Bonum Certa Men Certa

Leak: Richard Stallman (RMS) Was Betrayed by Matthias Kirschner's FSFE, Which Closely Connected With People Who Attack Stallman

Even before Matthias Kirschner's FSFE took money from Microsoft (as did the Software Freedom Conservancy)

Masked Killers: Software Freedom Conservancy, Copyleft Conf, OSI and FSFE



Summary: Backstabbers and turncoats have worked together to weaken the FSF and to dilute/override/rewrite the message of Free software; it mostly boils down to money and status

Further to the previous leak, we now have another about "joint OSI/FSF/SFC membership"; SFC is of course the Software Freedom Conservancy, which moved to 'oust' RMS both from within the FSF (Board) and outside it (the SFC's Web site). As we noted only two days ago, Deb from SFC is now moving to become (interim) General Manager of OSI; she took Microsoft money while she was in charge of Copyleft Conf, both in 2019 and in 2020 (shortly before and also some time after receiving an award from FSF (RMS, personally)). What a way to reciprocate, eh?



The source of this leak described this as: "An insight into the continuous posturing between free software organizations trying to make themselves look important..."

“An insight into the continuous posturing between free software organizations trying to make themselves look important...”
      --Anonymous
The source moreover joked: "Has Techrights ever thought about setting up an affiliate or associate network? Maybe you could stop blogging and just do full time posturing like this..."

Here it is, dated a month before the FSF moved to pressure (again) FSFE to quit misleading people with the "FSF" brand:

Subject: Re: OSI / Affiliate + Associate Date: Sun, 30 Apr 2017 15:27:34 +0000 From: Matthias Kirschner <mk@fsfe.org> To: team@lists.fsfe.org

Dear Erik,

* Erik Albers [2017-02-21 11:20 +0100]:
On 20.02.2017 16:27, Matthias Kirschner wrote:
* Jan-Christoph Borchardt <hey at jancborchardt dot net> [2017-02-02 18:00:00 +0100]:
Also, I just recently heard about this associate program and I’m very happy that this is pushed again. We also thought about becoming OSI affiliate since some time, and I suppose it’s quite a similar thing?
Yes, I see it not that much different from their program: https://opensource.org/affiliates/about
as they already have a much longer list than FSFE has and seem to grow it since 2012, I think it would be interesting to ask them about their experience with it, the benefit or downsides or if they are using it all and these things?


and here the answer to your question: it seems they have contacted them once at the beginning, asking them to become affiliated organisations. After that according to Simon Phipps there was almost nothing they did with them. They "forgot about them".

From the process:

* They approached almost all the big organisations themselves. For those they added a questions, if they would support them with a one-time donation in case OSI ever has a problem; which most of them answered with yes. * Afterwards new organisations applied. * As there were many LUGs they at one point just added a separate category in their affiliates for user groups.

With some of those organisations they now want to do "joint memberships" and offer those at some conferences. The first one will be a joint OSI/FSF/SFC membership. Simon asked if we would be interested in something like that for European events. I said that this generated more problems as it would solve, and said that we would first like to see how it goes with their experiment.

Btw. Simon said he could see OSI to become an associated organisation of the FSFE if we become an affiliated organisation.

Best Regards, Matthias

-- Matthias Kirschner - President - Free Software Foundation Europe Schönhauser Allee 6/7, 10119 Berlin, Germany | t +49-30-27595290 Registered at Amtsgericht Hamburg, VR 17030 | (fsfe.org/join) Contact (fsfe.org/about/kirschner) - Weblog (k7r.eu/blog.html) _______________________________________________ Team mailing list Team@lists.fsfe.org https://lists.fsfe.org/mailman/listinfo/team


We've spoken amongst ourselves about the meaning of the above message. Ryan said: "The FSFE pushing Open Source is a direct contradiction of what Stallman wanted to do with the FSF, which he had stated on many occasions. He said things like some people call him the "father of open source" and he wished they would stop because it meant a lesser standard of freedom for the users, and he joked that if he was the father of open source, they "used stolen semen".

“The FSFE pushing Open Source is a direct contradiction of what Stallman wanted to do with the FSF, which he had stated on many occasions.”
      --Ryan
"So the FSFE is not using the FSF definition of Free Software and need to quit calling themselves a Free Software organization, per the agreement, or stop trying to label open source as the "exact same thing". Because it isn't. It's freedom with generational loss. It only guarantees that the the first people in line who get a copy have the right to use it however they want.

"The first time someone redistributes a modified version, they can take away some or all of the freedoms that they got from it, or use it to impose DRM. The GPLv3 has anti-DRM provisions that allow users to break DRM that it has been used to implement by making the distributor admit that they don't declare it to be a "technical protection measure" as defined by law. (Like the DMCA.)

"Apple absolutely will not abide by that. They love DRM because they're buddy-buddy with Hollywood and the RIAA, and it traps people on Apple computing platforms. Open source is mute on the topic of DRM because they don't care if their software is used to create it or not."

Recent Techrights' Posts

UEFI "Secure Boot Doesn’t Play Nice at the Moment"
UEFI "Secure Boot" does not improve security. It's an artificial obstacle in service of monopoly.
If You Want to "make your 'Windows PC' lean, mean, and fast" You Will Install GNU/Linux or Some BSD
That kind of article says a lot about IDG
 
Links 15/09/2025: Bitcoin ATMs Scam and "Conservative Cryptography" (Backdoors Fantasies)
Links for the day
EPO Imitates Microsoft: "Three Days or More Per Week" Inside the Office to Get a Desk to Work on; "the Office Breaches Its Promise Towards Staff and Acts in Breach of Its Duty of Care"
The EPO serves no actual function in Europe
Links 15/09/2025: Political Affairs, Censorship, and Copyrights
Links for the day
Gemini Links 15/09/2025: Music Genres, Invisible Networks, and Akademy 2025
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, September 14, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, September 14, 2025
Satya's Plan B: Try to Hide the Massive Extent/Scale/Scope of Microsoft Layoffs
fewer people buy Microsoft
Red Hat News About De Facto Mass Layoffs (Bluewashing) Gone From Reddit (Censored by Gatekeepers), Still Online in The Register
With RTOs, PIPs, relocation etc. expect IBM to "shed off" many Red Hatters
Gemini Links 14/09/2025: ROOPHLOCH, Music, and Reddit
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Google News Infested With Slop (About Half of the Results for "Linux" Today)
This is the sort of junk one finds when looking for "Linux" in Google News these days
Links 14/09/2025: Ricky Hatton Dies and McDonald's Declares War on Tipping Culture
Links for the day
Links 14/09/2025: Disasters for CEOs Obsessed With Slop and Slop Companies School Like Fish
Links for the day
"Bad Shim Signature" (Microsoft 'Secure' Boot)
"Fresh install not booting"
What Microsoft Garrett and Microsoft Lunduke Have in Common
Similar tactics, different "wings"
Links 14/09/2025: US "Economy Sagging", "Michigan Economy Wobbles From Tariffs"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 14/09/2025: Minimalist Snippet Manager and Omarchy Linux
Links for the day
The Face of the Digital Far Right: Microsoft Lunduke
Microsoft Lunduke is an online extremist that belongs to and panders to the far right
20 Years Later and Academia Isn't the Same
"I never dreamed of being a professor"
'Cancel Culture' by the Right: Microsoft Lunduke Contacts People's Employers Trying to Get Them Fired
Microsoft Lunduke panders to extremists online
"Bad Shim Signature"; So 'Secure' That It Overrides Users' Preferences and Turns Itself Back on (Coercive Measure)
This was a few hours ago
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, September 13, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, September 13, 2025
Microsoft is Rapidly Dropped From Web Servers, Shows Survey
Microsoft lost about 8% "market share" in just 3 months
Many GNU/Linux Users Report MOK (Machine Owner Key) Issues in Recent Days
many people don't report this online and never post in Reddit
We Covered UEFI 'Secure Boot' Scandals. The World Listened.
To hell with UEFI 'secure boot'
Links 13/09/2025: Escalations in East Europe and POTUS’ Health Cover-Up
Links for the day
Gemini Links 13/09/2025: Lagrange Turns 5 and Lagrange 1.19.2 Released
Links for the day
Microsoft Inside Your Linux: "Security vulnerability that allowed an attacker to bypass UEFI Secure Boot."
2 hours ago
A New Low for "Linux Journal": Promoting MICROSOFT WINDOWS Using LLM Slop
They've just jumped the shark entirely
Fake News With Fake Numbers About Microsoft
"This is what happens when the world's economy is governed by sick old men"
Slopwatch: "Google News" is Fast Becoming a Mashup of Slopfarms, Linux Journal ("LJ") is a Dump of LLM Slop
Well done, Google News. Google itself can flourish as a slopfarm mashup.
Torturing Users Who Just Want to Run GNU/Linux on Their Own PC
"Linux does not want to install"
The Register MS Still Takes Money to Hype Up "AI" in Articles by Microsoft Resellers With the Term "AI" 30+ Times in Them
Notice how many times they mention "AI"
The Apache Logo News is VERY Old, Racists and 'Anti-Woke' Bigots Look for Something to Incite Other Bigots With
Nothing to see here, move along
Linux Mint 9/11: "4th One Today..." (in Reddit)
Remember that not everyone having an issue reports it to social control media like Reddit
Nepal Will Fall Without a Single Shot Fired, Thanks to Social Control Media
Or very few shots (by the authorities)
European Corruption in the European Patent Office (EPO) Targets Culture
"In reality, the project includes a new “legal instrument” shifting administrative burden and liability on EPO staff while creating new uncertainty and externalising Amicale activities."
European Authorities, Already Bribed and Infiltrated by Microsoft, Won't Help You Find BigBlueButton, Jami, Ring, and Jitsi
Because they're paid by Microsoft and are Microsoft 'addicts' themselves
UEFI Secure Boot Failing, as Expected for Nearly 15 Years Already (Techrights Said This Since 2012)
in the media
Debian 9/11
people report this issue
Gemini and Web Links 13/09/2025: MElon's Slop Grift and "Autonomous Trains"
Links for the day
Moving From Content Management Systems (CMSs) to Static Site Generators (SSGs) Saves You Time, Makes You a Lot More Productive
try to reduce the cost (financial and computational) of running your site
Pursuing Peace Through Violence
You cannot "see" a person's mind, until the mouth opens
Leak: European Patent Office (EPO) is Now Attacking Amicale Clubs
corruption has become the norm and scientists are robbed of any dignity
Can We Please Stop Celebrating Shooters?
"An important point to hammer on is that CoCs were never intended for uniform or symmetric application"
Oracle Fraud (or Defrauding Shareholders)
"the obvious [lie] is that watts are (wasted) electricity [and] and FLOPS are computing capacity"
Geminispace is Growing Faster in 2025 Than It Did in 2024
What matters is that corporations haven't ruined it and LLM slop is extremely rare
Links 13/09/2025: China Punishes for 'Negative' Posts, US Police Unable to Find Shooter
Links for the day
Who's the Mystery Financier of SLAPP Against Techrights and Is That a Millionaire/Billionaire?
Whose idea was it to fund meritless lawsuits against my wife and I?
Slopwatch: Slow Slop Day
This distracts from or may take traffic away from the original articles, actually written by actual people
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, September 12, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, September 12, 2025