Bonum Certa Men Certa

Guest Post: The Linux Foundation (LF) is “Putting the CON in Conference!” (Part 1)

"I spoke recently with someone who has a lot of experience with boards and explained the LF situation. They said that kind of takeover was so common that it probably could have been foreseen and guarded against, but stopped short of actually saying it quite like that. As for how to fix the situation, no ideas yet."

--Longtime Techrights member



Lighted gift



Summary: Proprietary software giants with their sponsorships and gifts are more like Trojan horses or parasites striving to infect the host; how can the LF be protected from them?

THE three prior articles [1, 2, 3] on this particular topic, namely events of the Linux Foundation (LF), provided some essential background or introduction to this. The latest feedback we've received concerns Jono Bacon, the subject of the last post. Other people are being named (readers tell us about them), but we're reluctant to bring shame to them without contacting them in advance (as we did Bacon, who did not respond).



"What next? What else is for sale? Who will be the next sellout?"Bacon used to work for Canonical. He now works with the LF (a client of his, by his own admission in a recent blog post), which is selling "tweets" from Bacon. Last week Canonical was advertising for Microsoft (paid press release for "free bait" of proprietary software). We are growingly worried that Microsoft will buy Canonical in the not-so-distant future, seeing how financial compromise is already threatening the community. Last year Microsoft paid a lot of money to OSI and 2 weeks ago the OSI's blog posts were even composed by Microsoft staff (inside the OSI's' Board now). What next? What else is for sale? Who will be the next sellout? This is the subject of today's guest post, which we've edited so as to protect identities and organise things a little better.




Volunteers -- volunteers -- across multiple conferences influencing decisions based on their biases and career goals -- one who held IRC sessions on how to submit a winning CfP for LibrePlanet last year -- within a few days of the event -- published an article in Linux Journal -- about how it's not important -- it's OK -- to be proprietary...

RMS took care of it. I was like, "I'm no one's sweetheart but COME ON!"

How about a conference that charges sponsors and gives them keynotes, articles and even paid tweets by Jono Bacon? Charges sponsors and attendees for what? Hosting a venue and bringing a few names... and little cupcakes?

What about convincing corporate sponsors/partners that they are working on important projects -- projects no one uses, really aren't useful, but are busy at work?

You're open source now... Faux open source.

"Time to rebrand to FOSS."Paying other conferences by sponsorship to have their people speak -- just so that the presenter looks legit.

Finally, censoring anyone who speaks out about them in -- of course -- Censorpedia.

Time to rebrand to FOSS.

Anyway, I had an idea of how to combat all this propaganda. I've been reaching out to colleges to try encourage the university LUGs (Linux Users Groups) to have their own yearly conferences/learning workshops. I don't know if that will help, but then I was thinking of pulling some LUGs in. If you ask [name redacted], he can tell you the story about how he was organizing a Conference, started having issues with the venue and such... and was given an "offer" not to continue doing so.

Dirty business these conferences...

If you take a look at the LF prospectus, you can see that the sponsors get anything from:



Just what seemed like a terrible propaganda factory.

"Now, it's up to $120k for an article and keynote."Upon realization that Microsoft was a high-tier sponsor, I decided not participate in the Make event in Los Angeles sponsored by LF, even though I had a commitment.

No freaking way...

Check out this year's prospectus. Kimberly Andrews is listed as contact.

I have some notes:

1. [name redacted] was working SCaLE, SeaGL and LibrePlanet 2. [name redacted] was also side by side with [name redacted] many times in the conference presentation evaluation circuit 3. [name redacted], upon receiving a letter of my concern, addressed this to me and not FSF Staff. 4. Linux Foundation receives payments from sponsors and offers keynotes, article interviews, tweets.

See current prospectus. They have been doing this for years. Now, it's up to $120k for an article and keynote.

In addition to receiving funding from sponsors for Linux Foundation events, the LF charges attendees. So what are they doing, really? Is it just about the money, or is it something more? Is it a stronghold placement and branding -- to move along the LF agenda and gain more members?

The credibility of all of the above parties is questionable, regardless of employment status.

When Microsoft became a sponsor for LF events, it was appalling.

"The sponsorship this year at LF -- includes diamond level $120k -- has again an article in Linux.com."After speaking with [name redacted] at [event name redacted], at length, I discovered that many sponsors expect a slot.

Side Note: I have been an event coordinator. In 2001, at Pearson for 2 worldwide events - FL and CA.

2008 - Masters conference at Microchip. Of course, these are companies with internal presenters and such. That's the difference, right. Still a million-dollar enterprise.

The sponsorship this year at LF -- includes diamond level $120k -- has again an article in Linux.com.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Rewriting Things in Rust
How far would you go?
What Microsoft Reputation Laundering (With a Weaponised Law Degree) Looks Like in a Foreign Continent
You would expect this in uncivilised and primitive countries
Slopwatch: LLMs 'Write' Fake or Distorted 'News' About "Linux"
LLM slop disguised as news
 
“Twibel” Actions Against Comedians (and Why It's a Truly Low Blow)
they try to make up in quantities for a lack of merit or quality
Linux Foundation Apparently Flirting With Slop (Marketing by LLM-Generated SPAM)
The Web is in a really bad state!
COVID-19 Sped Up Site Improvements in Techrights
A few months later we created our very own IRC network
Gemini Links 05/07/2025: Negative Questions and 'Touching Grass' (Going Outside)
Links for the day
Links 05/07/2025: Dalai Lama Succession as 90th Birthday Approaches, 40 deg C in China
Links for the day
Links 05/07/2025: Hungary and US Defecting to Russia, "Google's Hotseat Hypocrisy"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 05/07/2025: 4th of July 2025 and "Zig Roadmap 2026"
Links for the day
How to Combat the Exploitation and Abuse by Microsoft GitHub
Not to mention corruption and crimes against women
Bryan Lunduke is Actually Sending His Audience to Attack People
"[Lunduke] is actually sending his audience to attack people."
Even The Right Wing is Rejecting Bryan Lunduke
no wonder he became so irrelevant and marginal
Microsoft's MSN Helps Microsoft Spread Lies About the Layoffs' Scale (Well Over 25,000 People Laid Off This Year)
There seem to be monopolies on lies and on truth
The Death of X Has Been Greatly Exaggerated (by Compromised Media)
X.Org Server is alive and well
In 2025 Everything is "AI". Remember Blockchains?
Talk about what companies and things (services, products, software) actually do, not the labels they use
Julian Assange Has Been Free for a Year
Julian Assange and I disagreed on some things
Monopolies and Scalping
Monopolies gravitate towards price hikes
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 04, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, July 04, 2025
Microsoft's August Layoffs Wave: "August is Confirmed for Additional Performance Based Cuts"
"August is confirmed for additional performance based cuts from the recent connects along with additional organizational cuts."
Links 04/07/2025: Google Replaces the Web With Slop, "AI Might Kill Us All"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 04/07/2025: Mindfulness and F1
Links for the day
Weeks After Microsoft Bankruptcy in Russia the Company Shuts Down in Pakistan, Too
Last month Windows' share in Pakistan fell to an all-time low
Rob Musial's June 2025 Additions of Malware in Proprietary Software
Via the GNU Web site this week
Links 04/07/2025: Microsoft's H-1B Visa Applications Show Another Crisis Unfolding, Many More Deep Cuts and Shutdowns Revealed, Complete Microsoft Exits
Links for the day
Gemini Links 04/07/2025: A Day To Remember and "Stop Killing Games"
Links for the day
Crime and Corruption at Microsoft GitHub Cannot be Covered Up by SLAPPs in Another Continent
We'll write about this for a long time to come
Slop Videos Are Disappointing Garbage, Nothing New, Just Brute Force up on Display or a Pedestal of Slop
Slop videos aren't a new thing
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 03, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, July 03, 2025
The War on Local Storage (People Hosting Their Files Locally and Privately)
There's nothing wrong with controlling one's computing
What Digital Independence Means
Independence in the digital realms means abandoning platforms like GitHub, not just rejecting proprietary software
NVidia is a Bubble
they temporarily see fortunes and wrongly assume perpetuity thereof
Fedora Does Not Care About Diversity and Inclusion, It's About Optics (Corporate Image)
any notion of inclusion is superficial and misleading
Don't Buy the Excuses for Microsoft's Mass Layoffs
Back in the 90s, Microsoft bought a lot of companies to get and stay ahead
Happy Independence Day to Our American Readers
Maybe tomorrow will be a good opportunity to explain to American people - in terms of concepts, not brands - which tools respect their independence
Slopwatch: Linux Journal, Linuxsecurity, and Google News Getting Even Worse (More Slopfarms Added Which Attack Linux With Bruce-Force SPAM)
Google News is part of the same problem
Links 03/07/2025: More Cuts and Cancellations at Microsoft Revealed
Links for the day
Gemini Links 03/07/2025: Favourite Child and Launching WikiGem
Links for the day
GNU/Linux is Replacing Microsoft Windows. But We Need to Eradicate Microsoft, It's a Hub of Crime.
I have been writing about Microsoft since the 1990s when I was in school
Mystery Surrounding the PCLinuxOS Sites and PCLinuxOS Magazine
Let's hope this isn't something major
People and Companies Do Learn Some Lessons From Their Mistakes (Stubborn Ones Don't)
Brett Wilson LLP is an example of one that would rather drown in mistakes
Links 03/07/2025: 'Hey Hi' Slop Ridiculed Some More and Microsoft's Layoffs Tally for 2025 Reaches About 29,000 in Just 6 Months (Almost 5,000 Per Month)
Links for the day
Microsoft Staff Harassing Women, Strangling Women, Telling Women to Kill Themselves and Worse? Not a Problem!
Two women have left Brett Wilson LLP
The Slopfarms Are Losing the Plot (and Google is Propping Up Rogue Sites)
Google is part of the attack on the Web, on information, and on technology
New BetaNews Realises There's No Potential or Future in Slopfarms, Prior Editor Wayne Williams is Back
They realise that slop (so-called "AI") cannot replace humans
Claims That Microsoft Looks for Staff That Works More and Gets Paid Less (or Can Only Code by Grabbing Other People's Code, Under the Guise of "AI")
People can form their own opinion
Richard Stallman Was Right About Reasons Not to Use Microsoft
last updated 2017
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, July 02, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, July 02, 2025
Gemini Links 03/07/2025: No to Cloudflare and Small Web July
Links for the day