Bonum Certa Men Certa

Guest Post: The Linux Foundation (LF) is “Putting the CON in Conference!” (Part 1)

"I spoke recently with someone who has a lot of experience with boards and explained the LF situation. They said that kind of takeover was so common that it probably could have been foreseen and guarded against, but stopped short of actually saying it quite like that. As for how to fix the situation, no ideas yet."

--Longtime Techrights member



Lighted gift



Summary: Proprietary software giants with their sponsorships and gifts are more like Trojan horses or parasites striving to infect the host; how can the LF be protected from them?

THE three prior articles [1, 2, 3] on this particular topic, namely events of the Linux Foundation (LF), provided some essential background or introduction to this. The latest feedback we've received concerns Jono Bacon, the subject of the last post. Other people are being named (readers tell us about them), but we're reluctant to bring shame to them without contacting them in advance (as we did Bacon, who did not respond).



"What next? What else is for sale? Who will be the next sellout?"Bacon used to work for Canonical. He now works with the LF (a client of his, by his own admission in a recent blog post), which is selling "tweets" from Bacon. Last week Canonical was advertising for Microsoft (paid press release for "free bait" of proprietary software). We are growingly worried that Microsoft will buy Canonical in the not-so-distant future, seeing how financial compromise is already threatening the community. Last year Microsoft paid a lot of money to OSI and 2 weeks ago the OSI's blog posts were even composed by Microsoft staff (inside the OSI's' Board now). What next? What else is for sale? Who will be the next sellout? This is the subject of today's guest post, which we've edited so as to protect identities and organise things a little better.




Volunteers -- volunteers -- across multiple conferences influencing decisions based on their biases and career goals -- one who held IRC sessions on how to submit a winning CfP for LibrePlanet last year -- within a few days of the event -- published an article in Linux Journal -- about how it's not important -- it's OK -- to be proprietary...

RMS took care of it. I was like, "I'm no one's sweetheart but COME ON!"

How about a conference that charges sponsors and gives them keynotes, articles and even paid tweets by Jono Bacon? Charges sponsors and attendees for what? Hosting a venue and bringing a few names... and little cupcakes?

What about convincing corporate sponsors/partners that they are working on important projects -- projects no one uses, really aren't useful, but are busy at work?

You're open source now... Faux open source.

"Time to rebrand to FOSS."Paying other conferences by sponsorship to have their people speak -- just so that the presenter looks legit.

Finally, censoring anyone who speaks out about them in -- of course -- Censorpedia.

Time to rebrand to FOSS.

Anyway, I had an idea of how to combat all this propaganda. I've been reaching out to colleges to try encourage the university LUGs (Linux Users Groups) to have their own yearly conferences/learning workshops. I don't know if that will help, but then I was thinking of pulling some LUGs in. If you ask [name redacted], he can tell you the story about how he was organizing a Conference, started having issues with the venue and such... and was given an "offer" not to continue doing so.

Dirty business these conferences...

If you take a look at the LF prospectus, you can see that the sponsors get anything from:



Just what seemed like a terrible propaganda factory.

"Now, it's up to $120k for an article and keynote."Upon realization that Microsoft was a high-tier sponsor, I decided not participate in the Make event in Los Angeles sponsored by LF, even though I had a commitment.

No freaking way...

Check out this year's prospectus. Kimberly Andrews is listed as contact.

I have some notes:

1. [name redacted] was working SCaLE, SeaGL and LibrePlanet 2. [name redacted] was also side by side with [name redacted] many times in the conference presentation evaluation circuit 3. [name redacted], upon receiving a letter of my concern, addressed this to me and not FSF Staff. 4. Linux Foundation receives payments from sponsors and offers keynotes, article interviews, tweets.

See current prospectus. They have been doing this for years. Now, it's up to $120k for an article and keynote.

In addition to receiving funding from sponsors for Linux Foundation events, the LF charges attendees. So what are they doing, really? Is it just about the money, or is it something more? Is it a stronghold placement and branding -- to move along the LF agenda and gain more members?

The credibility of all of the above parties is questionable, regardless of employment status.

When Microsoft became a sponsor for LF events, it was appalling.

"The sponsorship this year at LF -- includes diamond level $120k -- has again an article in Linux.com."After speaking with [name redacted] at [event name redacted], at length, I discovered that many sponsors expect a slot.

Side Note: I have been an event coordinator. In 2001, at Pearson for 2 worldwide events - FL and CA.

2008 - Masters conference at Microchip. Of course, these are companies with internal presenters and such. That's the difference, right. Still a million-dollar enterprise.

The sponsorship this year at LF -- includes diamond level $120k -- has again an article in Linux.com.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Google 'Search' is Fast Becoming No Better Than Social Control Media Infested With Bots
Google emerged almost 30 years ago as a company looking to organise the Web and direct people towards informative pages. That Google is dead.
Before the OSI Was Bribed and Hijacked by Microsoft via GitHub and Compromised Management...
The OSI isn't even remotely "woke"
The OSI Has Been Silent for Over 3 Weeks, It Has a Severe Trust Issue After Promoting Microsoft and Proprietary GitHub
OSI took a lot of money from Microsoft to become a Microsoft lobbyist
Bribery is OK If You Work for Microsoft (No Punishment Expected)
It's very troubling and a symptom of a broken society/system when particular laws or rules are applied and enforced against some people but not against others
Someone Should Remind Microsoft Lunduke That Microsoft Hires Many Sexual Criminals and Pedophiles as Well
Microsoft Lunduke on an "expedition" to find one or more perverts, then generalise to everyone in the "community"
Cash Machines (ATMs) Make Mistakes and They're Proprietary Software
Correcting mistakes is a colossal challenge
 
Some People See What Others See... But Only 40 Years Later
When people deviate from "the norm" they typically get ridiculed and dismissed as "crazy"
Links 30/07/2025: Tea Class Action and Google Killing the Web With Slop
Links for the day
Last Month Our IRC Community Turned 17
Funnily enough we never missed a single day when it comes to logging
"The Unix Kernel"
Linux was inspired by MINIX
The Register Relays Microsoft Marketing, Dubs That Marketing "Research"
Hours ago they did a "Microsoft sez" piece
Dealing With Sociopaths, Liars, and Cranks
A dysfunctional society such as this would never develop
Not Owning Mobile Phones
It's not about resistance; it's common sense
PCLinuxOS Had Functional Backups Before the House Fire, the Site Will be Restored in New Webhost
This is the direction we want for GNU/Linux, not some IBM sales strategy
Gemini Links 30/07/2025: Two Sides of Me and "Hooked on Cosmic Voyage"
Links for the day
Microsoft Will Continue Resorting to Crimes in Order to Keep GNU/Linux Usage Down
It is a real problem and we'll revisit it later this week
GAFAM 'Revolving Doors' at The Register and a "Bribe Price List"
"an analyst at Microsoft"
Microsoft Rapidly Shrinking (No, It's Not About Efficiency, It's About Unbearable Debt)
We'll soon see how much debt grew in the past quarter
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, July 29, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, July 29, 2025
Corruption is the Standard Operating Procedure at the European Patent Office (EPO)
The EPO is a dictatorship that stains Europe
Local Staff Committee Munich (LSCMN) at the European Patent Office (EPO) Requests an Urgent Meeting to Avoid Abolishing the Office
This is dictatorship led by the most corrupt
Slopwatch: Fake 'Linux' 'Articles' and Spamfarms/Slopfarms
at least 5 fake articles in one day
Gemini Links 29/07/2025: Wayland Unfit for Use and LLM Slop Faking One's Language Skills With Robot Communications
Links for the day
Nailing the "Hey Hi" (AI) Hype Bubble
So-called "hey hi" as they define it now is all about large companies or regimes remotely controlling the processes running on your machine and even your very own behaviour on your machine, which is in effect no longer your machine but some remotely controlled apparatus
"Four decades; Four freedoms; For all users" Now as a T-shirt
That's shown along the sidebar
Links 29/07/2025: Bad Climate and "Fair Software Licensing" Blasts Microsoft
Links for the day
Links 29/07/2025: Data Brokers Gone Wrong/Rogue and "Copyright Thicket"
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Linuxconfig.org, Linuxsecurity.com, Fagioli, The Register
Today's "Slopwatch" isn't the first article about LLM slop
We Cover Topics Other Sites Are Too Afraid to Cover (Even When They Know the Facts)
It's not that they doubt the truth, they just realise there may be consequences for talking about it
They Try to Tell Us the Free Software Foundation Inc is Dying, But Its Revenue Doubled Since the Dot-Com Bubble Burst
Being in "Activism" is never easy; but it does positive things for society
Yes, Microsoft is the Problem
"I am no MS shill."
It's About the Cost of Workers, Not the Fictional Skills Shortage (That Does Not Exist, the Media Spreads False and Sometimes Self-Fulfilling Narratives)
This issue isn't limited to computing, some dub it "globalism"
Another Failed Use Case for Chatbots (LLM): Legal Advice and Analysis
They're just some self-discrediting toy that costs way too much to operate
Links 29/07/2025: More Pushbacks Against Slop and More Praises of Tom Lehrer
Links for the day
Gemini Links 29/07/2025: Purple Yarrow and Understanding Op Amps
Links for the day
This Monday WebProNews Absolutely Flooded the Web With Fake (LLM Slop) 'Articles' About "Linux", Google News Promoted Them as Legitimate
All of the following are fake articles attributed to pseudonyms or authors that don't exist; the images are also slop. Why does Google promote these?
Linuxiac is Not a Slopfarm, But at Least Some of Its Articles Are Machine-Generated Fakes
what we said about it was correct
Expect More Microsoft Layoffs
"Are more job cuts coming?"
Microsoft Behaving Like It's Running Out of Money to Pay Salaries
Does that seem like the behaviour expected from a company which claims it is "worth" trillions?
LWN Downtime Due to Linode, Not LLM Bots
"I’ve received an email letting me know that there is a potential for data loss."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, July 28, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, July 28, 2025
Nonfree Software in My Bank, by Richard Stallman
Updated 8 hours ago
Links 28/07/2025: Science, Health, and Conflicts
Links for the day
Gemini Links 28/07/2025: Healthy Self-Image With Autism and a "New Life"
Links for the day
Links 28/07/2025: COVID-19 Sped up Brain Aging, "Circumvention is More Popular Than Compliance"
Links for the day
Richard Stallman is Usually Right Because He Thinks "Outside the Box"
he is able to observe society (mores and norms) as somewhat of an outsider
LWN Has Been Down for a Long Time, Another Casualty of LLM Bots?
Time will tell. How much time though?
Slopfarms Versus 'Linux' (and Against People Who Write Real Articles About GNU/Linux)
LLM slop in slopfarms by Brian Fagioli and Redazione RHC
Gemini Links 28/07/2025: Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray and Running pkgsrc in a FreeBSD Jail
Links for the day
Microsoft Turns News Sites Into Spamfarms
Is the site The Register MS the next IDG?
The Register MS/The Register US
On Saturday I contacted them for a comment (before issuing criticism)
Hacking revelations at Vatican Jubilee of Digital Missionaries
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, July 27, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, July 27, 2025