Links 21/3/2012: Torvalds Secrets, Radeon HD 7000 Driver Now Free/Libre
- Dr. Roy Schestowitz
- 2012-03-22 00:15:30 UTC
- Modified: 2012-03-22 00:15:30 UTC
Contents
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Kernel Space
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To get the most out of your systems, you want detailed insight into what the operating system kernel is doing. A typical approach is to sample stack traces; however, the data collected can be time consuming to read or navigate. Flame Graphs are a new way to visualize sampled stack traces, and can be applied to the Linux kernel for some useful (and stunning!) visualizations.
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Graphics Stack
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Applications
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The TEA Text Editor is a very handy writing tool that delivers a much different user interface. For most computer users cranking out words or program code for digital consumption, text editors are often preferable to feature-bloated word processors. TEA pours on features yet keeps from getting too steamy.
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Instructionals/Technical
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Games
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You may have heard a few days ago that Dear Esther, a game built upon Valve's Source Engine, would be ported to Linux and released in the coming months. Well, here's more details about that Source-based game is getting to Linux.
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Desktop Environments
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GNOME Desktop
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Users who choose between GNOME 2 and GNOME 3 are rarely making that decision on a purely rational basis. In my experience, users of GNOME 2 are often choosing what they know, while users of GNOME 3 are technophiles who enjoy anything that is new.
Neither is likely to go over the two generations of GNOME feature by feature. In many cases, the choice seems made before login.
But what happens when the two desktop environments are compared in general features? I'm a fan of neither GNOME 2 nor GNOME 3, but I decided to find out.
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New Releases
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Today sees the release of Legacy OS 4 Mini an Update / Replacement for TEENpup 2010 Mini Beta. Those updating from TEENpup 2010 Mini Beta will need to save any important documents, music etc to an external Hard Drive, USB stick etc as a full reinstall is required to update to this new version, sorry!
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Debian Family
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Spending a couple of days intensely running Linux Mint 12 on a very nice desktop PC sent to me for review by ZaReason (much more about that later), I probably shouldn't have been surprised by the annoying bugs in Mint that made me a lot less productive than I am in the Debian Squeeze system I've been running on my laptop since late 2010.
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In this interview, Luke Kanies, CEO and founder of Puppet Labs, explains why the Puppet configuration management tool is a huge hit with sys admins, and tells us what to expect next from the popular open source project.
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We got another reminder of how disruptive open source software is to mobile computing this week, when Linux and Android merged back together. This appears to be good news for a number of parties, but Android and Linux developers and users seem particularly likely to benefit. The inclusion of Android code in the Linux kernel and the ability for Linux developers to more easily work on the Android environment and applications also ties into some of the key topics we’ll be covering in a Webcast March 21 titled ‘Open Source, A Tale of Two Cities in the Mobile Enterprise,’ presented by 451 Research and Black Duck Software.
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Web Browsers
Chrome
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Ever since Google started working on its Chrome OS operating system, it has had a pronounced focus on allowing users to only work with cloud-based data and applications. This has drawn criticism from many users, and some from us here at OStatic, as seen in this post. With Chrome OS, Google placed a heavy bet on the idea that consumers and business users would have no problem storing data and using applications in the cloud, without working on the locally stored data/applications model that they're used to.
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CMS
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Licensing
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Are developers actually chasing down license violations?
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Openness/Sharing
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There are some pretty basic things that a researcher can do to make their work into an open content project. Here are a few.
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Programming
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Finance
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Censorship
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The Obama administration has condemned Iran for trying to take control of the Internet. In addition, The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued guidance and licensing information to further support the free flow of information to citizens of Iran – a freedom the Iranian regime has consistently denied to its people.
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Internet/Net Neutrality
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They're selling us out. Just weeks after Internet users from across the globe came together to to beat SOPA, the major ISPs are cutting a deal with Big Content to restrict web access for users who are accused of piracy.
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Intellectual Monopolies
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Copyrights
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ACTA
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Concerned of the ACTA dossier many citizens contacted the press staffers of his colleague Commissioner Neelie Kroes. Commissioner Michel Barnier is right when he emphasized the need for better communications. Karel De Gucht had the opportunity to embrace the public attention to ACTA, and strengthen the institutional cohesion with the European public, help the transformation of the EU towards an “Europe of the citizens”. He didn’t exercise this opportunity, and it appears to me the reason is a fundamental disrespect to democratic principles, he doesn’t take the public seriously.
Recent Techrights' Posts
- RMS Was Right 35 Years Ago
- Stallman’s viewpoints have remained the same
- Fedora is IBM and There's Hardly Any Community Left
- It's more like an onboarding mechanism for unpaid labour at (and for) IBM
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- Gemini Links 29/01/2026: Naps, Letting Go, and Terribly Cold Weather
- Links for the day
- Links 29/01/2026: Kennedy Center Officials Resigning and Amazon to Cut 16,000 Jobs
- Links for the day
- Goodbyes to Red Hat and IBM
- PIPs let them do the same with less "wasted" on severance or with obscene narrative-shaping
- The Need to Understand the Projection Tactics Against RMS
- There's an old and common saying (or "wisdom") about who's guilty when there's a fart in elevators (lifts)
- Links 29/01/2026: Neocities Is Blocked by Microsoft, “Intellectual Freedom Centers” as the New "Intelligent Design"
- Links for the day
- Microsoft XBox Dying Not Only as a Console, Reveals Microsoft
- Microsoft is trying to rebrand or repurpose the brand
- Don't be Mistaken, Microsoft Boasts About Money That Does Not Exist and Revenue (Buying From Oneself!) Is Not Income
- the company's debt grew
- IBM's Financial Performance in IBM's Own Words: Money Down, Debt Up Sharply
- IBM isn't a healthy company
- In Dominica, GNU/Linux Has Risen to All-Time High in 2026
- a lot of America is moving to Free software this year
- The "Alicante Mafia" - Part XV - EPO is on Strike Tomorrow, Lots to be Angry About (Except Money)
- We'll soon finish the series
- Gemini Links 29/01/2026: "Lady Audley's Secret" and "The Value Of Our Fear" (Carney's Speech)
- Links for the day
- Emmanuel Macron on Europe's GAFAM Addiction/Dependence: "There is No Such Thing as Happy Vassalage"
- Microsoft has long worked to prevent commodification
- It's Official, Mass Layoffs at IBM Again (2026)
- In a matter of days we'll just see how much IBM's debt has grown
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, January 28, 2026
- IRC logs for Wednesday, January 28, 2026
- Laos and Microsoft: About 10% Windows, 0% Bing
- There are many more nations like it
- EPO Technical Meetings Show no Breakthroughs, a Strike Goes Ahead This Friday
- Apparently there was another (fourth) meeting today [...] The industrial actions are working already
- Google News as the Sole Source of Slop About "Linux", a Feeder of Slopfarms or Serial Sloppers
- At least it's no longer hard to 'contain' the slop problem, knowing which domains are the culprits and seeing that Google is their main 'feeder'
- IBM to Announce 'Results' Shortly, Expect Lots of Chaff Like "Quantum" and "Hey Hi" (Nothing Material to Show)
- We're still seeing layoffs and an exodus
- Links 28/01/2026: ChatGPT Has Financial Problems, White House Sharing Fakes (or Deepfakes) in Official Accounts/Sites
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 28/01/2026: FlatCube NES Port Finished and "Why I Still Write on the Small Web in 2026"
- Links for the day
- Upcoming Techrights Series About the Public Appearances of Richard M. Stallman (RMS) in the United States
- we plan to drop all pretences about "Open Source" and instead focus on Software Freedom
- Upcoming Techrights Series About the Experiences of EPO Insiders
- We'll start the new series some time next week
- Links 28/01/2026: Microsoft Ordered to Stop Spying on School Children, Apple's Brand Tarnished by Its Complicity With Human Rights Abusers
- Links for the day
- Upcoming Techrights Series About the Failure of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) to Stop Hired Guns Who Work for Americans That Abuse Women
- The SRA has demonstrated nothing but considerable incompetence at many levels
- The "Alicante Mafia" - Part XIV - The EPO Vice-President Steve Rowan and the Hidden Alicante Connection is a Big Deal
- We'll soon take a closer look at Ernst
- Gemini Links 28/01/2026: Particle and AirMIDI
- Links for the day
- Amandine Jambert (EDPB/CNIL/FSFE), motive for lying, trust in blockchain and encryption
- Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, January 27, 2026
- IRC logs for Tuesday, January 27, 2026
- Expect More XBox Layoffs Shortly
- As expected
- Links 27/01/2026: Japan-China Feud Escalates Again, "Iran's Internet Blackout Persists"
- Links for the day
- Online 'Gathering' Held Today to Organise Industrial Actions in EPO, Strikes Will be Starting Shortly
- "Online Extraordinary General Meeting on Action Plan"
- It's Not About What You Know, It's About Who You Know (and Stay Quiet About the Cocaine)
- This is not an organisation that exists to ensure laws are followed
- FOSDEM 2026: democracy panel: FSFE uses women as stooges, gerrymander
- Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
- Must Use Proprietary JavaScript to Submit Feedback to the European Commission About Moving From GAFAM to Free Software
- Nevertheless, go tell them why Software Freedom would benefit Europe's defence and economy
- Distortion of the Facts About Mass Layoffs at IBM
- more layoffs are ahead
- Gemini Links 27/01/2026: "Waiting Isn't a Waste", Posting from Lynx, and Bookmarks
- Links for the day
- Links 27/01/2026: "Oracle Debt and TikTok Transition Troubles Vex the Ellison Media Empire", Richard Stallman Quoted on Copyrights
- Links for the day
- Steven Field (Red Hat) Speaks of "Recent Layoff" (RA/Wave) in Red Hat
- IBM really doesn't like it when people talk about "RAs"
- The "Alicante Mafia" - Part XIII - Is EPO Vice-President Steve Rowan in Cahoots With the "Alicante Mafia"?
- that deserves much media attention, political intervention, and condemnation
- A Week Ago We Contacted the EPO's Stephen (Steve) Rowan About Cocainegate
- Tomorrow we'll write some more about Rowan
- “Wikilaundering” Explained
- "London PR firm rewrites Wikipedia for governments and billionaires"
- IBM Reports 'Results' Tomorrow, Expect More "RAs" (Mass Layoffs)
- they use words like "efficiency", "optimisation", "AI", "pivot", "modernisation" and so on
- Earlier This Month Microsoft Lunduke Said in Public It Was Good That Renee Good Was Murdered, Now He Mocks or Demonises People for Saying the US is Unsafe
- Don't be easily conned by demagogues
- Google News and "Linux" Slop
- Why won't Google be interested in tackling this issue? Instead Google has been trying to participate in this issue.
- IBM Kills Red Hat in the Darkness
- What IBM does to Red Hat is malicious
- IBM Red Hat's Goal Is Not Real Security (It Probably Never Was)
- Spies and trolls are very malicious people and sometimes they're the same thing
- With Absurd Lies About Slop, Which Lacks Intelligence or Financial Potential, GAFAM and IBM Will Twist Mass Layoffs as 'Efficiency Drive' or 'AI Pivot'
- More layoffs are on the way
- Animal Advocacy Works
- All it takes is effort and determination
- EPO Strike This Week
- What has happened to Europe?
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Monday, January 26, 2026
- IRC logs for Monday, January 26, 2026