Bonum Certa Men Certa

Assorted Updates: Patents, OSI, Mono, KDE and Novell

OOXML protests in India
From the Campaign for Document Freedom



Gentle Protest Against Software Patents in India



The situation in India has been covered quite a few times recently because it's getting grim [1, 2, 3, 4]. Fortunately, now comes the organised opposition.

Bengaluru Meetup

When: 10am, Saturday 16th August 2008

Where: BMS College of Engineering, Basavanagudi

Agenda: Indian Patents office has called for a meeting of stakeholders in Bengaluru on 27th August (date still to be confirmed). We should submit a written appeal to stop introducing software patents in India. We will prepare this document here.


Software patents are, as stressed here before, merely a mechanism to have multi-nationals (and their local business partners) inherits the country's assets. These patents are being marketed differently, however, in order for them to pass as a new amendment to the law.

Groklaw: "Enemies of FOSS Are Attacking"



Pamela Jones pointed this out yesterday. We are well past the "then they laugh at you" phase, so it's only reasonable to prepare for more of the "then they attack you" outbursts. The OSI is explicitly mentioned by Pamela and Bruce Perens warns that Microsoft can have it ruined. The context is slightly different though.

It means that while OSI's handling of a list of approved licenses worked very well for a community made up of FOSS programmers, who are decent folks all on the same page overall, now that enemies of FOSS are attacking, we need a new organization to vet licenses going forward a lot more carefully, one made up of experienced FOSS lawyers, none of them with a history of hostility to, or ignorance of, the GPL, with the community as advisors.


KDE



We are still watching KDE and Mono closely, hoping not to find irreversible intersection between these two. Some people have already noticed the growing trend inside GNOME.

As I briefly mentioned in another post, I am seriously concerned with GNOME’s infatuation with Microsoft technologies.

As a newcomer to the Linux scene, I was not aware that GNOME was tied up with Novell and all in a 3-way with Redmond. However, the more I find out about, the more discomforted I become...


And then there's this comment.

Keep KDE Kleen



KDE needs to poll their own users before allowing proprietary sewage like C# and Mono to infect our relatively clean desktop.

I think most will be strongly opposed.

I will certainly be looking for a new desktop, for the first time since becoming involved with Free Software.


Just as a quick recap, consider Novell's role.

SUSE is a good tool for Microsoft. It enables Microsoft to clog up some gaps where Windows would never fit. SUSE enables the monopolist to replace GNU/Linuxes with something that it 'owns' (in the mythical/'intellectual' sense) and it's therefore paid for ('compensated'). Using hypervisor/format/'protection' caveats, Microsoft hopes to elevate its own asset (SUSE) at the expense of Ubuntus and Red Hats that roam freely, without per-copy restriction and Microsoft's wrath.

Novell needs to be stopped. SLED/S/RT needs to be stopped. At the moment, if a company insists on using GNU/Linux, Microsoft can give them GNU/Linux, but not the GNU/Linux they want and need. Mono could part of the plan to transform ownership, passing more of it to Microsoft.

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Comparing U.E.F.I. to B.I.O.S. (Bloat and Insecurity to K.I.S.S.)
By Sami Tikkanen
New 'Slides' From Stallman Support (stallmansupport.org) Site
"In celebration of RMS's birthday, we've been playing a bit. We extracted some quotes from the various articles, comments, letters, writings, etc. and put them in the form of a slideshow in the home page."
Thailand: GNU/Linux Up to 6% of Desktops/Laptops, According to statCounter
Desktop Operating System Market Share Thailand
António Campinos is Still 'The Fucking President' (in His Own Words) After a Fake 'Election' in 2022 (He Bribed All the Voters to Keep His Seat)
António Campinos and the Administrative Council, whose delegates he clearly bribed with EPO budget in exchange for votes
Adrian von Bidder, homeworking & Debian unexplained deaths
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Sainsbury’s Epic Downtime Seems to be Microsoft's Fault and Might Even Constitute a Data Breach (Legal Liability)
one of Britain's largest groceries (and beyond) chains
 
People Don't Just Kill Themselves (Same for Other Animals)
And recent reports about Boeing whistleblower John Barnett
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 18, 2024
IRC logs for Monday, March 18, 2024
Suicide Cluster Cover-up tactics & Debian exposed
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 19/03/2024: A Society That Lost Focus and Abandoning Social Control Media
Links for the day
Matthias Kirschner, FSFE: Plagiarism & Child labour in YH4F
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Linux Foundation Boasting About Being Connected to Bill Gates
Examples of boasting about the association
Alexandre Oliva's Article on Monstering Cults
"I'm told an earlier draft version of this post got published elsewhere. Please consider this IMHO improved version instead."
[Meme] 'Russian' Elections in Munich (Bavaria, Germany)
fake elections
Sainsbury's to Techrights: Yes, Our Web Site Broke Down, But We Cannot Say Which Part or Why
Windows TCO?
Plagiarism: Axel Beckert (ETH Zurich) & Debian Developer list hacking
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 18/03/2024: Putin Cements Power
Links for the day
Flashback 2003: Debian has always had a toxic culture
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
[Meme] You Know You're Winning the Argument When...
EPO management starts cursing at everybody (which is what's happening)
Catspaw With Attitude
The posts "they" complain about merely point out the facts about this harassment and doxing
'Clown Computing' Businesses Are Waning and the Same Will Happen to 'G.A.I.' Businesses (the 'Hey Hi' Fame)
decrease in "HEY HI" (AI) hype
Free Software Needs Watchdogs, Too
Gentle lapdogs prevent self-regulation and transparency
Matthias Kirschner, FSFE analogous to identity fraud
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 18/03/2024: LLM Inference and Can We Survive Technology?
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 17, 2024
IRC logs for Sunday, March 17, 2024
Links 17/03/2024: Microsoft Windows Shoves Ads Into Third-Party Software, More Countries Explore TikTok Ban
Links for the day
Molly Russell suicide & Debian Frans Pop, Lucy Wayland, social media deaths
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Our Plans for Spring
Later this year we turn 18 and a few months from now our IRC community turns 16
Open Invention Network (OIN) Fails to Explain If Linux is Safe From Microsoft's Software Patent Royalties (Charges)
Keith Bergelt has not replied to queries on this very important matter
RedHat.com, Brought to You by Microsoft Staff
This is totally normal, right?
USPTO Corruption: People Who Don't Use Microsoft Will Be Penalised ~$400 for Each Patent Filing
Not joking!
The Hobbyists of Mozilla, Where the CEO is a Bigger Liability Than All Liabilities Combined
the hobbyist in chief earns much more than colleagues, to say the least; the number quadrupled in a matter of years
Jim Zemlin Says Linux Foundation Should Combat Fraud Together With the Gates Foundation. Maybe They Should Start With Jim's Wife.
There's a class action lawsuit for securities fraud
Not About Linux at All!
nobody bothers with the site anymore; it's marketing, and now even Linux
Links 17/03/2024: Abuses Against Human Rights, Tesla Settlement (and Crash)
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, March 16, 2024
IRC logs for Saturday, March 16, 2024
Under Taliban, GNU/Linux Share Nearly Doubled in Afghanistan, Windows Sank From About 90% to 68.5%
Suffice to say, we're not meaning to imply Taliban is "good"
Debian aggression: woman asked about her profession
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 17/03/2024: Winter Can't Hurt Us Anymore and Playstation Plus
Links for the day