Bonum Certa Men Certa

Trying to Appease Those Who Never Liked Free Software or Those Who Blindly Loved All Patent Monopolies to Begin With

LTT Loves Linux

Summary: It's crystal clear that trying to appease everyone, all the time, is impossible; in the case of the EPO, for example, we hope that exposing Team Battistelli/Campinos helps raise awareness of the harms of patent maximalism, and when speaking about Free software -- whilst occasionally bashing the alternatives (proprietary) -- we hope to convince more people to join the "Good Fight"

THE extended weekend (American holiday) is nearly over and we still have two ongoing series, one of which resumes tomorrow. It's about GitHub, which has just had hours-long downtime. Sometimes those things are indicative of brain drain, but not always. Things are everything but rosy deep inside GitHub (Microsoft does not want the public to see it).



Here in Techrights we have made allies of convenience and shared interests. Some of our writers/contributors work or worked for Microsoft; sometimes they remain anonymous. We've been more or less the same for 15 years. It's simple. Stick to a position, defend it as long as it is defensible, and hope that some people will see the light and maybe 'defect' (like choosing to leave Microsoft, then speak out against Microsoft; it does happen sometimes!). We've never attempted to lower our guard by appeasing patent maximalists, who are also the system's profiteers. During this pandemic many people realise what impact patents really have on health, whether it's because a few companies stockpiled patents on work funded by taxpayers or more people recognise that COVID-19 patent monopolies greatly increase the cost of vaccines (sometimes by a factor of 100!) and reduce the incentive to improve existing vaccines. Heck, they even reduce the incentive to actually resolve this crisis because the longer it goes on for, the more doses will be sold (or rather, the more times those same patents will get "licensed").

We have a great deal to say and a lot of thoughts about patents, including OIN's war on our cause (abolishing software patents), Team UPC faking a lot of things (details in Daily Links), quality of European Patents collapsing (but law firms no longer speaking about it; nor do they speak about the EPO's tribunals lacking autonomy), and illegal "online" appeals still being compulsory (for another 6 months at least). On top of that we have FUD campaigns against GNU/Linux, which seem to have taken up a lot of time (rebuttals), so there's no lack of topics to cover, just a lack of time/capacity to cover them. We'll do our best to prioritise whilst also improving the site's operations, e.g. for better efficiency and broader protocol support. At the moment the Gemini capsule will almost never be more than 5 minutes behind the Web site. That's a considerable improvement in its own right.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Microsoft-Sponsored Xenophobia and Nationalism
IBM is very similar in this regard
Tentative Summary of Things to Publish in Project 2030
I'll still be in my forties by then
 
Links 21/09/2025: "Hey Hi" (Hype) Under Fire, Fakes Identified; Tesla Burns Family
Links for the day
Google's Software is Malware and Malware in Mobile Devices
Originally posted by Rob Musial
Links 20/09/2025: Hegemony Coming to a Close, Luigi Mangione Ruled Not Terrorist
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/09/2025: "Charlie Kirk Was a Hateful Piece of Shit" and Slop Code Attempted by Microsofter
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, September 20, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, September 20, 2025
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Snowy Photos and utism is a Spectrum
Links for the day
Vintage is Sometimes Better
Why can't we get back to "simple" if (or where) "simple" means better?
Climate Breakdown Means We'll be Publishing More, Not Less
Press freedom will be a common, recurring theme
Our 5-Year Geminispace Anniversary is Coming Up
I still remember when Gemini Protocol was quite new
It's Right to Point Out Violence From the Right
Violence is a recurring theme
Web Browsers That "Do Hey Hi" (AI)
State-of-the-art plagiarism or "autocomplete on steroids" (not coined by us, nevertheless a nice description) don't have much/any prospect
Links 20/09/2025: Hardware Projects in View, Some Independent Publishers About Russia Prosper After Cheeto Cuts Funding
Links for the day
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Options and TV Time Machine
Links for the day
Links 20/09/2025: Retrocomputer, Antique Phone Experience, and More
Links for the day
Links 20/09/2025: Internet Shutdowns, Media Censorship, and Climate Worries
Links for the day
About 700 New Gemini Capsules in 13 Months (or 54 Per Month)
4.8K would represent a 20% increase
Rust People: Drain the Swap, You're Holding It Wrong
Does Rust make sense?
Techrights the Name Turns 15
About 6 weeks from now we turn 19
Microsoft is Running Out of Time and Floating Fake Figures, Fake Projects, Fake Narratives, Fake Excuses
Also, a lot of Microsoft's "revenue" claims are circular financing (i.e. Microsoft buying from itself, which means Ponzi-like fraud)
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, linuxconfig.org, and Plagiarised Phoronix
Many articles out there are nowadays fake
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, September 19, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, September 19, 2025
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Navigating the Pressures of Modern Life and SpellBinding Accidentally Wrote Another Gemini Server
Links for the day
Links 19/09/2025: Press Freedom Dying in US, Anti-Austerity Strikes in France, and Alan Rusbridger to Leave 'Prospect'
Links for the day
European Patent Office Illegally Gutting and Outsourcing Its Functions, Acting Like an Above-the-Law Commercial Business (It Won't Stop at Formalities Officers (FOs) and Classification Slop at the EPO)
breaking/violating laws and conventions
Offloading to the Sister Site
In the interest of not overwhelming readers
Links 19/09/2025: Coffee Club and "SpellBinding is Now Absurdly Fast"
Links for the day
Links 19/09/2025: Lobbyist of American GAFAM Becomes Data Protection Commissioner in Europe
Links for the day
Links 19/09/2025: Media Freedom Ceases to Exist in US, "Consider Dropping Twitter/X"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 19/09/2025: Thinking and Insect Bites
Links for the day
Microsoft E.E.E.: Git Will Now (or Very Soon) Fully Depend on Rust, Which is Controlled by Microsoft
Microsoft now makes Git dependent on Rust, or making Git dependent on GitHub, which is proprietary
The Right to Punch People (Apparently)
At Brett Wilson, Brett's job title is "Head of Crime" and Wilson normalises calls for violence
Slop or Fake Articles Have Turned Linux Journal From a Pioneering/Trailblazing "Linux" Magazine Into a Nuisance
some sites with former reputation - good reputation - turn into cesspools
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, September 18, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, September 18, 2025