Bonum Certa Men Certa

BBC Deletionism of Open Source

Satellite dish



Summary: Another good example of the BBC's hostility towards non-Microsoft ideals and products

Techrights has spent several years showing that Microsoft UK executives infiltrated the BBC and that the BBC is FOSS/Linux-hostile. It's very blatant sometimes and given that taxpayers fund the BBC, this is outrageous. The BBC even received bribes from Bill Gates several times last year [1, 2]. This criminal is buying/ordering stories, so we know that the BBC is not an independent media entity.



As an exercise, over the past few months we grabbed the 1,000 or so latest headlines from the BBC's Technology section (via RSS) and found that Linux was never mentioned in titles. Being trend-setting press, the BBC can suppress the acceptance of GNU/Linux even in these passive ways, The BBC is moreover "Censoring Open Source," according to Homer who provides striking proof. Here are the two versions in question, shown side by side (vertically).

"I read the MSBBC article bbgruff posted," wrote Homer. "Of course I was delighted by the news, but I immediately noticed a striking difference between what he'd quoted and what was in the actual article. Specifically, bbgruff's version looked like this: 'It will be replaced by an "open source" curriculum in computer science and programming designed with the help of universities and industry.'

“I wonder who leaned on Judith Burns to censor "open source" from that article?”
      --Homer
"But the MSBBC's version looked like this: 'From September it will be replaced by a flexible curriculum in computer science and programming, designed with the help of universities and industry.'

"Note the subtle change from "open source" to "flexible".

"At first I assumed bbgruff had merely "embellished" the article a bit to wind-up the trolls, until I checked Google's cache, which clearly showed the phrase "open source" had indeed originally been in the article.

"Google's cached copy of the non-mobile version has unfortunately already been synced, but the mobile copy still shows the original content.

"I also archived both copies for my records [.,.] I wonder who leaned on Judith Burns to censor "open source" from that article?

"But the MSBBC isn't biased. Honest."

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

The GNU Manifesto is 40. Here's the Original Print (1985).
Some unpleasant people want to replace GNU with Microsoft-controlled (GitHub) Rust copycats
Unixmen Seems to Have Died After Turning Into a Slopfarm and Spamfarm, Is LinuxSecurity.com Next?
Better to not publish anything at all than to resort to fake garbage.
What Happened to the Open Source Initiative (OSI) Elections: More People Begin to Speak Out
Kuhn set another bonfire ablaze
2025 Rumours of IBM Layoffs in Marketing Likely True, Online Powwow Drops More Clues
Expect over 10,000 layoffs this year (at IBM alone)
Microsoft Windows Barely Exists in Haiti Anymore
This trend in Haiti is a "story in progress"
 
Mauritius: Windows at All-Time Low, Down From 96% to 17%
Put in simple terms, people choose to connect from the "phone" (running Linux), not some laptop running Windows
Many IBM Layoffs Reported Today in Europe and North America
there's definitely a lot going on today
Links 18/03/2025: ‘Meritless’ Defamation Suit Thrown Out, InterDigital Software Patents Headed for the Bin Too
Links for the day
These Strange Web Statistics From The Bahamas Show Windows Falling From 93% to Less Than 5%
There are about half a million there
Gemini Links 18/03/2025: Weather and Resisting "MAGA"
Links for the day
Links 18/03/2025: New Apple Blunders and Windows Disliked by Users
Links for the day
Once Again 'Losing Track' of Who the Clients Are, The Serial Harasser and Strangler from Microsoft
Timing is everything
Android (With Linux) Rises to Record Highs in Hong Kong and in Macao
Looking quite bad for Microsoft
Distractions. Distractions Everywhere.
distracting from the real solution
EPO Concerns About the Education and Childcare Allowance Reform (ECAR) and School Liaison Officer (SLO)
The public deserves to know as it impacts thousands of families
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 17, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, March 17, 2025
Links 17/03/2025: Weather Changing and Connecting Docker to Localhost
Links for the day
The EPO Might Face Critical 'Brain Drain' (Abandonment by the Most Experienced Patent Examiners) This Year
"a number of colleagues might feel compelled to inform the Administration before the end of May 2025 of their intention to retire as of 1 December 2025."
Links 17/03/2025: Forced Labour and Memory on Tenstorrent
Links for the day
Links 17/03/2025: Live Nation’s DOJ Antitrust Battle Carries on, as Does the Demise of the "Hey Hi" Bubble
Links for the day
Links 17/03/2025: "Badly Misled About Covid" and "Gag of America"
Links for the day
The Lie or Half-Truth of Clownflare (or Equivalents) Improving Things
It may seem "cheap" (temporarily) and "fast", but that's just bait
Free Speech Around the World is Curtailed in the Name of "Protecting Us"
We have spent many years speaking about how to combat this trend
Enshittification of Online Media
Now more than ever we must fight for independent press
War Readiness Means Removing Every Windows Installation and CALEA-Compliant Equipment
Finland is vulnerable for a whole bunch of reasons
Reporting Facts is Not a Privacy Violation
Techrights has long valued and defended privacy
In the Russian Federation (Russia), Microsoft Isn't Even the 1%
the government builds "homegrown" (not pertinent parts of them) distros with which to replace Microsoft, not just Windows
Gemini Links 17/03/2025: "Hack the Planet", Klingnauer Stausee, and Enshittification
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 16, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, March 16, 2025
Slow News Cycles Are Part of a Trend, Technology Gravitating Towards Rich People's Interests
This issue isn't limited to the Web
Recent Site Changes and Looking Towards 2026
In November 2026 we turn 20
Mozilla Firefox is Probably Already Below 2% in the UK (United Kingdom)
LibreWolf identifies as "Firefox" by default
When You Don't Want to Tinker Much You Just Use GNU/Linux, Not Windows
With GNU/Linux upgrades are possible and, failing that, one can just back up the home directory and copy it "back into" the new OS
Facebook REALLY, REALLY, R E A L L Y Does Not Want You to Read This Book
It would be a CRIME to read it
Coming Soon, the Next Chapter About the Crisis of the Open Source Initiative (OSI)
We're far from done
Illuminating Microsoft's Code of Conduct (CoC) Hypocrisy
Oppressor victimhood? Leadership claimed by the worst offenders?
Planet Ubuntu - or Ubuntu Planet - Has an LLM Slop Problem (Called Faizul "Piju" 9M2PJU)
Does investigative reporting have any future at all?
Links 16/03/2025: Handwriting Comeback and "MElon’s Attack on U.S.A.I.D."
Links for the day
Gemini Links 16/03/2025: "Differences Distance" and "Dopamine-addicted Pigeon"
Links for the day
Expect GNU/Linux to Rise Sharply in China
But Red China won't trust Red Hat (IBM), which works for the Pentagon and keeps the "secret sauce" for its OS secret (just what Americans accused China of doing with its distros)
Links 16/03/2025: American Press Under Attack, "France Offers to Take in US Scientists"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 16/03/2025: Threats to Canada and How to Process News Online
Links for the day
Links 16/03/2025: Growing Tariff Hostilities and Social Media Surveillance
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, March 15, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, March 15, 2025