Bonum Certa Men Certa

Links 11/10/2011: Wine 1.3.30, Sabayon 7 is Coming





GNOME bluefish

Contents





GNU/Linux

  • 4 Reasons to Have Live Linux at Home


  • LPI Announces Academic Training Partners in Malaysia


  • Desktop

    • Best Use for an Old Laptop: TinyCore Linux
      Like many computer geeks, I have more unused computers than I know what to do with. Old hardware is often considered to be obsolete when often the MSWindows went pear shaped.. I know that Linux can breath new life into almost any hardware, so I have a hard time letting older machines go. Unfortunately, they often don't have the needed components to be fully usable -- what good is a computer these days without networking?

      TinyCore Linux is an ultra-small Linux desktop; the 4.0 release is just under 12MB. TinyCore is stripped down, so don't expect the bells and whistles of a more active desktop, such as KDE or OSX or Windows has. Instead, its claim is that it runs in RAM and it runs fast, which is great for older hardware.


    • Frankendesktop: My Gothic desktop fantasy
      Over the course of the day, I have to hop between various desktops. That experience set me wondering what a desktop would look like if it were assembled from all the favourite features that I encounter daily. Of course, it's pure fantasy. But just in case, somewhere on the planet, a team of developers is trying to create the ideal desktop, here's a roadmap that they might like to follow.




  • Audiocasts/Shows

    • Podcast Season 3 Episode 19
      In this episode: Canonical launches an app developer portal and there's a new mobile Linux initiative. We create a whole new section of the podcast, discover lots of things and discuss whether secure booting will hinder Linux adoption.






  • Kernel Space

    • Kernel Log: Linux 3.1 approaches
      Kernel version 3.1 will probably be released in the next few days. After a break of more than four weeks, Greg Kroah-Hartman has released new stable kernels. The X.org developers are thinking about merging the most important graphics drivers into the X Server.

      Late last Tuesday night, Linus Torvalds issued the ninth release candidate of Linux 3.1. Since then, some further corrections have been integrated into the main development branch; however, in the past few days there have not been any new hints on when Linux 3.1 might get released – but it is likely to be released some time this week, or next week at the latest, as indicated by Torvalds when releasing RC7.


    • The kernel column with Jon Masters #106
      As is the case every month, Jon Masters looks at the latest developments in the Linux kernel community, including work on new architecture and ABI support, not to mention Kernel.org disruptions…


    • Logitech C270 Webcam and Linux
      After years of having an audio-only computer, I finally succumbed and bought a USB webcam, so that I can do video calling through Skype.

      First, because I'm frugal, I looked on-line to see what low-cost cameras were available at my local retail chains. The Logitech C210 seemed to be the least expensive and most available.


    • The VirtualBox Kernel Driver Is Tainted Crap




  • Applications



  • Desktop Environments

    • Testing, XFCE to the Rescue
      What a busy week it has been with testing, finding bugs, confirming and submitting. Generally I test Gnome and KDE isos, but this time went off the wall as my frustrations grow with both Gnome and KDE and decided to test XFCE 64 bit edition. Last time I looked at XFCE was like version 4.0, so to my surprise 4.8 will knock your socks off compared to that.

      So I have decided that with my Sabayon Forensic spins, I will go with xfce instead. I’ve been up to my ears in the skel files learning the xfce ways, adding and removing packages and been testing local isos via the wonderful tool molecule. My computer is feeling the pains tho, molecule will really give those cpus a work out. So drop the KDE and Gnome editions and just go with XFCE to make this simpler and more universal for working with various computers. Gnome-shell is kinda of a nightmare right now on various hardware. KDE has it’s issues too, but works better than gnome-shell.


    • Linux For The Masses!
      I remember when the 4.0 release of KDE hit the public, which I believe should never have happened that early. I didn’t like what the KDE 4 series brought to the table, and in some ways I still don’t, but I gave the project the time it needed to mature, which the KDE team wasn’t giving it by releasing too early in my opinion. Anyway, I found the 4.6, and 4.7 releases something I could work with, and give it a fair try. To be perfectly honest too, there was aspects of the KDE 3 series that I wasn’t fond of, and had found some problems with it many times, even with the last release of it. Nothing’s perfect, and it’s foolish to think all things must fit that way. But to the point, I waited it out, let it mature, and have been pleasantly surprised. Would I switch back to KDE after all this time since I left the 3 series? I don’t know. I won’t say that it wouldn’t happen, but I can’t say it will. I grew to like the GNOME 2 series, even with its lack of configuration options, and simplistic UIs, compared to KDE. But I could easily switch if need be, or more importantly, if GNOME 3 matures quickly, or even Unity, I could switch to those. They’re tomorrow.


    • K Desktop Environment/KDE SC)

      • Plasma Active
        Here is the About screen for Plasma Active One, as seen in our instance running on top of MeeGo, recently abandoned by Intel and Nokia Linux-based operating system for mobile devices.


      • Results from poll about future of XScreensavers in KDE Plasma
        Today ended the poll on forums.kde.org about the future of X Screen saver support in the KDE Plasma Workspaces. I want to thank everybody who participated in the poll. The poll and the thread clearly help us to see what the users need and want and what we need to provide.


      • KDE's Summer of Achievements
        KDE took part in its 7th year as a mentoring organization for the Google Summer of Code. Thanks to Google's generous funding and KDE's mentors we were able to work with 51 students over the summer, once again making KDE the largest organization taking part in Google Summer of Code. Choosing the right students was hard but the selection turned out well. The students coded in nearly all areas of KDE from Calligra and Rekonq to Amarok and KStars. Their projects turned out very well, and we've once again been impressed with the talent and dedication of the students. All 51 students passed their mid-term evaluation and 47 successfully passed their final evaluation. Valorie Zimmerman, KDE Administrator for Google Summer of Code, says: “KDE got forty-seven completed projects, which is tremendous. Our focus though is not on the code itself, but on the students and their involvement with KDE. However, their projects enrich KDE immensely, and you’ll be seeing their code integrated into our codebase over the next few months. “


      • digiKam Tricks 3.9.5 Released


      • Humanizing metal and electrons
        We think that looking at different devices as isolated worlds, needing completely different "Apps" and UX stacks for each kind of device it's pretty limiting, and it's not the way who uses it (aka "humans";) thinks.

        What we believe in, is that computing devices (doesn't matter if it's the laptop, a tablet, or something running in a washing machine) should exist in function of helping the people accomplishing the task they want to do, no more, no less, devices shouldn't be something complex, hard and therefore "harming", but should just be extensions of the user harm, of the user mind, just tools, and in every situation, the best tool for the best job.


      • How Cute can Konqui Be?


      • Plasma Active Perspectives: The App Story
        Plasma Active brings a flexible, elegant, activity-driven user experience to a spectrum of devices. This article is part of a series of articles about different perspectives on Plasma Active. In the first installment, we look at a number of applications that come with Plasma Active. Kontact Touch, Calligra Active, Bangarang and a collection of Active Apps provide a stable and powerful set of functionality, making Plasma Active suitable for personal and professional use cases.


      • KDE's 'Plasma Active' Tops GNOME 3 and Unity


        Mobile devices have been influencing desktop software design for several years now. Mostly, I've not been impressed. Either the results are awkward, like GNOME 3, or over-simplified, like Ubuntu's Unity.

        I had just about reached the conclusion that the mobile influence represented a step backwards in desktop design -- then I tried KDE's Plasma Active, a desktop designed for touch screen tablets, and all my assumptions were trampled underfoot.




    • GNOME Desktop

      • Has Gnome 3 decided that people shouldn't want screen savers?
        As you may know, years ago some fresh young face on the Gnome team decided, for no sensible reason, to re-implement the xscreensaver daemon from scratch and call it "gnome-screensaver". This re-write was still able to run the 95% of xscreensaver that comprised the actual, you know, screen savers. It ran them badly, but it ran them.


      • Elementary Viper Luna Gnome Shell Theme
        Elementary Viper Luna Gnome Shell theme is inspired by DanRabit's work on Elementary Luna desktop. The theme is created by justviper who in past gave us couple of nice Gnome Shell themes.


      • Looking For a Beautiful GNOME Shell Theme? Try ‘Nord’


      • Gnome 3.2 reviewed | Its uber cool and feature rich
        Gnome 3.2 was released a few days back. With an improved shell and various other integrations, this shell will please many users. We had been looking closely at the developments from the Gnome stable with our posts on Installing Gnome shell, Gnome Shell extensions and Gnome Shell themes. Check out this article to find out more about the new features in Gnome 3.2


      • Gnome 3.2 Review
        All in all, it's a mixed bag of a release. The improvements that have come with it are definitely welcome. The Gtk+ theme updates have certainly improved my day to day experience with the desktop, and I'm hopeful that the new applications and online accounts integration will turn in to really excellent features in the near future.

        Unfortunately, many of the bugs and annoyances from the 3.0 release persist - largely because the Gnome team doesn't consider these bugs but features - and some new ones have been introduced.

        Weighing things up, I'd say that my overall experience with the desktop is little improved from 3.0. That said, it's not an altogether bad thing since I did quite like the 3.0 release and still find this series of Gnome releases to be the best free desktop for my needs.


      • Thoughts on being an upstream
        I’ve been reading things people report in Bugzilla for years. How I feel about this now is that there are really several, entirely different things that we presently lump under “bug”. For example, I think it’s pretty clear that someone’s random ideas for a change to the design are totally different from say identified code regressions, which are in turn different from proposed patches.






  • Distributions

    • Slackware 13.37 - Perfect for My Laptop
      Most people who have dabbled in Linux for a while "know" that Slackware is difficult to install, configure, make work and keep up to date. It is an OS only for geeks. Not so. These days the developments in the wider universe have trickled down to Slackware as well, and having something like KDE 4 as default desktop already means plenty of things taken care of, with all the utilities and options this desktop environment is providing.


    • New Releases



    • PCLinuxOS/Mageia/Mandrake/Mandriva Family

      • Million Dollar Baby…
        Since the begining of the Mageia adventure, 243 people gave money to Mageia.Org, helping us to buy hardware, domain names, goodies, … It makes an average donation of € 62 ($ 83) per donor! Thank you to all the money donors or ressources partners (ielo, gandi, online) but also to all other people offering in the way they want: time (packagers, triage, qa, artwork, marketing, bug report, dev…) or just by spreading Mageia arround them by buying TS or talking on forums, events…




    • Gentoo Family

      • Sabayon 7 Brings The Experimental Fusion Kernel
        Sabayon Linux, the easy-to-use distribution derived from Gentoo, reached version 7.0 yesterday. Among other improvements, Sabayon 7 features an "ultra-optimized" Linux 3.0 kernel as well as the project's experimental Fusion Kernel.

        Some of the key software packages to Sabayon Linux 7 include the Linux 3.0 kernel, GNOME 3.2, KDE SC 4.7, Xfce 4.8, and LibreOffice 3.4. In total there's been more than 4,000 package updatss since Sabayon 6.0, which arrived back in June. There's also XBMC 10.0 support, an updated Entropy Framework, support for new languages and fonts, and semi-automated package updates.




    • Red Hat Family

      • Red Hat (RHT) Approaches New Upside Target of $44.40
        Shares of Red Hat (NYSE:RHT) have bullishly opened above the pivot of $42.75 today and have reached the first resistance level of $43.64. Analysts will be watching for a cross of the next upside pivot targets of $44.40 and $46.05.


      • Red Hat: Perfect Short Candidate For This Market
        Red Hat, Inc. (RHT) is a provider of open source, Linux-based software for corporate IT customers. The company has been a rumored acquisition target for years, with potential suitors including Oracle (ORCL), IBM (IBM), and most recently Hewlett-Packard (HPQ).


      • Red Hat's Open-Source Software Lowers Costs
        Cloud computing has been compared to an electricity grid, mainly because end users can access power and services without having to set up and run the infrastructure.

        With the cloud, software and applications are stored on remote servers and delivered over the Internet rather than individual computers.


      • Fedora



        • Results of the voting for the Fedora 17 release name


        • Fedora 17 Has A Tasty Codename: Beefy Miracle
          Last week Mark Shuttleworth announced Ubuntu 12.04 LTS would be codenamed Precise Pangolin while this evening Red Hat's Jared Smith has announced the codename for Fedora 17, which will be released around the same time next spring.


        • Testing Fedora 16 "Verne" - Beta
          I made the upgrade of my operating system to Fedora 16 (a.k.a. Verne). The first thing I did was update my applications. Then I did the procedures mentioned in this link.

          The download size was about 1.2 GB so I waited for it to end. I did not have to do any other commands in particular. When it was over, I restarted my computer to see if it had worked properly.

          The first thing I noticed was the advance of a grub2 grub. After changing to black at the bottom of plymouth. Then I realized I had changed from the login screen. Now I like Fedora more.


        • “I’m a Beefy Miracle” song


        • Fedora 17 Will Be Named Beefy Miracle
          Jared Smith proudly announced earlier today the codename for the upcoming Fedora 17 operating system, due for release next year.






    • Debian Family



      • Derivatives



        • Canonical/Ubuntu

          • Ubuntu 11.10 Is in the Wings: Three Days and Counting
            It's now been almost six months since the release of Ubuntu 11.04, or “Natty Narwhal,” and that means it's about time for the next version of Canonical's popular Linux distribution to make its official debut.


          • Small Things That Matter: Logging Out of Ubuntu From the Dash


          • Unity: I just can't


          • The Supreme Court of India Embraces Ubuntu Linux


          • Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter Issue 236


          • Official Ubuntu 11.10 CDs Go On Sale
            The official Ubuntu 11.10 CDs have gone on sale in the Canonical Store.


          • Video: Ubuntu 11.10 Review
            For our Ubuntu fans as well as those who just want to learn about the upcoming release, I found this on youtube. I was hoping for HTML5 playback option, but this seems to be Flash only. The review was done from a recent release candidate that I believe will be the final release due out this Thursday. I still prefer KDE myself. :)


          • Sushi File Previewer in Ubuntu 11.10 Unity
            One of the new features in GNOME 3.2 is quick file preview. Pressing space while a file is selected in the file browser will open a window with a preview of the file contents. Previews of images, videos, music, PDF documents, and more are supported.


          • Transforming the home PC with Ubuntu 11.10
            Millions of home users give their computers a new lease of life with Ubuntu each year. The upcoming version, Ubuntu 11.10, has substantial benefits for those looking for the latest personal cloud and web technologies, as well as those running on older hardware.


          • Ubuntu will power HP's new cloud service
            Ubuntu Linux will be the primary operating system powering HP’s upcoming cloud service, Ubuntu maker Canonical said last week. HP recently opened a private beta program for an infrastructure-as-a-service cloud that will offer both compute and storage capacity, using the OpenStack open source cloud platform.


          • An Elephant On A Computer
            Probably a good idea to install one of the countless Linux and open source distros as a backup OS on the old traveling netbook.


          • Ubuntu 11.10 arrives with ARM support
            Canonical is claiming to have released the first general-purpose server platform to run on ARM architecture chips with Ubuntu 11.10, which also introduces a service orchestration framework and updated support for the OpenStack cloud platform.


          • Ubuntu prepares for ARM-based servers
            Linux vendor Canonical is to make the latest iteration of its operating systems for client and server, Ubuntu 11.10, available for download this Thursday.


          • Ubuntu 11.10 will support ARM processors to take on Red Hat
            Canonical's popular Ubuntu Linux distribution will get its second update of 2011 this month for both desktop and server editions. However it is the server edition that Canonical has made the biggest changes to by supporting ARM processors.


          • The Other Issue With Ubuntu 11.10: Boot Speed


          • Ubuntu Server Aims to Own the Cloud
            With a lack of any license fees and a focus on cloud features from its primary sponsor, Canonical, Ubuntu has flourished in the cloud, becoming a popular guest operating system on Amazon EC2 and other infrastructure-as-a-service options.


          • Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot, new feature info
            Currently the most up-to-date Ubuntu distro is Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal, this arrived back in April and initially we weren’t seeing a lot of love for the new Unity user interface which this OS version introduced, but now people have had a chance to use it you can understand why it was favored to the dated Gnome layout.


          • HP to Use Linux-Based Ubuntu Platform in Upcoming Cloud Computing Service
            Canonical has announced that Hewlett Packard has chosen Linux-based Ubuntu platform as the lead and guest OS in its upcoming cloud computing offering.

            In a blog post, Canonical, which handles the software distribution, revealed that CEO Jane Silber made the announcement during the OpenStack cloud computing conference in Boston.


          • Indian Supreme Court Switches Over To Ubuntu; So Should USA
            The Supreme Court of the world's largest democracy has ordered all courts across India to switch to GNU/Linux based operating system Ubuntu. Prior to this move the courts across India were using the Red Hat Enterprise Linux, which is mainly targeted at servers. More than 17,000 courts around India will now be switching over to Ubuntu from RHEL.


          • Flavours and Variants

            • The Top 5 Ubuntu based Linux distributions
              In this article I am introducing some of the most amazing derivatives of Ubuntu. Ubuntu based distros are basically Ubuntu with specialized applications in a particular domain. For instance, it could be in education like Edubuntu or multimedia or Mythubunu. Read on to find out more.












  • Devices/Embedded

    • Tux goes for a spin
      The Linux Foundation has announced a new event and a new emphasis for Linux: the inaugural Automotive Linux Summit.

      The Auto Summit, which will happen on November 28 in Yokohama, Japan, is geared to "address the growing need for carmakers and Linux developers to collaborate on the future of computing on wheels."

      And, I would suspect, a chance to really try to showcase the in-vehicle capabilities of MeeGo and Tizen, two mobile platform projects stewarded by the Linux Foundation.

      You don't hear much about these platforms' in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) features, except in press releases about the platforms themselves, where we all die a little bit inside when we read the word "infotainment." But it's as good a term as any to describe the class of devices that have come as an option in cars in recent years, like seat warmers. OnStar, GM's big revenue generator, and Ford Sync, an equivalent IVI platform powered by Microsoft's Embedded Automotive operating system, are two examples of this kind of system.


    • Phones



    • Sub-notebooks/Tablets

      • Motorola Xoom Tablet: The Business Review
        Is the Motorola Xoom – a Google Android-powered tablet – ready for business users and channel partners? David Courbanou, my peer here at The VAR Guy, wasn’t all that impressed with early Xoom 2 chatter. But I’ve spent recent days using the original Xoom. iPad lovers cover your ears: I believe the Xoom tablet has something to offer the business world.

        First things first. While attending the recent Box.net customer conference, I received a Xoom tablet for free. Generally speaking, The VAR Guy’s editorial team doesn’t accept free technology unless it’s part of a broad conference giveaway — as in this case. Also, we always disclose how we received the hardware and software we test.


      • Motorola Solutions spins ruggedized Android tablet
        Motorola Solutions announced a ruggedized, seven-inch Android 2.3.4 tablet for enterprise users. The ET1 tablet offers a dual-core, 1GHz Texas Instruments OMAP4 processor, 1GB of RAM and 8GB of flash memory, a 1024 x 600 pixel display with extra thick Gorilla Glass, and an eight-megapixel camera with barcode reading capabilities, the company says.








Free Software/Open Source



  • Pros and Cons of Open Source Software
    And even though I can only cover a fraction of the open source/closed source applications available today, I 'll touch on the most common software titles.


  • FLOSS software things which I wonder about
    I attended the Floss Unconference fest yesterday at Manchester Conference centre (a location I had planned to use for BarCampManchester2 due to their ability to do overnights and excellent warren like structure). The event was reasonable but not well attended, which was a shame. It needed about another 30 people to feel more busy and active. Not quite sure why people never came out for it…? But to be honest I only spotted it by hearing a tweet from Teknoteacher. Anyhow, at the end of the day there were lightening talks and I jumped at the chance to talk about software which really needs to be developed on Linux. I’ve adopted this post to apply to most Floss type things…


  • Web Browsers



  • Oracle/Java/LibreOffice

    • LibreOffice Conference


    • A message from the Eocene; or, the ballad of WordPerfect
      From time to time, I look back fondly on the years when I ran Windows. It doesn’t last; my wife’s computer has XP on it, and XP needs some periodic adjusting, and then it all seems like just a bad dream.

      [...]

      But the other day I opened up LibreOffice Writer in my Mageia installation on the laptop. It opened up in about â…” of a window, as it always does (it must be a KDE thing, because it does the same thing in my Kubuntu) (or it was transient; weeks later, sometimes it opens up in a full window), and I maximized it, and I realized that I’m really never going to love LibreOffice Writer.


    • A FOSS Success Story: LibreOffice Turns 1




  • FSF/FSFE/GNU/SFLC



    • GNU PDF no longer an FSF high priority project


    • Upon further review . . . [Ed: I do not agree with Stallman's critics, just informing about opinions]
      – A glaring omission: While re-reading my blog post, it mistakenly reads like it’s just Richard Stallman’s statement on Steve Jobs that is the sole reason for my leaving the FSF. It’s not. The statement about Jobs is just a tipping point in a list of several incidents where I, and others, have run into resistance, censorship and pariah-hood by merely questioning the FSF gospel over the years that I have been a FSF member. As an aside, an e-mail exchange with FSF executive director John Sullivan — some long and detailed, some not — allowed me to air my grievances, and I am grateful to him for lending a proverbial ear to hear these concerns. Sullivan’s e-mail exchanges, as well as discussions with others, show there is room for change in the organization.


    • Time to fork the FSF


    • I’d buy that for a dollar
      I hear “Photoshop is bad”, but I think you should say “Gimp is awesome” instead. I hear “Windows is evil”, but I’d rather hear “Use Fedora today!”.


    • Leave It To Richard Stallman To Go There
      I met Stallman for lunch many years ago at a San Francisco Burmese restaurant. Stallman can be an infuriating man, but he can also be a very charming lunch companion.




  • Public Services/Government

    • PL: Deputy Prime Minister calls FLOSS “the greatest success of the 20th century”
      Waldemar Pawlak, Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy, saluted Free and Open Source Software (FLOSS) as the “greatest success of the 20th century” in a conference talk on 27 September 2011. He added that FLOSS is based on very sound principles and can provide solutions to some of the problems of civilization which we will face in the 21st century.




  • Openness/Sharing





Leftovers

  • OpenIndiana—a Free Fork of the Solaris OS (Part 1)
    OpenIndiana comprises the Illumos core, taken from OpenSolaris, with a set of GNU user-land tools. OpenIndiana can even be called an analogue to GNU/Linux, but instead of a monolithic Linux kernel, it uses the OS/Net-based derivative kernel known as Illumos, which is 100 per cent ABI compatible with the Solaris kernel. In short, we can assume that OpenIndiana is actually the OpenSolaris operating system. Once upon a time, there was Sun Microsystems. Not just an IT industry flagship, but also a legendary firm. Famous for SPARC processors, the Java language, and for the decades it spent developing its own UNIX OS, Solaris. Solaris’ successor is the OpenIndiana project.


  • Hardware

    • Linux Hardware: Harddrives for Video Editing on Linux
      I like to shoot and edit video (on Debian GNU/Linux, of course on KDE, using the wonderful KDEnlive Video Editor), but in video editing, there is always a bottleneck. My wife and I recently purchased a Nikon D5100 camera which shoots fantastic video in hi-def! I was worried that my video editing computer hardware wouldn't be able to keep up with these large HD video files.*




  • Health/Nutrition

    • "Occupy Wall Street" Should Protest Wall Street Takeover of Health Care
      The lobbyists for U.S. health insurers surely have to be feeling a little uneasy knowing that thousands of Occupy Wall Street demonstrators who have been marching and protesting in Washington as well as New York and other cities might target them in the days ahead. After all, the headquarters of the insurers' biggest lobbying and PR group, America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), at 601 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., is just blocks away from Freedom Plaza, where the demonstrators have set up camp -- and problems with health insurers appear to be near the top of the list of protesters' concerns.

      Health Care for America Now, an umbrella advocacy group that played a key role in the health care reform debate, last week analyzed the 546 comments that had been posted by then on the "We are the 99 percent" Tumblr site. It found that 262 of the comments mention such problems as getting denials for doctor-ordered care from their insurance companies and having to forego treatment because of hefty out-of-pocket costs.




  • Defence/Police/Aggression

    • Boston Police Assault #OccupyBoston arresting around one hundred protesters
      At 1:30 this morning police in full riot gear attacked the participants of Occupy Boston, which had peacefully gathered on the Rose Kennedy Greenway. Without any regard for the protester's constitutional rights, the Boston Police Department made no distinction between protesters, medics, or legal observers, arresting legal observer Ursula Levelt, who serves on the steering committee for the National Lawyers Guild, as well as four medics attempting to care for the injured.






  • Finance

    • Occupy Wall Street


    • Goldman Sachs CEO cancels lecture at Barnard
      In response to Blankfein’s invite, Columbia students had organized “School the Squid” week—referring to writer Matt Taibbi calling Goldman Sachs “a great vampire squid”—including a series of discussions and film screenings focused on corporate greed and abuse of power.




  • PR/AstroTurf/Lobbying

    • ALEC Tied to British Political Scandal


      British Conservative Party defense secretary Liam Fox is in the midst of scandal that has grown deeper as ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) are revealed. Pressure has been growing on Fox in recent weeks after having been caught in a lie about unethical dealings with his friend and former flatmate, and more ethical problems arising from the operation of a recently-dissolved, ALEC-connected "charity" Fox founded.




  • Censorship



  • Civil Rights

    • Electronic Surveillance Scandal Hits Germany
      A German hacker organization claims to have cracked spying software allegedly used by German authorities. The Trojan horse has functions which go way beyond those allowed by German law. The news has sparked a wave of outrage among politicians and media commentators.




  • Internet/Net Neutrality

    • EU Governments Oppose an Open Wireless Infrastructure
      Paris, October 11th, 2011 - As the European Union engages in important discussions on the future of the radio spectrum policy - i.e the future of open wireless communications -, it's becoming clear that national governments are aligned on the position of dominant telecom operators. To protect open wireless communications operated and controlled by citizens, the EU Parliament must resist the pressure and defend its position.




  • DRM

    • Removing DRM can prevent piracy
      One of the biggest factors leading to music being pirated is the security software which is used to stop it being... er... pirated.

      Economists from Rice and Duke Universities have been using game theory to work out that DRM technologies, which restrict music file copying and moving, encourage illegal file sharing instead.

      Dinahy Vernik, assistant professor of marketing at Rice's Jones Graduate School of Business told Ars Technica that DRM restrictions prevent legal users from doing something as normal as making backup copies of their music. Because DRM makes things inconvenient, punters choose to pirate.




  • Intellectual Monopolies



    • Copyrights



      • ACTA

        • ACTA's Impact on Industry and Human Rights - Letters to EU Parliament
          La Quadrature du Net has written to two key committees of the European Parliament regarding the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). As the EU Parliament engages in preparatory works in view of its upcoming consent vote on ACTA, La Quadrature stresses that the Parliament must fully assess the dangers of this agreement for innovation, competition and competitiveness of EU businesses, but also for human rights.










Recent Techrights' Posts

Comparing U.E.F.I. to B.I.O.S. (Bloat and Insecurity to K.I.S.S.)
By Sami Tikkanen
New 'Slides' From Stallman Support (stallmansupport.org) Site
"In celebration of RMS's birthday, we've been playing a bit. We extracted some quotes from the various articles, comments, letters, writings, etc. and put them in the form of a slideshow in the home page."
Thailand: GNU/Linux Up to 6% of Desktops/Laptops, According to statCounter
Desktop Operating System Market Share Thailand
António Campinos is Still 'The Fucking President' (in His Own Words) After a Fake 'Election' in 2022 (He Bribed All the Voters to Keep His Seat)
António Campinos and the Administrative Council, whose delegates he clearly bribed with EPO budget in exchange for votes
Adrian von Bidder, homeworking & Debian unexplained deaths
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Sainsbury’s Epic Downtime Seems to be Microsoft's Fault and Might Even Constitute a Data Breach (Legal Liability)
one of Britain's largest groceries (and beyond) chains
 
People Don't Just Kill Themselves (Same for Other Animals)
And recent reports about Boeing whistleblower John Barnett
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 18, 2024
IRC logs for Monday, March 18, 2024
Suicide Cluster Cover-up tactics & Debian exposed
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 19/03/2024: A Society That Lost Focus and Abandoning Social Control Media
Links for the day
Matthias Kirschner, FSFE: Plagiarism & Child labour in YH4F
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Linux Foundation Boasting About Being Connected to Bill Gates
Examples of boasting about the association
Alexandre Oliva's Article on Monstering Cults
"I'm told an earlier draft version of this post got published elsewhere. Please consider this IMHO improved version instead."
[Meme] 'Russian' Elections in Munich (Bavaria, Germany)
fake elections
Sainsbury's to Techrights: Yes, Our Web Site Broke Down, But We Cannot Say Which Part or Why
Windows TCO?
Plagiarism: Axel Beckert (ETH Zurich) & Debian Developer list hacking
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 18/03/2024: Putin Cements Power
Links for the day
Flashback 2003: Debian has always had a toxic culture
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
[Meme] You Know You're Winning the Argument When...
EPO management starts cursing at everybody (which is what's happening)
Catspaw With Attitude
The posts "they" complain about merely point out the facts about this harassment and doxing
'Clown Computing' Businesses Are Waning and the Same Will Happen to 'G.A.I.' Businesses (the 'Hey Hi' Fame)
decrease in "HEY HI" (AI) hype
Free Software Needs Watchdogs, Too
Gentle lapdogs prevent self-regulation and transparency
Matthias Kirschner, FSFE analogous to identity fraud
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 18/03/2024: LLM Inference and Can We Survive Technology?
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 17, 2024
IRC logs for Sunday, March 17, 2024
Links 17/03/2024: Microsoft Windows Shoves Ads Into Third-Party Software, More Countries Explore TikTok Ban
Links for the day
Molly Russell suicide & Debian Frans Pop, Lucy Wayland, social media deaths
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Our Plans for Spring
Later this year we turn 18 and a few months from now our IRC community turns 16
Open Invention Network (OIN) Fails to Explain If Linux is Safe From Microsoft's Software Patent Royalties (Charges)
Keith Bergelt has not replied to queries on this very important matter
RedHat.com, Brought to You by Microsoft Staff
This is totally normal, right?
USPTO Corruption: People Who Don't Use Microsoft Will Be Penalised ~$400 for Each Patent Filing
Not joking!
The Hobbyists of Mozilla, Where the CEO is a Bigger Liability Than All Liabilities Combined
the hobbyist in chief earns much more than colleagues, to say the least; the number quadrupled in a matter of years
Jim Zemlin Says Linux Foundation Should Combat Fraud Together With the Gates Foundation. Maybe They Should Start With Jim's Wife.
There's a class action lawsuit for securities fraud
Not About Linux at All!
nobody bothers with the site anymore; it's marketing, and now even Linux
Links 17/03/2024: Abuses Against Human Rights, Tesla Settlement (and Crash)
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, March 16, 2024
IRC logs for Saturday, March 16, 2024
Under Taliban, GNU/Linux Share Nearly Doubled in Afghanistan, Windows Sank From About 90% to 68.5%
Suffice to say, we're not meaning to imply Taliban is "good"
Debian aggression: woman asked about her profession
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 17/03/2024: Winter Can't Hurt Us Anymore and Playstation Plus
Links for the day