Bonum Certa Men Certa

OSI Board at Microsoft: This is How Institutions Die or Completely Lose Their Purpose/Direction

At 'best' they survive, only to promote Microsoft's agenda and openwashing

OSI Microsoft photo op



Summary: The above photo (or meeting) may mark the turning point of the Openwashing as-a-Standard Initiative (OSI), which less than a year earlier took a bucket of money from Microsoft

THE above is not "fake news..."



All these people actually stood (or sat) there to take a photograph with Microsoft. Look how nonchalant they are.

"We've spent 30 minutes or so looking for additional notes (or photos, newer/older ones) to no avail...""This photo was taken following the spring 2018 face-to-face meeting hosted at the Microsoft office in San Francisco," Simon Phipps explained on May 1st, 2018. "Back row: Faidon Liambotis, Chris Lamb, Simon Phipps, Allison Randal, Molly de Blanc, Patrick Masson [and] Front row: Josh Simmons, VM Brasseur, Carol Smith, Italo Vignoli, Richard Fontana."

"The (co)founder of the OSI left in protest earlier this month."The meeting took place a few months after this (which Microsoft staff then promoted in the OSI's blog, having entered the Board and of course paid a lot of money to OSI less than a year earlier; they're all colleagues and bossed by one another). This remains a very troubling episode in the OSI's history. The (co)founder of the OSI left in protest earlier this month. We're still seeing additional if not belated articles about it (added to Daily Links).

We've spent 30 minutes or so looking for additional notes (or photos, newer/older ones) to no avail... there appears to be just about no record anywhere on the Web of the above meeting. Nothing. Prove us otherwise... if anyone knows about or can find text regarding this meeting, please let us know.

"We've seen similar things at the Linux Foundation (LF) and we can recall the same from Mr. Cohen at OSDL... before everyone quit and formed LF to replace OSDL (rendering Cohen obsolete). He had been meeting with Microsoft in private, which upset a lot of people at the time."This reminds us of how Richard Stallman (RMS) gave a talk at Microsoft without the FSF saying anything about it. This is exceptionally odd because usually the FSF not only announces but repeatedly advertises RMS talks even months in advance.

We've seen similar things at the Linux Foundation (LF) and we can recall the same from Mr. Cohen at OSDL... before everyone quit and formed LF to replace OSDL (rendering Cohen obsolete). He had been meeting with Microsoft in private, which upset a lot of people at the time. There are still some articles on the subject (even on the Web, despite Internet rot).

"I would love to see all open source innovation happen on top of Windows."

--Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO



"Securing an environment of Windows platforms from abuse - external or internal - is akin to trying to install sprinklers in a fireworks factory where smoking on the job is permitted."

--Prof. Eugene H "Spaf" Spafford, father of the field of Internet Security

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