Bonum Certa Men Certa

Trying to Appease Those Who Never Liked Free Software or Those Who Blindly Loved All Patent Monopolies to Begin With

LTT Loves Linux

Summary: It's crystal clear that trying to appease everyone, all the time, is impossible; in the case of the EPO, for example, we hope that exposing Team Battistelli/Campinos helps raise awareness of the harms of patent maximalism, and when speaking about Free software -- whilst occasionally bashing the alternatives (proprietary) -- we hope to convince more people to join the "Good Fight"

THE extended weekend (American holiday) is nearly over and we still have two ongoing series, one of which resumes tomorrow. It's about GitHub, which has just had hours-long downtime. Sometimes those things are indicative of brain drain, but not always. Things are everything but rosy deep inside GitHub (Microsoft does not want the public to see it).



Here in Techrights we have made allies of convenience and shared interests. Some of our writers/contributors work or worked for Microsoft; sometimes they remain anonymous. We've been more or less the same for 15 years. It's simple. Stick to a position, defend it as long as it is defensible, and hope that some people will see the light and maybe 'defect' (like choosing to leave Microsoft, then speak out against Microsoft; it does happen sometimes!). We've never attempted to lower our guard by appeasing patent maximalists, who are also the system's profiteers. During this pandemic many people realise what impact patents really have on health, whether it's because a few companies stockpiled patents on work funded by taxpayers or more people recognise that COVID-19 patent monopolies greatly increase the cost of vaccines (sometimes by a factor of 100!) and reduce the incentive to improve existing vaccines. Heck, they even reduce the incentive to actually resolve this crisis because the longer it goes on for, the more doses will be sold (or rather, the more times those same patents will get "licensed").

We have a great deal to say and a lot of thoughts about patents, including OIN's war on our cause (abolishing software patents), Team UPC faking a lot of things (details in Daily Links), quality of European Patents collapsing (but law firms no longer speaking about it; nor do they speak about the EPO's tribunals lacking autonomy), and illegal "online" appeals still being compulsory (for another 6 months at least). On top of that we have FUD campaigns against GNU/Linux, which seem to have taken up a lot of time (rebuttals), so there's no lack of topics to cover, just a lack of time/capacity to cover them. We'll do our best to prioritise whilst also improving the site's operations, e.g. for better efficiency and broader protocol support. At the moment the Gemini capsule will almost never be more than 5 minutes behind the Web site. That's a considerable improvement in its own right.

Recent Techrights' Posts

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Hijacked Again by Patent Litigation Industry, as President Cheeto Prioritises Aggressors
The "mafia" has taken over the "industry" and the Federal system (justice and constitutions trampled upon)
Ubuntu Slop and FUD Manufactured With LLMs and Funded (by Oneself) 'Studies'
Slop and FUD are ruining the Web
Gemini Links 01/04/2025: Games and More
Links for the day
Why We're Reporting Brett Wilson LLP for Apparently Misusing Their Licence to Protect American Microsofters Who Attack Women
For those who have not been keeping abreast
Stefano Maffulli and His Microsoft-Funded OSI Staff Are Killing the OSI and Killing "Open Source" (All for Money!)
This is far from over
Techrights Headlines as Semaphore
"If you are hearing this, thank you"
 
The Web Can Survive LLM Slop, But Only If We Collectively Shun and Discourage Serial Sloppers
Doing nothing ought not be a possibility
Amid Secret Shut-downs and Mass Layoffs at Microsoft (4 Waves of Layoffs in 3 Months of 2025) Some Microsoft Staff Expected to Go On Strike
workers going on strike
Gemini Links 02/04/2025: No more on Mastodon and Gemini Mention Script in Go
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, April 01, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, April 01, 2025
My Motion Disbarring or “Striking Off” Brett Wilson LLP for Enabling Violent Americans Who Try to Crush Microsoft Critics in the United Kingdom by Multiple SLAPPs
"Guns for hire" (for Microsoft people who received Microsoft salaries)
Links 01/04/2025: Apple Fined $162M for Privacy Abuses, Disinformation Online a Growing Concern
Links for the day
Newer Press Reports Confirm That Microsoft Shuts Down 'Hey Hi' (AI) Labs Despite All the Hype
The "hey hi" (AI) bubble is not sustainable
Links 01/04/2025: Mass Layoffs at Eidos and "Microsoft Pulls Back on Data Centers" (Demand Lacking); "Racist and Sexist" Slop From Microsoft
Links for the day
Gemini Links 01/04/2025: XKCDpunk and worldclock.py
Links for the day
50 Years of Sabotage and a Gut Punch to Computer Science (and Science in General)
Will we get back to science-based computing rather than cult-like following?
3 Months in 2025, 4 Waves of Mass Layoffs at Microsoft, Now Offices Shut Down Permanently
"A recent visit by the South China Morning Post confirmed that the office was dark, unoccupied, and had its logo removed."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 31, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, March 31, 2025
Links 31/03/2025: China Tensions, Bombs Falling in Myanmar After Earthquake
Links for the day
Gemini Links 31/03/2025: Falling Out of Love With Tech, Sunsetting openSNP
Links for the day
R.T.O. at IBM in Texas and Atlanta (State of Georgia) Expected as "Soft Layoffs" Catalyst This Coming Year
It also sounds like more IBM layoffs are in the making
Law Firms Can Also Lose Their Licence for Clearly Misusing It
The bottom line is, never made the false assumption that because you can pile up SLAPPs in a docket you will not suffer from bad reputation or even get disbarred
Link between institutional abuse, Swiss jurists, Debianism and FSFE
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
LLM Slop Piggybacking News About GNU/Linux and Distorting It
new examples
Links 31/03/2025: Press and Democracy Under Further Attacks in the US, Attitudes Towards Slop Sour
Links for the day
Open Source Initiative (OSI) Privacy Fiasco in Detail: The OSI Does Not Respect Anybody's Privacy
The surveillance mafia that bans dissent or key people (even co-founders) with dissenting views
Gemini Links 31/03/2025: More X-Filesposting and Dreaming in Emacs
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 30, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, March 30, 2025