The Linux Foundation Does Not Work for Linux, Definitely Not for Free Software
The Linux Foundation (LF) works for its biggest sponsors, i.e. companies like Microsoft, IBM, and others
It might sound kind of banal or "boring" or repetitive, but they say that what "goes without saying" might go unsaid, or worse, forgotten.
A reader wants us to pass on the simple observation that the LF does not represent us. Not just "us" as in Free software users; even Linux users who are uncaring about freedom and don't know anything about "GNU".
"Some years ago the LF kicked out its community representatives," the reader reminds us. This is very well documented, but since LF controls linux.com and has turned it into a shrine of Microsoft and of Bill Epsteingate (way to associate "Linux", the brand, with sex trafficking of underage girls!) many people won't know or won't remember that once upon a time LF did in fact have a community component. It's true. We showed all sorts of old screenshots of the old LF site, where the term "community" was used a lot. Over time it got watered down - to the point where it does not exist anymore!
"Perhaps that can be revisited in the context of IBM and Fedora," the reader suggested, seeing that IBM now cancels the Fedora community. They used to joke that Fedora was just a "testing ground" for RHEL; now, with IBM, it seems like a slop greenhouse (except nothing about it is green; it's pollution, plagiarism etc.) and we have reasons to believe many Red Hat staff left this week. We wait for whistleblowers to confirm this or to clarify what exactly is happening. Red Hat has had many layoffs this year; the media tried not to cover these.
Corporations have long co-opted popular movements with admirable goals, such as the antiwar movement. We must protest corruption, protect the community's voice, and shield ourselves from media bias (by omission). █