Bonum Certa Men Certa

'It's Dead, Jim': OSI Controlled (Partly) by Microsoft and Promotes Microsoft Proprietary Software After Taking Microsoft Bribes

OSI in 2020: Job ads for proprietary software in the official OSI blog, linking to Microsoft.com

Entryism
Wikipedia on entryism



Summary: The OSI, which lost its two co-founders in two months (this year), is acting like little but a Microsoft marketing front right now; maybe it's time to just say good riddance, goodbye and good night to OSI (it's seemingly beyond redemption)

IT IS NEITHER a secret nor news that OSI is in somewhat of an unacknowledged crisis, having chosen money over its mission statement. Its President boasted about holding OSI meetings in Microsoft's own offices and both co-founders are out after protesting this kind of grotesque openwash. They no longer believe that the OSI they co-founded is true to its goals. It became rogue; it's a front group of proprietary software companies, just like the Linux Foundation.

It saddens me.

It saddens me a great deal. Look at the Sponsors page of the OSI and find Microsoft listed thrice there (more than any other company). That's like Greenpeace listing Exxon and its subsidiaries thrice as patrons. Not only does it make no sense; it's evidence of something gone amiss/awry.

"Bruce Perens actually left. The other co-founder was banned by his own creation (due to other incredibly self-harming aspects and threats to OSI)."As evident from this site, which goes back to 2006, I'm no foe of the OSI. Despite its deviation from the FSF and Free/libre software, I've been generally supportive of it. Before Bruce Perens quit (earlier this year) I felt like his persistent presence there was a sign that there was still hope and bridge leading to Software Freedom, even if they refer to it as "Open Source" (promoting their own 'diluted' brand).

Bruce Perens actually left. The other co-founder was banned by his own creation (due to other incredibly self-harming aspects and threats to OSI). Apparently one isn't allowed to openly defend the Open Source Definition (OSD); it makes one a nuisance -- merely protecting this institution's very purpose. ClearlyDefined "ethics"? How about Ethical ClearlyDefined Open Core Cloud Inner Source? What next will they replace OSD with? Bruce Perens said earlier this year: "Well, it seems to me that the organization is rather enthusiastically headed toward accepting a license that isn't freedom respecting... Fine, do it without me, please." As someone put it in the comments: "What does vaccination have to do with software licencing? This alone makes the system suspect. I support vaccination obviously but these people are deciding they can interfere in others' lives."

The abduction of OSI follows a familiar pattern. OSI is like Linux.com now. Or the Linux Foundation's own official blog, composed by a Microsoft veteran! Make no mistakes about it, there are endless parallels here (not the subject of this post, but disturbing nonetheless, with examples as recent as yesterday*).

"The abduction of OSI follows a familiar pattern."When Microsoft entered their Board these Microsoft employees used the OSI's official blog to push this thing (also pushed by other Microsoft employees) called "ClearlyDefined". We wrote a number of articles about it at the time. It's all connected and it is tied to the same person who outsourced Apache to Microsoft and his boss who phoned my boss, trying to cause me trouble at work, maybe even to get me fired (unemployment). Thankfully my boss supported me, knowing that outside my technical job I do Free software activism. He told these Microsoft thugs that it's none of their business what his worker does outside work. Microsoft is still an extremely aggressive company and its supposed 'gentleness' is a game of subtleties and PR. Many people who keep telling us about the 'new Microsoft' are directly or indirectly paid by Microsoft. Yesterday the OSI published this Microsoft spam in its official blog post and front page. They are, in effect, promoting proprietary software (GitHub) and posting Microsoft job ads with promotional language that certainly comes from Microsoft itself. "Submitted [anonymously] by administrator" (in effect an ad for https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/job/800721/Principal-Software-Engineer) is the following text:

ClearlyDefined (GitHub) is an open source, OSI project aimed at boosting the success of FOSS projects by being, well, "clearly defined." Lack of clarity around licenses and security vulnerabilities reduces engagement — that means fewer users, fewer contributors, and a smaller community.

OSI Sponsor Microsoft, and its Open Source Programs Office, is looking for someone experienced in open source software, comfortable working with modern software tools (e.g., Node and Azure), and excited to contribute as part of a dynamic environment; someone who understands how to employ scrum and agile techniques to stay focused and productive in the face of change; someone who thrives on cross-team collaboration and enjoys openness and diversity; someone with great communication and presentation skills to convey their message. The Microsoft Open Source Programs Office is a small, multi-disciplinary team that works across the company to help Microsoft participate successfully with open source software and the organizations, like OSI, that support it.

If you are interested, the team at Microsoft's Open Source Programs Office would love to talk to you about how open source compliance is making it easier for projects to know their software is being used according to their wishes and easier for companies to know what they need to do to comply with them.


RIP, OSI. It was nice knowing you. You now actively work against Open Source by enabling and promoting its consumption by a giant proprietary trap. _____ * Swapnil Bhartiya is openwashing Adobe this weekend. We're supposed to think that proprietary software vanguards are... "open source citizens". It is right there in the headline on Bhartiya's "TFIR" (a rebranded "Muktware"/"TheMukt"/"LinuxVeda"). A day or two ago he tweeted that he admires and loves Microsoft. This is who the Linux Foundation left in complete control of Linux.com! The person who yesterday posted an article to say that Adobe is "transforming into a good open source citizen." He has just done more openwashing. This is part of a clear pattern at the Linux Foundation and it leads to headlines like this new one from Phoronix, 'spamming' the news about "Linux" with proprietary software/patent traps of Microsoft.

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
 
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