accelerate interoperable Internet of Things (IoT) deployments.

• Open-Core Data Science Company Skymind Raises $11.5 Million [Ed: open core means proprietary software with "free bait"]

  San Francisco-based Skymind announced it has raised $11.5 million in a Series A round of funding led by TransLink Capital. ServiceNow, Sumitomo’s Presidio Ventures, UpHonest Capital, and DCode with GovTech Fund also participated in this round along with early investors Y Combinator, Tencent, Mandra Capital, Hemi Ventures, and GMO Ventures. Including this round, Skymind has raised $17.9 million in total funding.

• This open-source e-bike can be built by anyone

• Uber Releases Kraken: An Open Source P2P Docker Registry

• Union of Adobe and Magento highlights role of open source in enterprise digital experience [Ed: No, Adobe has nothing to do with FOSS.]

• Open Source Integrators Provides Expertise on ITAR Projects [Ed: Open Source Integrators (OSI) is 'stealing' the Open Source Initiative's name]

• Open Source Initiative Outlines Interfaces and Issues [Ed: Misleading headline sounds like it talks of the OSI (the Open Source Initiative) but actually talks about a Microsoft- and Facebook-ed openwashing front group (on 'hardware')]

• Goldman’s Trading Floor Is Going Open-Source—Kind of

• Collision offering free tickets for coders active in open source community [Ed: but only if they use Microsoft GitHub. Collision's homepage names: "Peggy Johnson, Executive Vice President, Business Development at Microsoft"; Do not participate in such conferences which discriminate against people who don't use Microsoft.]

  Major North American tech conference, Collision, is offering 2,000 free tickets for software developers that actively contribute to the open source community, in order to attend the event in Toronto taking place in May.

  [...]

  Coders have until April 19 to apply, and can do so by connecting their Github account. Once applications have closed, the top 1,000 open source contributors will each receive two tickets to attend Collision, held in Toronto’s Enercare Centre from May 20 to 23.

• SD Times Open-Source Project of the Week: Azure Data Studio [Ed: SD Times, which Microsoft pays a lot of money to (advertising), helps the openwashing of Microsoft's NSA surveillance platform which is actually highly malicious and opaque]

• New Open Source Tool Formats Big Data for TensorFlow [Ed: Microsoft openwashing surveillance code]

• LinkedIn's newly open-sourced Avro2TF preps data for TensorFlow [Ed: Microsoft reveals how it is spying on people, but there's openwashing]

• CarGurus Engineers Do Their Part with Launch of Open Source Fund [Ed: CarGurus engages in openwashing of a financial endeavour rather than actual development]

• CarGurus gives back: Engineers launch Open Source Fund [Ed: CarGurus keeps calling it Open Source Fund", but it is just riding a buzzword]

• Toyota to make its electrification tech open-source [Ed: More openwashing by Toyota because this isn't about code and liberation]

• Microsoft and BMW develop open IoT platform for manufacturers [Ed: There is nothing "open" about it except the NSA back doors, which are open to intrusion]

• Microsoft teams up with BMW for the IoT-focused Open Manufacturing Platform [Ed: Do you want back doors that the CIA can activate inside your car and carmaker? There is also openwashing here.]

• Backdoor in popular open-source tool put 28 million users at risk [Ed: Anti-FOSS firm with Microsoft connections, Snyk. Back doors are in all of Microsoft's products, but they try to frame FOSS as a back doors issue.]

• Backdoor vulnerability in open source tool exposes thousands of apps to remote code execution [Ed: Microsoft and gang carry on badmouthing FOSS (Snyk in this case). The real back doors are in proprietary software, but Snyk would try to make it sound like a FOSS issue. Amazing spin.]

• Snyk Announces Integration With Bitbucket to Secure End-to-End Developer Workflows

• DevOps Chat: Container Security with WhiteSource Software’s David Habusha [Ed: Anti-FOSS pundit by Alan Shimel (used to attack RMS and FOSS over at IDG several years ago) now entertaining the Microsoft-connected FUD firm WhitesSurce]

• Top 5 New Open Source Security Vulnerabilities in March 2019 [Ed: Microsoft's partner WhiteSource, which makes money from smearing FOSS, keeps celebrating bugs in FOSS]

• DevOps Chat: F5’s NGINX Acquisition, with F5’s Lori MacVittie [Ed: Alan Shimel facilitating the openwashing of "open core" stunts and Microsoft allies from Seattle]

• Microsoft launches Visual Studio 2019 for Windows and Mac [Ed: Microsoft Emil (spent years at Conde Nast lying on Microsoft's behalf) is still pushing proprietary software of Microsoft from another employer. Openwashing in there also. Reminder: Visual Studio is proprietary software and it adds surveillance to code you compile with it, so even by standards of proprietary software is is very malicious and must be avoided. Microsoft uses "open core" (free bait) tactics to entice fools.]

• GA'day, mate: Open the plonk, turn up a banger, Visual Studio 2019 is officially here (don't get too excited, Mac devs) [Ed: El Reg participates in the openwashing of Visual Studio, which is proprietary software (and GitHub is used to advance this openwashing).]

• TypeScript 3.4 is out: Microsoft tweaks programming language to cut build times [Ed: CBS is advertising and openwashing Microsoft traps. People who are new to programming might fall for it.]

• Microsoft Claims Speed Edge With Open Source Python Type Checker [Ed: Microsoft is gradually taking over more aspects of Python; it already bought PyCon and Foundation staff]

• Why corporate acquisitions could be good for the open source community [iophk: "no, they're getting targeted and burned out by CoCs." Article by Pedro Anderson.]

• Not Every (Open Source) Cloud Has A Silver Lining [Ed: Not every law firm attacks FOSS. Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton does. It gives it "business" (sales using fear)]

• ABA review of IoT risks supports open-source security project principles [Ed: The American Bar Association is looking to make money from FOSS FUD]

I’ve been predicting for a while that Microsoft is moving us away from its PC-centric Windows operating system to a cloud-based rental version of Windows.
Now, with the Windows Virtual Desktop beta finally showing up, we’re a step closer to the death of the PC.
I’m old enough to remember how the PC changed everything. Before it, computer users depended on time-sharing systems and dumb terminals, and the companies or schools that owned the centralized computing power called all the shots. After it, we all had our own computing power right on our desks, to do with as we pleased.
The arrival of the beta Windows Virtual Desktop is a harbinger of the end of the PC era. We’re about to take a big step back to the centralised/controlled past.
And maybe that’s OK for most people. I’ve noticed that, even as our lives become ever more centred around technology, fewer people actually are interested in the technology itself. Oh, they love using it, but understanding it at a deep level? Not so much.
Of course, at one time, to get any work done with a computer, you first had to learn a lot, about computers, operating systems, commands and more. Eventually, “friendly” became the most important adverb in computing circles, and we’ve reached the point in user-friendliness that people don’t even talk about it anymore.
Today, Google has shown with its Chrome OS that most of us can pretty much do anything we need to do on a computer with just a web browser.