Microsoft Accused of Blackmailing UK Officials Supporting Open Document Format

A little history, for the forgetful:

http://techrights.org/2015/05/25/microsoft-bullies/

And yet, Mark Shuttleworth wants to sign business deals with them.

well, one way to reduce bullying is to engage in meaningful interaction with the bully. bullying occurs because the bully feels threatened. by signing business deals the threat is reduced because, hey, there is money to be made...

greetings, eMBee.

> well, one way to reduce bullying is to engage in meaningful interaction with the bully.

I don't even see it as a bullying thing. I simply see it as unethical, and would avoid entering into any business relationship with a company engaged in such behavior.

And that Sir, is the problem with the corporate form of business. It promotes/encourages unethical behavior.

Not that people need any help in that regard.

> And that Sir, is the problem with the corporate form of business. It promotes/encourages unethical behavior.

It all depends on the ethics of those at the top of any organization, irregardless of how it's formed. Those in leadership positions decide whether they want to be good or evil.

@mbaehrlxer,

>> well, one way to reduce bullying is to engage in meaningful interaction with the bully. bullying occurs because the bully feels threatened.

For Political Diplomacy, I think that your "meaningful interaction" with bullies is nothing more than Appeasement.

>> by signing business deals the threat is reduced because, hey, there is money to be made...

For Business, yielding to bullies' threats is called EXTORTION!

2c

> And yet, Mark Shuttleworth wants to sign business deals with them.

And RH wanted to give them the right to yay or nay kernels for UEFI...

To which Torvalds made a certain comment:

https://lkml.org/lkml/2013/2/21/228

The corporate form of business promotes unethical people to the top. The bigger the corporation, the more true this becomes. It's not exactly that the people are unethical that pushes them to the top; it's their willingness to adopt a 'money is the only thing' corporate outlook, which amounts to the same thing. Money can't be use as a basis for an accurate ethical or moral compass.

I don't think privately held corps are doomed to this unethical behavior. But publicly held corps definitely seem to be.

Yes, I was talking about public corporations. I should have stipulated that.