Bonum Certa Men Certa

Timeline of Free/Livre/Libre Software

Not quite what the corporate media likes to tell people

What if I told you it all started in 1983 and not 1991?



Summary: Our research into the history (and present) of Free software continues; at the moment it is our foremost interest and our subject of focus

THE Free Software timeline, maintained and constantly updated by figosdev (last updated yesterday), helps put in perspective what happened over the years and the decades. New leaks help do the same. We just want to have a better understanding/grasp of what happened and what is still happening. The present and future certainly depend on the past.



"The interest in the topics we cover is certainly there."Yesterday we published about 8,000 E-mails from Debian's 'elevated' (and secretive) community. Mark Shuttleworth shows up there more than a dozen times and we've found nothing really unsavoury in these E-mails (we studied many hundreds of these). One might ask, however, "aren't ordinary Debian Developers allowed to see what happens 'higher up'?" Transparency is certainly possible. We've found not much gossip or sensitive details in these E-mails; however we've learned a lot about the early days of Debian. It's good to have these in the public domain.

We're currently exploring a number of other angles. There are answers to particular questions which need further evidence and some of that is work in progress. We appreciate readers' patience and support. Moral support is very important. We don't mean to disparage but to understand. Truth has always been of utmost value. Due to the P.R. industry [sic] truth has long been elusive. We're very transparent about our processes and communications; the pastes in the latest IRC logs also reveal parts of E-mails. Sometimes we rub out names in the interest of privacy/anonymity. That seems sensible (protecting sources).

Techrights readership keeps growing. The interest in the topics we cover is certainly there. Our baseline readership is about 3,000 per article (direct views, not RSS or multi-post pages), sometimes 10k, sometimes even 150k (earlier this month). And that's just in the first week (not long-term statistics). But what matters is accuracy, not readership. We're very rarely proven wrong. We very rarely need to correct/amend articles.

"For the time being we're mostly done with research into IBM's past and the EPO scandals have quieted down (not that they're resolved)."On our "TODO" list right about now is publication of older material that can shed light on suppressed matters/issues in the GNU/Linux community. For the time being we're mostly done with research into IBM's past and the EPO scandals have quieted down (not that they're resolved). Regarding software patents, there's no sign of resurgence and in Daily Links we habitually add stories about such patents perishing in American courts. So we shelve those aside, so to speak, unless or until there's something major to report (a change in pattern). The recent FRAND ruling in the UK is not particularly interesting. Lots of blog/media coverage about that, mostly by law firms looking to make a buck/quid/euro.

"We're happy to see what Bruce Perens has to say this month and his huge number of Debian-Private E-mails reveal him or 'expose' him as a reasonable person who habitually speaks to Richard Stallman and promotes Free (as in Freedom) software."As promised, over the next few weeks we'll publish more findings about the past and present of Free/livre/libre software. We're happy to see what Bruce Perens has to say this month and his huge number of Debian-Private E-mails reveal him or 'expose' him as a reasonable person who habitually speaks to Richard Stallman and promotes Free (as in Freedom) software. As figosdev put it some hours ago: "He does a great job describing the problems, and people should pay attention to that. But his solutions have some of the same problems that Open Source do with regards to Free Software -- and he says things like two similar licenses in a set of 3 makes it more like 2.5 licenses because you don't have to learn three completely different ones. That's true on a certain level, but mostly 3 licenses are three licenses if you change a word or sometimes a semicolon. So sharing substantial text (in a legal document like that) -- even if he has a point, it won't have the effect he claims -- not for people who are actually going to learn the license. I suspect he will clarify that later as I'm sure he knows better and doesn't gain from misleading on that."

Recent Techrights' Posts

Our Case is a Very Easy Win, the SLAPPs From Microsofters Were a Grave Error, and Censoring Information Won't Work (It'll Only Ever Backfire)
Censoring is what people do when they lose the argument
 
Links 04/06/2025: WSL Backfiring on Microsoft and "Disney, Microsoft Announce Massive Layoffs"
Links for the day
Say the Truth, the Rest Will Follow
There's no guarantee that writing the truth will result in an audience (or readership), but over time - in the long run - people generally gravitate towards what they know or feel to be crude truth, not just what's comforting (albeit false or self-deluding, usually groupthink dictated from above)
How to Expose High-Level Corruption Without Getting in (Too Much) Trouble
Democracy depends on free press and freedom of the press depends on being able to safely publish (and keep available) material that bad people don't want to be known to anybody
In-Depth EPO Coverage at Techrights Turns Eleven
11 years is a very long time
Windows Measured Below 10% in Afghanistan, GNU/Linux Gaining a Lot
about 80% are Android (Linux) users, compared to only about 10% for Windows
Poland's Political Predicament and Social Control Media
Democracy and fake "tech" don't mix well; the latter tends to interfere with the former and that's why we get more "Putins" out there
EPO: Taking Away From the Staff to Give More to the Rich
The Central Staff Committee (CSC) wrote to EPO staff earlier this week
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, June 03, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, June 03, 2025
Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part I: It's a Lot Like the EPO
we can commence a series soon
Gemini Links 04/06/2025: Inescapable Questions and Quitting All "Oligarch Tech"
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Linux FUD From Slopfarms, Blaming Linux for Microsoft Issues; Even WebProNews Has Become a Slopfarm (Googlebombing "Linux" With Slop Images and Fake/Plagiarised Text)
The Web is really getting bad; it's also overwhelmed by fake material or plagiarised material, wherein the plagiarism gets disguised/hidden by LLM sausage factories
Links 03/06/2025: Tiananmen Square Massacre Censorship and Growing Military Activities Around Taiwan
Links for the day
Linux is Already Dominant (Android), Let's Make GNU/Linux Dominant in Desktops/Laptops as Well
"Dr. Stallman recently warned everybody about Microsoft."
The Loyalty to Microsoft and the Salaries From Microsoft (Funding SLAPPs Against Techrights and Tux Machines)
Garrett always knows better. He knows everything best.
Windows Falls in Italy as GNU/Linux Jumps to 5%
Italy knows a thing or two about digital autonomy
Nigeria is All Android and Google
Windows down to almost nothing in Africa's largest population
Mass Layoffs at Microsoft (Second Wave) Not Limited to Redmond
"More layoffs at Microsoft as axe falls in Washington and California"
Gemini Links 03/06/2025: Forth System and "Common Lisp is a Dumpster"
Links for the day
The Leaks Were Right: Mass Layoffs at Microsoft in May, Then Another Wave in June
Just as we've been saying for over a month
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, June 02, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, June 02, 2025
Last Article From Australia's Sam Varghese Was a Year Ago and It Covered the Release of Julian Assange, Who Will Apparently Come Back as 'Politician'
It'll soon be exactly 12 months
Hungary Seems Hungry for Linux
Windows down by a lot
Like in Europe, Bad News for Microsoft in US and Canada
If it loses those "regions", then what's left?
About 8 Waves of Mass Layoffs at Microsoft in 2025 (in Less Than 5 Months), Now Vista 11 "Market Share" Decreases
Really bad news for shareholders of Microsoft
statCounter Sees Bing "Share" Falling Over 0.5% in One Month, Now Lower Than Before the ChatGPT/Bing Chat Hype
Bing has been part of the mass layoffs for quite some time
After Microsoft's Bankruptcy in Russia Android (Linux) Will Dominate Asia Completely
Windows probably peaked in "XP" or "2000"
Microsoft's Demise is a Global Phenomenon
mass layoffs justified using mindless buzzwords
All-Time Highs for GNU/Linux in EU and the UK, All-Time Lows for Microsoft
Combining ChromeOS and GNU/Linux, it adds up to and almost reaches 6%
India: Windows Falls to 50% in Desktops/Laptops and 8% Overall
laptops/desktops fell to 16% of the whole
statCounter: GNU/Linux Up to 4.7% "Market Share" This Month
30,000 Microsoft jobs may be eliminated by year's end
Microsoft is in Trouble and Microsofters Know It
"I've been happy on Win 3.11 for years."
[Video] New Introduction to Richard Stallman's Contributions Including GNU Emacs, GNU/Linux, and Software Freedom
from the channel previously bullied for supporting RMS
Links 02/06/2025: South Korea to Vote, Russia Blitzed From Within
Links for the day
Links 02/06/2025: Political Leftovers, DRM, and Patents
Links for the day
Links 02/06/2025: Microsoft Spins Layoffs as "Slop", Frontier Settles Lawsuit
Links for the day
When You Publicly Boast About Wanting to Violently Attack People (Even Colleagues) Finding a Job Will Prove Difficult
there's a lesson to be learned here
The Web We Lost, the Information Lost Due to Microsoft's Attacks on Companies Like Yahoo! (Before the LLM Slop Frenzy)
When it comes to news sites, what can we say?
Covering Corruption in Poland, Including a War on Science (Due to Bad Politicians)
What we're about to show is that skilled and experienced scientists in Poland are besieged by bureaucrats
Gemini Links 02/06/2025: "Star Wars Day" and "Security Day"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, June 01, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, June 01, 2025