Bonum Certa Men Certa

Time to Rename the Linux Foundation's Linux.com and Maybe Call it Linux.NET

Publicity rights (or personality)

Publicity rights



Summary: The "Linux Foundation" has nothing to do with Linux anymore; it's just an opportunistic and tax-exempt marketing agency looking to squeeze bucks out of the Linux trademark of Linus Torvalds

THE Linux Foundation is killing the Linux brand. It's misusing it or "lending" it to things that have nothing to do with Linux. Similarly, as an associate of ours put it this morning, Forbes has, as recently as yesterday, resorted to "brand dilution, "open-source" vs "open source", OSI is too quiet..."



I've pointed this out to OSI; but they rarely respond when I raise such concerns or register complaints with them. From the article's summary: "Open-source relies on collaboration between contributors and companies - but profits make things more difficult. Part one of two."

"The Linux Foundation is killing the Linux brand. It's misusing it or "lending" it to things that have nothing to do with Linux."Notice they're not even speaking about code! This is pure openwashing.

Yesterday we wrote about how Zemlin's PAC had been selling (or licensing) the "Linux" brand to dying/unpopular projects ("The Corporate Linux Foundation [LF as Agent of Microsoft and Other Serial GPL Violators]") while outsourcing almost everything to Microsoft. Thomas B. Rücker wrote in response that "LF is an industry association and pay-for-play is their raison-d'etre. At some point it was supposedly 'just' about paying Linus, but those days are *long* gone. A lot of the projects that get labeled "LF project", there's a vendor paying for this fronting. They've been doing this for years. I've seen this first hand and was privy to meetings."

Someone has just pointed out this article to us. It's about "LF Edge" and it says: "Two open-source foundations - IOTA Foundation working in the sphere of blockchain and the open-source Linux Foundation have come together for Edge computing, specifically the LF Edge."

"What other 'snake oil' is the Linux Foundation willing to be associated with?"What does that have to do with Linux? The Corporate Linux Foundation doubles down on marketing as a business model, misusing the "Linux" brand for quick profit (never mind the dilution of the brand). A few hours ago this site published news entitled "IOTA {MIOTA} Foundation teams up with Linux; may facilitate mainstream interest" (got that? It's about brand recognition, right?)

Nonsensical sites such as these aren't even about Linux. To quote the summary: "IOTA is ranked at #16 above Dash but underneath Huobi Token in the market. The price declined at a rate of 11.73% in the course…"

"As for the site known as Linux.com? Forget about it. It's 'sold'..."What other 'snake oil' is the Linux Foundation willing to be associated with?

As we noted over the weekend, corporations are taking over both "Open Source" and "Linux" (their identity); Microsoft now pays people to relay the lie that Microsoft is authority or commands its competition. As for the site known as Linux.com? Forget about it. It's 'sold'... its soul is sold because all editors and writers got fired back in April; all that's left is a Microsoft-friendly stenographer.

"And now we have a so-called 'Linux' Foundation which does more or less the same (you must create an account with Microsoft to participate in "LF" projects) while its news site, Linux.com, promotes .NET."Welcome to Linux.com? No. Should we call it Linux.NET? Seems reasonable in light of this latest story from Swapnil ("AWS Joins the .NET Foundation"). Whose agenda is being served here? What does that even have to do with Linux?

Need we mention again how the 'Linux' Foundation outsources pretty much everything to Microsoft? The code is hosted by a proprietary software platform called GitHub and check out what Pete Zaitcev (Linux developer) published only hours ago:

A job at LinkedIn [owned by Microsoft] in my area includes the following instruction statement:

Don't apply if you can't really write code and don't have a github profile. This is a job for an expert level coder.

I remember the simpler times when LWN authors fretted about the SourceForge monopoly capturing all FLOSS projects.

P.S. For the record, I do have a profile at Github. It is required in order to contribute to RDO, because it is the only way to login in their Gerrit and submit patches for review. Ironically, Fedora offers a single sign-on with FAS and RDO is a Red Hat sponsored project, but nope — it's easier to force contributors into Github.


We previously covered examples where sponsorship or invitation to events was limited only to those with a GitHub account, i.e. those imprisoned by proprietary software of Microsoft. It's totally absurd. And now we have a so-called 'Linux' Foundation which does more or less the same (you must create an account with Microsoft to participate in "LF" projects) while its news site, Linux.com, promotes .NET.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Microsoft Bankruptcy
"Microsoft unit in Russia to file for bankruptcy, database shows"
Techrights Does Not Compete With LLM Slop, It Exposes the Bastards, Plagiarists and Scammers Who Do That
People like Scam Altman, still facing a lawsuit from his own sister for sexual abuse against her
 
Gemini Links 01/06/2025: Simplification and Networks Everywhere
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, May 31, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, May 31, 2025
Google Bribes EFF. EFF Promotes LLM Slop as 'Fair Use'. To GAFAM It's a Low-Cost Lobby Hedge.
So the bribes pay off ("slush fund") and the word spreads
Slopwatch: Fake Text and Images, Financial Bubbles, and Scams in "Intelligent" Clothing
Sometimes what they mean by "AI" is just cheap labour somewhere else, as we discussed in IRC a few hours ago
Why Microsoft is Collapsing (Similar to What's Happening at IBM), As Insiders See It
IBM seems like one heck of a mess
Reliable Computing Means Free (Libre) Computing
Sites that want to promote security ought to deal with the biggest issues
Links 31/05/2025: US Court Orders Sides With RFE/RL, War Updates From Ukraine
Links for the day
Gemini Links 31/05/2025: ARM Server and power_supply Subsystem
Links for the day
Links 31/05/2025: Slop Stigmatised as Disinformation, Catalyst/Driver of "Death of Communication"
Links for the day
Common Sense 101: Do Not Write Blog Posts Saying You Want to Murder Colleagues (or Yourself)
Only crazy people would think stabbings are a joke
Links 31/05/2025: Microsoft-Connected Builder.ai is a Fraud and US is Purging Students Based on Race/Nationality
Links for the day
Gemini Links 30/05/2025: Limmat, Doomscrollers, and Arguments Parsing
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, May 30, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, May 30, 2025
The "AI" (Slop) Bubble Already Popped, But It's Not an Overnight Collapse
where Microsoft put its money
No More Steven Astorino at IBM, Chatter About Weekly/Nonstop Layoffs at IBM
What happened? Good luck guessing.
Looking at Corruption in Europe, Going Beyond the EPO
Expect a new series to kick off very soon
Slopwatch: Security SPAM and LLM Slop for SEO and FUD Purposes, Perpetually Tarnishing the Perception of Linux and (Open)SSH Security
A lot of this Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt (FUD) comes from Microsoft and its LLMs
Links 30/05/2025: Google's LLM Slop Pushers Are Killing Journalism and Shira Perlmutter Fails to Stop Bribed Regime From Legalising Plagiarism (in "AI" Clothing)
Links for the day
Links 30/05/2025: Offline Arts and "Threshold of Patience"
Links for the day
Signing Off Serious Lies With a Statement of Truth is No Joking Matter
It's not hard to see what's happening here
Links 30/05/2025: LLM Slop Already Ingests and Vomits Its Own Garbage, Facebook Exec Admits Copyrights a Concern Too
Links for the day
Mass Layoffs at Microsoft Result in More Whistleblowers From Microsoft
Microsoft's predatory pricing is further
Slopwatch: Planet Ubuntu Became LLM Slop and Some People Fail to See the Immorality of Plagiarism
it lessens the incentive for people to publish real articles
EPO Poll: 68% Dissatisfied With Quality of Slop (Wrongly Framed as "AI") for Patent Classification
Slop does not work, it's just falsely advertised with extra hype (funded by slop pushers that sponsor the major media)
Big Crowds Gather to Learn About Software Freedom From the Man Who Started GNU/Linux in 1983
"It was a great success"
Microsoft Layoffs Again in Bay Area
Microsoft relies on people's false belief that being "in LinkedIn" will get you a job; well, seems like even working inside LinkedIn really sucks and you lose the job
Gemini Links 30/05/2025: Fighting Against the Bad News, and Slop is Dehumanisation Disguised as "Intelligence"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, May 29, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, May 29, 2025