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A Sincere, Non-Revisionist History of Techrights

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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

More Gains for GNU/Linux, Based on Web Surveys
the Steam site shows rapid growth for "Linux" this month
Slopwatch: Anti-Linux Articles, Not Even Written by Humans
Why aren't Web sites more vocal about this problem?
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, April 02, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, April 02, 2025
Links 03/04/2025: Apple Fined Over Secret Surveillance, "Elegant Writer For A More Civilized Age"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 02/04/2025: Books and Cold Tea
Links for the day
Links 02/04/2025: More Layoffs, Nokia Again Takes Advantage of Illegal and Unconstitutional Patent Court With Nokia Staff as 'Judges'
Links for the day
Links 02/04/2025: Seizures and Returns to Windows of 24 Years Ago
Links for the day
LLM Slop Helps Obscure and Distort News About Layoffs (IBM, GAFAM)
It's hard to find accurate information
Links 02/04/2025: Microsoft Developers Are Threatening to Go on Strike, World Backup Day Noted
Links for the day
Gemini Protocol Has Growing Appeal (the Web Got Too Bloated and Full of LLM Slop)
For any "data plan" with bandwidth limits or "tiers" it would be cheaper to use/browse Geminispace
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)
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
Links 01/04/2025: Apple Fined $162M for Privacy Abuses, Disinformation Online a Growing Concern
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
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
Stefano Maffulli and His Microsoft-Funded OSI Staff Are Killing the OSI and Killing "Open Source" (All for Money!)
This is far from over
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?
Techrights Headlines as Semaphore
"If you are hearing this, thank you"
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