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

Recent Techrights' Posts

Gemini Links 12/10/2026: Westminster Quarters, Civilization, Luddites, and More
Links for the day
Voice for the Impoverished
the country's leaders attack the country's own press
 
Brigading Against Women - Part XXVII - Americans and Public Executions
"People who work for Facebook / Xitter / Bytedance's Tiktok / Microsoft / Oracle / IBM / Apple / Uber / Lyft / Wolt / DoorDash / AirBnB / Bolt / and so on are doing some world-class projection when they have the audacity to call others Bad People(tm)"
Slop-ware Is Not Newsworthy
LLMs are exceptionally loquacious and create large code bases
Links 11/10/2026: US Sides With Vladimir Putin, Convicted Felon Dubbed "Agent of a Foreign Power"
Links for the day
IRC Tracker Back in Order, Number of Known IRC Networks Continues to Increase
We don't know if our article helped trigger a resolution
Links 11/10/2026: "Execution TV" (Iran Aped by US) and ‘Digital Oblivion’ Caused by Slop Frenzy Online
Links for the day
Gemini Links 11/10/2026: Adults Dressing Up as Animals, 44th Birthday, and More
Links for the day
Running a Country's Economy by Borrowing Over $400,000,000,000 Per Month
This is the hallmark of an economy in irreversible decline
Brigading Against Women - Part XXVI - Trying to Deplatform Critics of Microsoft's Restricted Boot
Like James Bottomley, Matthew Garrett served Microsoft's agenda while employed and salaried by other companies
Anderon Is Not a Real Company, It's an IBM Bailout Dressed Up or Wrapped Up In Buzzwords
It certainly does seem like they receive money from taxpayers for nothing, or for IBM to do mass layoffs/closure at Albany under the guise of "making a new spinoff"...
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, October 10, 2026
IRC logs for Saturday, October 10, 2026
Gemini Links 10/10/2026: Radio Romania International, Avoiding GAFAM, Open Camera, and Another Palm
Links for the day
The 2026 Slop Prediction (Slopfarms Perishing)
Morality in the "digital world" has deteriorated profoundly
netsplit.de (Survey of IRC Networks and History) Only Partly Functional This Month
Get well soon, netsplit.de
Microsoft Cuts
GAFAM enshittification
NVIDIA Acts Like It Cannot Pay Salaries (Too Many Obligations, Sales in Circular Financing, or Basically Accounting Fraud)
Masters of acting as clients of themselves
Paying for elections, Reform UK illegal confession in High Court
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Contemptuous Law Firm Accusing Others of Contempt of Court
Keeping a running tally can help
Links 10/10/2026: Let's Encrypt Making Changes (Problem for Small Sites/Operations), Quartz is Officially a Slopfarm (Busted)
Links for the day
Microsoft Abuses PERM and Lays Off Workers in India
The US government has made it easier for Microsoft to hide the mass layoffs
The GAFAM Elections in the United States
If the election is run by platforms that have back doors "baked-in" and if the communications are overseen by GAFAM, you would not have to be a "nutty MAGAt" to dispute the outcome
More GAFAM Layoffs (Late on Friday Night)
They say they are worth trillions, but they don't even make money
Male-Dominated EPO Fails to Have "Concrete Measures to Support Female Staff"
Being a female at the EPO is exceptionally hard
Brigading Against Women - Part XXV - No Anonymity for People Who Did Illegal Things
"Empathy is the sunlight to the vampire of culture."
Production Freeze at the European Patent Office (Opposing Monarchy, Institutional Maladministration and Corruption)
Eight reasons to participate
Links 10/10/2026: Microsoft 'Open' 'AI' Silencing Critics, "Data Centres are the New Front Line in the Russia-Ukraine War"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, October 09, 2026
IRC logs for Friday, October 09, 2026
Gemini Links 10/10/2026: Optimism, Stargazing, "Life Without Smartphone", and Fairphone 4
Links for the day