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What GNU/Linux Means to Us

posted by Roy Schestowitz on May 01, 2025,
updated May 01, 2025

Thomas Grzybowski 5 years ago: Free Software Freedom is Not Linux

back doors

Proprietary software sort of goes against the very goals of GNU, which is how GNU/Linux started in 1983. RMS, whose role in the Board has just been re-Confirmed by the Free Software Foundation, repeatedly cautioned that 1990s GNU/Linux distros with proprietary software included in them rewarded proprietary software vendors and got users accustomed to bad habits. He had a point. What's the point making a complete alternative if you end up doing the same things with the same software 'suites'? You won't get freedom.

This morning in the news I see proprietary software advertised "for Linux" [1,2], Windows being falsely advertised as "Linux" [3], and openwashing of some proprietary things at the Linux Foundation [4].

There are corporate forces (typically proprietary software vendors/giants) trying to sell us the idea that "Linux" is OK... as long as we keep using Windows. Or as long as some of the proprietary software we run on it has some Microsoft GitHub (proprietary) repo with some partial code dumps.

Some of us do not agree with this vision. Many of us need to talk about it.

Linux without freedom is like becoming a vegetarian "except on special occasions".

  1. [Proprietary] Apple @ Work Podcast: Adaptiva expands to Mac and Linux
  2. [Proprietary] VeeamON shows Veeam on Linux, RAG from backup, and cloud features

    Veeam showed a new Linux appliance, features in Veeam Backup & Replication that will see it run corporate backups as RAG data, and new cloud features that include Entra ID backup

  3. You can run Arch Linux in Windows now - here's how [Ed: This is an attack on GNU/Linux; promotion of Windows]
  4. AI Workflows Get New Open Source Tools to Advance Document Intelligence, Data Quality, and Decentralized AI with IBM's Contribution of 3 projects to Linux Foundation AI and Data - The Victoria Advocate

Update:

More examples of the same a day later:

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