Bonum Certa Men Certa

Links 15/11/2010: Plans for Xfce 4.8, Preview of Debian 6, Linux Mint Has High Demand





GNOME bluefish

Contents





GNU/Linux



  • Audiocasts/Shows

    • CAOS Theory Podcast 2010.11.12
      Topics for this podcast:

      *Our latest CAOS Special Report – Control and Community *Red Hat releases RHEL 6 *Symbian and Oracle highlight community challenges *The latest on government adoption of OSS from GOSCON *Open core issue continues, now with Linux and evil twins






  • Kernel Space

    • What's The Fastest Partition Scheme On Cheap Flash Media?
      You read the Fastest Flash article so you already know Ext4 can turbocharge your thumb drive. But you run Linux, so of course want even more! Is there anything else to do?


    • Graphics Stack

      • X.Org 7.6 Release Candidate 1 Is Finally Here
        Alan Coopersmith has announced the first release candidate of X.Org 7.6. Originally the X.Org 7.6 release was supposed to come in October, but that didn't happen and now into November we are finally seeing the first test katamari.






  • Applications



  • Desktop Environments



  • Distributions



    • New Releases



    • Red Hat Family

      • RHEL 6 has Nothing Noteworthy for Home Desktops
        Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Final shows up on 10th November 2010, almost 44 months after its previous major release (RHEL 5 was released on 14th March 2007). But at the time it came, it's already bit obsolete for desktop use. Of course, desktop has never been a sweetpot for Red Hat. But was it really tarnishing it's rock-stability by riding a few versions up on some packages? What was holding RH back from appropriating KDE 4.5 series, or for that matter jumping to GNOME 2.32? Sure, it must have backported some goodies from Fedora 13 and 14, but they work underneath, the worry is that it'll put on these DEs till, say, 7 to 10 years. Moreover, KDE has undergone many improvements from its 4.3 to 4.5 versions.




    • Debian Family

      • Preview: Debian 6 "Squeeze" (Part 4: Standard)
        It was a nice experience being able to have this much control over my system. Maybe this is why Arch is supposed to be so good. Stay tuned for a final[ish, but not really] report on the state of Debian-based Oxidized Trinity!


      • SimplyMEPIS Version 11 Alpha 1 (10.9.70) and antiX core
        That was the only issue that I ran into with the very first Alpha Build for the next SimplyMEPIS release. A lot of people reported a similar issue, so it is certain to get fixed in the very next Alpha Build, which will probably be available in a week or two.


      • Canonical/Ubuntu

        • 8 Beautiful Linux/Ubuntu Wallpaper Packs You Should Take a Look
          We have featured a number of wallpaper collections here before which includes the likes of beautiful Ubuntu Maverick wallpapers, awesome Android desktop wallpapers etc. Now, here is a bunch of Linux/Ubuntu wallpaper packs among others you might like.


        • Flavours and Variants

          • Linux Mint 10 Download Links
            The release of Linux Mint 10 has brought more traffic than we’ve ever seen before, and sadly also much more than our server is able to cope with. We’ve got dedicated servers for the website, the blog, the forums and the seeding of the torrents, and even with that, we’re not able to face the traffic!


          • How to install Linux Mint 10 on a btrfs file system
            Linux Mint 10 is the first version of Linux Mint with built-in support for the B-tree File System (btrfs). Btrfs is one of the newest file systems in the Linux kernel. It is a copy on write file system with the following features: snapshotting and writtable snapshots, object-level mirroring and stripping, file system compression, multi-device support, online and offline file system checking, etc.


          • Linux Mint 10 Reviewed
            Linux Mint is arguably the front-runner when it comes to Linux distributions that target Windows users looking to migrate to linux. Now Mint has released a new version named “Julia”. Mint claims to be a user-friendly OS that just works for the average user; its forte being elegance, ease of installation and usability. It began in 2006, based on Ubuntu, and basically follows Ubuntu except in some important areas which we will discuss after installation.


          • Linux Mint 10: A beautiful rescue distro
            This is certainly a great rescue distro: easy to use, responsive, elegant, and functional. The only flaw I found is that it does not fit a CD...which is the same case of the alpha release of SimplyMEPIS 11. Is Linux moving to Live DVDs instead of Live CDs?










  • Devices/Embedded

    • Hacked Kinect Handles Photos, Minority Report Style
      With the open source driver for the Kinect released, it didn't take long for some Kinect hacks to surface. Now someone out there has used the open source Kinect driver to turn the device into a gesture-based multi-touch control device, allowing it to identify gestures that can be used to manipulate photos, similar to how it's done in the Minority Report film. Check out a video of it in action after the jump, and a clip from the Minority Report film to remind you of what we're talking about.


    • Mini PC touted for upgradeable design
      Xi3 Corporation announced a compact PC it claims will be readily upgradeable, thanks to the use of one board containing the processor and memory, along with two separate I/O boards. The Xi3 Modular Computer offers a choice of AMD processors, SSD (solid state disk) storage, 1080p video output, two eSATA ports, and an "Xm3dia" expansion port, the company says.


    • Sub-notebooks

      • Volunteers Report: OLPC Samoa School Deployments
        In May 2010, XO laptops from OLPC were deployed into two primary schools in Samoa - 48 XO-1.0 laptops to Laumoli Primary School children plus additional laptops to teachers and 27 XO-1.0 laptops to Paia Primary school children plus additional laptops to teachers. These schools are located on Savaii Island.








Free Software/Open Source



  • Monitoring with Nagios: New Online Training from the Linux Magazine Academy


  • Help me start a FOSS Tithing movement
    A tithe is a voluntary tax (often 10% of income), usually paid yearly to a religious organization. I'd like to adopt this concept for free and open source software (FOSS), which in many ways is like a religion.

    Please help me start a FOSS tithing movement. I've set up FOSSTithe.org to keep track of company pledges and amounts donated. I also set up a Google group for discussion.

    I'll go first: DuckDuckGo hereby pledges to tithe 10% of its income to free and open source software projects. I plan to keep this up indefinitely, i.e. as long as I'm in charge.


  • Web Browsers



    • Mozilla

      • Firefox Elementary Theme is Quite a Revelation
        We have seen other elementary based works before like Nautilus Elementary and the Elementary 2.0 GTK theme itself, but the elementary version of Firefox here quite stand apart. The latest update brings in a name change as well. From now on, it will be called as 'eFirefox'.


      • Firefox 4, How To Undo The Changes
        I have been working with the latest builds of Firefox 4 for the last two months. The browser has changed tremendously, both interface wise but also under the hood. The interface changes will likely split the Firefox user base. This article is for users who prefer the “old” interface and way of working the web browser. It looks at each change and offers alternatives or options to undo it. That obviously depends on the change at hand, and there may be changes that cannot be undone at all.






  • Databases



  • Oracle

    • LibreOffice Logo
      The LibreOffice project has a preliminary logo. The symbol aside, I see some issues with the type. The combination of the top of the 2nd f and the dot of the i is a little unfortunate. The b and r might work for body text, but not here. Setting Libre in bold only emphasises the unfortunate proportion of the 2 words (close to, but not quite the same width).


    • Apache's Java threats aren't new
      The Apache Software Foundation isn't very happy with Oracle leadership of the Java Community Process. They've gone so far as to issue a lengthy statement saying that if certain items and conditions don't change that they'll leave the JCP.




  • Project Releases



  • Programming





Leftovers



  • Security



  • Defence/Police/Aggression





  • Finance

    • Ireland's young flee abroad as economic meltdown looms
      Now he is forecasting mass mortgage defaults and an ugly popular uprising. The first stirrings are already visible, he says, with "anxiety giving way to the first upwellings of an inchoate rage and despair that will transform Irish politics along the lines of the Tea Party in America", giving rise to a new "hard-right, anti-Europe, anti-traveller party".




  • PR/AstroTurf/Lobbying

    • The Tea Party is not new, or coherent. It's merely old whine in new bottles
      Lectures about fiscal responsibility from the occupants of a plush suite on the 20th floor of one of the fanciest hotels in Las Vegas stick in the craw like a slice of cantaloupe swallowed sideways. Appropriately, the Tea Party Express's open bar, trays of fruit and skyline view at the Aria hotel on election night smacked more of a corporate event than a political, let alone a populist, one.

      At one stage I turned to a man standing next to me and asked if he was a Tea Party supporter. "No," he said. "I was hoping you were." He was a state department official who had brought some foreign journalists in the hope of meeting some real Tea Party supporters to interview. But they couldn't find any. There is a reason for that.









Clip of the Day



Symantec on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6



[an error occurred while processing this directive]



Credit: TinyOgg

Recent Techrights' Posts

Digitalisation Is Not Inevitable or Unavoidable
Nor inescapable
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XXXXIV - Why the Swatting Failed
After that we only ever heard from or spoke to cops when we invited them to our home to collect evidence
 
IBM 'Robbery': No More Car Allowance in the UK, Severance Shredded, CEO Pay Up 51% in One Year While Thousands Laid Off in Secret
Why does a CEO reward himself so much when the company does so badly?
Gemini Links 08/11/2026: "Back", Zot, and Information Overload
Links for the day
“Concerned Microsoft Workers” Say “Working at Microsoft Has Become Joyless and Demoralizing.” (That's What Microsoft Wants, More Will Leave That Way)
Many Microsoft employees are going to leave
The Register MS is Losing Hundreds of Thousands of Pounds a Year While Directors Pay Themselves Hundreds of Thousands of Pounds a Year in Dividends
they take money from slop pushers and have clearly compromised some journalistic standards in the process
GNU/Linux Measured at 7.4% in the UK This Weekend: Clownflare Radar
I hope that one day GNU/Linux will be everywhere here
Never a One-Person Project
Just because I'm the main "public face" of the site (who takes all the insults and SLAPPs) doesn't mean I deserve all the credit
“I Always Expect to Lose. I Fight Anyway, and Sometimes I Win.” — Richard Stallman
To change the world meaningfully people must think big
Stop Looking for News About "Layoffs", Layoffs Are Over (They've Been Rebranded)
To properly assess the status quo we need other yardsticks
Links 08/11/2026: Bosses Who Were Forcing Their Workers to Use Slop Change Mind, "Rapper RBX Files Ninth Circuit Appeal in Fraud-Focused Class Action Lawsuit Against Spotify"
Links for the day
Links 08/11/2026: Why Vikings Stayed in Iceland and "TikTok Accused Of Promoting Sex Industry To Young Girls"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 08/11/2026: "Before Sunrise" and LLM Scrapers Versus Self-Hosting (or Web in General)
Links for the day
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XXXXIII - Weaponising Cops in Another Continent (Europe), Knowing They Cannot Come to Your Home in America, While Threatening Women
This year it culminated in death threats
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, November 07, 2026
IRC logs for Saturday, November 07, 2026
The Decade Ahead, a Decade of Suppressed Stories
Our stories aren't discouraged or considered taboo because of racism or "toxic politics" or anything like that; they just hurt powerful people and corporations
Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Inaction and Incompetence - Part V - "Reports Closed Without the Evidence Being Examined."
Totally what the SRA did regarding Brett Wilson LLP
Gemini Links 07/11/2026: Illusion Garden and Lagrange 2
Links for the day
Complexity is the Tyrant's Friend
Slop is for feeble minds and cheaters
IBM Firings (or Silent Layoffs) After Bluewashing; "IBM’s Employment History is More Troubling Than its Patriotic Marketing Suggests"
"It has zip to do with race but everything to do with the greed of the 1% who have been doing all they can to destroy the middle class..."
“Week van de Werkstress” and Work-Related Stress at the EPO, Where Staff is Bullied Into Granting Illegal Patents for Foreign Monopolists
"poor working environments, including discrimination and inequality, excessive workloads, low job control and job insecurity pose a risk to mental health"
Czech Republic: GNU/Linux Rises Above 5% in Desktops and Laptops
A year ago it was somewhere around 4%
EPO's Local Staff Committee The Hague Says Almost or About a Third of Staff Assembled to Organise at "a Time of Continued Social Unrest"
They speak of "circa 850 staff members in attendance" (in The Netherlands there are about a couple thousand)
Suggestions That XBox Will be Offloaded by Microsoft, Rather Than Shut Down, Make the False Assumption XBox is Profitable (It's Not, It's a Liability)
Microsoft has serious financial troubles
Which "Smart" "Phone", Which "Social" "Media", and Which "Cloud" "Storage"?
Let's take back control of the language
State of the (Linux) Slop, Late 2026 Edition
Google News (Gulag Noise) is a plagiarism booster
Year 21
It's 5PM here
Links 07/11/2026: "Flock Cameras Got Eviscerated by the Midterms" and Joshua Wong Shows China is Highly Repressive and Fully Controls Hong Kong
Links for the day
At The Register MS the Net Liabilities Doubled in One Year, Tangible Assets Down About 35% in One Year
signed off in 2026
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XXXXII - Running One's Mouth
British Police told me "making a false complaint to police is a crime" in relation to Lozza
Another 20 Years of Exposing Corruption
We'll focus on carrying on what we do
EPO Budget and Finance Committee (in Very Recent Meeting) Increases Bribes to People Who Vote on Campinos Reappointment ("Cooperation Activities")
Buying 'elections' to protect the cocaine-stained regime in Europe's second-largest institution
Links 07/11/2026: London's SLAPP Industry Now Targets Kirkenes (Northern Norway) at the Behest of Corrupt Thieves in Russia and Microsoft’s 'Buyout' Offer Crashes Microsoft Systems
Links for the day
Links 07/11/2026: "The Moon is Waning Crescent", Homeworlds, and "Can't Handle The AVIF!"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, November 06, 2026
IRC logs for Friday, November 06, 2026
IBM Compels Workers - Even at Red Hat - to Become "Retired-ish"
Who needs RAs (layoffs, which have been rebranded as "buyouts" like pink slips are generous "gifts") when workers can have their butts kicked every day and WARN Act reporting thresholds are never approached?
Links 06/11/2026: "XBox Is Closer Than Ever to Being Sold Off" and "BuzzFeed Stock in Free Fall"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 06/11/2026: Dao and Dreams
Links for the day
20 Years of Techrights
Celebrating 2 decades of abuses of power being watched (and looking back at key changes)
Linux (and Linus Torvalds) Sleepwalking Into a Binance-Level Catastrophe With Slop 'Code'
Someone should ask Linus Torvalds or his boss (Linux Foundation) if they deem slop, which nobody audits, trustworthy enough to add to every computer out there running the Linux kernel
Vitaly Orlov Weaponises Deep Pockets to Leverage High Court of Justice in London for Censorship and Punishment of Critics
reproduced in full for more exposure and to make censorship harder
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XXXXI - What I Told British Police About Lozza the Same Month Garrett Was Preparing His First Nastygram From 'Hired Guns' Brett Wilson LLP
Lozza and Garrett
Outsourcing at IBM
Cheapening of the workforce is hardly a new problem
The Register MS: Turnover Fell by Over a Million Pounds (About 20%) in One Year, Administrative Expenses Rose by Almost Half a Million Pounds, The Register MS Operates at a Loss
This is not a (commercially) healthy publisher
Links 06/11/2026: Slop "Companies Race to Lock Down Oil Clients" and Salon Shuts Down
Links for the day
Our Third Decade
Our anniversary is tonight at midnight
Freedom Is Not Free of Charge, Freedom Can be Very Expensive
Being someone's "slave" is the "default" when no resistance exists
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XXXX - Swatting by Proxy
Using imbeciles who lie to cops and then dox cops (and already have arrest record and court documents wherein they admit being stoned in front of the cops)
Intel Craters at Taxpayers' Expense (Bailouts for Failing Companies Simple Don't Work)
GOP, which did this, has lost many seats
Mass Layoffs at IBM, Also Outsourcing to India
What IBM does to itself it is doing to other entities as well
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, November 05, 2026
IRC logs for Thursday, November 05, 2026
During Strikes and Industrial Actions Lots of EPO Staff Organised Yesterday and Will Do the Same Next Week
There really needs to be a genuine election, not a reappointment
Gemini Links 06/11/2026: Hadestown and "Where Has the Electronics Shop Gone?"
Links for the day