Bonum Certa Men Certa

The GitHub Takeover Was an Extension of Microsoft's War on GPL/Copyleft (Because Sharing Code to Anyone But Microsoft is 'Piracy')

Shortly after the takeover was announced Microsoft managers also told me explicitly that they'd discourage GPL

Dutton before and after: We're releasing our source code; hmmm... someone has turned that into proprietary software



Summary: Licences that make it easier for Microsoft to 'steal' (or a lot harder for Free software to compete against proprietary software) are still being promoted by Microsoft; its GitHub tentacles (see GitHub's logo) further contribute to this agenda

WHEN FUD from Microsoft 'proxies' like Black Duck and WhiteSource isn't enough to keep developers and companies off copyleft (as adopters or releasers) there's GitHub to make decisions or choices for people. RMS (Stallman) warned about this half a decade ago. Now that Microsoft controls GitHub the matter becomes ever more urgent.



"RMS (Stallman) warned about this half a decade ago. Now that Microsoft controls GitHub the matter becomes ever more urgent."With some exceptions, like EA choosing GPLv3 for its latest code release, we too often hear about companies and governments* "going open" by basically shelving source code in the proprietary software trap of Microsoft (GitHub), often under a so-called 'permissive' licence (which means Microsoft can take it, change it, give nothing back). This is the wet dream of proprietary software giants. Free code! Not free as in freedom. Free as in "people out there will fix bugs for us" and "give us code" (to improve our proprietary software that these people will later need to pay for). This 'labour farming' practice has long been encouraged by Microsoft and others.

If you do not support these sorts of scams, delete GitHub (well, technically it's not truly possible). Then, choose licences Microsoft et al hate the most. Those licences are most effective at putting an end to proprietary software. That's why they hate such licences so much. The InnerSource Commons (ISC), run by a Bill Gates lackey, shows us what they're pushing for; the person previously (at Sun Microsystems, now part of Oracle Corporation) crafted a licence whose goal was to be as incompatible as possible with GPL**. Black Duck was, by its own admission, created by a Microsoft guy to discourage and exterminate GPL. Those aren't even secrets; it's all in the public domain. _____ * The Government of India now gives Microsoft control over its mass surveillance tool, as covered hours ago in [1, 2].

** As per Wikipedia: "Simon Phipps (Sun's Chief Open Source Officer at the time), who had introduced Cooper as "the one who actually wrote the CDDL",[19] did not immediately comment, but later in the same video, he says, referring back to the license issue, "I actually disagree with Danese to some degree",[20] while describing the strong preference among the engineers who wrote the code for a BSD-like license, which was in conflict with Sun's preference for something copyleft, and that waiting for legal clearance to release some parts of the code under the then unreleased GNU GPL v3 would have taken several years, and would probably also have involved mass resignations from engineers (unhappy with either the delay, the GPL, or both—this is not clear from the video). Later, in September 2006, Phipps rejected Cooper's assertion in even stronger terms.[21] Similarly, Bryan Cantrill, who was on Sun at that time and involved in the release of CDDL licensed software stated in 2015 that he and his colleagues expected in 2006 the fast emerge of CDDL licensed software into the Linux ecosystem and the CDDL being not an obstacle.[22]"

Recent Techrights' Posts

Advertisers and Their Covert Impact on Publications' Output (or Writers' Topics of Choice, as Assigned or Approved by Editors)
It cannot be trivially denied that sponsorship in the form of "advertising" impacts where publishers go (or don't go, won't go)
Terrible Year for Microsoft Windows in Cyprus
down from 86% to 72% since January
 
Links 24/12/2024: Labour Strikes and TikTok Scrambling to Prop Up Radical Politicians That Would Protect TikTok
Links for the day
Where the Population is Controlled by Skinnerboxes Inside People's Pockets (or Purses)
A very small fraction of mobile users practise or exercise freedom/control over the skinnerbox
[Meme] Coin-Operated Publishers (Gaming the Message, Buying the Narrative)
Advertise (sponsor) to 'play'
[Meme] How to Kill Unions (Staff on Shoestring Budget Cannot Afford Lawyers)
What next for the EPO? "Gig economy"?
The EPO's Staff Union (SUEPO) Takes Legal Action to Rectify the Decrease in Wages (Lessening of Purchasing Power)
here is what the union published
Gemini Links 24/12/2024: Deedum Gemini Client Gets Colour Support, Advent of Code 2024
Links for the day
Microsoft Windows Slides to New Lows in Colombia
Now Windows is at an all-time low
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, December 23, 2024
IRC logs for Monday, December 23, 2024
A Strong and Positive Closing for the Year's Last Week
In a lot of ways this year was a good one for Free software
Feels Too Warm for Christmas
Christmas is here, no snow in sight
Links 23/12/2024: 'Negative Time' and US Arms Taiwan Again
Links for the day
Links 23/12/2024: The Book of Uncommon Beings, Squirrels, and Slop Ruining Workplaces
Links for the day
Links 23/12/2024: North Korean Death Toll in Russia at ~1,100, Oligarch Who Illegally Migrated/Stayed (Musk) Shuts Down US Government
Links for the day
The World's 'Richest Country' Chooses GNU/Linux
This has gone on for quite some time
Richard Stallman on Love
Richard Stallman's personal website includes a section that lists three essays on the subject of love
Apple's LLM Slop Told Us Luigi Mangione Had Shot Himself, BetaNews Used LLMs to Talk About a Dead Linus Torvalds
They can blame it on some bot
Microsoft, Give Me LLM Slop About "Linux" and "Santa", I Need Some Fake Article...
BetaNews is basically an LLM slop site
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, December 22, 2024
IRC logs for Sunday, December 22, 2024
Technology: rights or responsibilities? - Part XI
By Dr. Andy Farnell
GNU/Linux and ChromeOS in Qatar Reach 4%, an All-Time High
Qatar has money to spend, but not much of it will be spent on Microsoft, or so one can hope
Links 22/12/2024: Election Rants and More Sites Available via Gemini
Links for the day
Links 22/12/2024: North Pole Moving and Debian's Joey Hess Goes Solar
Links for the day
This 'Article' About "Linux Malware" is a Fake Article, It's LLM Slop (Likely Spewed Out by Microsoft Chatbot)
They're drowning out the Web
Early Retirement Age: Linus Torvalds Turns 55 Next Week
Now he's almost eligible for retirement in certain European countries
Gemini Links 22/12/2024: Solstice and IDEs
Links for the day
BetaNews: Microsoft Slop is Your "Latest Technology News"
Paid-for garbage disguised as "journalism"
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, December 21, 2024
IRC logs for Saturday, December 21, 2024