Links 12/07/2008: Impressions of KDE4; New GNU/Linux Appliances
- Dr. Roy Schestowitz
- 2008-07-12 20:03:19 UTC
- Modified: 2008-07-12 20:03:19 UTC
KDE
Fedora/Red Hat
Distributions
- New Wolvix website up and running
- Ubuntu: Challenge the Mac
- SliTaz, a mighty micro Linux distro
- Ubuntu 8.10 Alpha 2 Screenshot Tour
As the Ubuntu developers failed to deliver a Live CD with this alpha version (it will be available in Alpha 3), we've tested one of the current daily Live builds. Here is the screenshot tour of this second alpha version of Ubuntu 8.10...
- I converted to Ubuntu…
I was really surprised when it automatically downloaded a driver for my wireless card, without the need of me to look for it. Now I have to admit that Ubuntu is the No.1 Linux distro for desktop user.
Oh, good bye XP…
- Sabayon 3.5
- ELive
- Mandriva Linux Community Newsletter #129
- Distro Review: Linux Mint 5 Elyssa
Overall I would say Mint 5 is more a case of evolution than revolution, there are of course improvements here which are welcome but it feels more a case of fine tuning things than adding big new features. The distro already does so much that it's hard to see what new features are really needed, though I'm sure the developers have plans. It should also be noted that this is based on Ubuntu 8.04 which is an LTS release and itself could be considered quite conservative on the feature front, it's about stability and consolidation which makes sense.
GNU/Linux: General
- Finally, Notes on Linux is here and ready
- [Wine 1.1.1 Released]
- A new way to use Linux.
- Linux in schools: a teacher speaks
Catching them young is a popular slogan and one that yields dividends too, no matter whether one applies it to the adoption of software or the learning of a language. And with a small window seemingly open for Australia's FOSS community to push for the use of free and open source software in schools, the question arises - how does one go about making the first inroads?
- A Simple Guide to Making the Perfect Recording in Audacity
- New Compiz plugins
Besides these additions, Freewins plugin from our one and only C-F dev/journalist SmSpillaz has improved leaps and bounds, keep up the great work. Freewins plugin allows you to rotate any window in any direction (yes including in 3D).
- Another reason to love FOSS - Software Kill Switches
One thing I hate above almost anything else is when a vendor tells you what you can and can't do with your software. That drives me bonkers. Sure, they wrote it and it's theirs to do with as they wish, but once they sell/give it to me, it's mine to do with as I see fit - within the confines of the software itself. Unceremoniously switching me off or making me pay more, forcing me to upgrade, stopping me from using the software, or making me bow to other ludicrous demands is just blatant power mongering and extortion. If they want me to do something, they had better have a really good reason why I should do it, and it had better not be "just because we want more money."
So what brought on this little bout of ranting and bitterness? Well, several things really, but the biggest is the ever infamous software kill switch. It's been around for years, but really didn't start coming into its own until Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) came onto the scene. Since then, proprietary vendors have looked at Microsoft's success with the Software Kill Switch and realized the money making potential of it. They also have seen the power it can give them and it's become an intoxicating drug to them.
- What is so good about Linux?
- Is Linux ready for your Small Business?
Devices
Firefox
F/OSS
Bad Day for Apple
Leftovers
Recent Techrights' Posts
- Mass Layoffs at Microsoft, March 2026
- When will the media properly investigate this?
- An American War on GNU/Linux, Software Freedom, and British Investigative, Science-Based Reporting - Part IV - Escalating to Ministers, Explaining the Severity of These Matters
- British Sovereignty at Stake
- Garrett Announces LibreLocal Instance in Northampton, Massachusetts (USA)
- his message was the only one last month
-
- Very Little Slop About "Linux"
- We hope to see slop eradicated by year's end
- BBC Lied for Its Longtime Sponsor (Bribes for 15+ Years) Bill Epsteingate, in Effect Covering Up Sex Trafficking of Underage Girls
- The state of the media is truly awful
- Microsoft GitHub is Not Free Hosting and It Won't Last
- Not for much longer [...] Microsoft is afraid to say that it is pulling the plug, but it seems inevitable
- "The Lost Generation" Came Back, This Time Literally
- Based on my limited experience with young people ("alphas"), they're lost
- IBM is Not Likely to Survive Another Decade
- Despite having already survived over a century [...] Last week we saw claims that some company would likely acquire IBM for its remaining assets
- IBM Has Just Been Sued Again by Its Own Staff (This Time a Manager, Stephen P. Gutierrez)
- IBM's behaviour towards its staff can prove costly
- When a Company Says Its Layoffs are "Due to AI" Check the Debt (Typically the Real Reason for Mass Layoffs)
- The mass layoffs at Microsoft continue, but Microsoft hides those in some of the same ways IBM does
- Doing More With Less
- primacy of concepts rather than bells and whistles
- Andy and Helen in Cybershow on Divesting From the United States' Technology and Politics
- It is no longer considered a taboo to say this and it's not "anti-American" because many Americans can relate to and agree with such criticism
- Links 10/03/2026: "GEMA v. Suno Copyright Case" and "Valve Faces PRS Lawsuit Over Allegedly Unlicensed Steam Music"
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 10/03/2026: Woods in UK, Slop Laziness, and "Small Technology and Small Economic"
- Links for the day
- Microsofters' SLAPP Censorship - Part 8 Out of 200: Gross Misuse of UKGDPR to Protect the Agenda of American Back Doors (Mass Surveillance)
- Responding to bunk claims regarding UKGDPR and claims of 'analytics' in our sites
- Links 10/03/2026: Oil Prices Rising, South Korean/US Military Assets Redirected
- Links for the day
- Links 10/03/2026: Rust Rewrites by Slop "20,171 Times Slower", "You MUST Review LLM-generated Code"
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 09, 2026
- IRC logs for Monday, March 09, 2026
- Attacks on Techrights Make Techrights Stronger and Attract More Whistleblowers to Techrights
- The harder they attack us, the more productive we become
- The Register MS Has Just Taken Money From Google (Where the Former Chief Editor Now Works) for Femmewashing and Ponzi Scheme Promotion
- now The Register MS not only promotes a Ponzi scheme but also bags money to pretend Google respects women
- People at IBM Are Still Smart Enough to Understand What's Really Going on
- "I would never refer someone to work at IBM that I liked! I hope all of you have reviewed IBM on Glassdoor."
- European Patent Office (EPO) to "Eventually Eliminate the Tasks Performed by Formalities Officers"; EPO Run by People Without Experience in Patents
- full paper
- RMS is 73 Next Week
- Richard Matthew Stallman (RMS) turns 73 exactly 7 days from now
- Iran & FSFE: blackmailing women, from football to the French Government (CNIL)
- Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
- An American War on GNU/Linux, Software Freedom, and British Investigative, Science-Based Reporting - Part III - Very Strong Legal Basis for an Appeal
- The case is now being escalated to a Foreign Secretary and former Deputy Prime Minister
- Police investigations, lawsuits & Debian leader election candidate shortage
- Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
- Richard Stallman (RMS) Has Defeated Cancel Culture, a Mostly American Phenomenon
- RMS is talking now
- No Slop Found in RSS Feeds, Only in Google News
- No slopfarm will survive for very long, certainly it'll go bust as soon as readers (if it had any) know what it is
- Links 09/03/2026: Many Security Breaches and a Pandemic of Censorship
- Links for the day
- People Who Work or Worked at IBM Hate It
- bluewashing is only the first step
- Richard Stallman (RMS) Talks in 30 Minutes, Next Stop Bern (Last Stop)
- We assume he'll travel back to Boston after that
- IBM's Fedora as a Booster of Slop Disguised as Code or Computer Programs
- Maybe we should also stop seeing a doctor and instead ask chatbots about symptoms?
- Richard Stallman (RMS) Talk Five Hours From Now
- there is growing recognition for what he really did for everybody
- What the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and Action Fraud UK Have in Common
- Don't let London become the world's "crime capital"
- EPO Strike 10 Days From Now, Planning Assembly Tomorrow, Last Couple of Strikes Had High Participation Rates (1,500-1,600 Staff Went on Strike)
- The next strike is in 10 days' time and then there will be another strike
- Dr. Andy Farnell on How GAFAM, NVIDIA and Others Lie to People Via the Sponsored Media to Prop Up Lies Under the Guise of "AI"
- Lots of key aspects are covered
- Links 09/03/2026: GAFAM Outsourcing, "MAGA Political Meddling" in EU, Indonesia Bans Social Control Media for Children Under 16
- Links for the day
- Using Slop (and Slop in Articles) to Attack Copyleft 'on Budget'
- This article is pure BS from an anti-GPL and anti-RMS 'activist'
- Why The Register MS Sold Out to Microsoft: They're Losing Lots of Money, The Register MS is Bleeding to Death, Based on Its Own Financial Records
- With over 6 million pounds in debt (nearly 10 million US dollars) we guess it's likely some other company will take over the site (if it deems it worthwhile)
- Microsofters' SLAPP Censorship - Part 7 Out of 200: Like With the Serial Strangler From Microsoft, Misuse of UK-GDPR to Try to Hide Embarrassing Facts
- They do and say really bad things, then allege it's a "privacy violation" to mention those things
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 08, 2026
- IRC logs for Sunday, March 08, 2026
- Gemini Links 09/03/2026: Exponentials and Tailscale
- Links for the day
- Sloppyleft
- Article by Alexandre Oliva
- Hard to Replace 'Human Touch'
- The reason many people insist on using GNU
- Richard Stallman Gives Talk in 20 Hours at Ostschweizer Fachhochschule Campus in Rapperswil-Jona
- The talk is in English
- The Slop Companies Gamble at Our Economy's Expense and They Know It's a Losing Bet (So It's a de Facto Robbery)
- The crash of this bubble isn't just inevitable, it's already happening and receding sporadically because of false announcements about money that does not actually exist (to "buy time")
- Suppressing Speech by Blackmail, the Iran Story
- When Debian wanted to stage a seemingly legitimate election it needed to have more than one candidate running; so eventually the female partner of a geek rose to the challenge (had no coding skills at all, no technical history in Debian) and lost to the "incumbent German"
- Too Focused on Buzzwords the Media is Paid to Saturate the Collective Mind With
- Just because companies do really bad things in the digital realm does not imply "AI" or follow from "AI"
- Discrimination and Prejudice Against Female Journalists
- we can shame people who attack a reporter on the grounds of gender
- An American War on GNU/Linux, Software Freedom, and British Investigative, Science-Based Reporting - Part II - Trying to Put People in Prison for Committing the Act of Journalism
- This is abuse of process
- Attack on Copyright and Copyleft by Code Conversion Is Nothing New, It Predates Slop (Code Produced by LLMs) by Several Decades
- Even back in the 90s many people converted programs from one language to another. That could invalidate copyleft (and copyright), which already existed
- Almost a Slopless Weekend for "Linux"
- Let's hope slop will come to an end or sites will cease linking to slop
- Insiders Explain Why IBM is Dying and the Inherent Culture Problem
- There are many ways to shave this IBM cat
- Links 08/03/2026: Microsoft Lost $400 Million on "Project Blackbird" and Half the States Sue Over Illegal Tariffs
- Links for the day
- Links 08/03/2026: Cisco Holes Again and "Blatant Problem With OpenAI That Endangers Kids"
- Links for the day
- Activism/Journalism in Our Blood
- one must fight for one's principles
- Gemini Protocol in Its Prime
- What's particularly neat about Gemini Protocol is that it's fast and cheap
- Microsofters' SLAPP Censorship - Part 6 Out of 200: Intentionally Misnaming Women, People Who Offered to Testify That They Too Had Been Subjected to Similar Abuse
- Today it is International Women's Day
- Even Fedora Leadership Cannot Figure Out the Microsoft Kill Switch/Back Door, 'Secure' Boot
- It does not actually enhance security
- Bruce Perens: Richard Stallman "Has Achieved His Goal"
- Stallman's next talk is tomorrow
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Saturday, March 07, 2026
- IRC logs for Saturday, March 07, 2026
