Bonum Certa Men Certa

Suppressed Facts of the Free Software Movement and Its Community of Volunteers – Part II: Why Bradley Kuhn Left the Free Software Foundation (FSF)

Or why the FSF in 2021 is mostly OK

Bradley-Kuhn-LF
Frame source (fair use): Video [1, 2] from the Linux Foundation



Summary: The founder of the FSF is still at the FSF (albeit not publicly) and the person who lobbied to oust him has basically been 'banished' by the founder

IN PART I of this series we took note (without mentioning any names) of people who had entered the Free software world on behalf of super-wealthy employers (multi-billionaires), mostly to disrupt software freedom. Sometimes those aren't employers but clients or sponsors (such as Google and Microsoft).

As already noted in our Intel leaks (ongoing series), there's always the risk of infiltration by hostile entities, especially large corporations. Their goals aren't the same as the institutions which they infiltrate. Ask Nokia. The Conservancy (SFC) is a good example of this; check where it raises money from...

One side story not many people are aware of is the cause for Bradley Kuhn's (SFC) departure from the FSF's Board. "I have been silent the last month because, until two days ago, I was an at-large member of FSF's Board of Directors, and a Voting Member of the FSF," he wrote in his blog.

Richard Stallman (RMS) is still a voting member at the FSF. He never left. And "if you read the FSF's bylaws," a source told us, "voting members add and remove board members" so in effect "they're above the board" albeit not listed anywhere. As it stands at present (2021), "RMS's resignation applied only to the position of chairman and member of the board," which means he still participates in important decisions. Free software advocates and FSF supporters deserve to know this; it's of public interest, for sure...

The backdrop or the context of all this matters as it is not specified in the public record. The blog post from Kuhn is "the only public part of the discussion," but there's more to it, privately.

As it turns out, RMS (founder of GNU and FSF) said something along the lines of (to paraphrase), if there's a conflict of interest arising when serving as the President of the Conservancy and being a Board member at the FSF, then perhaps one should leave either the Conservancy or the FSF.

RMS was referring to Bradley Kuhn after the Conservancy had issued a strongly-worded press release, likely instrumental in disgracing RMS and causing him to step down at the end. Kuhn took that message into account "and the next day," we're told, "Kuhn made a blog post and resigned from the FSF Board... he could have left the Conservancy instead."

"...in order to meet its goal, the FSF needs about 36 more new members in 48 hours."So in effect, as the record suggests, Kuhn wasn't forced out but was given a choice and his blog post is basically, as it turns out, a "response to the voting members insisting that he take a side, about 5 days later [as] probably he also sent an internal notice quitting from the Board and as a voting member..."

This story is worth sharing because this week the fundraising by the FSF is ending. About a week ago I made a video calling for people to support the FSF, where RMS basically continues to play a role (as a voting member). As shown below, in order to meet its goal, the FSF needs about 36 more new members in 48 hours.



FSF funds

Recent Techrights' Posts

Speed of GNU/Linux
The media seldom speaks of the dangers of "proprietary software"
Proprietary Windows Versus "Linux" News (Trying to Keep People on Windows, Never Exploring GNU/Linux)
Good editors know better how to recognise threats and not give them lip service
Ensuring That Every Computer User Anywhere in the World Can Take Control of All His or Her Computers
We must fight the people who attack general-purpose computing, in particular those who push this agenda very aggressively inside Linux
Gemini Links 28/04/2025: Autism and Structural Navigation
Links for the day
What Happened to the Open Source Initiative (OSI) Elections: The Purge, the Cover-up, and the Witch-hunts
OSI has gone "full Microsoft"
 
Gemini Links 28/04/2025: A Simple Task Tracking and Auto-Prioritization Tool and Other Programs
Links for the day
Links 28/04/2025: Canada's Election, Pakistan-India Conflict
Links for the day
Glue Inside Your Pizza (or Why People Will Get Fed Up With Slop)
People are given "answers" from non-intelligence word dumpsters
Links 28/04/2025: Cyberattacks Happening, Chatbots Disappointing, and "Free Speech Under Fire"
Links for the day
Phone Adoption Very Low in Vatican, Windows Usage Fell Nonetheless
Even in places where people still use desktops/laptops most of the time (and have access to these) Windows is gradually losing ground
GNU/Linux 9% in Cuba, Vista 11 Waning, Android Dominant
Microsoft has pretty much lost Cuba
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, April 27, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, April 27, 2025
In 24 Countries Observed by statCounter Vista 11 is Still Less Than a Quarter of Windows Users Despite All Other Versions Being 'Expired'
They ought to move to GNU/Linux
Links 27/04/2025: Pope Goodbyes, "Politics of Fear", Slop Redux and More Google Shutdowns (Google Debt Had Grown This Year)
Links for the day
Links 27/04/2025: Serenity Dialectics, Hockey Jersey Ethics, and More
Links for the day
Links 27/04/2025: Death of Nest Thermostats, Death of Metaverse
Links for the day
Links 27/04/2025: Projects Workflow and Discovering Technology
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, April 26, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, April 26, 2025
Microsoft Isn't on the Map in USSR
To them, it's either Google or Yandex
In Central America Windows Became a Small Force
These are countries where Windows used to have well over 95% of the "market"
What's Very Vexing to GAFAM, EPO and Others Is That It's Incredibly Hard to Censor Us (and Nobody Ever Successfully Did That Before)
resist, do not capitulate
Site May be Even Faster Now
It basically takes less than a tenth of a second to serve the page
Receiving SLAPPs and Collecting Them Like Trophies (the SLAPPs Always Fail)
People who file lawsuits bring even more attention to themselves (or to embarrassing statements about them)
Year of GNU/Linux on the Laptop?
It's not happening only in Lenovo
What People Must Understand About the Open Source Initiative (OSI)
some facts about the Open Source Initiative (OSI)
Many of the Scandals Are Interconnected (Overlapping People and Corporations)
We're only getting started
More Copyright Lawsuits Against LLM Slop Providers and Suppliers of LLM Slopfarms Would Benefit Society
It's not just bad for the Web and for society; it's also legally dangerous
Links 26/04/2025: General Assassinated in the Town of Balashikha, US Promoting Seafloor Mining
Links for the day
Links 26/04/2025: Facebook Layoffs Again, Remembering What's Real, and Say No to Mass Surveillance
Links for the day
Links 26/04/2025: NOAA Budget Cuts and "Dog Days Ahead"
Links for the day
In defence of JD Vance, death of Pope Francis
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Three Years in Prison for Disney Employee’s ‘Menu Hacking’: The Economic Fallout of Digital Menus
Reprinted with permission from Ryan Farmer
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, April 25, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, April 25, 2025