Bonum Certa Men Certa

Somebody Needs to Explain to the Linux Foundation That GNU/Linux (or Software Freedom) is Not a Religion

Insulting advocates of GNU/Linux is a long tradition at the 'Super PAC' of Jim Zemlin

Linux religion



Summary: Long-held beliefs about the employer of Linus Torvalds (and guardian of his trademark) are proven more accurate over time because disdain and ridicule of the long-held beliefs that Software Freedom matters unmask that employer as what it really is (or stands for)

ALONG time ago we wrote about the projection tactics or the boring old smear that caring about computer users is a "religion". As if it's illogical and irrational. As if it's bigoted and may lead to violence (and may therefore need to be stopped or watched closely). We had already seen smears like these in antitrust material. Microsoft, refusing to acknowledge its cult-like behaviour, recklessly accuses others of the same. "Religion" is a weird term to ascribe to/characterise non-religious/atheistic communities, unlike perhaps "cults" (cults do not necessarily have deities).



"Microsoft, refusing to acknowledge its cult-like behaviour, recklessly accuses others of the same."More than a decade ago we took note of such smears (when failing to discredit the opposition's argument, compare it to blind faith). Ten years ago we mentioned religion in relation to Mono/.NET, five years ago we said that "Both Apple and Microsoft Compare Their Corporate Causes to Religion" and "Microsoft Fakes 'Charity' and Uses Religious Groups to Acquire Lock-in in the Public Sector"; last year we said the same about patent maximalism at the management of the European Patent Office (EPO).

When one compares GNU or Linux (or both) to a religion one is in fact participating in -- even bolstering -- Microsoft's attack on Software Freedom.

So Microsoft critics and sceptics are "nutcases", GNU/Linux is a "religion", and everyone who does not agree with the Linux Foundation is just Donald Trump, according to the Linux.com editor who doesn't even use GNU/Linux (Macs and Windows).

Some people like to take satires of Richard Stallman (e.g. about religion) to actually twist those jokes as seriousness, thus portraying GNU as a "religion". They'd do anything to demonise people who speak about human rights and Software Freedom.

"As long as Zemlin protects Power that Power will protect him."Speaking of Stallman, it's hard to move on and simply forget about the damage unjustly done to his reputation if not his career as well. The media did a lot of damage after VICE had deliberately distorted what Stallman had said. For over a month this helped distract from the real MIT scandal, which involved Bill Gates, a self-loving cult leader and idol to a lot of people (because he spent two decades paying to media to do this). "Dead men may tell no tales, but the story of Jeffrey Epstein is far from over," Peter M. D'Abrosca wrote in relation to Bill Gates flying with Epstein. Gates is still on the Microsoft Board of Directors and he flew on Epstein’s infamous plane; his name was disclosed in the flight logs. Bill Gates never denied that he flew the "Lolita Express" with Epstein. The documentary evidence is compelling enough that he cannot deny it (he already lied about other things in relation to Epstein, later to be caught in these lies that some media helped refute). Now he only 'speaks' through spokespeople. Here are some flight logs:

Bill Gates flight logs



"Numerous victims claim the plane was set up with a bed and used by Epstein and his guests to rape underage victims," say sites on the Web (there's corroboration), but look over there, everybody! Richard Stallman scrutinised the word "assault" as used regarding an accused dead man (his position on the term "assault" in relation to all sexual improprieties is nothing new, there's a formal reference page about it, and many people agree with him that this term is overused). Guess who got in trouble at MIT. This institution should investigate why Bill Gates paid millions of dollars to Epstein and relayed these to MIT (after he had spent lots of time getting so close to Epstein). Why did he pay? What for? Where's the elaborate Federal investigation? Where has the Linux Foundation apologised for accepting money from these people? Or from the Pentagon? Nowhere. Because to the Linux Foundation the real problem is the 'religion' which is GNU/Linux users, as opposed to Microsoft and Gates. The Linux Foundation worships money, so it shows respect only to those who have money. Remember what the Linux Foundation's chief said to all of us a decade ago; we need to "respect Microsoft" (even if it helps ICE with illegal detention camps and helps the Army kill innocent people). Just... "respect Microsoft" and not those "nutcases" who question Microsoft's motives.

Seems awfully probable that the only religion here is shared between the types of Zemlin and Microsoft/Bill Gates. The religion is money. Money and power. As long as Zemlin protects Power that Power will protect him. It's not like he's technically qualified for his role.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Microsoft's Mass Layoffs (30,000+ in 2025) Not About "AI", Just Business Failure
"AI" is replacing... the old excuses for mass layoffs
EPO People Power - Part XVI - Berenguer Does Not Speak German, So What Did He Tell German Police That Busted Him?
based in Germany and does not speak the language
Challenges for EPO Insiders to Try to Tackle in 2026
Nothing will get solved as long as the circus that runs this show tries to keep the circus going
 
Starting a Book With a Flawed Premise or Weak Hypothesis
To me, Schneier is a sort of "RMS of sec"
"But Corruption is Everywhere"
"We'll always have Polio..."
Days Without Slop About "Linux"
It's time to move on
Links 27/12/2025: Canada Post Strike Called Off, Debate About Europeans "Working Over Christmas"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 27/12/2025: Household Appliances and Flight Fright
Links for the day
Links 27/12/2025: US Cracking Down on Whistleblowers, Expanding Bombardment Campaigns Worldwide
Links for the day
Resuming EPO Coverage Today, Can António Campinos 'Survive' Cocainegate?
We said we'd continue in the weekend
Links 27/12/2025: More Attacks on Media (Meduza Co-founder Sentenced to Prison in Absentia), "What Owning Music Means To Me"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 27/12/2025: geminiprotocol.net Downtime and Capsular Gemlog Manager
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, December 26, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, December 26, 2025
Tossing Embarrassing News Under the Christmastime Bus
This isn't just some coincidence; those are conscious choices
Victim-Blaming in Debian
Verhelst previously did blame-shifting when Debian suicide clusters happened
IBM Cuts in Japan, Red Hat is Attached to a Sinking Ship
IBM, which controls Red Hat, is a rapidly shrinking company
Manchester United Dumped Microsoft Because Qualcomm Sort of Did
The Windows PCs were an utter failure
Free Software Foundation (FSF) Supported by Unconventional Digital Bartering Communities
But no strings attached
Geminispace: 5,000 Capsules in 2026
There are 4.8k now
Gemini Links 26/12/2025: Careful What You Eat and "My Secret Santa"
Links for the day
The Indigenous Community Versus Corporate AstroTurt and 'Cancel Culture'
Good people will recognise exactly what's happening here and respond to it tactfully
Richard Stallman: Epstein is a Serial Rapist. Bill Epsteingate: Epstein is a Friend.
Supporting the FSF (or Richard Stallman) is supporting those who asserted Epstein had serially raped women
The Paradox of GAFAM: Saying You Protect Women, Appointing Abusers of Women to Run the Company
older articles
Censored by FreeBSD Core Team Secretary, Reinstated After Talking About it in Public
FreeBSD misfiring a CoC?
Links 26/12/2025: Chatbot Toys Terrorising Children, US Undeclared "War on Terror" Unilaterally Extends to Nigeria During Holidays
Links for the day
Links 26/12/2025: French Postal Services Under Russian Attack, U.S. Cheetos Accuse People Who Obstruct Information Warfare by Russia of "Censorship"
Links for the day
Debian's Daniel Kahn Gillmor is Wrong, Signal is No "Gold Standard" (It's Also Promoted by Proponents of Back Doors)
I'm not too sure why Debian or the ACLU would wish to associate with this
Next Year Will be the Year of Quantum, Just Like 2020, 2015, 2010, 2005 and So On
"Quantum" is the future
The Silent Power of Coercion Over Speech
The important thing is optics
Kazakhstan Doesn't Need GAFAM Datacentres (Spy Hubs)
Suffice to say, as far as we can gather nothing came out from the empty (false) promises of GAFAM's "data centers in Kazakhstan"
So Simple That You Can Touch and Feel It
In light of recent experiences
Christmas Music Project: Back to When Music Was Music
now Canonical (or Ubuntu) says we should make available tens of gigabytes of disk space
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) Under Attack by Cross-Network Spam Floods
So far we've been spared (our network has not been targeted at all) [...] Let's hope the spam won't discourage the hundreds of thousands of people worldwide who still use IRC
An "AI-Infused" Windows
Microsoft Windows isn't becoming a worthless pile of garbage by accident
Microsoft Laid Off Over 30,000 People This Year, Coders Are "Too Expensive"
Go get some popcorn. Microsoft "slopware" is about to get real!
Critics Have Long Said Microsoft Produces "Slopware", Microsoft Wants to Prove Them Right
Slop instead of code is a step in the right direction?
The Top 8 Innovations of IBM in 2025
What innovations will come out from IBM in 2026?
And as the Year Turns...
The significance of new years isn't based on geology or astronomy or anything like that
Appliances Versus Computers
Replacing a computer inside an object of some kind or inside an appliance (which nowadays includes "modern" cars) isn't simple and isn't cheap
A Dark Side of Europe
They try hard to silence people who speak about these issues
Why People Love Techrights (and Also Loved "Boycott Novell")
I will continue to publish for many decades to come
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, December 25, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, December 25, 2025
Browsing Techrights With a GUI and 10 Megabytes of RAM Per Tab
Some people say it's not possible in 2025, maybe in part because they depend on very bloated software
A Tribute to Richard Stallman
It's about knowledge and sharing
Links 26/12/2025: Impermanence, Salt and Thermometer, Freetube
Links for the day
Gemini Links 25/12/2025: Hibernation and TV Detox
Links for the day
Canonical is Making the Cost of PCs Very High, Due to Unnecessary Ubuntu Bloat
They say the reason for the price surge is LLM hype/frenzy
Canonical's Ubuntu is Bloatware
How did Ubuntu get so fat?
The EPO is a Very Vicious Organisation You Neither Wish to Join Nor Stay in for "Too Long"
Consider what the EPO thinks of its own workers, the staff that actually does real work
2026 Will Hopefully Turn Out to be Slopless
we seem to be starting the post-Christmas period on the right footing
Links 25/12/2025: Mail Carriers in "a Murky Future", Dihydroxyacetone Man’s "Chip Embargo Against China Backfiring Spectacularly"
Links for the day
The Register MS: All I Want For Xmas is Microsoft
they actually put effort into it
How to Win Nobel Prize for Peace
Do you get to Heaven (or peace platitudes) by sleeping with 72 virgins?
The Right to Repair (Especially When Products Are So Poorly Made)
Many electrical appliances fail often/quick and are nearly impossible to repair
Links 25/12/2025: Ample Cover-up Found in Jeffrey Epstein Files; ChatGPT Causes Psychosis, Not a Good Use Case
Links for the day
Giving Money to Free Software
In life, people must make sacrifices to do what's right and just
The Register MS: Don't Use Linux
That really says a lot about The Register MS
EPO People Power - Part XV - EPO Cocainegate to Resume This Weekend
The next installment (number 16) will probably come out this weekend
Microsoft: XBox is Going "Online", "Cloud"...
XBox as a console is pretty much dead
The Year of the Bubble
We hope that in 2026 the marketing liars will find some new buzzwords to latch onto and quit calling everything "AI"
Mozilla Firefox is a GAFAM Browser With Slop, Move to a Free Software Web Browser
on mobile the options would be more limited
libera.chat Was Under Attack Last Night
Several months from now libera.chat turns 5
Free Software Foundation (FSF) Raises Over $300,000 Before Christmas
the FSF made it past $300,000
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, December 24, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, December 24, 2025