Bonum Certa Men Certa

Year 16

Techrights Year 16



Summary: And just like that, in the quiet of the night, ends our anniversary; we have a lot in store (coming soon)

Today we did not produce many articles; we rested a bit, as it's both a Sunday and a birthday. Tomorrow, as in about an hour from now, our 16th year commences, and then we'll release Microsoft GitHub Exposé — Part V (part of a long series that will explain some internal affairs -- mostly scandals -- at GitHub). For those who missed the first 4 parts (we estimate about 20 to come, in total):

  1. Microsoft GitHub Exposé — Part I — Inside a Den of Corruption and Misogynists
  2. Microsoft GitHub Exposé — Part II — The Campaign Against GPL Compliance and War on Copyleft Enforcement
  3. Microsoft GitHub Exposé — Part III — A Story of Plagiarism and Likely Securities Fraud
  4. Microsoft GitHub Exposé — Part IV — Mr. MobileCoin: From Mono to Plagiarism... and to Unprecedented GPL Violations at GitHub (Microsoft)


The past year has been exceptionally rewarding. We exposed a lot of EPO corruption and published important revelations about the Free software community. We actually foresaw and foretold some of the Freenode/IRC wars, having become aware of them about a month in advance (we attempted to ameliorate/defuse things). At the end, Libera Chat basically replaced Freenode, but it not growing much after the collapse of Freenode... it got 'stuck' at around 45,000-49,000 users, compared to 80,000-90,000+ in Freenode. Based on the latest figure that we've reproduced below, it's OFTC gaining a bit and hopefully many people have since then moved to self-hosted IRC networks (folks should quit relying on centralised IRC giants -- they themselves are part of the problem!).

IRC top 10

Our writing style has not changed much since 2006. I'm still the principal editor, but there are many of us involved in researching and writing. It's a group effort. Techrights is a real community and it is thriving because people who care about software freedom trust us, based on our track record.

"Over in our Gemini capsule we're archiving important documents, leaks, and books."Now that the CEO of GitHub is leaving we don't expect the main series to yield results in the expulsion/resignation sense. But we still hope it'll illuminate reasons for people to drop GitHub like a hot plate and move somewhere else. At a later stage in the series we plan to name some of the alternatives/replacements, having assessed them for our own use over the past year or so. We ended up rolling out our own with Gemini.

As far as I'm concerned, GitHub is the next CodePlex or the old Freenode. Without the trust, which erodes rapidly, people will flee. The exodus started years ago, but Microsoft presents false/fake numbers that include deleted accounts. We discussed this in IRC the other day (more direct link).

Over in our Gemini capsule we're archiving important documents, leaks, and books. We need to preserve such material for decades to come. We'll have further announcements to that effort in the coming days.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Gemini Links 23/12/2025: Hydraulic Pressure Balance and mercury://
Links for the day
Techrights as 'Regulator' Against Runaway Trains
"Runaway trains" never scared us because we know that they, unlike us, don't think rationally
 
GitHub Isn't Free, Microsoft Subsidises It (Losses) to Entrap You Inside Proprietary Software, Now Come the Fees
GitHub was never free
XBox Console is Dead, "Microsoft is Rethinking What XBox is"
So XBox is now "cloud"
IBM SkillsBuild: Teaching Slop to People
What skills does that give? Making more slopfarms?
Maybe 2026 Will be the Last Year of António Campinos
Europe's patent system is run by thugs and it serves thugs
2025: The Year LLM Slop Rose to Prominence and Then Fell
the slop hype is bound to end
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, December 23, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, December 23, 2025
Links 24/12/2025: Spotify Surveillance and Shadow Over Rule of Law in Hong Kong
Links for the day
A Good End for a Fine Year
Today we saw some pleasant news online about the growth of GNU/Linux and more perils impacting Windows and XBox
Serial Sloppers Lost Momentum, Sites With "Linux" in Their Name Barely Bother Anymore
Will 2026 be the year slopfarms jump the shark?
Gemini Links 23/12/2025: "The sun is shinning" and "problem in the Butlerian Jihad setup"
Links for the day
Links 23/12/2025: "Over 8,700 News Articles Censored in Turkey in 2024" and "Photos Are Being Deleted From the Epstein Files"
Links for the day
Links 23/12/2025: That ‘Satisfying Click’ and Security Lapses, Car Bomb Kills Russian Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov
Links for the day
Links 23/12/2025: GNU Taler 1.3, US Regime Censors Television Again
Links for the day
Valve Can Bring More Users to GNU/Linux, But It Won't Bring Freedom
Steam is DRM
Social Control Media is Bots (Fake Traffic, Fake 'Engagement')
As per FORTUNE, 76% of Twitter is alleged to be bots now
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, December 22, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, December 22, 2025
How the Slop (So-called 'AI') Bubble Will Burst Next Year
There are already talks about mass layoffs in January
"Generative AI Bubble Has Begun to Pop", Nvidia Rides “Circular Financing... a Strategy That Hearkens Back to the Dot-com Crisis”
For companies like Microsoft this may mean another 30,000+ layoffs next year
Microsoft-Connected Media Talking About XBox Division "Profit Margins" is Distraction From XBox Sales Collapsing 70% in One Year
The simple fact is, Microsoft's console is dead in the water
The Reality is "Vibe Code" (Slop) is That It's Worthless
“Confidently Wrong”
British Web Developers Can Probably Ignore Firefox Users (Based on US Standards)
Mozilla has managed to piss off enough people
On the 'Digital Gulag' of 'Secure Boot' and Microsoft Disguising Its Attacks on Users as "Security"
Dr. Andy Farnell has this new article
Slopfarms Can Only Survive in Google News, Which is Still Promoting Them
Google News promoted only 3 slopfarms today
Gemini Links 22/12/2025: Films, Creativity vs. Consumption, Slop in YouTube
Links for the day
Microsoft XBox Losing Money, Layoffs and Studio Shutdowns (As Well as Price Hikes) Not the Solution
Microsoft does not quite talk about profits
"Major [IBM] Reductions Will Take Place Soon in Rochester MN"
Maybe that's just the latest office gossip
Links 22/12/2025: Data Breaches, deterioration in Politics, and Geminispace
Links for the day
Links 22/12/2025: North Korean Applicants Target GAFAM (Amazon), ‘Orwellian Climate of Fear’ of CPC (Even Outside China)
Links for the day
More IBM Layoffs in India
It's not as simple as "laid off to be replaced by an Indian"
GAFAM Deeply Connected to Jeffrey Epstein, Richard Stallman (RMS) in No Way Connected to Jeffrey Epstein
people who hoarded all the capital get to decide what people think and say
Linus Torvalds Has a Birthday This Coming Weekend, Thankfully He Still Controls His Main Project
GNU and Linux should remain under their control as long as they live
Mozilla is Getting Attention for All the Wrong Reasons, Take a Look at LibreWolf
Just last week Mozilla added a new top-level manager who (as usual) came from a "tech giant"
When Conformism Means Capitulation and Defeat
In an age of injustices like these, we all have some kind of moral obligation not to be conformist.
Text is Still King
But the so-called 'industry' insists that we should download 10 MB of objects from multiple domains... even just to read 5-10 paragraphs of text
Links 22/12/2025: Facebook "Testing $14.99 Monthly Subscription Fee to Post Links" and "Middle East Petrostates as American Media Owners"
Links for the day
Beyond the World Wide Web (WWW)
We continue to treat Gemini Protocol as a first-class citizen
Serbia: GNU/Linux Rises, Windows Down to All-Time Lows
According to statCounter
"Wrestling With Pigs"
"Never wrestle with a pig. You both get dirty, and the pig likes it."
Productive Year and Better Access to Techrights' Archives Going Back to 2006
we've long needed and wanted native, local, independent search facilities
Linux Abandoned by Linux Foundation
It speaks for Microsoft and for so-called 'AI' companies
Microsoft Has Practically Given Up on XBox Already
Expect many XBox related layoffs when 2026 starts (Q1)
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, December 21, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, December 21, 2025
"Today's [Red Hat] is run by a cabal of vultures."
it seems safe to assume Red Hat too will languish away
Microsoft Layoffs in 2026 Can be Bigger Than 2025 Microsoft Layoffs (30,000+ Workers Laid Off)
"Is there going to be any reorg or Microsoft layoffs?"
Gemini Links 21/12/2025: Solstice, Chaos of CSS, and Program Interpreter Fun
Links for the day
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) Represents People, Not Corporations
FSF isn't in the "business" of appeasing oligarchs