Bonum Certa Men Certa

Crying “Wolf!” About Systemd is Only Beneficial to IBM and Systemd Developers/Pushers

Video download link | md5sum dfb6c8618976a1acd9504672379b8cbf



Summary: Microsoft controls Systemd only to the extent that Systemd is controlled by GitHub, which is in turn controlled by Microsoft; But Systemd has long been on that proprietary platform (its developers don't truly value software freedom) and this has long been a problem, even before Microsoft hijacked it for coercive power

THE position or stance we maintain/hold/have regarding IBM is negative enough already and it's based on hard facts, not gut feelings and/or speculations; so suffice to say we're Systemd sceptics. Even worse than sceptics since well before IBM bought Red Hat. For the same reasons we implored Red Hat's software patents for over a decade (IBM lobbies for such patents) and expressed concerns/reservations regarding Red Hat's monopolistic tendencies.

But having said that, there's a danger that everything negative being said about Systemd will be accepted as true, irrespective of underlying facts. Falsehoods or false claims won't help us. To make matters worse, they open up the possibility/ies of straw man arguments from people whom we criticise -- in the same way Bill Gates likes to pretend that all his critics are just envious "conspiracy theorists".

So anyway, cutting to the chase, judging by comments and articles in Phoronix (a site we support with growing caution), including this morning's headline that starts with "Systemd/Microsoft" (it's discussed in the video above), one might think that Systemd is some evil plot from Microsoft, but that's clearly not the case. However, this is where discussions seem to go or eventually gravitate towards.

"I'm a lot more concerned about full-time Microsoft staff managing Linus Torvalds at the Linux Foundation and Microsoft's Levin announcing all the stable kernel releases several weeks ago (when Greg K-H was on holiday/break... maybe ill)."I actually examined the claim more than a month ago (32 days ago) when I first saw it, but there was barely any smoke, let alone a fire. I'm a lot more concerned about full-time Microsoft staff managing Linus Torvalds at the Linux Foundation and Microsoft's Levin announcing all the stable kernel releases several weeks ago (when Greg K-H was on holiday/break... maybe ill). Torvalds should never be bossed by people who are in turn bossed by sociopaths from Microsoft. We need to put things in perspective and check whether we risk moving adrift (and away from the legitimate and most pressing issues).

This isn't limited to software by the way. To borrow one example, we've already witnessed EPO propaganda claiming that EPO critics (who condemn EPO management) are nationalists or Nazis or something totally insane. We even saw claims about "Russia" (as if Russia runs the world and is hiding behind every corner/under every rock).

Let's not walk into unsupported territories.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Attacks on Techrights Make Techrights Stronger and Attract More Whistleblowers to Techrights
The harder they attack us, the more productive we become
An American War on GNU/Linux, Software Freedom, and British Investigative, Science-Based Reporting - Part III - Very Strong Legal Basis for an Appeal
The case is now being escalated to a Foreign Secretary and former Deputy Prime Minister
No Slop Found in RSS Feeds, Only in Google News
No slopfarm will survive for very long, certainly it'll go bust as soon as readers (if it had any) know what it is
What the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and Action Fraud UK Have in Common
Don't let London become the world's "crime capital"
Dr. Andy Farnell on How GAFAM, NVIDIA and Others Lie to People Via the Sponsored Media to Prop Up Lies Under the Guise of "AI"
Lots of key aspects are covered
 
Garrett Announces LibreLocal Instance in Northampton, Massachusetts (USA)
his message was the only one last month
Microsofters' SLAPP Censorship - Part 8 Out of 200: Gross Misuse of UKGDPR to Protect the Agenda of American Back Doors (Mass Surveillance)
Responding to bunk claims regarding UKGDPR and claims of 'analytics' in our sites
Links 10/03/2026: Oil Prices Rising, South Korean/US Military Assets Redirected
Links for the day
Links 10/03/2026: Rust Rewrites by Slop "20,171 Times Slower", "You MUST Review LLM-generated Code"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 09, 2026
IRC logs for Monday, March 09, 2026
The Register MS Has Just Taken Money From Google (Where the Former Chief Editor Now Works) for Femmewashing and Ponzi Scheme Promotion
now The Register MS not only promotes a Ponzi scheme but also bags money to pretend Google respects women
People at IBM Are Still Smart Enough to Understand What's Really Going on
"I would never refer someone to work at IBM that I liked! I hope all of you have reviewed IBM on Glassdoor."
European Patent Office (EPO) to "Eventually Eliminate the Tasks Performed by Formalities Officers"; EPO Run by People Without Experience in Patents
full paper
RMS is 73 Next Week
Richard Matthew Stallman (RMS) turns 73 exactly 7 days from now
Iran & FSFE: blackmailing women, from football to the French Government (CNIL)
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Police investigations, lawsuits & Debian leader election candidate shortage
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Richard Stallman (RMS) Has Defeated Cancel Culture, a Mostly American Phenomenon
RMS is talking now
Links 09/03/2026: Many Security Breaches and a Pandemic of Censorship
Links for the day
People Who Work or Worked at IBM Hate It
bluewashing is only the first step
Richard Stallman (RMS) Talks in 30 Minutes, Next Stop Bern (Last Stop)
We assume he'll travel back to Boston after that
IBM's Fedora as a Booster of Slop Disguised as Code or Computer Programs
Maybe we should also stop seeing a doctor and instead ask chatbots about symptoms?
Richard Stallman (RMS) Talk Five Hours From Now
there is growing recognition for what he really did for everybody
EPO Strike 10 Days From Now, Planning Assembly Tomorrow, Last Couple of Strikes Had High Participation Rates (1,500-1,600 Staff Went on Strike)
The next strike is in 10 days' time and then there will be another strike
Links 09/03/2026: GAFAM Outsourcing, "MAGA Political Meddling" in EU, Indonesia Bans Social Control Media for Children Under 16
Links for the day
Using Slop (and Slop in Articles) to Attack Copyleft 'on Budget'
This article is pure BS from an anti-GPL and anti-RMS 'activist'
Why The Register MS Sold Out to Microsoft: They're Losing Lots of Money, The Register MS is Bleeding to Death, Based on Its Own Financial Records
With over 6 million pounds in debt (nearly 10 million US dollars) we guess it's likely some other company will take over the site (if it deems it worthwhile)
Microsofters' SLAPP Censorship - Part 7 Out of 200: Like With the Serial Strangler From Microsoft, Misuse of UK-GDPR to Try to Hide Embarrassing Facts
They do and say really bad things, then allege it's a "privacy violation" to mention those things
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 08, 2026
IRC logs for Sunday, March 08, 2026
Gemini Links 09/03/2026: Exponentials and Tailscale
Links for the day
Sloppyleft
Article by Alexandre Oliva
Hard to Replace 'Human Touch'
The reason many people insist on using GNU
Richard Stallman Gives Talk in 20 Hours at Ostschweizer Fachhochschule Campus in Rapperswil-Jona
The talk is in English
The Slop Companies Gamble at Our Economy's Expense and They Know It's a Losing Bet (So It's a de Facto Robbery)
The crash of this bubble isn't just inevitable, it's already happening and receding sporadically because of false announcements about money that does not actually exist (to "buy time")
Suppressing Speech by Blackmail, the Iran Story
When Debian wanted to stage a seemingly legitimate election it needed to have more than one candidate running; so eventually the female partner of a geek rose to the challenge (had no coding skills at all, no technical history in Debian) and lost to the "incumbent German"
Too Focused on Buzzwords the Media is Paid to Saturate the Collective Mind With
Just because companies do really bad things in the digital realm does not imply "AI" or follow from "AI"
Discrimination and Prejudice Against Female Journalists
we can shame people who attack a reporter on the grounds of gender
An American War on GNU/Linux, Software Freedom, and British Investigative, Science-Based Reporting - Part II - Trying to Put People in Prison for Committing the Act of Journalism
This is abuse of process
Attack on Copyright and Copyleft by Code Conversion Is Nothing New, It Predates Slop (Code Produced by LLMs) by Several Decades
Even back in the 90s many people converted programs from one language to another. That could invalidate copyleft (and copyright), which already existed
Almost a Slopless Weekend for "Linux"
Let's hope slop will come to an end or sites will cease linking to slop
Insiders Explain Why IBM is Dying and the Inherent Culture Problem
There are many ways to shave this IBM cat
Links 08/03/2026: Microsoft Lost $400 Million on "Project Blackbird" and Half the States Sue Over Illegal Tariffs
Links for the day
Links 08/03/2026: Cisco Holes Again and "Blatant Problem With OpenAI That Endangers Kids"
Links for the day
Activism/Journalism in Our Blood
one must fight for one's principles
Gemini Protocol in Its Prime
What's particularly neat about Gemini Protocol is that it's fast and cheap
Microsofters' SLAPP Censorship - Part 6 Out of 200: Intentionally Misnaming Women, People Who Offered to Testify That They Too Had Been Subjected to Similar Abuse
Today it is International Women's Day
Even Fedora Leadership Cannot Figure Out the Microsoft Kill Switch/Back Door, 'Secure' Boot
It does not actually enhance security
Bruce Perens: Richard Stallman "Has Achieved His Goal"
Stallman's next talk is tomorrow
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, March 07, 2026
IRC logs for Saturday, March 07, 2026