dave
Stickle Bricks were the original. Bristle Blocks (and others) were competitors’ versions according to wiki. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stickle_Bricks
Walkaway by Cory Doctorow.
I suspect it’s not dissimilar to the way spam emails are full of typos and grammar errors. You may wonder why they don’t just get those fixed, but they’re specifically to filter out the people who notice them and dismiss the spam, as they (the spammers) are far less likely to successfully scam someone who is offended by the way the spam is written. They are a kind of first level filter.
MS are filtering out the vocal, knowledgable people who will cause problems next time they have some security breach or do something shady around privacy. Convert that relatively small number of people to Linux, and you’re left with a compliant and fully tracked customer base—far more use in the long run.
