Genocide Profiteer not War Profiteer
Fuck you Microsoft, if I wasn’t already done with you for completely enshittifying your operating system, I would DEFINITELY be done with you for this.
Fuck off and continue to become a Kodak or Yahoo or other still existing washout company that totally lost the plot.
What happened to Kodak?
Kodak went from being a major player in the photography industry to being completely blindsided by digital photography.
Willfully blind. Eastman Kodak invented the first digital camera in 1975, but decided to focus on their existing, profitable product lines. Clayton Christensen describes the process in The Innovator’s Dilemma.
Yes, this is basically every large US tech company right now
“I’m not interested in arguing” -someone who knows they’re in the wrong, but still holds the power
It is also concerning that you have not apologized to the company, and in fact you have shown no remorse for the effect that your actions have had and will have.
the fucking audacity. i mean, we all knew how it would end, but talk about 5d reverse psychology mindgames
you have not apologized to the company
Writing this should be grounds for a mandatory psych ward commitment
There is no such thing as “free speech” under capitalism.
sounds like you don’t know what free speech is
It doesn’t seem they are using free speech in the same sense as the American first amendment (they may not be from the USA). But i would argue that if companies want to play politics, run countries, and be that integrated in people’s lives then free speech as a concept should extend to companies.
As a not-American we don’t say we have freedom of speech, we say we have protected speech and that is more inline with what you want
Yeah, about not being sent to a gulag for criticising the goberment
Shhhhh… Get out of here with your nuance. Let them screech about the bad private company violating the First Amendment.
It makes the monkeys feel better.
Edit:
That was the opposite of nuance. It was pedantry that deliberately missed the point.
Let them screech about the bad private company violating the First Amendment.
How many billions of dollars in government contracts do you need to receive before the line blurs? Microsoft might as well be a subsidiary of the Federal Bureaucracy, given the role it plays in national security, infrastructure, and data management. The US government is its biggest client by far.
Jerk harder!
As enraging as this whole story is, I don’t think there’s any coming back from ‘you’re a war profiteer’
Yeah, I assume the now-former employee acted with full expectation of losing her job over this. She succeeded at bringing attention to something many people (myself included) hadn’t heard about before, so she at least accomplished that much.
Linux isn’t perfect but I don’t have to put up with that kind of bullshit from the makers of my OS. Glad I switched long ago and never looked back (except for the Windows laptop I keep around for games)
Just out of curiosity, what games do you need a windows machine to play that proton can’t make work on Linux?
A lot of games I want to play with mods, the authors only release Windows installers. A great example is Battletech, the HBS remake. There’s a “BTA advanced” mod I like to run and it takes a lot of screwing around to get it to work properly in Linux, but it’s a few clicks on Windows. I will agree Proton has come a LONG way and some titles are perfect, but I get so little gaming time that when I sit down, I don’t want to fucking around with swapping various Glorious Eggroll versions of Wine, or wondering which version of .net I need to get the game to run under Linux. On Windows it “just works”.
I do have a few titles I play on Linux, but I keep that laptop around just for gaming because I don’t want to mess around. Anecdotally I would say 90% of my games work absolutely perfectly with Proton and it’s mostly mods that screw up the experience.
Yup 100% on point with that. I’d say for me its 95% of my games work absolutely fine through proton. But I have a 500gb windows partition for the 5% that don’t.
For me, its Battlefield. Most of them no longer work on Linux due to EA Anticheat
It’s so freaking annoying that these anti cheats don’t ever work with Linux… I wonder if steam did their own anti cheat that worked for Linux they could get those games to run on it, but it’s a pipedream, it’s too complex and it’s much better to keep the Linux portion of the market growing through making it more accessible to normal users and then getting the anti cheat companies interested in making a version for Linux instead
Thankfully one of the larger anti cheats (EasyAntiCheat) now has native support for the Linux kernel and enabling it is literally just a button for developers. But the problem still lies with kernel level anticheats… in an ideal world we just wouldn’t use anticheats that have to embed themselves in the system so deeply.
In an ideal world the anticheat would be 99% server-side and connections would be done through multicast.
I don’t know why people put up with BS just to play some game.
I guess the neurons that activate in their brains are the same that activate in the brains of smokers that are aware that smoking causes cancer, yet they do it anyway.
One of my frustrations is, if I want to try some dozen games on Itch.io, they all come down as EXEs and it’s not clear how I could quickly set them up for Proton. I understand the 20-clicks method of setting up one game off of Steam, and Lutris helps with well-known launchers like Ubi Connect. But for independent authors, needing to do setup for every EXE is a heavy dealbreaker.
Have you tried using Bottles? Has a default Bottle for “games”. Run the .exe file in the Bottle and it should work.
I was just going to suggest this. Most small indy games from places like itch.io I play using Bottles and it works very well.
The “should” in that sentence is why I keep Windows 11 laptop around. Approximately 100% of the EXEs on there work vs with Photon where it starts up, but I get a bug and then I wonder if that’s a problem with the game, or if I have some setting right.
Now when I want to game, I just game. No more fiddling. The Windows 11 laptop sits quietly in a bag until I want to play a game, I use it for that, and then put it back away until I want to have fun. My workflow has 0% dependency on Windows and that’s how I like it now.
When I review itch games I always advocate for native Linux support. If the devs see it, they will do it. The ones I talk to who haven’t don’t want to put in the effort to learn how to compile it for Linux if barely anyone would use the port.
I only played very few games via itch so far, however using Lutris for them seems to be most straight-forward. Once you connect your account anything you have in your collections should show up and be installable straight through the Lutris client. At least for “Manic Miners” it figured everything out on its own, worked like a charm.
VR is still 99% windows right now, and if people dont appreciate the value of an affordable in-home holodeck after all this time i dont know what to say anymore
Meh, I found VR a gimmic…
It was pita to setup, gave me headaches (from wearing the kit), and “the best” game (Half Life Alyx) had complicated dynamics… so I already forgot what I was supposed to do (after Windows Updates, VR updates, approx. 2 reboots needed… Not to mention Windows updates fkd up my Linux multiboot few times…)
I’m not wearing shit on my face to game.
Not hating on VR but it’s still a far cry from a holodeck.
Biggest turn off for Linux is all the insufferable Linux bros on Lemmy that make me want to avoid anything Linux. I instinctively roll my eyes when I hear the name alone now
I think everyone goes through a zealot period where they have discovered it and want the whole world to get on board. Now the setup works great for me and I do not care who else in the world uses it. My limited exposure to Windows 11 is infuriating and I’m eternally grateful to open source devs that I have a relaxing and functional Linux environment.
“We might not be a good fit.”
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He’s not wrong, but ‘bringing your true self to work’ is something companies like to say but they don’t actually believe.
Well, what did they expect?
They probably expected their employer not to participate in genocide.
What a dummy, right?!?! \s
It was about sending a message.
What message was that? They work for Microsoft a company that has had DOD contracts for at least the last 25-30 years.
They were a war profiteer when this worker got their gig. Why is it a problem now?
Problems can be ongoing or increase in severity. Just because it’s been an issue for a while doesn’t mean it’s too late for change.
Also, some people don’t have the luxury to choose an ethical employer (if they even exist).
If you are in tech getting hired by microsoft you should have options
…maybe.
Or, hear me out, the dude specifically applied for Microsoft with the intention of changing shit.
Do you think a non-executive hire has that ability? That’s a stretch IMO
Uh, yes? It’s not about sending a message inside MS only. It was about sending it out there. See how we’re discussing the story? Are we MS employees? Where’s my 401K?
Ethical options?
You should be able to get hired by someone without defense contracts if that is what bothers you
Direct participation in the military systems for a genocide is a tad further than the military industrial complex.
The message is that people participating in genocide will not be made at the very least very uncomfortable for doing so.
They had IDF contracts for decades as well. Seriously if they had a problem with this and this is not a PR stunt by this person they are choosing an odd time to make this statement.
An active mass genocide is an odd time to make a statement?
Microsoft lied about not supplying the IDF military cloud in the past.
And AI is a far more direct contribution to genocide than excel support.
Plenty of reasons to do it now. And better now than tomorrow.
Yes because their military work has been public for decades and it isn’t as if the IDF just started becoming problematic in 2023.
Literally this
It’s like they are signaling to the world how virtuous they are
A kind of high ground moral messaging if you will
Exactly, I would get if you work for a company that just got involved in the military fields but this is microsoft.
Oh yeah, “modern day slavery has been a problem for years. Why be vocal about it now?”
Look, I am a cynical nobody, so I sometimes think “nothing will ever change.” But some brave souls, more idealistic than me, take these steps with the hope that it will spark change - or at least it will put one more straw in the camel.
So yeah, it’s about sending a message, and I think that’s important.
Cancelled Xbox game pass and installing PopOS. Fuck Microsoft
Gotta draw the line somewhere I guess? Or is this just to make sure a Linux comment makes it into a thread about Microsoft?
I do not see how PopOS would replace Xbox game pass.
With steam it will
The penguin calls, and the good folks answer.
I’ve been trying to reach you about your car’s extended warranty
Have you checked out the gaming for Linux communities on Lemmy?
Got any recommendations?
Edit, I meant to say got, not god 🤣
“play Outer Wilds”
-god, probably
???
I’ve never had an xbox before, so pardon my ignorance. But you can install linux OS’s on xbox?
You can get game pass for PC so, probably that way around
Ah, ok. That makes more sense.
No Linux on Xbox, no
Well, not on a modern Xbox. On the OG XBox however…
Ah, ok. I mean, it doesn’t even make sense, right? Could you image??? So I’ll just pass this info along to whomever it was that was so stupid they thought that was possible…what an idiot!
goes off to find a mirror
Hey, you can put Linux on many handheld gaming machines like like ASUS ROG Ally (like Bazzite OS for instance) and there are a few Linux systems that aim to fully emulate a console experience on PC. All Android phones run on Linux and you can get custom OS’s if you root them, like Lineage. So it’s not such a silly idea!
And the Wii can be Linuxed, if you get creative enough. Source: former roommate did it
There quite a handful of IoT devices out there that will run Linux too. Many of them, in fact, run BSD by default
based
…yo yall are late to the party, been running Nobara for 3 years now on my G14, rocking the Steam Deck, only Windows machine I have is for work and believe me that thing is host file locked down and stripped.
Congratulations ig
the email to Aboussad reads. “It is also concerning that you have not apologized to the company, and in fact you have shown no remorse for the effect that your actions have had and will have.”
Obviously there were going to fire these employees, especially the one who gave notice then did this.
But why the fuck would anyone be like “yOu DiDn’T eVeN aPoLoGiZe To ThE cOmPaNy”? That’s the stupidest god damn thing I’ve heard since “Liberation Day”
But why the fuck would anyone be like “yOu DiDn’T eVeN aPoLoGiZe To ThE cOmPaNy”?
Frame the debate. MS doesn’t have to justify their profiteering if they can talk about the employee. The attention span of the public is limited.
Because law. At every opportunity, make it seem like the employees were not blowing the whistle, but purposefully harming the company.
What about “you haven’t even thanked us!” to Zelensky?
Same energy.
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Apologized? Did they berate her for not “wearing a suit” too?
Or speaking without permission with a vagina?!
The impertinence!
That email was almost certainly written by lawyers with the intention of supporting MS in court, should it come down to that.
that makes sense. i hate the fact that such a blatant play at covering your bases could hold up in any court. no matter the legal fineprint, it takes two functioning braincells to realise what’s going on here
Bingo. Lots of stupid things at this level boil down to legal protection. You’ll see it everywhere once you learn and look.
“Lucky we’re not countersuing! Oh the damages you are certain to be causing in the futureeee, the burns”
Actually now that I think about it maybe this was a multimillion dollar protest. The headlines have been published for and wide. I bet a few people spent more time feeling guilty than working right after as well - imagine one of them quitting. Still somewhat hard to believe it would lose them contracts but perhaps there will be potential customers who want to avoid connection with Microsoft until this blows over.
Hey, when’s the last time you showed remorse to your multi-trillion market cap employer? Next you’re gonna tell me something really outrageous like you didn’t even swear an oath of fealty to them.
C-suits don’t live in the same world as the rest of us. Simple as that.
Have you even said Thank You?!?
Is anyone surprised? Maybe the surprising part is that she’s still alive and only got fired.
Don’t worry, she’s probably getting deported/disappeared soon.
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I am pretty sure ICE and DHS are enroute to arrest her and deport her to El Salvador. Fucking gestappo c**ts. This is exactly what Rashida Tlaib, Jill Stein and Kshama Sawant wanted.
Microsoft has policy that prevents it from retaliatory actions against human rights violations. Court should rule Microsoft violated its own policies…
prevents it from retaliatory actions against human rights violations
They can’t retaliate if someone violates human rights?
They’re referencing what the second protester (Vaniya Agrawal) mentioned in her email:
Know that Microsoft’s human rights statement prohibits retaliation against anyone who raises a human rights-related concern: Human rights statement | Microsoft CSR
The Microsoft Global Human Rights Statement has a “Foundational principles” section that says:
Our commitment to human rights defenders: Our commitment to respecting and advancing human rights includes respect and support for the work of human rights defenders around the world. Human rights defenders are people who, individually or with others, engage in activities and advocacy that contribute to the protection of human rights and the rule of law, good governance, tolerance, and diversity and inclusion. Human rights defenders face persistent physical, social, economic, and psychological threats. Microsoft does not tolerate threats, intimidation, retaliation, physical, legal or cyber-attacks against human rights defenders. This commitment extends to all human rights defenders, including those working on issues related to Microsoft and those exercising their rights of freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly, including to challenge or protest aspects of our own business.
Microsoft is clearly declining to fulfill its commitment as it is written in its statement.
Scumbags
IBM had a role in the holocaust. Those numbers tattooed on everyone in the concentration camp? Those were IBM ID numbers for the punch cards.
If IBM staff protested about their role, it’s been lost to history. But it’s repeating today with Gaza and the staff who speak out are being demonized. Israel’s Lavender AI is being used to kill civilians. History will prove this woman and the other employees right in the end.
Depends who controls the narrative and how it plays out.
I still don’t think this “Lavender AI” actually exists, I think that was another scapegoat to blame their deliberate targeting of civilians on.
Why not both?
good ep of a good pod
Israel has access to WhatsApp metadata and uses it to target people based on a poorly trained Israeli AI which calls everything Hamas. This is a scapegoat because it allows them to blame the machine for killing people at random.
A machine can never be held responsible, therefore a machine must ALWAYS make management decisions
“Another fals positive? Woops! Whatever shall we do?”
Oh shit it’s true. I tought punch cards came later but its 19th century(1800s) tech.
Is Lavender AI made by Microsoft or uses Microsoft technology?
The IDF uses plenty of Microsoft technology including Azure. The details of Lavender are classified.
