Bonum Certa Men Certa

Tidelift is Connected to Microsoft and It Does Not Spread a Positive Message for the Free/Open Source Community

Video download link | md5sum d65736bde549989cc250fa75d1e66e47 Lifting the Veil of Tidelift Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0



Summary: Tidelift seems to be concern-trolling the Free/Open Source community; looking at who's actually behind Tidelift, this is hardly surprising

WHO or what exactly is Tidelift? Well, we're not asking here what Tidelift once was -- and the same is true for the so-called 'Linux' Foundation and OSI, which incidentally overlaps with Tidelift to some degree. They aren't what they used to be; over time they started to align more and more with proprietary software companies' agenda -- more so after they had taken money from them.



As I explain in the video above, which is based on some research we did earlier today, Tidelift is promoting Microsoft talking points (links omitted by intention), badmouthing Free software, and hiring people it probably ought not hire.

"On the thin surface, this organisation seems like another OSI if not worse; mind the name, which says nothing about source or freedom or sharing or even "open"!"As of this moment, Tidelift's "Our story" says in big letters: "Here’s what we know. Open source software is incredible, but it’s got some issues."

Sounds or smells like concern-trolling, right?

This is the approach of Black Duck and sites that enthusiastically amplify it. They don't want Free software to succeed but to surrender or to fall into the hands of its adversaries.

On the thin surface, this organisation seems like another OSI if not worse; mind the name, which says nothing about source or freedom or sharing or even "open"!

"See some of the people who blog on behalf of Tidelift (Simmons for instance); one has to wonder if they're only pretending to speak 'for' us whilst in fact speaking for the likes of Microsoft (Simmons boasted that half of the OSI's budget goes towards boosting Microsoft GitHub)."Looking thinly and superficially beneath the shallow surface, we've found out they're bankrolled by 'curious' entities. TideLift is partly funded by 'former' Microsoft as the General Manager of General Catalyst (Quentin Clark). He is a longtime Microsoft booster, in effect trying to reform the image of a company that commits crimes and attacks Free software. Now it is joining the Microsoft-led FUD campaign (sleight of hand), only to be cited by openwashing fronts (i.e. proponents of proprietary stuff in "open" clothing). Clark worked for 20 years at Microsoft, now he's behind funding for Tidelift. Not too long ago he was in an interview entitled "Lessons From Working with Bill Gates". See some of the people who blog on behalf of Tidelift (Simmons for instance); one has to wonder if they're only pretending to speak 'for' us whilst in fact speaking for the likes of Microsoft (Simmons boasted that half of the OSI's budget goes towards boosting Microsoft GitHub).

"Black Duck and Snyk and other fake fronts" are a big problem, an associate told us. "I have met people fooled by Black Duck [and] most people don't know where to turn for information so they believe the marketing lies spread by the two..."

Add Tidelift to that same bucket.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Why Microsoft Accenture Has So Many Layoffs in Recent Years
The debt of Accenture doubled a year ago
 
Links 01/02/2026: Nvidia's Jensen Talks Down Microsoft 'Open' 'Hey Hi' and Britain's Starmer Makes Friends With China, Japan
Links for the day
Links 01/02/2026: Public TV Gutted by Cheeto, Billionaires Fund a Cheeto Propaganda Movie in 'Documentary' Clothing
Links for the day
The New Site ("New Techrights", SSG Since 2023) Exceeds the Old Site in Requests
The "New Techrights" gets about twice as many requests as the "old" (WordPress) "Techrights", the site of 2006-2023
20 Years Ago
Some time soon all this slop frenzy will become like yesterday's "blockchain" or "metaverse"
Gemini Links 01/02/2026: Zdzisław Beksiński and Disconnected Git Workflow
Links for the day
Talks About Nadella's Microsoft Exit After Chatter About Tim Crook Leaving Apple (Years Ahead of Retirement Age)
Mass layoffs and record debt do not represent a company's health.
We Still Cover the Same Problems We Spoke of 20 Years Ago
We're not easily seduced by "novelty" (new things), we try to judge them critically
Patents Standing in the Way
They also cause environmental harm
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, January 31, 2026
IRC logs for Saturday, January 31, 2026
IBM, a Microsoft Company
Microsoft and IBM as a pair go a long way back
A Lot Less GAFAM in Scandinavia
Are they reacting to geopolitics and risks from the US?
IBM Kills Companies It Bought (Neudesic Seems Like Latest Casualty)
Why isn't even a single publisher investigating those things?
Fake "Linux" Articles
Just because some platform has "Linux" in the domain name and/or site name does not imply that it is a news/Linux site
Gemini Links 31/01/2026: "Proof Without Content" and "Technology Connections"
Links for the day
Links 31/01/2026: Microsoft "OpenAI Representatives Are Going to Critics’ Houses With Threats and Demands", Its Proprietary Chaffbot Faces More Lawsuits
Links for the day
Links 31/01/2026: "Introducing Encrypt It Already" and "Huge Cache of Epstein"
Links for the day
A Can of WORMS - Part I - Trying to Throw RMS Under the Bus at MIT and Everywhere Else
This series won't give air to online 'trolls'
Mobbing at the European Patent Office (EPO) - Part I - An Introduction
When the series ends, some time around the second or third EPO strike of this year, we'll contact the relevant authorities and plead for intervention
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Delusion - Part I - Who Regulates This Regulator? (Only Itself!)
We won't self-censor or prematurely terminate this series
Norway Almost Trusts Russia More Than the Bill Gates (Sleeping With Young Russian Girls) Company, Microsoft
Microsoft represents crime
Riddle Us This... (Jim Zemlin and Bill Gates)
Do these people even understand the literal meaning of "safe space"?
Is "Nobel Prize for Peace" a Sick Person's 'Code Word' for Gangbanging Now? Ask Bill Gates.
Watch all the Gates apologists getting all silenced/silent
BBC Gaslights Women Sexually Exploited (Many Under Legal Age) for Its Rich Sponsor, Bill Epsteingate (Gates)
Is this a national broadcaster or a propaganda tool "For Rent"?
Microsoft 'Open' 'AI' Reportedly About to Become Bankrupt, Seeking Emergency Cash Infusion (Loans)
the money promised to Microsoft 'Open' 'AI' failed to arrive
Gemini Links 31/01/2026: Deep Ice and Slide Rules
Links for the day
Writing About Abuse
Never ever allow misogynists to get their way if you strive to live in a decent society
MIT DEDP MicroMasters online learner's blog post about cover-up linked to resignation of Swiss financial regulator
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Salary Erosion Procedure (SAP) as the Primary Reason for EPO Strikes
They focus on financials, as the corruption aspects are un-sayable or unspeakable, except in private
IBM Bluewashing: Feels Like IBM is Scuttling Neudesic (and Some of Red Hat)
We recently saw some Red Hat staff joining a Microsoft proxy
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, January 30, 2026
IRC logs for Friday, January 30, 2026
Microsoft Stock Collapsing Due to the Slop Bubble and Microsoft is Hiding Budget 'Black Holes'
Microsoft does not perform like it tells "the media" and "the market"
Gemini Links 30/01/2026: Love and Cultivation, Gemtext Anchors
Links for the day
Will Jim Zemlin Also Sell His Daughter or Only the "Linux" Brand (and Linux Foundation) to Bill Epsteingate?
Torvalds "ate a bug"
The Epstein Files Don't Say the Ages of Those "Russian Girls" Bill Epsteingate Exploited
This E-mail was sent around the time an arrest was made for pedophilia
Only One in 33 EPO Staff Voting on the Strike Opposed It
Kudos to all those who participated in the strike
Still Hoping for "Slop Zero" in 2026
We've also noticed that linuxiac.com shows a glimmer of hope this week
Links 30/01/2026: Waymo Crashing Into 'Small People' (Children), Microsoft at Risk Due to Slop Debt
Links for the day
Amutable’s Management and Founders Are 100% Microsoft!
It'll be focused on promoting Microsoft's agenda in everything it does
IBM Tries to Get Rid of Workers Without Paying Them (and It Appears to be Working)
be sure to speak to people who actually work there
He Has No Money, But He Has Power, He Has a Voice
That's why they envy and attack him
Free Software in Swiss Media This Week
RMS is still going places with his Migros bag (Swiss retail giant)
TV Programs Disseminate False Numbers of Microsoft Layoffs (About 31,000 Laid Off Last Year, Not Including PIPs, Contractors and so on)
large-scale layoffs are inevitable, no matter how long Microsoft delays or procrastinates
Links 30/01/2026: Microsoft's "OpenAI Is Headed For Bankruptcy" and Bitcoin Crashes
Links for the day
Why Would Anybody be Afraid of Talking to Richard Stallman?
We need to get rid of the baseless stigma
Amutable is a Microsoft Proxy Like Xamarin, With Some IBM/Red Hat Staff Added for Good Measure
Amutable chasing money and trying to impose TPM etc. on everybody
The Letter Sent to the Ringleader of the Alicante Mafia This Week
Call for industrial actions to stop the salary erosion of EPO staff
EPO on Strike
organisation operating outside the Rule of Law
Oracle's Debt Exploded by 22 Billion Dollars in 6 Months, the Ponzi Scheme With Scam Altman Was Classic 'Pump and Dump'
The founder of Oracle now uses his wealth for right-wing ideological reasons, nothing else
Facebook ('Meta') is Dead Meat, This GAFAM Company's Debt Exploded by Almost 33 Billion Dollars in Just 3 Months (11 Billion Per Month)
we can expect many sales/contracts to get canceled
Australia's top nurse takes on Musk, Zuckerberg & rogue health influencers, birthkeepers
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Affirming What We Already Know: Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is Profoundly Incompetent
"SRA ordered to pay solicitor £50k in costs after failed prosecution"
The "Alicante Mafia" - Part XVI - The Associates of Mr. Cocainegate Don't Want to Talk About Cocainegate (Right of Reply)
Nobody wanted to talk about cocaine at the EPO
The "Open Source" (Corporate Openwashing) Fake Community Rejects Democracy, Open Source Initiative is in Effect Dead
This is basically the end of the OSI
Cracks and Holes in Microsoft's Slop Bubble (Also, Windows is Declining)
"More Bad News For Xbox As Microsoft Blames Gaming For An Annual Decline In Its PC Business"
Microsoft's Debt Exploded by More Than 20 Billion Dollars This Past Year, Says Microsoft
Expect more mass layoffs
Strike at the EPO Today
Next month we'll start a new EPO series
State of the Slop and The Register MS Runs Ads as 'Articles'
Yesterday we could not find much slop about "Linux"
Gemini Links 30/01/2026: Announcing Crossyword and SYN Attack
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, January 29, 2026
IRC logs for Thursday, January 29, 2026