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Dear anonymous apologist, or shill (impossible to tell the difference).

In your alleged 10 second Google search by adding a single word you would see how this is not a one sided altruistic organization. I won't stoop to a LMGTFY link, but try adding the word "Corruption" to your search on the Gates foundation.

With the addition of this single word, you will easily find references to doctors and professors who have been requesting investigations into the foundation as not just a tax shelter but a corrupt organization. The top link is a Wiki linking to numerous pieces of information which is here. Text from the links on this page are below, and just a glance shows that it's YOU that are living in a cave and not myself. Kindly take your personal attack and pound it right on up your asshole, preferably with a few pounds of sand and a large hammer.

2014
[edit] June

Professor Diane Ravitch Calls for Investigation by Congress of Bill Gates’ Latest Offences

[edit] April

People Who Worked on Bill Gates Projects Speak to Techrights About Fraud and Misappropriation of Funds
Society Still Occupied by Bill Gates and Other Plutocrats

[edit] January

Systematic Looting of Society Disguised as ‘Crisis’ (for Austerity/Privatisation) and Bogus ‘Charity’ as Solution
The Age When Press Organisations Are Run by — Not Just Funded by — Plutocrats

[edit] 2013

Most coverage posted in Identi.ca, Diaspora, and Twitter this year.
[edit] December

Mother Jones Shows That Gates Foundation is a Hypocritical Ploy
Bill Gates Brings NSA-esque Surveillance to Children

[edit] November

Convicted Monopolist Near Our Children
Crisis Capitalism: Bill Gates and Other ‘Education Oligarchs’ Turn Schools Into their Private, For-Profit Ventures

Is Microsoft Paying Few Companies to Move Parked Domains to Windows, Thereby Gaming Netcraft Numbers?

He knows we are going to talk about how Microsoftie Howard Schmidt is chairman of the board of codenomicon.

That last link points to news.dice.com. Am I the only one who dislikes such a link (without a disclaimer)?

Nope. Nerval's Lobster is the pen name of they guy who wrote a ton of articles on (the now apparently defunct) SlashBI. He gets a ton of stories posted (several of which link back to news.dice.com) but doesn't actually participate in the community.

Additional related link

Seconded. As I understand it, Microsoft have promised not to sue anyone if they implement the published standard Common Language Infrastructure stuff. Mono has implemented this and more: they've implemented the WinForms GUI API, which is not covered by Microsoft's promise.

Despite this, Microsoft still haven't sued Mono. In this particular instance, I can't see a way to paint Microsoft as the bad guy.

Oh you and the chair-throwing ape Sweaty B will never get it. M$ is toast and their monopoly, no matter how much you astroturf for M$ on $lashdot it will never change. M$ thinks non-free software is the way to go when free software is the future. Due to it's use of restricted boot Vista 8.1 (aka "Windoze 'Brick Edition'") is bigger failure than Windoze Vista, Vista 7 and Vista 8 combined. The xbone is poised for a bigger failure than the Nintendo Wii-u.. Internet Exploiter is also finished as free alternatives have surpassed it. The year 2000 called and wants your DRM infested, malware attracting nonfree software back. The justice department should investigate M$ for once again for it's monopolistic practices and revoke their corporate charter.

--
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
Friends do assist M$ addicted friends in committing suicide.

Oh you and the chair-throwing ape Sweaty B will never get it. M$ is toast and their monopoly, no matter how much you astroturf for M$ on $lashdot it will never change. M$ thinks non-free software is the way to go when free software is the future. Due to it's use of restricted boot Vista 8.1 (aka "Windoze 'Brick Edition'") is bigger failure than Windoze Vista, Vista 7 and Vista 8 combined. The xbone is poised for a bigger failure than the Nintendo Wii-u.. Internet Exploiter is also finished as free alternatives have surpassed it. The year 2000 called and wants your DRM infested, malware attracting nonfree software back. The justice department should investigate M$ for once again for it's monopolistic practices and revoke their corporate charter.

--
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
Friends do assist M$ addicted friends in committing suicide.

Microsoft helping NSA to hack your Windows

According to a new report from the corporate press (as corporate as it can get, being Bloomberg), Microsoft tells NSA staff about universal unpatched holes before they are being addressed:

        Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), the worldâ(TM)s largest software company, provides intelligence agencies with information about bugs in its popular software before it publicly releases a fix, according to two people familiar with the process. That information can be used to protect government computers and to access the computers of terrorists or military foes.

        Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft (MSFT) and other software or Internet security companies have been aware that this type of early alert allowed the U.S. to exploit vulnerabilities in software sold to foreign governments, according to two U.S. officials. Microsoft doesnâ(TM)t ask and canâ(TM)t be told how the government uses such tip-offs, said the officials, who asked not to be identified because the matter is confidential.

        Frank Shaw, a spokesman for Microsoft, said those releases occur in cooperation with multiple agencies and are designed to be give government âoean early startâ on risk assessment and mitigation.

Glyn Moody asked, âoewhy would anyone ever trust Microsoft againâ¦?â

Frank Shaw is not a technical man. His job is to lie, e.g. about sales of Vista 8 (quite famously and most recently). He came from Waggener Edstrom, a lying and AstroTurfing company. The above should be read as follows: when new holes exist which permit remote hijacking the unaccountable, cracking-happy NSA is being notified. What can possibly go wrong now that we have proof that the NSA is cracking PCs abroad with impunity?

Some of the back and forth is innocuous, such as Microsoft revealing ahead of time the nature of its exposed bugs (ostensibly providing the government with a back door into any system using a Microsoft OS, but since itâ(TM)s donâ(TM)t ask, dontâ(TM) tell, nobody really knows). However the bulk of the interaction is steeped in secrecy: âoeMost of the arrangements are so sensitive that only a handful of people in a company know of them, and they are sometimes brokered directly between chief executive officers and the heads of the U.S.â(TM)s major spy agencies, the people familiar with those programs said.â

Microsoft helping NSA to hack your Windows

According to a new report from the corporate press (as corporate as it can get, being Bloomberg), Microsoft tells NSA staff about universal unpatched holes before they are being addressed:

        Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), the world’s largest software company, provides intelligence agencies with information about bugs in its popular software before it publicly releases a fix, according to two people familiar with the process. That information can be used to protect government computers and to access the computers of terrorists or military foes.

        Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft (MSFT) and other software or Internet security companies have been aware that this type of early alert allowed the U.S. to exploit vulnerabilities in software sold to foreign governments, according to two U.S. officials. Microsoft doesn’t ask and can’t be told how the government uses such tip-offs, said the officials, who asked not to be identified because the matter is confidential.

        Frank Shaw, a spokesman for Microsoft, said those releases occur in cooperation with multiple agencies and are designed to be give government “an early start” on risk assessment and mitigation.

Glyn Moody asked, “why would anyone ever trust Microsoft again?”

Frank Shaw is not a technical man. His job is to lie, e.g. about sales of Vista 8 (quite famously and most recently). He came from Waggener Edstrom, a lying and AstroTurfing company. The above should be read as follows: when new holes exist which permit remote hijacking the unaccountable, cracking-happy NSA is being notified. What can possibly go wrong now that we have proof that the NSA is cracking PCs abroad with impunity?

Some of the back and forth is innocuous, such as Microsoft revealing ahead of time the nature of its exposed bugs (ostensibly providing the government with a back door into any system using a Microsoft OS, but since it’s don’t ask, dont’ tell, nobody really knows). However the bulk of the interaction is steeped in secrecy: “Most of the arrangements are so sensitive that only a handful of people in a company know of them, and they are sometimes brokered directly between chief executive officers and the heads of the U.S.’s major spy agencies, the people familiar with those programs said.”

Captcha: exposed

Credibility = 0.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/30/microsoft-privacy-chief-nsa
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Microsoft-Gives-the-Australian-Government-Details-on-More-than-1-000-Users-388003.shtml
http://techrights.org/2011/12/26/microsoft-and-nokia-astroturf/

So if I'm concerned about security, I should switch over to an OS that I know even less about, and will probably blindly follow guides on the internet about how to configure it and get it working for what I want.

That's a good way to start. Obviously when learning a new OS, you won't be an expert right away.
I'm not convinced that a lack of complete mastery in a subject is a good reason to avoid gaining any experience whatsoever.

Telling people to not use Windows.... ever, doesn't really tell us the reasons why we should never use windows,

Well, here are two reasons-
Proven: The NSA operates a botnet called Genie that runs on Windows, mostly on machines overseas. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-spy-agencies-mounted-231-offensive-cyber-operations-in-2011-documents-show/2013/08/30/d090a6ae-119e-11e3-b4cb-fd7ce041d814_story.html

Somewhat more speculative: The German govt believes the NSA has backdoors in the trusted computing modules in Windows 8. http://techrights.org/2013/08/22/nsa-back-doors-blowback/

"Oh bullshit. First of all when it comes to MSFT pretty much ALL of their successes in the past can be preceded by "and then the other guy did something REALLY dumb" thus giving MSFT a free shot, from BE-OS"

I stopped reading when I got to this particular bit of retrospective rewriting of history.

Microsoft's anti-competitive activities in the Operating System Market

Well the MS design intent is for all WinRT devices to be locked down.

Microsoft mandates that Secure Boot on Windows RT devices isn’t user-configurable, so you won’t be able to remove Windows RT and install Linux or another operating system.

Since MS Secure Boot has already been cracked, it will probably be a matter of time.

Ad hominem attack - check
False attribution -check
Argument from personal incredulity - check
Moral high ground fallacy -check

High probability parent post is a MS shill. See, the reason why MS has such a bad rep compared to Google (and considerably less trust from the public) is because of their past bad conduct.

As an example, I am more likely to believe that you are a MS shill because it is a proven fact that MS does in fact employ shills to flood public discourse.

This is what I personally believe, and unlike you I am willing to post on my account instead of as AC and take the karma hit. It does not mean I love Google, just that I trust Google more than MS because MS has been so terribly, terribly naughty in the past.

Successful man, bright man, ruthless man, and entirely correct.

Bill Gates grew up. Page and Brin may still have some growing up to do, but Bezos has no excuse. And Musk's work has always been overrated, though it's almost geek suicide to suggest so.

Bullshit. He's doing PR against google for business reasons and because he can think he can sell people on what he's saying. The Gates Foundation does a lot of good for people in poor countries, but it also does a lot of good for Bill Gates. It really isn't entirely selfless. It's also used for tax avoidance and for promoting pharmaceutical patents around the world in countries that typically don't respect them. "Here, we'll donate these vaccines if you agree to recognize these patents, making local production of medicine prohibitively expensive." Here's are a few of the criticisms.

Case in point when he says, "When a kid gets diarrhea, no, there's no website that relieves that,." he's absolutely incorrect and he knows it. In third world countries, part of the battle against dehydration complications from diarrhea is making sure that everyone knows how to make things such as oral rehydration therapy. There are several programs that just try to get the word out to make sure everyone knows how to make the basic solution, which is water lightly sugared and salted, something most people can do at home. If they have the capability of doing a search about what to do if they have diarrhea, that information can save lives. Not to mention all the information they can learn to help prevent it from happening again, such as learning to boil their water before drinking.

There is absolutely nothing more important than information. It's absolutely great to go out there and vaccinate people and provide them with food supplies. I'm not saying he should stop providing help, but ensuring that more people have access to the internet isn't just about getting them on facebook. It does have the potential to save many more lives, especially in the long run.

See above post with link to
http://techrights.org/2011/12/26/microsoft-and-nokia-astroturf/

And its responses.

Yes, Microsoft (and most corporations) now hire multiple companies to "manage" their reputation online. This includes posting, false reviews, bashing competitors products, etc.

Yes.

http://techrights.org/2011/12/26/microsoft-and-nokia-astroturf/

âoeWaggener Edstrom explains its âoePerception Managementâ services,â notes Homer, who quotes: âoeUncontrolled buzz can dramatically change perceptions of your brand. [...] The Narrative Network mines online dialogue and traditional media, even foreign language media, for mentions of your brand, your company, your key executives and your competitors. Then using a social networking algorithm, it associates what they say about your brand. [...] While we monitor your narrative network over time, or before and after a product launch or PR announcement, we will find new branches of a story [graphic flashes the phrase "Negative PR"]. This allows us to measure effectiveness of the PR messaging, and insert new messages or themes into your brand storyline, and deploy the right resources to keep the story on message, or adjust tactics to manage perceptions.â

Gates Foundation has always been primarily a wealth investing and patent acquiring entity. I seriously doubt they are here for the benefit of humanity, more likely for the benefit of future little Gateses.

I do not deny that the areas they invest in are areas that would benefit us all but the way they do it is not in any way open, accessible or selfless.

Simple inductive reasoning: If it walks like Microsoft, swims like Microsoft and quacks like Microsoft, it doesn't matter that it's got 'Foundation' in the name.

http://techrights.org/wiki/index.php/Gates_Foundation_Critique

Gates Foundation is a funnel for corruption, and a pocket-liner for Gates' own business interests in the guise of a bureaucracy-dodging philanthropic enterprise.

Gates is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Monsanto/Glaxo Industrial Complex, making the world safe for the IMF and its participating billionaires.

http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2012/07/the_gates_foundations_leverage.html

http://naturalsociety.com/bill-gates-foundation-buys-500000-shares-of-monsanto/

http://therefusers.com/refusers-newsroom/the-gates-foundation-connection-to-the-glaxo-drug-fraud-scandal-humanosphere/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1353287/28-billion-health-fund-backed-Bill-Gates-Bono-investigation-fraud.html

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread777028/pg0

But? If they FUND journalists and transparency foundations, then the immunize themselves from criticism by the press... It's buying coverage.

http://philanthropy.com/blogs/giveandtake/why-is-the-gates-foundation-giving-so-much-money-to-journalists/27524

http://techrights.org/2013/03/22/gates-manufacturing-a-false-image/

Read that article all the way to the end, they are not going rolling release. That was just is just a proposal for discussion. Later articles show that it got shot down, though this new 9 months of support for the non-LTS versions is almost the same. In practice was probably just trolling from your M$ buddy Rick Spencer who somehow got inside Ubuntu and has been starting to work his toxic magic on it.

Its pretty much a known fact that MS employs shills to hawk their products online. Only, they don't call it shilling, they call it Technology Evangelism.

Fascinating read.

Here is a list of a few of the abuses: TechRights on Intellectual Ventures.

Okay, so why don't they just not provide any of that information, so people don't even know that they're investing in destructive companies?

Well, a lot of the "transparent disclosure" that you're so proud of is *already mandated by law* for maintaining charity status. As for supporting some slimy causes publicly, a big reason is to use the positive PR of the "Gates Foundation" name to give a positive slant to crummy corporate chicanery and lobbying (and even get a tax write-off for funding things you'd be doing anyway).

It just seems to me like Bill Gates is motivated by building organizations, not necessarily amassing vast sums of money.

I'd agree with you there. Bill Gates wants to build massive controlling capitalist power structures --- to "solve" all the world's problems by putting an oligarchy in charge. This "organization building" --- to cement the power of global megacorporations that Gates invests in to run the world --- is exactly what I dislike Gates for.

By the way, you still haven't answered the other questions yet.

Sorry, I don't keep a comprehensive list of every random talking point from AC inquisitors. If you like long lists of points to address, I found this nicely compiled list of dastardly things the Gates Foundation has been (openly) doing. How about addressing a couple hundred of those?

Except there were none, it was a privacy angle pushed by the MS lobby to attack Google. http://techrights.org/2009/05/04/consumer-watchdog-exposed/

An equally interesting link would be: http://techrights.org/2009/05/04/consumer-watchdog-exposed/

Where they show that Consumer Watchdog is actually a PR/lobbying firm hired by MS.

Good point. Nicholas Negroponte's One Laptop Per Child didn't fail on its own, however. It had help from M$ and M$' better half, Intel. They got in and messed with OLPC causing delays, barriers and overruns. Even in the most generous assessments, Intel had a serious conflict of interest because it was actively trying to sell a product of its own which competed directly with OLPC. The OLPC was suppose to be based on the AMD Geode and Intel couldn't have that.

M$ is at it one again. M$ is trolling Slashdot by using a newly created account to Astroturf just as they always have. M$ knows they are dying so they continue to claim there were no problems with Vista even though it was a total failure. M$ has done the same with Vista 7 and Vista 8 and have failed with both now that people no longer buy into the M$ upgrade hype. Today M$ is set to attack GNU/Linux with patents to protect their illegal monopoly.

--
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk
Friends do assist M$ addicted friends in committing suicide.

M$ is at it one again. M$ is trolling Slashdot by using a newly created account to Astroturf just as they always have. M$ knows they are dying so they continue to claim there were no problems with Vista even though it was a total failure. M$ has done the same with Vista 7 and Vista 8 and have failed with both now that people no longer buy into the M$ upgrade hype. Today M$ is set to attack GNU/Linux with patents to protect their illegal monopoly.

--
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk
Friends do assist M$ addicted friends in committing suicide.

M$ is at it one again. M$ is trolling Slashdot by using a newly created account to Astroturf just as they always have. M$ knows they are dying so they continue to claim there were no problems with Vista even though it was a total failure. M$ has done the same with Vista 7 and Vista 8 and have failed with both now that people no longer buy into the M$ upgrade hype. Today M$ is set to attack GNU/Linux with patents to protect their illegal monopoly.

--
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk
Friends do assist M$ addicted friends in committing suicide.

M$ is at it one again. M$ is trolling Slashdot by using a newly created account to Astroturf just as they always have. M$ knows they are dying so they continue to claim there were no problems with Vista even though it was a total failure. M$ has done the same with Vista 7 and Vista 8 and have failed with both now that people no longer buy into the M$ upgrade hype. Today M$ is set to attack GNU/Linux with patents to protect their illegal monopoly.

--
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk
Friends do assist M$ addicted friends in committing suicide.

One of the most significant patents (owned by Apple) expired just a few years ago. I remember there was some code in XFree86 or Freetype or wherever that actually infringed on it, but the default build script commented it out. I also remember seeing a patch in one of the major Free Software GNU/Linux distros that happily circumvented it, resulting in quite decent font rendering. Of course, no one would suspect Debian of doing anything that would be good for desktops...

This is just the latest tactic by M$ to force the sheep to buy into the upgrade myth of operating systems. M$ knows Vista,Vista 7, and Vista 8 are all failures and now they are pusing their lated version of their Windoze drug, Vista 8.1, to increase the stranglehold of PCs through digital restrictions management and Restricted Boot. The return of the Windoze desktop and the start menu are just baits to lure the M$ addicts to slaughter. M$ knows the future is grim for them and they know they will lose out once people figure out when a system that uses a GNU friendly operating system such as GNU/Hurd or GNU/Linux while using free software is far more secure and stable than using DRM infested non-free software such as Windoze, Photo$hop, $team, etc. That is why they are betting their future on using such draconian measures to lock their addicts into a never-ending, non-free upgrade cycle. Naturally it isn't surprising $lashdot is now shilling for M$ through $lashvertisements as Dice holdings is a M$ supporter.

--
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
Friends do assist M$ addicted friends in committing suicide.

Almost every single link in the summary leads to fosspatents.com, home of the infamous shill Florian Mueller. I guess I'll wait for more credible sources, thanks.

Consume Watchdog is a paid astroturfing company; specifically, they are owned by Grassroots Enterprises Inc."

http://techrights.org/2009/05/04/consumer-watchdog-exposed/

What difference does it make what his motivations are?

If you want to get into ethics, it makes a huge difference. Not to mention that he's not actually saving the world -- in proportion to his wealth he's doing very little good and it hardly offsets the type of economic disparity pirates such as himself have created by plundering the American economy.

I normally don't care when people donate money to charities for third world countries -- I just think they're fools who lack perspective. But when a person spends an entire career damaging the American economy -- destroying many of its most innovative companies, ripping people off, and holding back progress -- I'm not going to put the blinders on and refrain from criticizing that person just because they found a profitable way to 'give to charity' that interestingly enough also strengthens his business interests.

Here third world country! Have Windows machines! Oh, what? You wanted long-term support? Oh, no, just the first taste is free.

Here third world country! Have this medicine! Oh, yeah, I'm heavily invested in the pharmaceutical that makes this. You want more? Here's their business card. Just the first taste is free.

If Bill Gates was actually attempting to do good for the world he would: 1) Actually do good for the world and 2) Stop making it a point to be publicly acknowledged for doing so. One of Bill Gates' lies in the reddit discussion was saying that only 1% of the government's budget goes to foreign aid. Every time Joe Schmoe or Angelina Jolie or Bill Gates donates money to a third world country and then writes it off on their taxes, that's the government paying for foreign aid. Charity is subsidized and it's a major problem with our tax code. Unlike Bill Gates, the American government doesn't profit from charity work. The American government doesn't have the money to spend on charity.

His foundation has already saved millions of lives

Saving a life is only a good thing if it's a life worth saving. Also, do you actually know his foundation has saved millions of lives or are you just saying that?

Here, learn something: http://techrights.org/wiki/index.php/Gates_Foundation_Critique

MS was caught using third world countries to stack ISO committees with their supporters to help them ram a very flawed standard through an ISO approval process.

It is not shocking to see GNU/Linux failing after using Restricted Boot. After all M$ created Restricted Boot to be defective by design. ACPI, M$'s Power Management Poison, is the other culprit in this as it too was created so M$ could keep their monopoly. In reality M$ is running scared as Vista 8 is failing worse than even Vista 7 just as Vista 7 was more of a fail than Vista. M$ is even getting paid shills such as Oprah and she doesn't even use Vista 8. As Windoze and M$ continue to die they will keep paying shills and astroturfers to give false endorsements for their products. It is past time for the governments of the world to each put their foot down and stand up to M$ and punish them for their illegal behavior.

--
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk
Friends do assist M$ addicted friends in committing suicide.

It is not shocking to see GNU/Linux failing after using Restricted Boot. After all M$ created Restricted Boot to be defective by design. ACPI, M$'s Power Management Poison, is the other culprit in this as it too was created so M$ could keep their monopoly. In reality M$ is running scared as Vista 8 is failing worse than even Vista 7 just as Vista 7 was more of a fail than Vista. M$ is even getting paid shills such as Oprah and she doesn't even use Vista 8. As Windoze and M$ continue to die they will keep paying shills and astroturfers to give false endorsements for their products. It is past time for the governments of the world to each put their foot down and stand up to M$ and punish them for their illegal behavior.

--
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk
Friends do assist M$ addicted friends in committing suicide.

Actually, Stallman isn't disliking "secure boot" per se. He thinks it's a good security feature.

The only part of it he dislikes is the "restricted boot" that Microsoft is imposing on their ARM platforms, where the end user isn't able to change or disable the key him/herself: http://techrights.org/2012/07/17/rms-on-uefi/

Why waste time asking questions he has already answered?

This has been going on much longer than a year.

This was over a year and a half ago:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/cdd1ea06-7cc0-11e0-994d-00144feabdc0.html
 

Burson-Marsteller, a WPP-owned PR agency whose clients also include Microsoft, contacted US newspaper reporters and opinion-piece writers with a view to securing coverage on Google’s alleged use of personal information from Facebook and other social networks.

MS vs ODF (2009):
http://techrights.org/2009/05/27/ghettoblaster-may-be-microsoft-astroturf/

MS vs Linux (2001):
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2001/09/26/ms_targets_linux_mac_rivals/

There is so much more too....

The problem is that everyone thinks that the budget shouldn't include their own personal pet hate. This leads to an ever decreasing spiral and more hoops for those in need to jump through until people who actually need help are unable to get it.

It's interesting you mention the Gates foundation, because there are a lot of questions around about it.... http://techrights.org/wiki/index.php/Gates_Foundation_Critique

It's not possible for Apple or Google to be more evil than Microsoft is. Exploiting the emotions of the soon-to-be widow of a Mac conference organizer stricken by cancer with fake sympathy for the purpose of getting on the schedule to destroy his life's work is about as low as it goes. Several times during the corporate mandatory training an employee trainee was moved to ask: "how do you sleep at night?"

To get above that on the evil scale they'd have to start conducting medical experiments on unwilling subjects, or build some large ovens - which is out of scope for a technology company.

The burden of evidence is on the person making a claim, not on the reader of said claim.

If it were difficult to find this information then you would have a point, but it isn't. If you search google for "gates foundation criticism" then odds are that above link will turn up in the top 10, and in fact 40-50% (depending on how you count) of the links are actually from credible sources like The Guardian and The Seattle Times. As it is, you are just fucking lazy, and you want some basis on which to attack the comment in order to discredit it. You don't actually want to see the mounting criiticism against the foundation, such as that many [of the Gates' Foundation's] partners said the foundation didn't understand their goals, was inconsistent in its communications and often unresponsive, or that Bill, Melinda and Microsoft maintain pharmaceutical patent investments, tobacco investments, investments in alcoholic beverages, petroleum investments, investments in experimental and controversial crops, or that grant making by the Gates Foundation seems to be largely managed through an informal system of personal networks and relationships rather than by a more transparent process based on independent and technical peer review. You'd rather remain blissfully ignorant because the more you know, the more defensive bullshit you have to invent to support your untenable position.

Gates Foundation abuse. Copied from a comment posted below.

You may have missed it in the news, but Suse is no longer part of the good team. Suse is helping M$ tax Linux. So of the three in your list, Suse does not belong. Red Hat and Canonical might stand up against the UEFI power grab, but Suse is already in bed with M$.

http://www.the-source.com/open-source-at-microsoft/open-source-at-microsoft-iii/
http://techrights.org/2008/12/28/microsoft-kickbacks-cycle/
http://www.seattlepi.com/business/article/Settlement-is-reached-in-Microsoft-lawsuit-in-Iowa-1228298.php

I never used it but they partnership with sourceforge.net for that same purpose:
http://www.itjungle.com/tlb/tlb080205-story03.html

I'm not against them on advertising their product but it is just not correct when they do so using FUD tactics:
http://techrights.org/2009/10/28/black-duck-scare-tactics/

From TFA:

That was the conclusion of Matthew Aslett's analysis of recent data from Black Duck Software

Do we even need to say anything else?

http://techrights.org/wiki/index.php/Black_Duck

MS-PL? Who on earth has ever heard of that license? Perhaps the fact that the only source of the data is a company that is connected to Microsoft has something to do with its mention? The fact that the same company has been emitting anti-GPL propaganda since 2008 is also interesting.

Slashdot, please don't propagate astroturfing.