Video download link | md5sum d65736bde549989cc250fa75d1e66e47 Lifting the Veil of Tidelift Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0



Summary: Tidelift seems to be concern-trolling the Free/Open Source community; looking at who's actually behind Tidelift, this is hardly surprising

WHO or what exactly is Tidelift? Well, we're not asking here what Tidelift once was -- and the same is true for the so-called 'Linux' Foundation and OSI, which incidentally overlaps with Tidelift to some degree. They aren't what they used to be; over time they started to align more and more with proprietary software companies' agenda -- more so after they had taken money from them.

As I explain in the video above, which is based on some research we did earlier today, Tidelift is promoting Microsoft talking points (links omitted by intention), badmouthing Free software, and hiring people it probably ought not hire.

"On the thin surface, this organisation seems like another OSI if not worse; mind the name, which says nothing about source or freedom or sharing or even "open"!"As of this moment, Tidelift's "Our story" says in big letters: "Here’s what we know. Open source software is incredible, but it’s got some issues."

Sounds or smells like concern-trolling, right?

This is the approach of Black Duck and sites that enthusiastically amplify it. They don't want Free software to succeed but to surrender or to fall into the hands of its adversaries.

On the thin surface, this organisation seems like another OSI if not worse; mind the name, which says nothing about source or freedom or sharing or even "open"!

"See some of the people who blog on behalf of Tidelift (Simmons for instance); one has to wonder if they're only pretending to speak 'for' us whilst in fact speaking for the likes of Microsoft (Simmons boasted that half of the OSI's budget goes towards boosting Microsoft GitHub)."Looking thinly and superficially beneath the shallow surface, we've found out they're bankrolled by 'curious' entities. TideLift is partly funded by 'former' Microsoft as the General Manager of General Catalyst (Quentin Clark). He is a longtime Microsoft booster, in effect trying to reform the image of a company that commits crimes and attacks Free software. Now it is joining the Microsoft-led FUD campaign (sleight of hand), only to be cited by openwashing fronts (i.e. proponents of proprietary stuff in "open" clothing). Clark worked for 20 years at Microsoft, now he's behind funding for Tidelift. Not too long ago he was in an interview entitled "Lessons From Working with Bill Gates". See some of the people who blog on behalf of Tidelift (Simmons for instance); one has to wonder if they're only pretending to speak 'for' us whilst in fact speaking for the likes of Microsoft (Simmons boasted that half of the OSI's budget goes towards boosting Microsoft GitHub).

"Black Duck and Snyk and other fake fronts" are a big problem, an associate told us. "I have met people fooled by Black Duck [and] most people don't know where to turn for information so they believe the marketing lies spread by the two..."

Add Tidelift to that same bucket. ⬆