10.02.22
Gemini version available ♊︎GNU/Linux and the GPL in Particular Are Under Attack Because They Spread Fast (Like a ‘Cancer’)
Is the “cancer” Microsoft? Buying GitHub was all about control, not freedom, and curtailing the GPL by sabotaging it.
Summary: The good news is that GNU/Linux continues to expand (widespread usage); the bad news is, it has come under a sheer magnitude of attacks and the media barely bothers to mention the obvious
We’ve just shown that according this month’s figures (so far), based on data from about 3 million sites’ logs, Windows reached another all-time low, whereas GNU/Linux continues to make gains.
On desktops and laptops, GNU/Linux rose to 10% in India this month and in general Windows went down sharply to 17% in India this month (it’s at 9% in Turkey, it cannot exceed single-digit territories for months already). Turns out people either cannot afford or don’t want to buy some Vista 11 laptop these days. Sales measurably plunged. In Nigeria, GNU/Linux rose to 5.13% this month. It’s a very large population overall. Some very large populations (the above-mentioned 3 countries are almost 2 billion people) are steering away from Microsoft, but the media just isn’t reporting on it. Why? Follow the money. Instead of reporting such facts, the media attacks GNU/Linux and defames key people. There have been no "Linux" posts from ZDNet in 11 days already and ZDNet’s Liam Tung persists with his — i.e. Microsoft’s
– propaganda (“Microsoft: Hackers are using open source software and fake jobs in phishing…”). Microsoft is just using its media moles to blame the competition for its own failures. It is noteworthy that
ZDNet staff was reduced to very few parrots of companies like IBM and Microsoft. In the areas of interest it’s just Steven Vaughan-Nichols (SJVN), Liam Tung, and Jack Wallen. SJVN is mostly being assigned puff pieces for corporations (and their front groups which attack the GPL), whereas Liam Tung is little but a Microsoft mouthpiece. As for Wallen, he was ‘borrowed’ from a sister site (TechRepublic, mostly a spamfarm of diplomas mills these days) to help pretend ZDNet isn’t a sinking ship.
“Some very large populations (the above-mentioned 3 countries are almost 2 billion people) are steering away from Microsoft, but the media just isn’t reporting on it. Why? Follow the money.”To a certain extent, GNU/Linux scares Microsoft a lot more than the BSDs because of the licence. Accordingly, Microsoft wages a war on GPL complaince and enforcement. We wrote about this last night and the topic came up in IRC, the plagiarism aspect in particular. Projects need to move away from GitHub. The sooner, the better. “I have a person working on adding more features to Gitea,” our sysadmin wrote, separately noting “the reality is that an ML model is *not* code, at least not in the sense that normal software is code…”
A reader has meanwhile contacted us. He wrote to say (regarding the Software Freedom Conservancy (SFC), which seems to be doing what OSI did in 1998):
I read your latest blog about the total corporate takeover of Linux [...]
This has been going on for a decade or more by lwn.net, Linux Foundation, Microsoft, etc.
It’s time to take back Linuxf rom these corporate paid idiots! lwn.net editor Corbet is #1!
I’ve been censored and blocked by him for years for commenting on how Firefox is spyware!
Any comments against the Google spy machine have also been censored by Corbet for years!
This reader argues that “lwn.net Corbet is “#1 enemy of FOSS!”
We mentioned some days ago how had admitted (openly) the financial relationship with the Linux Foundation, his role inside the Linux Foundation notwithstanding.
“LWN never writes about the gross media bias, the growth of GNU/Linux, or anything of that sort.”Judging by the editorial policies and choices, LWN is strongly in favour of the corporate takeover. There’s a “token” mention of FSF statements and resistance from community actors; but it’s in the tiny minority.
Anyway, Linux 6.0 has just been released and LWN will mention this soon. LWN never writes about the gross media bias, the growth of GNU/Linux, or anything of that sort. It’s focused on corporations and their kernel-level work. That’s unlikely to change due to reductions in staffing, which followed many cancellations by longtime LWN subscribers. Maybe they deserved that. █
ᶃ Gemini Space
This post is also available in 
Content is available under CC-BY-SA