06.04.19

Gemini version available ♊︎

Apparent Staffing Problems at the Linux Foundation

Posted in GNU/Linux, Microsoft at 3:10 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Nothing to say since April 25th? What happened?

Linux Foundation quiet

Summary: There are signs that something has changed inside the Linux Foundation, whose chief and main site have not said a thing since April 25th while advertising ‘Microsoft positions’ inside the Foundation

EVER since we started investigating the Linux Foundation we’ve had very positive responses (no negative ones so far). Some readers decided to help us research the Linux Foundation a bit. We now have quite a lot of eyes on the Foundation and we can sense that the Foundation’s leadership is very much aware of it. Through various connections we also have eyes and ears inside. They’re quite secretive at the Foundation, but people occasionally see or hear things they can’t just ignore. Principal Foundation staff started acting rather unusually. They became eerily quiet recently. Is it one of those “I know what you did last summer” moments? It’s very hard to simply dismiss this as a mere chain of coincidences, as we shall explain below.

“We now have quite a lot of eyes on the Foundation and we can sense that the Foundation’s leadership is very much aware of it.”The Linux Foundation and Jim Zemlin have published nothing since April in Linux.com. First time in over a decade or its entire existence? It was never this quiet. Not even news picks! Nothing! “It’s a potentially worrisome development,” one reader told us, “given the recent Microsoft entryism.”

In the Fediverse someone told me he has “been wondering about that also (?) Any updates on this?”

That needs researching. We’re looking carefully at recent publications from the Linux Foundation as opposed to Linux.com, which has been dormant and stale since April. Did the editor resign? Did someone get fired? Help us find out. The Foundation isn’t responding to any of that debate (it wouldn’t have hurt to say a few words of (re)assurance). It’s public and the Foundation was pinged about it.

Mr. Zemlin himself has been quiet (his last tweet was on April 25th, the same day Linux.com went silent; the last post is a link to what seems like the Foundation’s media partner). He not only blocked me in Twitter; it turned out he had also blocked Tux Machines, to which the Linux Foundation gave an exclusive interview some years back. We often wonder if Mr. Zemlin can be excused for still not using GNU/Linux, even after a decade and a half (almost) as chief of the “Linux” Foundation. He was its only chief ever. The Foundation could put someone like Bdale Garbee in charge instead; at least people respect him. At least he actually uses “Linux”, not just as a brand to be sold, licensed and ‘monetised’.

“Sometimes it feels like companies such as Microsoft have more influence in this Foundation than Torvalds himself.”I am frankly becoming concerned that the Foundation is nowadays promoting surveillance rather than freedom, marketing rather than advocacy and proprietary software instead of Free software (or “Open Source” as they prefer to call it).

Months ago we wrote about how the Foundation together with Microsoft/GitHub (the funding source) launched CommunityBridge, which is proprietary software that competes against existing things which are Free software. And here’s the more curious thing. The Foundation now looks for a leader — someone to run this ‘Community’Bridge thing. Days ago the Foundation published a job advertisement for this proprietary software it had launched for Microsoft (i.e. the usual). I found this ad in its Twitter feed, which is also barely active, with less than one tweet per day on average (over the past decade they posted about 7 tweets a day, on average, including weekends). I tested to see how to apply for the job; out of curiosity of course, not genuine interest. It was soon that I got greeted by… yes! LinkedIn! They push people to join Microsoft (LinkedIn) and give Microsoft personal information, employment history etc. So what the Foundation was reduced to in 2019 is rather upsetting. Open an account with Microsoft and give them all your very personal details to apply for a job at the “Linux” Foundation. True story. Wish I was joking…

Did something happen? Transparency would help. Months ago I became more vocal in my criticism of the Foundation and now I’m genuinely worried about its very future. Remember that this is the employer of Linus Torvalds which could, in principle, even fire him. Sometimes it feels like companies such as Microsoft have more influence in this Foundation than Torvalds himself.

Share in other sites/networks: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Reddit
  • email

Decor ᶃ Gemini Space

Below is a Web proxy. We recommend getting a Gemini client/browser.

Black/white/grey bullet button This post is also available in Gemini over at this address (requires a Gemini client/browser to open).

Decor ✐ Cross-references

Black/white/grey bullet button Pages that cross-reference this one, if any exist, are listed below or will be listed below over time.

Decor ▢ Respond and Discuss

Black/white/grey bullet button If you liked this post, consider subscribing to the RSS feed or join us now at the IRC channels.

DecorWhat Else is New


  1. Standard Life (Phoenix Group Holdings): Three Weeks to Merely Start Investigating Pension Fraud (and Only After Repeated Reminders From the Fraud's Victims)

    As the phonecall above hopefully shows (or further elucidates), Standard Life leaves customers in a Kafkaesque situation, bouncing them from one person to another person without actually progressing on a fraud investigation



  2. Standard Life Paper Mills in Edinburgh

    Standard Life is issuing official-looking financial papers for companies that then use that paperwork to embezzle staff



  3. Pension Fraud Investigation Not a High Priority in Standard Life (Phoenix Group Holdings)

    The 'Open Source' company where I worked for nearly 12 years embezzled its staff; despite knowing that employees were subjected to fraud in Standard Life's name, it doesn't seem like Standard Life has bothered to investigate (it has been a fortnight already; no progress is reported by management at Standard Life)



  4. Links 20/03/2023: Tails 5.11 and EasyOS 5.1.1

    Links for the day



  5. Links 20/03/2023: Amazon Linux 2023 and Linux Kernel 6.3 RC3

    Links for the day



  6. IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 19, 2023

    IRC logs for Sunday, March 19, 2023



  7. An Update on Sirius 'Open Source' Pensiongate: It's Looking Worse Than Ever

    It's starting to look more and more like pension providers in the UK, including some very major and large ones, are aiding criminals who steal money from their workers under the guise of "pensions"



  8. Services and Users TRApped in Telescreen-Running Apps

    TRApp, term that lends its name to this article, is short for "Telescreen-Running App". It sounds just like "trap". Any similarity is not purely coincidental.



  9. Links 19/03/2023: Release of Libreboot 20230319 and NATO Expanding

    Links for the day



  10. Great Things Brewing

    We've been very busy behind the scenes this past week; we expect some good publications ahead



  11. Links 19/03/2023: LLVM 16.0.0 and EasyOS Kirkstone 5.1 Releases

    Links for the day



  12. IRC Proceedings: Saturday, March 18, 2023

    IRC logs for Saturday, March 18, 2023



  13. Links 18/03/2023: Many HowTos, Several New Releases

    Links for the day



  14. Links 18/03/2023: Tor Browser 12.0.4 and Politics

    Links for the day



  15. Links 18/03/2023: Docker is Deleting Free Software Organisations

    Links for the day



  16. IRC Proceedings: Friday, March 17, 2023

    IRC logs for Friday, March 17, 2023



  17. New Talk: Richard Stallman Explains His Problem With Rust (Trademark Restrictions), Openwashing (Including Linux Kernel), Machine Learning, and the JavaScript Trap

    Richard Stallman's talk is now available above (skip to 18:20 to get to the talk; the volume was improved over time, corrected at the sender's end)



  18. Links 17/03/2023: CentOS Newsletter and News About 'Mr. UNIX' Ken Thompson Hopping on GNU/Linux

    Links for the day



  19. The European Patent Office's Central Staff Committee Explains the Situation at the EPO to the 'Yes Men' of António Campinos (Who is Stacking All the Panels)

    The EPO’s management is lying to staff (even right to their faces!) and it is actively obstructing attempts to step back into compliance with the law; elected staff representatives have produced detailed documents that explain the nature of some of the problems they’re facing



  20. Links 17/03/2023: Linux 6.2.7 and LibreSSL 3.7.1 Released

    Links for the day



  21. GNU/Linux in Honduras: 10% Market Share? (Updated)

    As per the latest statistics



  22. Links 17/03/2023: Update on John Deere’s Ongoing GPL Violations and PyTorch 2.0

    Links for the day



  23. IRC Proceedings: Thursday, March 16, 2023

    IRC logs for Thursday, March 16, 2023



  24. RMS: A Tour of Malicious Software, With a Typical Cell Phone as Example

    Tonight in Europe or this afternoon in America Richard M. Stallman (RMS), who turned 70 yesterday, gives a talk



  25. Skyfall for Sirius 'Open Source': A Second Pension Provider Starts to Investigate Serious (Sirius) Abuses

    Further to yesterday's update on Sirius ‘Open Source’ and its “Pensiongate” we can gladly report some progress following escalation to management; this is about tech and “Open Source” employees facing abuse at work, even subjected to crimes



  26. NOW: Pensions Lying, Obstructing and Gaslighting Clients After Months of Lies, Delays, and Cover-up (Amid Pension Fraud)

    The “Pensiongate” of Sirius ‘Open Source’ (the company which embezzled/robbed many workers for years) helps reveal the awful state of British pension providers, which are in effect enabling the embezzlement to carry on while lying to their clients



  27. Links 16/03/2023: War Escalations and More

    Links for the day



  28. Links 16/03/2023: OpenSSH 9.3 Released and WordPress 6.2 Release Candidate 2, Lapdock News

    Links for the day



  29. IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, March 15, 2023

    IRC logs for Wednesday, March 15, 2023



  30. Links 16/03/2023: OpenSSL 3.1 Released, 10,000 More Staff Cut in Facebook, and Windows Loses 10% in Speed

    Links for the day


RSS 64x64RSS Feed: subscribe to the RSS feed for regular updates

Home iconSite Wiki: You can improve this site by helping the extension of the site's content

Home iconSite Home: Background about the site and some key features in the front page

Chat iconIRC Channel: Come and chat with us in real time

Recent Posts