Bonum Certa Men Certa

Meet the People Behind ClearlyDefined (Mostly or Clearly 'Microsoft Proxy'), Where Most of the OSI's Budget Nowadays Goes and Flows

Clearly Microsoft? Hosted by proprietary platform of Microsoft (GitHub) and managed by Microsoft staff.

Clearly Microsoft

Let's examine each person in turn:

Daniel Butvinik

Fossygirl

Ignacio Rodríguez

Jeff Mcaffer

Jeff Mendoza

Jacob Peddicord

Manny Martinez

One can see the pattern... the obfuscation has been too sloppy or shallow.

Summary: Instead of combating Microsoft's monopoly (proprietary software monopoly), the OSI now helps Microsoft cement its proprietary software monopoly over Free software projects; this is the same thing the Linux Foundation nowadays does and it's the very definition of "sellout" (selling oneself to one's enemy)

TWENTY TWO years ago, with the partial goal of 'cancelling' the FSF and RMS (Richard Stallman, father of GNU and Free software), the Open Source Initiative (OSI) was founded. At least one of the founders viewed that as an opportunity or ploy to 'cancel' Free software; it's that same person (ESR) who now spreads nonsensical theories about Windows and Linux (which Microsoft-friendly media absolutely adores and still amplifies almost a week later!).



"Twenty two years ago, with the partial goal of 'cancelling' the FSF and RMS (Richard Stallman, father of GNU and Free software), the Open Source Initiative (OSI) was founded."The OSI used to be a force against Microsoft monopoly; it even hosted Microsoft's leaked documents (Halloween Documents, released by ESR to show Microsoft's attack plans against Free software). Nowadays OSI seems to be doing the exact opposite; it helps Microsoft build and cement a monopoly over Free software. This is classic entryism.

As a little bit of necessary background, readers may wish to revisit or catch up with our latest posts regarding OSI (see page 1, page 2 and page 3 of our latest articles about the Open Source Initiative). Plenty of recent explanations of OSI going rogue (lots happened to it so far this year) are included there. Assuming that's more or less clear for everyone to understand, let's get to the 'meat' of the subject.

A couple of years ago the OSI got connected to ClearlyDefined, not too long after it had taken Microsoft bribes. The OSI tried introducing it as a multi-party and vendor-neutral thing in its official press release. One reader asked us a few days ago: "What is ClearlyDefined?"

"The OSI used to be a force against Microsoft monopoly; it even hosted Microsoft's leaked documents (Halloween Documents, released by ESR to show Microsoft's attack plans against Free software). Nowadays OSI seems to be doing the exact opposite; it helps Microsoft build and cement a monopoly over Free software. This is classic entryism.""As we explained some days ago," I responded, "ClearlyDefined is itself a bit enigmatic and it's not easy to find the complete chain of ownership using whois. ClearlyDefined helps track licensing information of code and projects."

Especially those that Microsoft controls inside its proprietary prison (GitHub), as even the press release shows (it's a dead giveaway).

The reader also asked: "Is it a program, or a service?"

"I believe it is both," I said, and it's developed/managed on Microsoft servers. Who does the coding? See above.

The reader asked: "What are the criticisms against it?"

"ClearlyDefined is closely controlled by Microsoft," I replied, as "it's biased towards GitHub (obviously), and one might expect it to be copyleft-hostile. Like Black Duck, whose purpose was to discourage businesses from touching copyleft-licensed code..."

And then it got back to the OSI.

"Who is the president of the OSI?"

"Mr. Josh Simmons," I replied. "Briefly," I was then asked, "what bad things does he do outside of OSI?"

"A Salesforce employee," I said. "The OSI does not pay his salary. The OSI only pays the GM's salary."

"A couple of years ago the OSI got connected to ClearlyDefined, not too long after it had taken Microsoft bribes."This reader took note of the part where we said that OSI "staff left a couple of months ago, only months after one OSI co-founder quit in protest and another OSI co-founder was banned from the mailing list (for confronting a threat to the OSI’s mission)."

The reader asked: "Who are these two co-founders?"

I said those are ESR and Bruce Perens. It's actually well known.

"No wonder the OSI's blog quickly became a Microsoft marketing tool," the reader quoted us as saying.

The reader asked: "What are the specific facts that support that claim?"

"Techrights wrote a number of articles with examples," I responded, "ranging from Microsoft job ads to ClearlyDefined promotion. It's as if Microsoft requested that favourable blog posts are written in exchange for something."

"So most of the OSI's budget goes to a programme that's mostly Microsoft staff and is controlled by Microsoft, hosted on its servers etc."It was only today (a quiet weekend) that I decided to go through the names of ClearlyDefined people one by one (some don't name their employer) and show the pattern above. It's rather revealing, is it not?

So most of the OSI's budget goes to a programme that's mostly Microsoft staff and is controlled by Microsoft, hosted on its servers etc.

Take another leap and maybe consider the conclusion that today's OSI mostly exists to help Microsoft/GitHub, which is neither Free/libre nor Open Source. It's all rogue. And proprietary software monopolies stand to gain the most.

Recent Techrights' Posts

The Better the Understanding or the More Nations Understand the Threat Posed by Microsoft, the Faster It'll be Eradicated
We believe that the thing to advocate is self-hosting and Free software... A lack of simplicity or absence of alternatives is a form of vendor lock-in
 
Links 16/06/2025: EchoLeak and NASA Teaming up With India
Links for the day
A Week of Sunlight
They say transparency is like sunlight to a vampire
"Linux" Sites That Went Astray
there are even worse things than shutdowns
Links 16/06/2025: Climate, Wildfires, Breaches, and Monopolies
Links for the day
Links 16/06/2025: Summer in Finland and Misunderstandings
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, June 15, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, June 15, 2025
Gemini Links 15/06/2025: Rainy Season and OpenDocument Format (ODF)
Links for the day
Links 15/06/2025: Military Games, Parade, and Actions
Links for the day
Links 15/06/2025: Windows TCO, Openwashing, and Wars
Links for the day
Gemini Links 15/06/2025: "AI Fatigue and Crappiness"
Links for the day
When Abusive Law Firms (Working for Microsofters Against Us) Assert That Someone Writing in Social Media About Himself is Confidential Information
There was no reason to throw "GDPR" into 2 SLAPPs; they know it, but the goal was to increase the cost of a Defence and lessen the incentive to challenge the SLAPPs
Microsoft Attack Dogs Against Watchdogs and Guard Dogs in Software
Last year Microsofters hired attack dogs or "guns for hire"
Slop Cannot Replace Domain Expertise
All this "AI" hype (it's not even intelligence, it's all a misnomer, as many of us have insisted all along) will fizzle and be written off as a failed experiment
IBM's Fresh 'PIPs' (Action Before Layoffs)
At times like these, even once-reputable employers resort to PIPs and other procedures/tricks for denial of workers' rights
Microsoft is a Problem Not Just for Denmark
Every country should consider what Denmark is doing, why Denmark is doing it, and then do the same
The Slopfarms' Self Detonation
If more sites like BetaNews go under, then maybe we can still salvage some of the Web
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, June 14, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, June 14, 2025
Links 14/06/2025: FDA Changes Priorities, Cassette Data Storage From The 1970s
Links for the day
Gemini Links 14/06/2025: Steam Next Fest and Thoughts on Gemini
Links for the day
Site/Datacentre Maintenance Next Week
speed things up
Bulgaria: GNU/Linux Near 10%
The Bulgarian market seems to be changing
I Never Spoke to BetaNews. But BetaNews Wants to Ensure I Never Will, Either.
Sometimes just the reluctance to talk about it can say a great deal
Throwing Money at Lawyers Can't Stop Us (It Never Did)
Even just trying to censor things can result in the opposite of the desired outcome
Online Search or Large Search Engines Aren't Working Anymore
business models that directly compete with interests of Web users
Holidays and Breaks
I've hardly taken any long breaks since I got married
Danish OpenDocument Freedom
"year of Linux"
Links 14/06/2025: Wars and L.A. Distortion Effect
Links for the day
BetaNews Has More or Less Died After Experiments With LLM Slop, Is Linuxsecurity Next?
It doesn't seem like BetaNews knows what it's doing, let alone what it talks about
Gemini Links 14/06/2025: Historic Ada Design and GeminiSpace.Club to Expire
Links for the day
Links 14/06/2025: India Plane Crash and Middle-Eastern War
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, June 13, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, June 13, 2025