Bonum Certa Men Certa

This is How GNU Finally Dies

By figosdev

Vegas at night



Summary: "Brace for when GNU falls the way that OSI, FSF, FSFE, Mozilla, and the Linux Foundation did."

These three paragraphs speak volumes:



"The goal of the GNU Social Contract is to state the core values GNU maintainers who have endorsed it are committed to uphold. It is both an agreement among us, GNU contributors, and a pledge to the broader free software community.

Additionally, we think it can be a first step towards formalizing a transparent and collective governance of the GNU Project.

"Ultimately they spell out the takeover of the GNU Project by IBM and Red Hat."The process followed by this initiative is not supported by Richard Stallman. Nevertheless, we consider it a legitimate action by and for GNU maintainers to collectively define the core values we believe GNU stands for."

Those three paragraphs are a vicious and narcissistic lie. Ultimately they spell out the takeover of the GNU Project by IBM and Red Hat.

If you look into the history of OSI, a similar tragedy happened under the directorship of Simon Phipps. Today, OSI is stifled and staffed by GIAFAM.

They did the same to ESR that they did to Stallman. This does not mean I like ESR, but I believe the people in charge now are even worse.

"Today, OSI is stifled and staffed by GIAFAM."Today, the Linux Foundation is stifled and staffed by GIAFAM. They did the same to Torvalds. I definitely do not like Torvalds, but I believe the people in charge now are even worse.

Today, Mozilla is stifled and staffed by GIAFAM. They did the same to Eich. Although the opposite is a famous political slogan, I do Not like Eich. But I will note that after he left, Mozilla did become a horrible corporate shadow of its former self. Credit where credit is due, Eich was obviously the piece that had to be removed for Mozilla to be gutted.

This happened to Stallman as head of the FSF. I believe some of these people tried to fake Stallman's resignation from the GNU Project, and they have tried to take over GNU several times. Technically, they failed. But what people don't realise is they haven't stopped. They are still taking it over, gradually.

Brace for when GNU falls the way that OSI, FSF, FSFE, Mozilla, and the Linux Foundation did.

"Brace for when GNU falls the way that OSI, FSF, FSFE, Mozilla, and the Linux Foundation did."These are fascist, surveillance-state corporations taking over grassroots movements and non-profit organisations. They do it by weaponising useful idiots to do their bidding in the name of "progress", but it is nothing more than Social Justice Theatre.

Stallman was supposed to Resign. He didn't.

In the general pattern of these takeovers, that just means they will hit harder.

These people do not stop, and people are not resisting them -- they are making them welcome, instead of ejecting them from the GNU Project. Believe me, I know that's never going to happen. And by the time enough people realise the need is there, it will have slipped out of their hands.

I'd really like to be wrong about this. I'm pretty damned tired of my concerns being vindicated by history. People need to worry more about IBM. They're just as bad as Microsoft.

Rest well, GNU. I think you will make another appearance, when all this corporate destruction is over. Whenever that is.

"These bastards have spent the past few decades rewriting history, trying to scrub out Stallman and write in Torvalds, but it's bunk."Linux is already dead, and GNU has precious little time left. But it has a 36-year legacy that will not soon be forgotten. The software world was changed forever on September 27, 1983. It was far more significant than anything that happened in 1991 or 1998. These bastards have spent the past few decades rewriting history, trying to scrub out Stallman and write in Torvalds, but it's bunk.

They will try very hard to destroy the legacy, and they will certainly cause some damage. But what these useful idiots are doing is rewriting the constitution that governs the GNU project -- and the result will be takeover by corporations.

People say that can't happen because of the license. If that were true, then the GPL would protect the Linux kernel.

They've done a lot to work around the GPL to co-opt Linux. I'm not saying the GPL isn't powerful or necessary, it's both. But from lobbying against the GPL to lobbying against GPL3 adoption, to taking over the Linux Foundation, to simply violating the GPL whenever it pleases them, Microsoft has shown that the GPL is not invincible.

It's never enough to simply establish freedom -- it has to be defended. Licenses and freedom both need defending. Free software projects need defending. Their little coup is basically strapping charges to the governance of the GNU Project. When those blow, Stallman effectively won't run the GNU Project anymore, and the history of the Middle East, the history of OSI and countless other organisations (and other countries) already tell us what happens when this power vacuum is created.

"This isn't just a corporate takeover of GNU, it's a fascist takeover."Corporations will swoop in to rebuild the thing in their image. This isn't just a corporate takeover of GNU, it's a fascist takeover.

So you people that claim you are against fascism, but you let this happen, you cheer it on -- maybe your heart is in the right place, but frankly you suck at this.

Watch and see. Nothing precludes people in the future fighting to restore the GNU Project. But for now, it is as good as dead.

The clock is ticking -- say Goodbye before it's gone.

Remembering GNU will be the most important thing you can do for software freedom.

I've compared Stallman to Einstein, but Tesla also fits. Tesla worked for Edison, and was shafted all of his life. This didn't prevent Tesla from practically creating the 20th century. That motor that's spinning your drive -- you can thank Tesla. You can sort of thank him for the solid state components as well, I'm not saying he invented every aspect of them.

"You aren't progressives, kids. You're fascists with progressive branding."On the software side, you can thank Linus Torvalds. But that would be kind of stupid at this point. Stallman is the person you should thank. You can and should also thank Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie, obviously.

IBM can thank these useful idiots and their idiot wiki page, for helping them finally kill the GNU. Keep count of the people from Red Hat, I bet there will be one from Google as well.

I'm so incredibly disappointed in you, Ian. I honestly thought you were on our side.

You aren't progressives, kids. You're fascists with progressive branding.

Goodnight.

Licence: Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International

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Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock