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GNOME bans Manjaro Core Team Member for uttering "Lunduke"
"Lunduke" has become the "He Who Shall Not Be Named" of Big Tech and Open Source
July 23, 2024
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The GNOME team has censored -- and deleted the account -- of the maintainer of Manjaro Linux GNOME Edition.

Why would GNOME take such a drastic action for a person so important to the packaging and distribution of GNOME software?

Because that Manjaro Linux GNOME Edition maintainer... dared to post a link to an article published by The Lunduke Journal.

How to Get Banned from GNOME in 1 Easy Step

On July 21st, The Lunduke Journal published an article entitled "GNOME Ousts Elected Board Member in Secret... and Tells Nobody for 2 Months" -- covering the expulsion and banning of GNOME Board Member, Sonny Piers.

That article was then posted by Mark Wagie -- a member of the Manjaro Linux Core Team, and maintainer of the Manjaro GNOME Edition -- to a GNOME forum post, relevant to the topic.

 

Screenshot of the post prior to deletion.

 

Within roughly 1 hour, that post was flagged and hidden...

 

Screenshot of the post after it was hidden.

 

Shortly thereafter, the post was deleted entirely... as was Mark Wagie's account.

That's right.  GNOME deleted the account of a Manjaro Team Core Member, and a GNOME package maintainer.  All because he posted a link to an article that had the name "Lunduke" on it.

From Mark Wagie:

 

"Today, I dared sharing your article on the GNOME Discourse forum in the Updates to the GNOME Foundation Board of Directors Roster topic. It didn't take long before my reply was flagged as spam and hidden. My account was also deleted with no communication whatsoever. I was able to take screenshots before my account was deleted.

 

A fellow Manjaro forum user told me he messaged the GNOME Discourse Moderators and 'questioned the wisdom of banning the Manjaro GNOME maintainer from their forums.'"

 

This is, without question, incredibly peculiar.  Banning a prominent contributor?  All because he posted a link to an article relevant to a topic being discussed?

An article, I might add, that nobody has objected to based on the facts.

Is the leadership of GNOME so afraid of the truth of their actions being exposed, that they resort to banning anyone who simply links to articles about GNOME?

Or, perhaps, is the GNOME leadership filled with so much hatred and fear for all things "Lunduke" that they are willing to cut off their own nose to spite their face?

He Who Shall Not Be Named

Here's something truly crazy: This isn't the only instance of people being censored (and banned) from portions of the GNOME project for uttering the name "Lunduke"... this week.  This is simply the most ridiculous example.

While it's true that the GNOME Foundation operates with a high level of secrecy -- often ignoring members of the press entirely -- they appear to reserve the bulk of their animosity for anyone who dares to mention articles or shows from The Lunduke Journal.

And they are not alone.

Leadership throughout the Big Tech and Open Source world have hard "Do not mention Lunduke" policies -- with some within the Open Source industry regularly screaming, bullying, and threatening anyone who dares to link to The Lunduke Journal.

One prominent Linux distribution even went so far as to add automatic censorship to their forum -- which instantly changed the word "Lunduke" to "violates forum rules".

 

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Likewise, members of the Fedora (Red Hat) Linux Marketing Team speak openly about the need for hard censoring anything related to "Lunduke".  (The Fedora Marketing Team also likes to call Jewish men "Nazis", apparently.)

 

Source

 

The fact is... they fear the word "Lunduke".

Why?  Because, when you do shady things, the truth makes you look bad.  Wikipedia, Red Hat, The Linux Foundation, Google, Microsoft, and, yes, even GNOME (and so many others).  They fear the truth.

The Lunduke Journal reports the truth.

All of which has resulted in "Lunduke" becoming the Big Tech and Open Source equivalent of "Voldemort" or "Beeltejuice".  Should that name be uttered a little too loudly -- or, perhaps, three times in a row -- Lunduke will appear and wreak havoc.

And, you know what?

I'm ok with that.

Because here's a fun secret about being "He Who Shall Not Be Named"...

Everyone instantly knows exactly who you are talking about.

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Linux Foundation Drops Linux Spending to Historic Lows in 2024
Plus: Skyrocketing revenue, and no mention of "Diversity" or "Climate Change".

The Linux Foundation, earlier today, released their 2024 Annual Report.  And, hoo boy, is it a doozy.

The short-short version: Massive increase in revenue (now close to $300 Million Dollars), with spending on Linux continuing to drop to historically low numbers.

And, in a dramatic departure from previous years, almost zero discussion of politically charged topics (such as Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Climate Change).

Let's start with the numbers.

 

Skyrocketing Revenue

 

First and foremost, it's worth pointing out that -- as of this year -- revenue for The Linux Foundation is closing in on 1/3rd of a Billion Dollars annually.

 

While The Linux Foundation may technically be a "non profit", those numbers would make many "for profit" corporations blush.  Massive, steady income growth.

Where does the largest bulk of that revenue come from?  Corporate "membership" dues, naturally.  To the tune of over $125 Million USD.

 

With the highest paying corporate members being the likes of Meta, Microsoft, Oracle, Samsun, Red Hat (IBM), Huawei, and the like.

 

 

These corporations pay a premium to have a seat on The Linux Foundation Board of Directors.  Which, it should be pointed out, consists of over 70% GPL violators.

 

 

Spending on Linux

 

One of the peculiar facts about The Linux Foundation is how surprisingly little of their income they spend on... Linux.

And, perhaps even more peculiar still, is the fact that the percentage of their revenue spent on Linux appears to decrease every year.

In 2021, The Linux Foundation spent roughly 3.4% of their revenue on their namesake project.  As of 2024... that number appears to be down to 2.3%.

 

 

And this isn't simply a matter of overall percentages going down (while revenue rises).  Spending on the Linux Kernel is down, year on year, in terms of actual US Dollars as well.

 

 

In fact, the amount currently spent on "Corporate Operations" for The Linux Foundation... is roughly 3 times that of what is spent on the Linux kernel.

As time goes on -- and spending numbers become finalized -- we are gaining an increasingly clear picture of the spending priorities of The Linux Foundation.

 

No Diversity in 2024?

 

In the previous annual report (2023), "Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion" were a critical component.

In the 2023 report:

  • "Diversity" was mentioned 34 times
  • "Inclusion" 17 times.
  • With the general "DEI" topic -- including "LGBTQ" issues -- being a critical component throughout the report.  Page after page of DEI.

This year, in the 2024 report, the words "Diversity", "Equity", and "Inclusion" are never used.  Not once.

Well.  Once.  Barely.  On the second to the last page, in a footnote, you find the following statement: "75% of [travel] funding went to diverse community members."  That, right there is the sum total of discussion around "diversity".

In fact, the "LGBT" acronym is also never used in the most recent report (another significant change from previous years).

This appears to mark a dramatic shift, away from "DEI", for The Linux Foundation.  At least in terms of messaging.

 

No Climate Change, Either?

 

The 2024 Linux Foundation annual report also contains absolutely no reference to "Climate Change".

"Wait, why would the Linux Foundation be talking about Climate Change," you ask?

Well.  Last year, in 2023, the annual report was filled to the brim with Climate Change -- with 37 distinct references and over 10 pages focused on the topic.

That focus appears to no longer be a priority for The Linux Foundation.

 

The Right to Fork

 

One of the most prominent new topics of the 2024 report was "the right to fork".  Something previous annual reports stayed clear of almost entirely.

 

“The right to fork open source code is at the core of open source licensing. All open source licenses grant the right to fork their code, that is to start a new development effort using an existing code as its base. Thus, code forking represents the single greatest tool available for guaranteeing sustainability in open source software.

 

In addition to bolstering program sustainability, code forking directly affects the governance of open source initiatives. Forking, and even the mere possibility of forking code, affects the governance and sustainability of open source initiatives on three distinct levels: software, community, and ecosystem.”

 

This is particularly interesting, given the stated intention for Russia to hard-fork Linux over the recent ban of Russian programmers from being official kernel maintainers.

 

Other Oddities

 

A few other facts which are worth noting from the 2024 Annual Report:

  • Neither the Executive Director, nor the Board Chair -- in their several pages long opening messages -- mentions the Linux Kernel.  Nor desktop, server, or mobile Linux.  Strange, right?
  • The 2024 Annual Report is only 45 pages long.  Compared to the 2023 report, which clocks in at 160 pages.
  • There is absolutely no mention of the mass banning of Russian developers during 2024.
  • Nor of the various other developers banned from the Linux Kernel this year.

What does all of this mean?  Will the decreasing spending on Linux continue into 2025?  Will the decreased emphasis on messaging around "DEI" issues translate to real-world changes?  Will the "right to fork" emphasis continue if Russia follows through with their proposed Linux kernel fork?

Lots of questions.  Lots and lots of them.

Read full Article
December 10, 2024
The Lunduke Journal Free Show & Article Archive

The Massive Free Lunduke Journal Archive

Looking for a particular video or article?  Below you will find a sampling of Lunduke Journal content, all of which is free for the world to enjoy (subscribers and non-subscribers alike).  

The following list is nowhere near complete -- and is being added to constantly.  If you're looking for a searchable, sortable index of every article and show, you'll want to go to The Lunduke Journal Content Archive at Lunduke.Locals.com/content (which is an added benefit for Lunduke Journal subscribers).

 

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$10 Off Yearly, & Discounted Lifetime Lunduke Journal Subscriptions
(Available through end of day Monday, December 9th.)

The Lunduke Journal is 100% ad-free and 100% free from the influence of Big Tech.

To pull off this feat, we run the occasional mini-fundraiser.  A couple days of fundraising and sales to keep every show and article completely free of ads.  Which is pretty sweet.

As of right now -- after 2 days of fundraising last week -- we are just a little short of hitting our December funding needs.

To help push us over the finish line -- and keep the lights on here at The Lunduke Journal -- we're running a super quick sale with two sweet deals:

These deals are available through end of the day, Monday, December 9th.

Want to support truly independent Tech Journalism?  Scroll down.  Pick the subscription deal that's best for you.  Every single penny goes directly towards keeping The Lunduke Journal running (and sticking it to Big Tech).

$10 Off Yearly Subscription

Now through end of day Monday (Dec 9), you can grab a yearly subscription with a $10 discount.

The Famous Lifetime Subscription

The "World Famous Lunduke Journal Lifetime Subscription" is exactly what it sounds like. Pay once and get full access to The Lunduke Journal (with all the perks). For life.

New Lifetime Subscriptions are available, for $200, from now through Monday, December 9th. Then this option goes "back into the vault".

Here's how to grab one of these coveted bad boys for yourself:

  • Go to Lunduke.Locals.com/support.

  • Select "Give Once".

  • Enter "200" into the amount field.

  • After checking out, Lunduke will toss you an email once your account is set to full lifetime status. (This usually happens within a few hours.)

The Famous Lifetime Subscription (with Bitcoin)

You can also obtain a Lifetime Subscription via Bitcoin.

  • Make sure you have a Lunduke.Locals.com account (a free account works just fine).

  • Send $200 worth of Bitcoin (or more) to the following address:

bc1qyjakve8fywm8pz2v99v57yhjj0vzr2vjze6fcq

  • Email "bryan at lunduke.com" with the following information: What time you made the transaction, how much was sent (in Bitcoin), and the email address you use (or plan to use) on Locals.com.

 

Every subscription is appreciated!  You amazing nerds make The Lunduke Journal possible!

-Lunduke

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