Bonum Certa Men Certa

Free Software Needs Watchdogs, Too

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Mar 18, 2024

Giraffe outline illustration

Gentle lapdogs prevent self-regulation and transparency

THERE is nothing wrong with being opinionated when the opinions are supported by actual evidence. Being controversial does not mean being wrong. Many scientific facts (objective truths if not axioms) are considered "controversial", sometimes because of people's feelings.

Companies do not want journalists, they want publishers or "writers" who just parrot their lies under the guise of "journalism". The PR industry took over. This is really bad. Rebuttals are therefore more necessary than ever.

Recently we've been reposting many articles from Daniel Pocock. Moments ago we reposted an article in which he explains how companies like Mozilla and Red Hat are sponsoring or propping up "moderate" replacements of the real thing to get away with their more controversial moves while demonising the original (FSF). Does he have evidence of this? Absolutely. The main pieces of evidence are private E-mails from the leadership of the FSF and the leadership of FSF-EEE (no typo there).

The ad hominem attacks are expected, as are the threatening moves both Pocock and us have been subjected to. The aggressors can start it from nothing, e.g. some malicious office gossip or rumour that's totally false (like making up a story; in my last job someone spread a false rumour about Rianne being pregnant and we never found out who fabricated this falsehood).

In Pocock's case, they made up a lie about him dating a GSoC (Google's programme) or Outreachy student; this falsehood was spread if not invented by Google staff, apparently in order to demonise him and make it seem like he had done something very inappropriate, distracting from the simple fact he was exposing misconduct in GSoC. He exposed bad things in FSF-EEE as well. He spoke about issues in Debian. The projection tactics served to distract from what he had shown. Some people were foolishly spreading the falsehoods; they repeated uttered those same lies in IRC, even in our own IRC network. It's not only false, it's a form of defamation, and spreading it in IRC means accountability is harder. Bully de Blanc encouraged this culture of Chinese whispers in the darkness (e.g. secret mailing lists or private messages in IRC; some people spread horrible libel in private messages in our IRC network, including "pedo" libel against Richard Stallman).

Based on the amount of old material available, Techrights will be covering Debian scandals a lot until some time in summer or autumn. The goal is not to "bash" Debian (our server and desktops use Debian) but to highlight internal issues, hoping this can lead to a resolution. Debian is mostly - but not only - a community-run distro. Microsoft and Google bribe and influence it via SPI 'donations' and Mark Shuttleworth is controlling it by poaching the Debian Developers he 'fancies'. These MUST NOT be taboo subjects. It is something EVERYONE needs to know UPFRONT.

So is Debian truly independent? Sort of. But no.

These Debian issues are not even unique to Debian. They serve to highlight how corporations besiege Freedom-centric technical communities. Debian is still the "base" of most important GNU/Linux distros. The people implicitly "in charge" of Debian work for companies, and not always 'tasteful' companies. It's important to understand whose money controls the project. Many of the servers are totally controlled by Google. They're "donated", but at what cost?

The Free software world needs a share of dissenting voices and watchdogs/guard dogs. Companies like Google want you to hate them; don't be manipulated by the likes of Google. As a reminder, Google paid a salary to someone who was defaming me and then started threatening me and my wife (because his defamation had backfired).

Outline sketch of German shepherd dog on transparent background

Other Recent Techrights' Posts

Tentative Summary of Things to Publish in Project 2030
I'll still be in my forties by then
Rust People: Drain the Swap, You're Holding It Wrong
Does Rust make sense?
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, linuxconfig.org, and Plagiarised Phoronix
Many articles out there are nowadays fake
 
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Snowy Photos and utism is a Spectrum
Links for the day
Microsoft-Sponsored Xenophobia and Nationalism
IBM is very similar in this regard
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
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)
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
Brett Wilson LLP Seem to Have Had Only One Litigation Client in 2025, He Was Previously Charged, Just Like the Serial Strangler From Microsoft (Whom They Now Represent)
Karma is superstition, regulators are not
Project 2030 to Cover How "Project 2025"-Styled Anti-Media Zealots From America Targeted Techrights and Tux Machines
The common denominator is also their attacks on women
Brett Wilson LLP Failed to Meet Deadlines Set by Judge 7 Months Earlier, Tried to Ruin Our Holiday, Then Had the Audacity to Ask Us for Over 3,000 Pounds for Its Own Lateness
As a matter of principle we will never respond to assassin while we are on holiday
On Claims That After Bluewashing Red Hat Will Increasingly Become an Indian Company
Discussed this week (long and detailed)
Americans Attacking British Sites Only Months After They Leave America
We find it kind of funny if not ironic that this site, originally an American site, got legal harassment only from Americans and only months after it had moved to the UK
Despite Losing Over a Quarter Million Dollars a Year Software in the Public Interest (SPI) Gives Helping Hand to Libreboot
SPI's financial state depends a lot on its public image or its reputation
Slopwatch: Google Helps Plagiarism and Sends Traffic to Ripoff Artists
That Google as a company helps spamfarms is noteworthy
If You Want to Know the Future, Listen to the Free Software Foundation (FSF) and Andy Farnell
We're sure the FSF will have plenty of its own output
Links 18/09/2025: A Taliban Ban on Internet Access and Troubled US Job Market
Links for the day
Gemini Links 18/09/2025: Computer Literacy and Accessing Alhena's Database
Links for the day
Links 18/09/2025: US War on Media (Truth Banned, Cancel Culture by the Hard Right), NYT Chief Executive Warns Cheeto is Deploying ‘Anti-press Playbook'
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, September 17, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, September 17, 2025