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Microsoft suspends dev accounts for high-profile open source projects

bleepingcomputer.com

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Re: Microsoft suspends dev accounts for high-profile open source projects

#3
I read elsewhere (here?) that it was the main developer of WireGuard who had their account suspended. If true, and based on what I read seems it is true, I am surprised this did not reach the "mainstream" press.

All I can say is this is another proof of M/S abuse of their users:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47710149

Re: Microsoft suspends dev accounts for high-profile open source projects

#4
Well, Microsoft is evil so no surprise - but this seems like targeted censorship:

"The list of affected projects includes, but is not limited to, Virtual Private Network (VPN) software WireGuard, on-the-fly encryption (OTFE) utility VeraCrypt, the MemTest86 Random Access Memory (RAM) testing and diagnosis tool, and the Windscribe VPN software."

It seems to go against VPN right? Is there a connection to other things such as the mem-test tool? This one is the only one that does not fit here. Or perhaps we don't have the full picture.

Re: Microsoft suspends dev accounts for high-profile open source projects

#5
post #2

Modern computing does not make me feel good. Really hate this signing business controlled by the OS vendors. I get the added security benefits, but I'm not sure the tradeoff is worth it.

> but I'm not sure the tradeoff is worth it.

Well corporations decide on that. I abandoned rubygems.org when they added the 100.000 download limit; past that point I was no longer able to remove old gem. Then came the new corporate laws for rubygems.org and mass-firing of about 8 open source developers who were involved with the ruby ecosystem.

We simply need to accept that corporations controlling an ecosystem can lead to HUGE problems. We need an alternative here. I don't have a good alternative either to suggest - money is influential. People adjust their behaviour and how they think with regards to money all the time. We could need some kind of model that also handles the economy. And, again - I have absolutely no clue how that could or should look like.

Re: Microsoft suspends dev accounts for high-profile open source projects

#6
post #2

Modern computing does not make me feel good. Really hate this signing business controlled by the OS vendors. I get the added security benefits, but I'm not sure the tradeoff is worth it.

True, but there is yet a one major OS that allows you to run whatever you see fit on your computer.

If you are really disgusted by those moves, you have a time to switch. If enough people switch, then we can just forget about that garbage.

Re: Microsoft suspends dev accounts for high-profile open source projects

#8
Alongside talk from the UK Labour government about intervening on VPNs, I'm getting uneasy vibes about this move, especially since Microsoft is one of the most government-friendly corporations in the big tech arena.

The surveillance state is growing more sinister every day (especially in the UK), but the efforts are somewhat thwarted by the existence of VPNs.

Once they find a way to undermine VPNs, the UK govt will have literal CCP-level control over our access to information and communication.

Re: Microsoft suspends dev accounts for high-profile open source projects

#9

Well, Microsoft is evil so no surprise - but this seems like targeted censorship: "The list of affected projects includes, but is not limited to, Virtual Private Network (VPN) software WireGuard, on-the-fly encryption (OTFE) utility VeraCrypt, the MemTest86 Random Access Memory (RAM) testing and diagnosis tool, and the Windscribe VPN software." It seems to go against VPN right? Is there a connection to other things s…

It seems to go against developers of Windows drivers (which includes VPNs) - apparently there was a “mandatory account verification for all partners in the Windows Hardware Program who have not completed account verification since April 2024”, but for some reason it looks like no one notified these guys that they have to verify their accounts.
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