Bonum Certa Men Certa

A Microsoft-Sponsored Open Source Initiative (OSI)

Mr. Phipps assured me this would not happen after OSI had taken Microsoft's money (despite Microsoft's ongoing attacks on software freedom)

OSI at Microsoft



Summary: Today's Open Source Initiative does not seem so dedicated to software freedom or even to Open Source; money from proprietary software companies can't have helped and the above photo op says it all (OSI Board at Microsoft)

Bruce Perens (Open Source Definition) on Thursday January 2nd at 05:43:15 UTC 2020, quitting his own creation 22 years later:



Josh,



Well, it seems to me that the organization is rather enthusiastically headed toward accepting a license that isn't freedom respecting. Fine, do it without me, please. I asked Patrick to cancel my membership, and I would have unsubscribed from OSI lists, including this one, if your server was working. I own an interest in 10 Open Source companies and manage a 50 Million dollar portfolio investing in them. That will keep me involved enough.

Thanks

Bruce

On Wed, Jan 1, 2020 at 9:18 PM Joshua R. Simmons < josh.simmons at opensource.org> wrote:

> That's out of line, Bruce. I'm not sure where this FUD is coming from, but > it's inappropriate. > > Regardless of my own views, I quite value Bradley's contribution, as well > as Van's engaging the process and responding to criticism in good faith. > > I've been following the discussions closely and, frankly, it seems a > decent model of critical civil discourse. Let's keep it that way. > > (Apologies for the re-send, had to square away some issues with my mailing > list membership.) > > Josh Simmons, VP at Open Source Initiative (Tax ID 91-2037395) > @joshsimmons <http://twitter.com/joshsimmons> | josh at opensource.org | 1-707-600-6098 > | bluesomewhere on Freenode > ad astra per aspera 🚀 > > > On Wed, Jan 1, 2020 at 8:53 PM Bruce Perens via License-review < > license-review at lists.opensource.org> wrote: > >> Don't waste your time, Bradley. They were told not to listen to you, >> either. >> >> On Wed, Jan 1, 2020 at 6:29 PM Bradley M. Kuhn <bkuhn at ebb.org> wrote: >> >>> I can't find an example when OSI approved a novel copyleft license that >>> hadn't yet been used in practice and therefore had no track record of use >>> for any FOSS project. It was once somewhat common for OSI to approve >>> licenses that were used by only one entity, and most of those licenses >>> were >>> never used beyond the one project, and even most of those entities have >>> deprecated those by now. (OSI also made a decision to cease considering >>> such single-use licenses.) Rapid acceptance of a novel licenses, so far >>> unused in practice, causes confusion in the FOSS community. >>> >>> Folks have shouted down Bruce as he wonders how Van's license will be >>> used >>> in practice. I think Bruce has made a useful point on this thread: as a >>> general matter, it's relevant that we consider how the license impacts >>> users' *and* software publishers' software freedoms in *practice*, not >>> merely *in theory*. >>> >>> In that regard, I'd like to know if the project that plans to use this >>> license will be inbound=outbound (i.e., is the entity that's promulgating >>> this new license willing to bound themselves by the license terms)? Van, >>> could you tell us, on behalf of your client (who appears to be the only >>> potential licensor interested in this license), what their contribution >>> plans are regarding this license? Are they planning to accept >>> contributions >>> under this license, and thus be bound by it for their FOSS projects? >>> If not, why not? >>> -- >>> >>> Bradley M. Kuhn - he/him >>> >>> Pls. support the charity where I work, Software Freedom Conservancy: >>> https://sfconservancy.org/supporter/ >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> License-review mailing list >>> License-review at lists.opensource.org >>> >>> http://lists.opensource.org/mailman/listinfo/license-review_lists.opensource.org >>> >> >> >> -- >> Bruce Perens - Partner, OSS.Capital. >> _______________________________________________ >> License-review mailing list >> License-review at lists.opensource.org >> >> http://lists.opensource.org/mailman/listinfo/license-review_lists.opensource.org >> > -- Bruce Perens - Partner, OSS.Capital.


Press coverage (may misrepresent the above, with context): Bruce Perens quits Open Source Initiative amid row over new data-sharing crypto license: 'We've gone the wrong way with licensing'

In Russian: Брюс Перенс покинул организацию OSI из-за разногласий, касающихся лицензии CAL

Recent Techrights' Posts

Network Plumbing
We hope it'll help speed things up
"My Hands Are Shaking While Writing" About IBM's Mass Layoffs at Red Hat (Bluewashing)
Shame, shame, shame on the corporate media for not covering Red Hat's layoffs this year
Taking a Look at the Last Articles of Bob Cringely at Forbes, They Were All About IBM and Its Collapse
It's all about IBM
What is "Computer Science"? It is What Broligarchs Reject.
Nowadays some people call themselves informal terms or made-up titles (with terms like "AI" or "big data" or "data" tossed into the mix)
Brigading Against Women - Part XXVII - Americans and Public Executions
"People who work for Facebook / Xitter / Bytedance's Tiktok / Microsoft / Oracle / IBM / Apple / Uber / Lyft / Wolt / DoorDash / AirBnB / Bolt / and so on are doing some world-class projection when they have the audacity to call others Bad People(tm)"
Gemini Links 12/10/2026: Westminster Quarters, Civilization, Luddites, and More
Links for the day
 
Mass Layoffs at Microsoft Again (October 2026), So-Called 'AI' Units Impacted Because Slop ('AI') Has No Real Future
So much for the future of Microsoft being "hey hi" (AI)
European Readers, Please Contact Representatives (in One's Nation) Attending the Administrative Council Meeting
Normalising cocaine in in Europe's largest institutions (the people running these) is a slippery slope
For Half a Year the European Patent Office (EPO), Europe's Second-Largest Institution, Has Had Water Problems in the Toilets
And it's not being fixed
Intercontinental Brigading - Part I - The Failed Attempt to 'Swat' Our Series About the Attacks and Crimes Committed Against Us
This coincided with threats to our lives
Links 12/10/2026: Strike on Riyadh and GOP Pays Voters ("Surprise $90 Social Security Payments")
Links for the day
Microsoft's XBox CEO Spoke of a "Return to Growth" Last Week, But XBox Sales Lowest in XBox History (Quarter of a Century)
Microsoft's XBox is dying. It's a countdown to nothingness.
Links 12/10/2026: Shopify (Slop Booster) Has Security Issues, "Russia’s Yandex Says Data Center in Vladimir Shut Down After Drone Attack"
Links for the day
Microsoft Windows Causes Problems (and Delays) to LibreOffice and The Document Foundation
Nothing would please Microsoft more than Windows curtailing the development of LibreOffice and adoption of ODF
So Far This Year Microsoft Windows Lost a Lot of Ground in China, GNU/Linux Gaining at Its Expense
GNU/Linux will soon exceed 10%
Lessons of Margaret Hamilton (Software Engineer)
Stop abetting men who attack women in the sciences
RIP, Bob Cringely
He was too young to leave us, his articles were still brilliant and his mind as lucid as ever
Linus Torvalds Has a Conflict of Interest Regarding Slop
Linus Torvalds is paid by the slop pushers
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, October 11, 2026
IRC logs for Sunday, October 11, 2026
Africa Sees GNU/Linux Exceeding 5% "Market Share"
It wasn't always like this. It used to be measured at 1 or 2 percent.
Slop-ware Is Not Newsworthy
LLMs are exceptionally loquacious and create large code bases
Links 11/10/2026: US Sides With Vladimir Putin, Convicted Felon Dubbed "Agent of a Foreign Power"
Links for the day
IRC Tracker Back in Order, Number of Known IRC Networks Continues to Increase
We don't know if our article helped trigger a resolution
Links 11/10/2026: "Execution TV" (Iran Aped by US) and ‘Digital Oblivion’ Caused by Slop Frenzy Online
Links for the day
Voice for the Impoverished
the country's leaders attack the country's own press
Gemini Links 11/10/2026: Adults Dressing Up as Animals, 44th Birthday, and More
Links for the day
Running a Country's Economy by Borrowing Over $400,000,000,000 Per Month
This is the hallmark of an economy in irreversible decline
Brigading Against Women - Part XXVI - Trying to Deplatform Critics of Microsoft's Restricted Boot
Like James Bottomley, Matthew Garrett served Microsoft's agenda while employed and salaried by other companies
Anderon Is Not a Real Company, It's an IBM Bailout Dressed Up or Wrapped Up In Buzzwords
It certainly does seem like they receive money from taxpayers for nothing, or for IBM to do mass layoffs/closure at Albany under the guise of "making a new spinoff"...
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, October 10, 2026
IRC logs for Saturday, October 10, 2026
Gemini Links 10/10/2026: Radio Romania International, Avoiding GAFAM, Open Camera, and Another Palm
Links for the day
The 2026 Slop Prediction (Slopfarms Perishing)
Morality in the "digital world" has deteriorated profoundly
netsplit.de (Survey of IRC Networks and History) Only Partly Functional This Month
Get well soon, netsplit.de
Microsoft Cuts
GAFAM enshittification
NVIDIA Acts Like It Cannot Pay Salaries (Too Many Obligations, Sales in Circular Financing, or Basically Accounting Fraud)
Masters of acting as clients of themselves
Paying for elections, Reform UK illegal confession in High Court
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Contemptuous Law Firm Accusing Others of Contempt of Court
Keeping a running tally can help
Links 10/10/2026: Let's Encrypt Making Changes (Problem for Small Sites/Operations), Quartz is Officially a Slopfarm (Busted)
Links for the day
Microsoft Abuses PERM and Lays Off Workers in India
The US government has made it easier for Microsoft to hide the mass layoffs
The GAFAM Elections in the United States
If the election is run by platforms that have back doors "baked-in" and if the communications are overseen by GAFAM, you would not have to be a "nutty MAGAt" to dispute the outcome
More GAFAM Layoffs (Late on Friday Night)
They say they are worth trillions, but they don't even make money
Male-Dominated EPO Fails to Have "Concrete Measures to Support Female Staff"
Being a female at the EPO is exceptionally hard
Brigading Against Women - Part XXV - No Anonymity for People Who Did Illegal Things
"Empathy is the sunlight to the vampire of culture."
Production Freeze at the European Patent Office (Opposing Monarchy, Institutional Maladministration and Corruption)
Eight reasons to participate
Links 10/10/2026: Microsoft 'Open' 'AI' Silencing Critics, "Data Centres are the New Front Line in the Russia-Ukraine War"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, October 09, 2026
IRC logs for Friday, October 09, 2026
Gemini Links 10/10/2026: Optimism, Stargazing, "Life Without Smartphone", and Fairphone 4
Links for the day