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
- Wayland is About Less Choice, About Removing Choices, It's Not About Freedom
- IBM insists that it cares about "diversity"
- Keeping Things Accessible
- Gemini Protocol seems to be growing
- Not Much Better Than LLM Slop: Linux Foundation-Funded 'News' Site Writes Linux Foundation 'News', Composed by Linux Foundation Operative, Quoting Linux Foundation Staff
- ...they get paid (sponsored) to produce this spam. Then they call it "journalism".
- Annual Southern California Linux Expo (SCALE 22x) 'Bought' by Microsoft and Microsoft Exceeded Sponsorship Limits by Giving Double the Maximum Permitted Amount
- When people get bribed they tend to forget how to utter a simple word: "No."
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- Links 27/06/2025: International Tensions and Contentions Over Plagiarism Perfumed as "Hey Hi" and "Fair Use"
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 27/06/2025: Poetry and Censorship by Social Control Media Centralisation
- Links for the day
- Links 27/06/2025: Journalists Under Fire and Microsoft Has Serious Slop Problems
- Links for the day
- X is Dying, But Not XServer/X11. Twitter X.com is Dying.
- People or businesses or government officials (and departments) that still rely on Social Control Media are playing Russian Roulette with their future online
- Escaping Colonialism (or 'Hegemony') Requires Abandoning GAFAM, Microsoft in Particular
- Europe is already in the process of abandoning Microsoft
- Microsoft Will Shut Down More Studios This Week, Its Media Operatives Will Tell Lies About the Magnitude of the Shutdowns and Layoffs (They Always Do)
- Many people who get counted as "workforce" are "temps" or similar
- What Linux Foundation 'Research' is: Paid Marketing
- What is Linux Foundation 'Research'?
- No, IBM Does Not Care About People With Disabilities
- "Aktion T4" did not seem to bother Watson
- Microsoft's Financial Problems Mean Shutdowns, Not Just Mass Layoffs
- If the original rumour is true, then expect almost 30,000 Microsoft workers to be let go this year
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Thursday, June 26, 2025
- IRC logs for Thursday, June 26, 2025
- The Netherlands: GNU/Linux Measured at All-Time High
- Are any Dutch cities going to announce dumping Microsoft?
- Gemini Links 27/06/2025: "Interstitial Existence" and Autocorrect
- Links for the day
- EPO Examiners Point Out to the Heads of Delegations in the Administrative Council of the EPO That the "AI Policy" of the Office is Illegal
- "the Central Staff Committee (CSC) asks the Administrative Council to exert its supervisory role and instruct EPO management to enter into genuine dialogue with the staff representation on the AI Policy, to revise the “Leverage AI” target of 90% AI-automated classification in the SP2028 and to put in place the measures supported by staff in the resolution."
- Technical People Need Technical Lawyers
- Technical Litigants in Person (LIPs) have many real and concrete advantages
- 10,000+ Articles in About 20 Months (and How We Got Here)
- More bloat does not beget efficiency and "bells and whistles" tend to have a hidden cost
- French Cities Dumping Microsoft Because They Recognise Software Freedom, Open Standards, GNU/Linux Autonomy
- We hope that more French cities - maybe Paris - will follow Lyon.
- Links 26/06/2025: Illegal Kangaroo Court (UPC) Failing Scandinavia, K-Pop Agencies Abuse People
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 26/06/2025: AuraGem Twitch Proxy is Back and UI Sluggishness
- Links for the day
- LWN is a Voice of GAFAM (Through Linux Foundation, Their Front Group or Occupying Force Inside Linux)
- remember who the chief editor works for and who sponsors many of the articles
- Links 26/06/2025: Noise Pollution Considered High in Europe, Mass Layoffs Next Week in Microsoft Confirmed, Very Large in Scale and Scope
- Links for the day
- The 'Case' of the Serial Strangler From Microsoft is a Lot of Copypasta (Maybe Also LLM Slop) From the Matthew Garrett 'Case'
- 5RB deserves to know and the matter shall be properly reported in due course (when the time is right)
- EPO Squeezing the Staff - Part II - Office Breaks Rules, Ignores Courts, Defies Justice
- False promises everywhere
- No, I Don't Want Your Latest XYZ, ThankYouVeryMuch...
- Wayland is finally ready?
- China Keeps Breaking Into Microsoft Systems, So for True Sovereignty, Nations Wary of China Need to Dump Microsoft
- Looking at data from Taiwan (not China) and Maharlika (not Philippines, the king is dead and Spain is out), there are encouraging signs
- Linux Journal Wants Ads on Its LLM Slop or Ads as 'Articles'
- it's basically another BetaNews
- How to Kill a Monopoly
- in 10 simple steps
- IBM - Like Microsoft - is a Dying Company and Perishing Brand ("AI" is a Lie and Decoy)
- "Arvind is cutting costs (layoffs, PIPs, forced RTO, etc...) like crazy. IBM offices are closing all over the place in the US."
- "Code of Conduct" Invoked When Fedora and Red Hat Users (Since the 1990s) Don't Want to Use Wayland
- That is IBM "DEI"
- Mozambique: GNU/Linux Rose From 0.5% Last Year to 3% This Year
- what (or how) statCounter is measuring
- Microsoft Layoffs Next Week: About 10% to be Laid Off in Microsoft Gaming (2 Days Before Independence Day), About 20%+ of XBox Staff
- Microsoft is rapidly collapsing
- Next Month Marks 11 Years Since Our In-Depth EPO Coverage
- The same is happening to Microsoft right now
- Free Software Foundation (FSF) Campaigns Against Vista 11, Adds 4 New Associate Members Per Day
- If more people understood the underlying principles, more of them would flock to Free software overnight
- Canonical Seems to Have Culled Some Sources of LLM Slop From Planet Ubuntu
- It's like "junk food", it's not information
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, June 25, 2025
- IRC logs for Wednesday, June 25, 2025
- On "Weak Claims"
- For the record, they sent me unjustified threats, repeatedly tried injunctions (censorship)
- EPO Squeezing the Staff - Part I - Burnout and Family Health
- more exceptional circumstances
- This Month's Mail (MX) Server Survey Shows Microsoft at 0.20% "Market Share"
- We need to remind people that desktops and laptops decline (in proportion to other client devices) and at the "back end" GNU/Linux is already dominant and has long been dominant
- Links 26/06/2025: Filespooler Guide and Learning to Code
- Links for the day
- Why Techrights Cannot be Vilified (and Instead It Gets SLAPPed Repeatedly by Microsoft People)
- Attack dogs are all "bark"; because they have no actual "bite"
- Austrian GNU/Linux Usage Up to About 5% as More of Europe Abandons Microsoft
- Since inauguration day the Austrian people have adopted more and more of GNU/Linux
- Why the "Wayland People" and "Rust People" Will Lose Hearts and Minds (Same Reasons)
- Wayland pushers are fast becoming like "Rust People"
- 5,600 Pages/Articles Per Year
- So far this year we've kept all the promises
- BetaNews Beginning to Show What Its True Goals Are
- The 'new' BetaNews won't be about journalism. It's trying to sell things.
- Microsoft Has Lost "The War"
- We'll soon see the 9th or 10th wave of Microsoft layoffs in 2025 alone
- Slopwatch: A Wreck and a Dreck, "Flooding the Zone With Dreck" or Flooding the Web With Junk
- "Slopwatch" continues today because we have many new examples
- Links 25/06/2025: Thwarting More Software Patents, Overlap Grows Between EPO Corruption and Illegal Kangaroo Patent Courts in EU
- Links for the day
- Links 25/06/2025: Elon Musk’s Lawyers Caught Lying, WhatsApp Faces More Bans
- Links for the day
- Wayland Pushers Lose the Argument, Use LLM Slop and Chatbots to Make Up Arguments for IBM
- Another new low and low blow
- Brian Fagioli Created Another Slopfarm Targeting "Linux" After BetaNews Became a Slopfarm of Phantom Accounts and Pseudonyms
- Mr. Fagioli even had slop about a dead Torvalds (hypothetical) as clickbait
- Wayland is Perfect, Nobody Can Escape Its Perfection! (Or Not)
- Do not form on opinion on Wayland based on politics
- What is "MATA"?
- Think of it as GAFAM or "Meta"
- Moral Duty for "Linux Sites" to Speak Out Against LLM Slop
- My wife has long complained about "Linux bloggers" keeping quiet and thus passive about a growing problem: slop
- In Recent Hours Google News Promoted at Least 3 Slopfarms That Relayed Linux Foundation Propaganda Made by Bots or LLM "Bullshit Generators" (as Dr. Stallman Dubbed Them)
- Google is circling down the drain and Google News too is hopeless
- Linux Journal is a Slopfarm, It's Experimenting With LLM 'Authors'
- Is Slashdot next?
- WebProNews is a Slopfarm
- Please avoid linking to WebProNews
- Microsoft LinkedIn is Dying and Many More Layoffs Are on the Way
- LinkedIn is just a failed acquisition of Microsoft. It causes losses and debt.
- Gemini Links 25/06/2025: Combinatorial Music and Self Hosting
- Links for the day
- Richard Stallman Coming Back to Europe This Autumn to Give More Talks
- His last talk in Europe attracted about 400-450 people
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, June 24, 2025
- IRC logs for Tuesday, June 24, 2025
- Social Control Media, Technology & Catholicism: Synod on Synodality review and feedback
- Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
- How Many More Women Will Managers at Microsoft Strangle and Tell to Kill Themselves (or Try to Kill)?
- The world needs to know what happened
- The New BetaNews: 7 New 'Articles', All of Them LLM Slop
- BetaNews is basically defunct. Nobody writes there anymore.
- Another "Told You So!": XBox Mass Layoffs at Microsoft (Many Recent Reports Were Chaff and Spin), Many Other Divisions Affected
- With mass layoffs at Microsoft the world would be much better