The Story of the JaxLUG Github
This page gives us no pleasure to create, nor others, but when businesses or people conduct themselves a particular way, their actions and conduct are subject to scrutiny; especially when public. Some may prefer to live in societies and a world were people are faceless and nameless, hiding behind pseudonyms, handles, etc, responsible for nothing, not their behavior, nor their conduct, etc, and even when doing such in public, feel that their actions and conduct deserve some measure of discretion or privacy. They don't!
Public conduct is public conduct, more so when it is elective and not done as part of employment.
Act a fool in public, and you will be called out for such in PUBLIC; rightly so! If you cannot handle scrutiny over public actions, then stay home. Nobody has a right to do what ever they want in public and not be held accountable! You make your bed, you lie in it, if you choose to do so publicly, that is on you. Adults in this world will be held accountable, period!
This is not talking about government agencies, but individuals who engage in public activities for mostly self-serving egotistical reasons, people who have an agenda. Networking is a great thing, people should be encouraged for public activities to further their career, education, to further themselves. Friendships maybe made along the way, but this is not the purpose, and should not hinder others not seeking friendships but professional interactions.
When anyone's public conduct interferes with another, it is anyone's right to be able to call out said person. When someone's conduct impacts many others such as college students, or an entire metro area; a few shall not hold back many, an entire city! Especially, when history proves that such conduct is harmful and the resulting cascading fall out spanning decades, that must be made known and not hidden. We must learn from mistakes not hide them! We report bugs to fix them...
Nobody should be given any cover for activities that cause harm to others! Unfortunately, this is exactly what Github has decided to do and condone. Along with condoning people committing public fraud. Github has decided to move into the Social Policing world, far from a company that provides a platform for source code management. Github is now policing content! The wider tech industry and world still have not learned such policing fails to ever yield the desired results, it causes further divide and issues. It solves nothing, only creates more problems.
Nothing good has ever come of such, nor will it, yet they continue... Some never learn!
This was a VERY important lesson to be learned, a lesson on Freedom, a lesson on Free Speech, a lesson on Open Source Software, a lesson on how Github, a Microsoft subsidiary, is no friend of Linux, nor Linux Users Groups. It could be argued, Github is anti-education for other things Github has allowed to transpire without intervention; Github being selective.
Did Github take down the website to hinder Linux education and usage in North Florida?
How many computers in North Florida run Microsoft vs Linux?
This is an initial page, with MUCH more to come as this is a developing story. Github has revealed themselves in many ways, and it raises wider issues on Free Speech and the tech industry trying to control and silence people, and the NEED for Linux to protect freedom, and especially, free speech. Github tried to take out this very website, but it was quickly moved to a Linux server! This could happen to anyone on Github, or any other platform, where they decide Social Policing is more important than their core concentration.
Said more concisely, you can report bugs and issues with software on Github, within Code of Conducts that are destroying the tech industry, but you cannot report social issues. Github can police social issues, but you cannot fix them as you can fix software on Github. Github, you can report bugs in software, but not bugs in people, but Github can social police people. Ok, that make a lot of sense... to someone...
Even when it is proven these social issues have negatively impacted an area for over 20 years, and have of recent, caused serious issues at three colleges now, Keiser University, Florida State College at Jacksonville, and University of North Florida, and Github decided to get involved in this mess joining the side of those causing this metropolitan area wide mess. Github stepped right into it!
Github seeks to defend and protect offenders, people causing harm to many others! That will not stand!
Therefore, thanks to Linux, despite Github's desire to silence the truth and save others rightful public shame and ridicule they have earned from their public actions, this Linux Users Group website, a Florida Non-Profit 501c3 Corporation website, lives on!
Linux is paramount to FREEDOM!!!
Linux is paramount to FREE SPEECH!!!
Github a San Francisco based company, that is incorporated in Delaware and outsources their registered agent, all the typical shady shell company stuff, whereas the Jacksonville Linux Users Group, Inc. is fully transparent! Not to mention, Github a subsidiary of Microsoft, who is no friend to Linux!
Beginning
The beginning is covered in more detail else where, such as on the story of of the JaxLUG website. In brief, it was recommend in 2017 to move the JaxLUG website to Github. This sort of happened in 2024 but another wiki was still maintained and is still sort of maintained, or two are. Then, in 2026 it was decided Github would be the long-term home.
Or would it be?
Suspension
That is until Github suspended the repository over content they disagreed with that served a legal purpose and provided a service to society in outing fraudsters, flimflammers, and plagiarists. Github has decided to enter the Social Policing business, and even when it was showed to Github that pages served a legal purpose, not to mention a service to society, Github tried to take such content down. While they may have driven it from their platform, some means to indemnify themselves, it exposed many potential agendas, it also brought attention to a variety of liabilities all solved by Linux.
It is possible, that Github has now implicated itself in serious legal liability, not to mention future civil lawsuit from the Jacksonville Linux Users Group, Inc. at a time of our discretion. Github was informed that pages were outing potential public fraud, and if that is the case, that is criminal conduct which Github is now implicit in covering up. Github is seeming to protect people potentially committing public fraud, and some knowingly committing public fraud!
Github had no right to get involved in such affairs and take such actions, impacting an entire website.
Github produced no evidence, just allegations, each of which were factually disputed. Github used policies covering private personal data with public data that was not private in nature, and all of which individuals chose themselves to put online, along with their public activities and conduct, some spanning over two decades! This is what Github was seeking to protect, or hide, and in doing such, Github has exposed itself to at minimum, civil liability, if not potentially criminal.
Furthermore, it was shown to Github, that the very policies they were claiming, were being applied to the wrong party. Github silenced the victim not the perpetrators, pages were created to make known information others had tried to silence, and in many cases, defamed, and publicly discredited another with no voice, and Github rather than protecting that voice, decided to further silence it...
Bottom line, it was shown in many ways that the content and pages Github had issue with had legal utility and were means to give voice where it had been taken. Rather than Github allowing a silenced person a voice, not to mention showing factual long-term public harm, Github chose to give cover, to give shade, and remove voice.
Github has shown that Free Speech is not acceptable, that Github is a Social platform, and content must adhere to their Social policies and Social Policing. That you can report bugs in software, but not bugs in people, but Github will police people; their content.
Github is an enemy of Free Speech!!!
Github really did us a HUGE favor, why should any Linux person mess with Github at all. Gitlab is not much better, listed on NASDAQ, and anyone can host their own Git repo and software management platforms, there are a variety of open source ones. While there would have been benefits in using Github pages, a Linux Users Group website, should really be hosted on a Linux server. This is one of the many things Linux does best!
Bottom line, Linux allows you the freedom to not depend on any platform!
This is a very important lesson, hosting your own Linux mail and web server in an era of constant consolidation into a few very large tech companies, who are using a lot of that data for their own purposes for AI training and other, and have control over your freedom, policing your social behavior. We already have laws for policing social behavior, we need not a bunch of tech companies running around on their high horses... Look at my horse, my horse is Amazing!!!
Thank you Github for reminding us the importance and value of Linux when it comes to independence, freedom, and FREE SPEECH!