02.09.21
Posted in Deception, Free/Libre Software, FSF, GNOME, GPL, OSI at 4:43 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
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Summary: Today, February 9th, the anti-RMS lobby seems to have shifted gear by redefining proprietary software as ‘kinda open’ (openwashing)
The video above, which is in no way scripted or edited, is an urgent call for action because the war on software freedom is gradually progressing to the next phase, which is “extend” (the “embrace” goes quite some time back). The flailing OSI is changing its “Mission Statement”, just as both OSI co-founders warned last year (one thought "ethical" licences would be the vector and the other said that licences not compliant w.r.t. OSD were being approved regardless). The GNOME Foundation, which still works against the founder of GNU (the “G” in GNOME) while on IBM payroll and with two former leaders who now work full-time for Microsoft, redefines proprietary software (Four Freedoms be gone!), apparently one hour apart from the OSI post. The video discusses the importance of this and who stands to benefit. Moving the goalposts in whose favour? In favour of proprietary software. █
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02.07.21
Posted in Deception, Free/Libre Software, Microsoft, OSI at 4:51 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
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Summary: The promises of “Open Source” are broken; with openwashing overwhelmingly and increasingly overshadowing actual Free software it’s clear that this label rapidly loses its meaning and isn’t a synonym of Free software anymore; it’s a misleading marketing label at best
THE demise of OSI did not happen last year, as it had been preceded by a number of scandals that we covered here over the years. Over a decade ago, for example, they approved some Microsoft licences. It was around the time that a failing CodePlex ‘Foundation’ sought to undermine software freedom the way GitHub nowadays does. This ‘Foundation’ had Miguel de Icaza in it; his sidekick is now heading GitHub. Those two people, a Microsoft pair (former Microsoft intern and a person desperate to work for Microsoft), were all along like anti-Free software moles. Both of them now work directly for Microsoft, in top positions, on a permanent basis.
What about OSI? The OSI generally works for Microsoft. It works for GitHub. It gets paid by both.
“It doesn’t take deep analysis, genius or much foresight to see where OSI is going.”This morning we wrote about somewhat of an incident in FOSDEM. It seemed as though OSI had abandoned its “stand”. It lacks leadership and has no permanent full-time staff anymore.
A couple of years ago someone told me why she had left the OSI’s Board. That was around the time the OSI’s Board even had full-time Microsoft staff in it, composing official OSI blog posts which promoted GitHub, i.e. Microsoft’s proprietary monopoly.
It doesn’t take deep analysis, genius or much foresight to see where OSI is going. The above video discusses only the latest findings and how they relate to other fairly recent ones.
Get well soon, OSI. Or get lost. █
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Posted in OSI at 4:49 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Recent: 2020 is the Year When the Open Source Initiative Became (More Officially) Defunct (video below)
Summary: The Open Source Initiative (OSI) stand abandoned this year at FOSDEM; “Looks like the only stand abandoned is OSI,” we’ve been told
AT FOSDEM, according to a source of ours, the OSI stand was “abandoned”. For those who don’t know, FOSDEM is happening this weekend. “Looks like the only stand abandoned,” says our source, “is OSI” (link here).
“This year’s virtual FOSDEM has stands for many different projects etc,” the source explains, “and community participants discuss various topics in the stand chats.”
The links confirm.
“Looks like the only stand abandoned is OSI.”
–Anonymous“Not that I would ever go,” the source notes, “but… wow.”
List of Stands is here and the “OSI is listed but seems abandoned,” the source says. “Here is a post on OSI [Web site] about attendance at FOSDEM, but it looks like the “non-elected” interim general manager has all but abandoned the stand… interesting… no?”
“There’s time for individuals and even the non-elected interim general manager to present,” our source concludes (more here). “I admire her courage to admit she has problems completing tasks… funny, but not really surprising. At any rate, the OSI seems to have completely abandoned the OSI stand and chat for the stand?”
“Given the degree of corporate infiltration, however, we doubt any person would be allowed to get this job to set the OSI back on track.”Our source has also mentioned the typos-filled post. To quote: “FOSDEM is a long running free and open source community event that has moved online for its 21st year. This year’s event will be a little different, but the silver lining is that you have the option to particpate [sic] at home, without any travel. This year’s talks are all pre-recorded, and the speakers will be online to answer questions right after the intitial [sic] broadcast. If you want to be part of the live conversation, you’ll have to join the conference in real time.”
The other day we said that the upcoming choice of permanent leadership (one person alone) will be a "make or break" moment for the OSI. Given the degree of corporate infiltration, however, we doubt any person would be allowed to get this job to set the OSI back on track. The infiltration is led by proprietary software vendors looking for openwashing PR, i.e. the opposite of Free software or a clear distortion of the concept. █
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02.05.21
Posted in Free/Libre Software, OSI at 3:55 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
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Summary: After almost 23 years the OSI is in a state of crisis and it has no permanent full-time staff; its choice of the sole dedicated worker, which is an ongoing process, might be its last chance to rescue itself and set its sights on the real goals (as opposed to boosting a proprietary monopoly of Microsoft, which is also an attack on software freedom)
THE only full-time staff of the OSI left abruptly about half a year ago, so a temporary worker took or filled his space (the founders are all gone and unhappy; they won’t come back). Yesterday she advertised the new position with 10 days left to apply.
I myself promoted “Open Source” for more than 15 years, but I ended up abandoning "Open Source" last year, seeing that the Open Source Initiative (OSI) became truly defunct, working against its very own goals, much like the Linux Foundation.
The video discusses why it is hard to believe that the OSI can still salvage itself (short story is, infiltration runs deep and it’ll be resistant to actual salvation as opposed to subversion). █
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01.31.21
Posted in Free/Libre Software, GNU/Linux, OSI at 10:01 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
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Summary: It seems apparent that more and more developers now realise that “Open Source” is a sham (and was likely a sham all along), so they reject the term and start speaking about Free software again, stressing freedom to confront corporate takeovers and manipulation
We recently mentioned (many times in fact) that various Free software developers no longer use the term “Open Source”, perhaps seeing the mess that OSI has become and the sheer prevalence of corporate openwashing.
“…I’ve persuaded several writers to write “GNU/Linux” instead of just “Linux”…”RMS was right.
Moreover, over the years I’ve persuaded several writers to write “GNU/Linux” instead of just “Linux”, especially where that’s applicable (not purely kernel stuff).
IBM et al tried to cancel RMS in 2019 (same year the Red Hat takeover was finalised and one year before effectively canning CentOS). They don’t want people to talk about stuff like software freedom (as opposed to some “open source” systemd on Microsoft servers in proprietary GitHub) and to cancel ideas, often personified albeit unwittingly*, they can work hard to cancel a person. The events of 2019 were preceded by over a decade of similar attempts to cancel RMS, usually by people who according to him “treated [him] like shit.” █
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* RMS did not call GNU after himself, unlike Linus Torvalds.
“When I do this, some people think that it’s because I want my ego to be fed, right? Of course, I’m not asking you to call it “Stallmanix”!”
–Richard Stallman
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01.24.21
Posted in Deception, Free/Libre Software, Marketing, Microsoft, OSI at 8:07 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
OSI failed and became a proponent of monopolies
Summary: More people are nowadays seeing or witnessing ‘Open Source’ for what it truly is; the term has become a misleading marketing term of proprietary software firms looking to rebrand as “ethical” (e.g. by sharing some code with other proprietary software firms, over proprietary platforms such as GitHub)
THE Freedom-respecting Software Movement (FSM, or FS/Free software, or software freedom, libre, livre or whatever one chooses to call software that respects users and developers) is growing. More people nowadays come to the realisation that ‘Open Source’ is nonsense. To many companies ‘Open Source’ just means some GitHub (proprietary software monopoly) repository with a small portion of some code in it. That’s not freedom, it’s openwashing as a marketing strategy. It’s basically a decoy.
“Let’s make 2021 the year when ‘Open Source’ got shelved in the dustbin of history, maybe in some ‘Arctic Vault’ (Microsoft monopoly PR stunt).”We’ve noticed a sizeable increase in the number of Free software developers who reject the term ‘Open Source’ and instead say “Free software”… or something to that effect (this is measurable but would take some time and effort to show empirically as much data is needed to make compelling graphs). They didn’t reject high-paying jobs and wound up hacking for a modest living (shoestring budget) just so that Microsoft can grow its monopoly and occupy the OSI. They’re not dumb enough to play along with the coup.
Our prediction, which is likely a safe one to make, is the fall of the OSI. They already lack more than one leader (vacant positions, advertised openings) and unlike the FSF they truly and utterly lack a purpose. If their intention is to boost GitHub (proprietary), then they need to rebrand, just like Linux Foundation, which already struggles a great deal because it relied heavily on conferences and they’re all called off due to COVID-19. OSI and GitHub are the next CodePlex Foundation and CodePlex.
We recently wrote a lot about the FSF and we’re encouraged to learn that its founder is still heavily involved from within (albeit not publicly listed as such). Let’s make 2021 the year when ‘Open Source’ got shelved in the dustbin of history, maybe in some ‘Arctic Vault’ (Microsoft monopoly PR stunt, designed and timed to deflect/distract from brain drain in the wake of ICE scandals). GitHub itself isn’t doing well, just as we heard several times in 2019 (people who saw the data but could not publicly divulge it). Maybe that’s why the coup has been taken up a notch (like a parasite looking for a new host). █
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01.19.21
Posted in Deception, Free/Libre Software, OSI at 1:52 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
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Summary: Something which is neither enforceable nor ethical is being promoted by profoundly unethical media in the pockets of large corporations
THE so-called ‘ethical’ so-called ‘movement’ that seeks to exclude some people is promoted today in ZDNet. People who don’t support software freedom and instead defame the real movement's founder are eager to give free publicity to what many consider or regard as provocation against the real movement, or the software freedom ideals. This video is a quick rebuttal. It is by no means exhaustive, but given the toxic nature of this debate it’s rather unlikely many others will even touch the subject. █
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12.25.20
Posted in Deception, Free/Libre Software, Microsoft, OSI at 7:52 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: A new video explaining what happened to the Open Source Initiative (OSI) throughout this slow and arduous year, just over 2 decades after its formation in 1998
MONTHS before Microsoft bought GitHub the Open Source Initiative (OSI) had announced outsourcing (or “crowdsourcing”) things to Microsoft, including key operations. Months prior to that OSI also took a large bribe from Microsoft and leadership of the OSI began to change. It was a slow-motion change and it included Microsoft staff inside the Board of the OSI.
“Money was made by selling out the OSI, turning Open Source into Openwashing (a marketing slant for proprietary lock-in) in the same way the Linux Foundation turned the “Linux” brand into somewhat of a joke (synonymous not with freedom but a bunch of monopolies, riding a glorified brand).”2020 was an important year for the OSI; its two co-founders were gone and people could finally see what a sham OSI became. It now serves proprietary software agenda and diverts operational/financial resources towards monopolies. In a sense, today’s OSI does the exact opposite of what it was supposed to do.
2020 is about to end, so I’ve opened a bunch of this year’s articles (listed below) and commented on them, taking stock of their meaning in retrospect.
The OSI won’t self-repair because such institutions are incapable of ousting corrupting influence (they become resistant to their original mission statement). This means that the OSI is basically defunct, void of permanent staff, lacking a real direction, and serving interests opposite of what one might expect from OSI. Members of the OSI who are not corporations are just a drop in the ocean in terms of their financial role/contribution and most of their money is (mis)used to bolster proprietary software monopolies (like GitHub) instead of software freedom or even Open Source (the very thing OSI is named after).
It’s fair to say that 2020 is the year the OSI died. All it has left to brag about — much like the Linux Foundation — is a balance sheet. Money was made by selling out the OSI, turning Open Source into Openwashing (a marketing slant for proprietary lock-in) in the same way the Linux Foundation turned the “Linux” brand into somewhat of a joke (synonymous not with freedom but a bunch of monopolies, riding a glorified brand). █
Stories from the video (roughly in order of appearance):
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