Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Unspeakable Problem is Big Proprietary Corporations Taking Over Free Software While Telling Their Opponents They're Racist and Sexist (Intolerant)

One month ago: Diversity and Inclusion: When Corporations Hijack or Co-opt Social Causes

Open Core Summit
Dual-licensed proprietary software + openwashing = attack on free speech as well as on Software Freedom (source)



Summary: Thin-skinned people are being weaponised against opposition to one's views, just like blasphemy law is brought up to defend fiction/lies and censor/self-censor one's critics (because truth is sometimes "offensive")

The "GNU/Linux community" -- a rather loose and somewhat vague term -- doesn't have a sexism problem (not any more than proprietary software have such a problem); it has a traitor problem and it's typically due to greed. People are lured to betray and to attack their fellow people/developers. They defect; they decide to malign and rob the Commons as that certainly can be profitable (in the short term at least; their reputation soon collapses).



It's rather troubling to see the rhetoric employed by these defectors; forget about old stigmas like "communists" because now they weaponise more modern types of politics. Rejecting someone/something from a particular company isn't prejudiced if that company is evil and corrupt. However, if that company can self-identity differently, then that might at least seem (on the surface) as intolerant. Intolerant companies try to portray their critics as the sole source of intolerance or "equally intolerant" (hence hypocrites). This type of political method has long been leveraged against Free software.

"This type of political method has long been leveraged against Free software."The IBM-owned Red Hat now says that the FSF should have more diversity in its Board; if by that it alludes to gender, then the FSF's Board and management team is, at present, vastly more diverse than the general GNU development community. Which should make that suspect (and us sceptical of motivations here). The representation seems apt enough already (10 males, 3 females in management; 6 to 1 in the Board of Directors), and this was said in light of Stallman's pushed/forced resignation. We'll deal with IBM separately in our next post.

Sorry to say this so bluntly, but the Corporate Linux Foundation has taken this agenda to new extremes. Female readers of ours complain about it, noting that the Corporate Linux Foundation does not care about diversity; it only claims that. They keep up appearances this way. Adding insult to injury, the Corporate Linux Foundation turned diversity itself into a product. It literally sells things like "diversity lunch" for a high fee to large corporations. It tells them (in the brochure) that for a fee it'll credit these companies, verbally or in tweets, for their 'support' towards diversity. When a female reader told this to us we could barely believe it, but then we saw the original brochure/prospectus for ourselves. Here's one example:

Jono Bacon tweet
From the Corporate Linux Foundation's sponsor prospectus. "Page 14 shows there are 3 tiers to get a tweet by Jono Bacon," a reader alerted us.



Yes, that's Jono Bacon right there. Selling tweets. These are 'corporate pimps'...

"Yes, that's Jono Bacon right there. Selling tweets."We should note that many Corporate Linux Foundation associates are also Microsoft associates. There's growing overlap that's beyond disturbing. Take Jono Bacon for example. In his latest blog post Jono Bacon reveals just how well connected he is to Microsoft and the Corporate Linux Foundation (not even hidden; see endorsements).

What Jono Bacon calls "People Powered" is actually "Corporations Powered"; it's like the old Microsoft slogan (from around 2006 when Microsoft got caught paying/bribing bloggers to say "People-Ready"); "People Powered" is about corporations stealing from people, from the public, to make a profit. Are those inseparable now? Are corporations themselves the 'communities'? They want us to believe so.

"My wife unsubscribed from Linux.com a few days ago (after 6+ years). She says it's complete rubbish now; worse than useless."Speaking of the Corporate Linux Foundation, after it had fired all writers and editors back in April it turned Linux.com into somewhat of a cesspool. My wife unsubscribed from Linux.com a few days ago (after 6+ years). She says it's complete rubbish now; worse than useless. The Corporate Linux Foundation pulled the trigger on that site and put in charge one of the defectors. This morning he did yet more VMware openwashing in his site. He's paid for this propaganda campaign with Dirk Hohndel et al (the Corporate Linux Foundation, funded by VMware, pays him to do this).

This person administers/edits Linux.com where similar openwashing lies are being promoted and he blocked me in Twitter as well. Why? Because I politely criticised his openwashing output. I didn't even mention his Twitter handle! Also see the screenshot above; this is how these people 'cope' with polite criticism which in no way breaks any laws or even resorts to strong words (sometimes reality itself can be 'painful' or 'hurtful').

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Russia Set to Ban Facebook?
If WhatsApp is made to "leave", that means Facebook or "Meta".
Taking Stock of a Good and Productive Week
We shall now be taking a break, unpacking the new hard drive (8 TB), and making backups of everything
Ageism in Tech
Your protocol is "old"...
In Norway, Android/Linux Has Just Hit All-Time High (First Time Since 2020), GNU/Linux Already Very Prevalent
Despite its small population size, Norway gave us Qt and many other things
Microsoft's Mass Layoffs Very Wide-Ranging, Media Focused on Gaming Though Microsoft Mass-Firing Lawyers and "AI" Staff (Contradicting Its Supposed "Investment" in "AI")
Microsoft plans to fire almost half a thousand people in legal roles
2012 Article About the Free Software Foundation Blasting Canonical/Ubuntu Over Adoption of "Secure" Boot (Microsoft's Remote Control Over GNU/Linux Since PCs' Power-on)
By Katherine Noyes (article has since then became 404, not found)
 
Gemini Links 20/07/2025: Summertime and OCC25 Wrap-up
Links for the day
Jamie Zawinski Complained About Wayland, Then Decided to Give It a Go, Now Complains Again About Wayland
Ask IBM (Red Hat) why it's worth throwing so much away just for Wayland fanaticism
Slopwatch: Planet Ubuntu, LinuxSecurity, and More
former "Linux" blogs which basically became slopfarms
Links 20/07/2025: More GAFAM Lawsuits, Layoffs, and SLAPPs
Links for the day
Nice Recovery (From Actual Fire) by PCLinuxOS, New Version of PCLinuxOS Released, Now Top of DistoWatch
PCLinuxOS is a community-driven distro
More Microsoft Shutdowns That Mostly Slipped Under the Radar
Remember what happened to books 'sold' by Microsoft?
Microsoft Lunduke Still Fighting Cancel Culture With... Cancel Culture
There will be no "winners" in such 'debates'
The History of Daily Links and Politics
"I support Wayland, but I also support abortion..."
Microsoft is at 0% "Market Share" in Most Areas
Depending on the taxonomy chosen, there may be dozens of categories other than desktops and laptops
"The moment MSFT stock fails to start tumbling, that’s the beginning of another corporate giant going under."
There are far more layoffs at Microsoft than at Intel, but you would not get this impression based on Wall Street media
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 19, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 19, 2025
Gemini Links 19/07/2025: Git For Authors and Filtered Antenna
Links for the day
UEFI 'Secure' Boot Abuses by Microsoft to be Brought Up in the UK High Court in 3 Months
we'll seek compensation
Next Year It'll Be Half a Decade Since the Fall of Freenode (and IRC is Still Doing OK)
Our IRC network is still accessible using the exact same software that ran in Windows 3.x
Lupa Will Soon Know of 3,100+ Active Gemini Capsules
And some people in the "Small Web" try to tell us that Gemini is dying?
The Slopfarms Are Taking Real News Articles and Replacing Them With Lies Generated by Machines
Bluntly speaking, Fagioli is nothing short of an online scammer
Links 19/07/2025: Techtarget to Cull 10% of Staff, New Threats to Free Press in the US (Home of Dangerous and Violent Stranglers From Microsoft)
Links for the day
Gemini Links 19/07/2025: "Climate Justice” and Forking Programs
Links for the day
What Wayland and Microsoft/IBM systemd Have in Common
focus on what IBM (Red Hat) is pushing while running over critics.
Linux Already Has About 60% of the "Market"
"When mentioning the client side," opines an associate, "it is essential to recite the list of other markets where Microsoft is negligible or a no-show. It is repetitive to do so, but it needs saying -- often."
Finland (and NATO) Must Move to GNU/Linux and Dump Microsoft Even Faster
"Microsoft is not a technology problem, it is a staffing problem."
The Microsofters We Sued Helped Microsoft Make GNU/Linux 'Expire' This Year
"Linux and Secure Boot certificate expiration"
linuxconfig.org Joins linuxtechlab.com and Others, Becomes a Slopfarm With Fake Linux 'Articles' (LLM Slop)
They contain "linux" in their domain names, but they are just slopfarms
Links 19/07/2025: Microsoft Cuts in China and Wall Street Journal Sued for Reporting on Jeffrey Epstein
Links for the day
Debian Can Dump Blind Users Because I am Not Blind
the sort of mentality we're up against
Fascistic Policies Got 'Normalised' in 'Public Office'. Let's Not Let the Same Happen in 'Tech'.
Political discourse typically guides what's "normal" and what "good citizens" should believe/feel
The European Patent Office Cannot Attract Proficient Patent Examiners Who Master Their Domain
They are enablers and facilitators of corruption
Yes, Your Mastodon Instance Will Also Shut Down
Few people run a one-person instance in the Fediverse
The Demise of GAFAM Necessitates Greater and Broader Awareness
Morale at Microsoft is really bad
Free Software Foundation Reaches 75% of Funding Goal
Not bad for this "Fosschild"
Slopwatch: 7 New Examples of Fake 'Linux' Slop Pieces (Plagiarism With Misinformation)
Serial Sloppers need to be shunned
Links 19/07/2025: Kapo-berg Settles, Software Patents Challenged
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 18, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, July 18, 2025
Links 18/07/2025: Peace With PKK and Connie Francis Dies
Links for the day
Gemini Links 18/07/2025: Alhena 5.1.8 and Bornhack 2025
Links for the day
How to Top Up a "Limited Liability" With Even More Limitations (Dodging Accountability in the UK)
Some people call it a "shell game". Sometimes it's done for tax evasion purposes.
Free Software Foundation, Inc. (FSF) Inches Towards 75% of Fund-Raising Target
Will the cutoff date be extended again?
Gemini Space (or Geminispace) Grows, But Usage of Certificate Authority Let's Encrypt Drops Further
Ideally, all Gemini capsules should use self-signed certificates
Links 18/07/2025: More Microsoft Layoffs in Activision, The New Stack (Sponsored by Microsoft) Complains About Openwashing
Links for the day
Gemini Links 18/07/2025: OCC25 Gnus for Reading Usenet and RSS Feeds, Small Web Updates
Links for the day
[Meme] 9AM Meeting at Brett Wilson LLP
Brett Wilson LLP in space
Listing as Staff People Who Left the Company More Than Six Years Earlier
There are apparently no laws against that
Brian Fagioli Shovels Up LLM Slop (Plagiarism) Onto Slashdot, Then Uses Slashdot for Affirmation or as Badge of Honour
Notice how some of his latest slop is presented ("as featured on Slashdot")
Social Control Media Productivity
Snapping photos of the bone
The Law Firm SLAPPing Us For the Microsofters Lost 72% of Its Tangible Assets in the Past Year, According to Its Own Reports
That might help explain why they're willing to tolerate serial stranglers from Microsoft as clients
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity.com Slopfarm and Slopfarms Propped Up by Google News
"As LLM slop is foisted onto the WWW in place of knowledge and real content, it now gets ingested and processed by other LLMs, creating a sort of ouroboros of crap."
Links 18/07/2025: Weather Events and Health Hazards
Links for the day
Microsoft's All-Time Low in Finland
Microsoft is in a freefall
Security: Shane Wegner & Debian statement of incompetence
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 17, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, July 17, 2025