When did something innocent turn from benign (e.g. Charlie Chaplin) to malicious or “warning sign”?

believe I purchased my first (maybe only) bowtie in 2001 (possibly 2000) at a shop called Manchester Wippell (of Manchester). Or maybe “J Wippell & Co. Manchester”; some people I know call them “Wippells” (with an S) . There’s a very long history to these folks. It moreover seems that they still exist and operate in the same address (9-21 Princess St, Greater, Manchester M2 4DN). They’ve survived a lot. The name and reputation matter. I also got a silk handkerchief there once.

I recently wrote about James Bottomley, the Microsofter who helps Microsoft inject back doors and kill switches into Linux.

Bottomley became “known” for wearing bowties; it’s like he attempted to make these garments of clothing/apparel his “signature”, I honestly don’t know why (the bizarre logic of it).

Like “normal” ties, they serve no practical function, they only ever get in the way (e.g. inside some food), but those are class or hierarchy symbols (worn at the expense of one’s comfort).

I dress casually every day. I don’t try to project “value” using cotton and leather.

Like many of his background, Bottomley seems pretentious and uncarting about Software Freedom, he’s just chasing money. Money, money, money.

Because of this man (Bottomley), I nowadays associate bowties (in the context of software) with bad people. I think I’ve now worn a bowtie for well over a decades.

Even when Bottomley was at IBM/Red Hat/Novell I already didn’t like and didn’t trust him. I had good reasons to feel that way.

The old pool

think today’s weather qualifies as summer. Maybe it’s one last chance to sunbathe. I took advantage.

We got some good news this afternoon. GNU/Linux replaces Windows and Microsoft is in general perishing while lying to shareholders about the potential of slop.

At this point in time it seems like Microsoft’s decline is truly irreversible.

Silent layoffs

here are LOTS of Microsoft layoffs right now. Insiders know it, but they cannot speak about it (too risky). Media does not report these. It’ll conveniently – in an arse-covering fashion – dismiss that as “rumours” and say, no WARN notices. But Microsoft bypasses the law. It says, “we’ll fire you unless you agree to this ‘voluntary exit’ agreement, then sign an NDA to keep quiet and outwardly happy about it.”

Same for PIPs and LITE.

IBM and Microsoft have TENS OF THOUSANDS of layoffs this year. Unlike Oracle, they hide these.

Below are articles from 2026:

This makes no sense.

reat! So statCounter altered what it is measuring and thus, overnight, it puts Windows like 10-15% higher than days ago. Maybe it’s time to rely on Clownflare’s data more. At least it’s more consistent over time.

Or maybe… wait a few more days for statCounter to sort out the data and make things more consistent.

Windows is perishing, so…

ROWING up in the 1980s, Microsoft was mostly irrelevant, but by the 90s it was everywhere. Now it’s going away gradually. It tries to hide the mass layoffs; it’s fashionable now…

Silent layoffs are still layoffs.

his morning I wrote about “voluntary” (NOT!) layoffs at Microsoft.

I said: “They can’t catch a break, can they?”

I was using wordplay because it is summer’s break.

A friend asked, “why should shoddy, subpar, proprietary software be given any preferential treatment by groups which don’t have access to the backdoors / bugdoors built into the product(s)?”

He said that “can’t catch a break” looks too much like sympathising with Microsoft.

“It’s good news that the world is giving Microsoft,” the friend said, as well as “its products, and services the
heave ho. What remains, especially in Europe, is how to deal with the leftover microsofters which have displaced as good as all IT departments.”

“Even the idea of a team to support workers to use ICT to their advantage has become foreign due to the persistent pervasiveness of microsoftianism over the IT departments it has displaced.”

Another friend said “it will take a lot of time and effort to get rid of them and to properly train IT people on real technologies again you could talk about a lost generation or two. I’m just glad I started using GNU/Linux in 1997 and abandoned Microsoft in 2002, long before the current move towards GNU/Linux and free software…”

Crossposted from Techrights

10 hours ago:

Last week: Clownflare Sees a Lot of GNU/Linux in China, Unlike statCounter

n the US, the home of Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft (GAFAM), GNU/Linux is said to have exceeded 10% “market share” on “the desktop” (desktops/laptops). Even Clownflare (US) sees that.

What about the world’s second-largest economy (by GDP)?

China said it would reduce its reliance on GAFAM several times over the years, but now there is a timeline and perhaps also a directive/order like in France.

It is hardly surprising that Windows is shedding off userbase all around the world and Microsoft has mass layoffs even during the summer break.

They can’t catch a break, can they?

In India, whose population is estimated to be bigger than China’s (based on the official figures at least; some authorities dispute these because of undocumented residents and distant/detached settlements, nonconfomist societies that reject any census), things are even worse for Microsoft and much better for GNU/Linux.