09.05.20

^{Gemini version available ♊︎}

Proprietary Software Giants Telling Us That “Open Source Has Won” Means That “Open Source” is Just Proprietary Software Giants

Posted in Deception, Free/Libre Software, Microsoft, OSI at 10:22 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

What they try to tell us is, monopolists have taken over “Open Source” (and hence “won”)

OSI won

Summary: Don’t fall for the deceitful illusion that monopolies hijacking what they’ve dubbed the “Open Source” ‘movement’ is somehow a ‘win’ or an accomplishment for society at large; the corporate media loves to perpetuate this script, at the expense of actual software freedom

LOOK no further than the Linux Foundation (the real foundation) to understand what a growing number of people have begrudgingly come to accept; we’re not really “winning” but we’re told that we’ve “won” in the same way Hippies were told they had won the antiwar cause. Yeah, like endless wars have stopped since…

“To a lot of people “Open Source” now means GitHub, which is actually proprietary and Microsoft-controlled.”As we put it recently, we’re being thrown a bone. Companies that bomb dark-skinned people tell us they're making progress by banning words that allude to dark-skinned people (if we’re to assume that slavery is limited to one set of ethnicities). Anyway, we mean no disrespect to the cause of diversity and we welcome good conduct or even a Code of Conduct provided it's properly enforced, not just by companies that bomb and attack charities. In reality, as we've repeatedly witnessed, projects are being separated from their founders… by companies that literally profit from separating parents from their babies (yes, we're looking at you, Microsoft!) and they tell us it’s for the better good… or something. They ‘protect’ us… from ‘unruly’ leaders.

“Let’s talk about Free software and software freedom; nothing would piss them off more than the realisation that they blew countless billions trying to squash the ‘wrong’ thing…”Right now, as 2020 approaches winter (and the end of the year) we must come to realise that “Open Source” means nothing; if it means anything — or if it ever meant anything to begin with — it’s an attack on or a distracting prop (diversion away from) software freedom. To a lot of people “Open Source” now means GitHub, which is actually proprietary and Microsoft-controlled. As if gifting Microsoft (outsourcing everything to Microsoft) is ‘opening’ or ‘liberation’ or ‘goodwill’…

If we wish to make progress — real progress — we need to abandon this mirage of “Open Source” and let OSI die with it (look who controls the OSI this year).

For many years we used the term “Open Source” (since inception of this site), but that doesn’t mean we should perpetually refuse to let it go. Even Bruce Perens, who came up with its definition, thinks it's time to move on. To Microsoft, with GitHub, the next phase is proprietary software spun as “open” ("Inner Source") — in effect the “extinguish” phase. Let’s abandon what Microsoft has in effect hijacked before the “extinguish” is completed. Let’s talk about Free software and software freedom; nothing would piss them off more than the realisation that they blew countless billions trying to squash the ‘wrong’ thing… █

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