Bonum Certa Men Certa

A Sincere, Non-Revisionist History of Techrights

Video download link | md5sum caeec24fd1fc7619a513fbee14068ff7 Our History and Plans Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0



Summary: Looking back at the progress made, including GNU/Linux becoming more mainstream and 35 U.S.C. ۤ 101/Alice (SCOTUS) obliterating many software patents, we're proud to say that there's a potentially bright future ahead; there will also be a number of milestones and announcements, so we look back at what happened here since 2006 (33,611 blog posts ago)

We are very excited by a number of things. As we noted moments ago, Techrights turns 16 later this year. We must recognise the fact that many people aren't familiar with the history and thus tradition of the site.



It would not be the first time we tell the story, but looking back at 16 years perspective varies a tad bit. In 2006 I was very active in Digg.com (I was in fact ranked 17th in the entire site, which was a very major hub on the Web back then).

Shane, like me, was very upset about what Novell had done with Microsoft. It was a patent collusion. Almost everyone in the GNU/Linux community was furious. Shane wanted me to join him in opposing the patent deal. So I did. That was way back in 2006. By that point I had already been very actively in USENET and in my own site. Social control media wasn't quite a thing yet.

It's perfectly sincere to say this site was always about patents. It was also about GNU/Linux and the way Microsoft misused of patent schemes to undermine GNU/Linux (in retrospect it failed because GNU/Linux is very much iniquitous these days).

Novell was sold or tentatively sold around 2010, so we refocused a bit on software patents and Microsoft's misdeed, which soon haunted Nokia (2011) and other companies. The E.E.E. tactics culminated around 2015 with "Microsoft loves Linux" (a lie) and "joining" the Linux Foundation not so long after that.

In 2014 we started focusing on EPO abuses and one year later the gangster Benoît Battistelli sent not one but several British law firms to intimidate me. This had the unpredictable effect of encouraging me to focus even more on the EPO -- something we do to this very date with António Campinos (a total phony, a friend of Battistelli) in charge.

In November we can proudly say that we've survived 16 years. Since we never relied on social control media we have been very stable and relatively robust to censorship. We've received more legal threats than I care to recall, but we never got sued because the facts and the law were on our side.

And the journey continues.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Proprietary Software is Bad for Your Health, Not Just Your Finances, Privacy and So On
It would be interesting to see some charts, based on some long-term study, comparing the general health (blood pressure, BMI etc.) of people who use proprietary stuff and people who do not
Microsoft Admits Business Perils as Windows Continues to Fall
‘Microsoft missed the biggest business model…’
Technical Specifications at Times of Tyrannies
Specifications (specs) must evolve with the times
In Case Rust Censors It (Rust Has Long Been All About Censorship), Here's a Critical Look at Rust's Goals
In the case of Rust, instead of "the liberation of the digital society" we have empowerment of Microsoft GitHub and of GAFAM in general. Guess who funds this...
Gemini Links 23/02/2025: Respectful Platforms Manifesto and Internet Archive
Links for the day
The Significance of the Timing of the Ridiculous Letters From Brett Wilson LLP, Acting on Behalf of People From Microsoft
A preliminary look at the timeline and what it tells us
Politicians Ought to Invite Dr. Richard Stallman and Prof. Eben Moglen to Speak About Policies, Licensing, Digital Sovereignty
Is there something in Europe other than RMS' talk this coming Monday (that we're not yet aware of)?
The So-called 'IT' Industry Became Somewhat of a Fraud Where People Equate Usage and Power Wasted With "Value" or "Success"
When did 'IT' become a weapon rather than technology/science?
Things to Like About London
Many important or "powerful" people leave near there
 
[Meme] It's Over, Microsoft
an obligatory meme
Even Worse Than LLM Slop and Linkspam From UNIXMen
UNIXMen is basically a defunct spamfarm at this point (the author is "sarwarSEO")
Gemini Links 24/02/2025: Osiris 0.1.0 Release (File Sharing in Gemini Protocol), NetBSD 10.1 on the Pi
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, February 23, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, February 23, 2025
Links 23/02/2025: Democracy Backsliding and German Election
Links for the day
Joining APRIL(.org), AGM weekend, Paris, 15-16 March 2025
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 23/02/2025: Zuckerberg Despised, US Government Does Not Obey Judges, France Grapples With Terrorism
Links for the day
Links 23/02/2025: Apple Back Doors, Ukraine Updates, and Gemini Leftovers
Links for the day
Recent Improvements in Techrights
minimalism works fine when the main goal is to relay information
Slopwatch: Brian Fagioli, Brittany Day (linuxsecurity.com), and Microsoft Misinformation, False Marketing
Serial Sloppers
Censored: Debian Zizian transgender vigilante comparisons in open source Linux communities
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, February 22, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, February 22, 2025
Links 22/02/2025: OpenAI Plans to Possibly Abandon Microsoft, Facebook Doubles Execs' Bonuses While Sacking Thousands
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/02/2025: Weekend Chill and Programming Thoughts
Links for the day
Good Explanation of Why IBM Has Chosen to Conceal Mass Layoffs (of 'Expensive' Staff) as "R.T.O." (Even For People Who Never Worked at the Office to Which They're Ordered to "Return")
Many remaining IBM (or Red Hat) workers in Europe are in "cheaper" places such as Brno
Microsoft's Serial Strangler and Matthew J. Garrett Join Forces in Trying to Gag Techrights (for Exposing Microsoft Corruption and Crimes Against Women)
Whose terrible idea was it?
Links 22/02/2025: Labour Department Investigates Microsoft Infosys Amid Mass Layoffs, Large Law Firms Caught Red Handed With LLM Slop (Defrauding Clients and Courts)
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/02/2025: Analog Stuff, Sigil, and SSGs
Links for the day
Microsoft's Market Share in Cameroon Falls to New Lows
This means a lot of Android users (iOS is about 4 times smaller), but Android does not mean freedom
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, February 21, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, February 21, 2025
The Streisand Effect is Real
So don't be evil. Also, don't strangle women.