Bonum Certa Men Certa

'It's Dead, Jim': OSI Controlled (Partly) by Microsoft and Promotes Microsoft Proprietary Software After Taking Microsoft Bribes

OSI in 2020: Job ads for proprietary software in the official OSI blog, linking to Microsoft.com

Entryism
Wikipedia on entryism



Summary: The OSI, which lost its two co-founders in two months (this year), is acting like little but a Microsoft marketing front right now; maybe it's time to just say good riddance, goodbye and good night to OSI (it's seemingly beyond redemption)

IT IS NEITHER a secret nor news that OSI is in somewhat of an unacknowledged crisis, having chosen money over its mission statement. Its President boasted about holding OSI meetings in Microsoft's own offices and both co-founders are out after protesting this kind of grotesque openwash. They no longer believe that the OSI they co-founded is true to its goals. It became rogue; it's a front group of proprietary software companies, just like the Linux Foundation.

It saddens me.

It saddens me a great deal. Look at the Sponsors page of the OSI and find Microsoft listed thrice there (more than any other company). That's like Greenpeace listing Exxon and its subsidiaries thrice as patrons. Not only does it make no sense; it's evidence of something gone amiss/awry.

"Bruce Perens actually left. The other co-founder was banned by his own creation (due to other incredibly self-harming aspects and threats to OSI)."As evident from this site, which goes back to 2006, I'm no foe of the OSI. Despite its deviation from the FSF and Free/libre software, I've been generally supportive of it. Before Bruce Perens quit (earlier this year) I felt like his persistent presence there was a sign that there was still hope and bridge leading to Software Freedom, even if they refer to it as "Open Source" (promoting their own 'diluted' brand).

Bruce Perens actually left. The other co-founder was banned by his own creation (due to other incredibly self-harming aspects and threats to OSI). Apparently one isn't allowed to openly defend the Open Source Definition (OSD); it makes one a nuisance -- merely protecting this institution's very purpose. ClearlyDefined "ethics"? How about Ethical ClearlyDefined Open Core Cloud Inner Source? What next will they replace OSD with? Bruce Perens said earlier this year: "Well, it seems to me that the organization is rather enthusiastically headed toward accepting a license that isn't freedom respecting... Fine, do it without me, please." As someone put it in the comments: "What does vaccination have to do with software licencing? This alone makes the system suspect. I support vaccination obviously but these people are deciding they can interfere in others' lives."

The abduction of OSI follows a familiar pattern. OSI is like Linux.com now. Or the Linux Foundation's own official blog, composed by a Microsoft veteran! Make no mistakes about it, there are endless parallels here (not the subject of this post, but disturbing nonetheless, with examples as recent as yesterday*).

"The abduction of OSI follows a familiar pattern."When Microsoft entered their Board these Microsoft employees used the OSI's official blog to push this thing (also pushed by other Microsoft employees) called "ClearlyDefined". We wrote a number of articles about it at the time. It's all connected and it is tied to the same person who outsourced Apache to Microsoft and his boss who phoned my boss, trying to cause me trouble at work, maybe even to get me fired (unemployment). Thankfully my boss supported me, knowing that outside my technical job I do Free software activism. He told these Microsoft thugs that it's none of their business what his worker does outside work. Microsoft is still an extremely aggressive company and its supposed 'gentleness' is a game of subtleties and PR. Many people who keep telling us about the 'new Microsoft' are directly or indirectly paid by Microsoft. Yesterday the OSI published this Microsoft spam in its official blog post and front page. They are, in effect, promoting proprietary software (GitHub) and posting Microsoft job ads with promotional language that certainly comes from Microsoft itself. "Submitted [anonymously] by administrator" (in effect an ad for https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/job/800721/Principal-Software-Engineer) is the following text:

ClearlyDefined (GitHub) is an open source, OSI project aimed at boosting the success of FOSS projects by being, well, "clearly defined." Lack of clarity around licenses and security vulnerabilities reduces engagement — that means fewer users, fewer contributors, and a smaller community.

OSI Sponsor Microsoft, and its Open Source Programs Office, is looking for someone experienced in open source software, comfortable working with modern software tools (e.g., Node and Azure), and excited to contribute as part of a dynamic environment; someone who understands how to employ scrum and agile techniques to stay focused and productive in the face of change; someone who thrives on cross-team collaboration and enjoys openness and diversity; someone with great communication and presentation skills to convey their message. The Microsoft Open Source Programs Office is a small, multi-disciplinary team that works across the company to help Microsoft participate successfully with open source software and the organizations, like OSI, that support it.

If you are interested, the team at Microsoft's Open Source Programs Office would love to talk to you about how open source compliance is making it easier for projects to know their software is being used according to their wishes and easier for companies to know what they need to do to comply with them.


RIP, OSI. It was nice knowing you. You now actively work against Open Source by enabling and promoting its consumption by a giant proprietary trap. _____ * Swapnil Bhartiya is openwashing Adobe this weekend. We're supposed to think that proprietary software vanguards are... "open source citizens". It is right there in the headline on Bhartiya's "TFIR" (a rebranded "Muktware"/"TheMukt"/"LinuxVeda"). A day or two ago he tweeted that he admires and loves Microsoft. This is who the Linux Foundation left in complete control of Linux.com! The person who yesterday posted an article to say that Adobe is "transforming into a good open source citizen." He has just done more openwashing. This is part of a clear pattern at the Linux Foundation and it leads to headlines like this new one from Phoronix, 'spamming' the news about "Linux" with proprietary software/patent traps of Microsoft.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Even Microsoft (MSN) Covers Richard Stallman's Public Talk in Milan 2 Days Ago
He spoke in Spanish earlier this month (Alicante)
Very High Attendance Level at Richard Stallman's Talk Shows People Can Relate to His Message
Smear campaigns have their limits
 
Links 28/05/2025: 'Emulation Layers' (Measurements and Linguistics), Libraries, and Discomfort
Links for the day
Links 28/05/2025: More Arrests for Bitcoin-Connected Torture and Prosecutions for Dieselgate-Linked Executives
Links for the day
Gemini Links 28/05/2025: Techo-authoritarianism With Slop Plagiarism and "No Online June" (Going Offline)
Links for the day
Links 28/05/2025: GitHub MCP Exploited and MathWorks Discovers Huge Windows TCO
Links for the day
Microsofters Were Scheming to Take Over This Entire Web Site (in Their Own Words!)
Money gets spent censoring/deplatforming people who speak about real issues; no money gets spent actually tackling those underlying issues
Gemini Links 28/05/2025: Celsius-Fahrenheit, Endless Scrolling/Infinite Scrolling, and Trapping LLM Slop Bots
Links for the day
Bicycles for the Minds and the Story Harrison Bergeron
"The goal of having people in charge of the tools they use and that the tools should amplify ability" has long been abandoned
Prison gate backdrop to baptism by Fr Sean O'Connell, St Paul's, Coburg
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
More Photos From This Week's Milan Talk by Richard Stallman
The posts are in Italian, not English
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, May 27, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, May 27, 2025
Links 27/05/2025: Science Defunded, India Arrests an Academic
Links for the day
Gemini Links 27/05/2025: From Celsius to Fahrenheit and Deleting Social Control Media
Links for the day
Microsofters Have, in Effect, Attempted Extrajudicial Action Against Us
Courts and Judges (or Masters) don't exist to facilitate this kind of "bro" culture
UK High Court Masters Are Not Your Jesters, Microsoft
Judges aren't there for "funny" spectacles, they're there to act as arbiters in critical cases, not SLAPPs
Links 27/05/2025: Mass Layoffs at Volvo and More Evidence of 'AI' (Slop) Being a Passing Fad
Links for the day
The Code of Conduct (CoC) Gaslighting Phenomenon
There are still many people and projects foolish enough to outsource their labour to Microsoft via GitHub
They're Very Jealous of Richard Stallman and His Freedom (or Simple Lifestyle)
Jealousy is toxic because it can cause rational people to act irrationally and even severely harm themselves
Akira Urushibata on GNU coreutils
new message
Anouk Rozestraten (Deputy Director) Appears to Have Left the Free Software Foundation
Let's hope Rozestraten is still using and promoting Free software
There's Nothing Funny About Lawbreaking
There's plenty of room in society for humour, but "hacking" the state by breaking laws isn't cool or hip
More Mass Layoffs Coming Soon to Microsoft, Just a Question of When and How Many
Numbers from Washington were close to 5% and judging by prior rumours, it would be 5% + 5% (total 10%) at a later month
Links 27/05/2025: Bikes, Ideal Computers, and BYO
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, May 26, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, May 26, 2025
Richard Stallman's Milan Talk (Public Presentation) Was Packed, Video Available Soon
Looks like they even ran out of seats
Gemini Links 26/05/2025: Intangible Stuff and Slop Issues
Links for the day
The Openwashing Shills Initiative (OSI) - Part I: Complaints to IRS or USDOJ Needed
If enough people do it, this will be more effective, more so if people who are based in the US do it
Open Source Initiative (OSI) Lobbying and the OSI's Status at Stake
At the end we plan to summarise all the issues in one very long article
Breaking Into Other People's Devices Without Authorisation Isn't "Funny" or "Research"
“Chaos was the law of nature; order was the dream of man.”
The Issue Isn't the Internet, the Issue is How People Are Taught to Use or Misuse It
The Web is circling down the drain. The Internet is not.
A Healed Reputation of a Movement's Leader and His Robust Message
The more aggressively you push against resistors, the more credibility they will gain
Links 26/05/2025: Deletions from Microsoft's GitHub, Telegram Blocked in Vietnam
Links for the day
Linux Released Last Night and There's Already LLM Slop With Slop Images
BetaNoise does not seem to mind this anymore
Links 26/05/2025: Walmart Layoffs and DRM Dumpster Fire ('Old' Fire TV Devices Lose Netflix Access)
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/05/2025: USB Camera Viewer and Fantasy Life
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, May 25, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, May 25, 2025