Links 23/3/2012: Commodore Linux, Iceland Moves to Free Software
- Dr. Roy Schestowitz
- 2012-03-23 09:21:20 UTC
- Modified: 2012-03-23 09:21:20 UTC
Contents
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Commodore USA has released the new AMIGA mini and the VIC mini, two small form factor PCs with a bit of retro styling, but very new and powerful guts
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Kernel Space
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Graphics Stack
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The Gallium3D compute infrastructure, which is the underlying work for supporting OpenCL over this open-source graphics driver architecture, is on approach for landing in the very near future. This has been one damn good day for open-source Linux graphics drivers following the earlier Nouveau surprise announcements.
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Soon, the kernel will support several AMD graphics cores that are used in recent Radeon graphics cards and in various upcoming processors. In systems with Intel graphics, using hibernation can cause memory corruption. The development of Linux 3.4 has started.
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Applications
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Instructionals/Technical
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Wine
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Desktop Environments
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K Desktop Environment/KDE SC)
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Jonathan Riddell, the KDE developer, recently announced that Canonical stopping funding the Kubuntu project and reassigning him in a new role. Looking at Canonical's focus on Unity, that's not a surprising move. I don't know how Canonical works, but looking at the new challenges they set for themselves with every release, I do think they need all the hands they can get. The result of that hard work is evident - Unity is shaping up really well.
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Have an old computer lying around that you’d like to use for some light web surfing, document editing, and other tasks? I mean like a PC with a 1999-era Intel Pentium III processor? It turns out there’s an OS for that… and it’s not Windows 98.
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In my last blog about Linux Live Environments, I mentioned REMnux, an environment specifically built for malware analysis. I'd spent a little time with REMnux when it first came out, but decided to take the latest version (3.0) for a test drive.
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New Releases
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Debian Family
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Derivatives
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Canonical/Ubuntu
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Canonical’s next long-term support release of its flagship Linux distribution, Ubuntu 12.04 is in late beta. This next release, due out on April 26th, is in beta now. I’ve been using it for several weeks now and so far, so good.
Indeed, the new Ubuntu is good enough already that I’ve it on my default Ubuntu system: a 2009-era Gateway DX4710. This PC is powered by a 2.5-GHz Intel Core 2 Quad processor and has 6GBs of RAM and an Intel GMA (Graphics Media Accelerator) 3100 for graphics. No, it’s not fast, but unlike Windows 8’s beta, you don’t need a fast computer for Ubuntu.
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From a pool of thousands, 15 photographic wallpapers have been chosen for inclusion in Ubuntu 12.04.
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With Ubuntu remaining uninterested in systemd, the Upstart init system continues to be developed. Released today was Upstart 1.5 with a few new features.
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However, while that beefed up version may be available at some point, costs and demand will likely hold it off for a while, the popular mini-computer's designer said.
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Phones
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Android
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NASA has made great efforts to get the public interested in their various projects and avenues of research using tools such as social media networks and their suite of mobile applications. Unfortunately, those applications have almost exclusively been iPhone exclusive. Of the over 20 mobile applications NASA has released, only a scant have made it over to everyone’s favorite open source mobile operating system.
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Sometimes it’s easy to forget that Android is open source and built on Linux. Fortunately for Android enthusiasts and independent developers, however, Sony has made life a little easier by releasing the open source archive for the Xperia S device. Of course, there are some catches. Read on for what this announcement means for the juncture of Android and free software.
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Sub-notebooks/Tablets
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Oracle/Java/LibreOffice
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The Document Foundation (TDF), which produces the leading open source office software suite LibreOffice, is on schedule for the release of a cloud version of its software next month.
The team released the last update to its 3.4 build on Thursday and is now focused on developing version 3.5 further, but the group is now also ready to go live for cloud services in April. That said, the team reserves the right to hold off on launch until the last few software fixes come in, TDF spokesman Italo Vignoli told The Register.
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Project Releases
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Public Services/Government
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OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE is finding favour on the Icelandic government scene with the announcement that all of its public administration organisations will adopt it.
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Iceland's push to move its public sector to open-source software has made some headway, with most of the shift seeing Windows swapped for Linux.
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Security
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Some words just seem to go together: "bread" and "butter"; "trial" and "error"; "Microsoft" and "security breach." The MS12-020 Remote Desktop Protocol vulnerability revealed last week shows once again that when it comes to data security, Microsoft is its own worst enemy and any "secure" system can be compromised.
Recent Techrights' Posts
- Censorship of Information Unflattering to IBM (or GAFAM)
- Years ago we gave a platform to a censored Microsoft whistleblower
- Silent Layoffs at Microsoft in 2026
- Time will tell is there are investigative journalists out there who will quit parroting Microsoft (e.g. false layoff figures) and relying on LLMs controlled by Microsoft to spew out false "facts" for them
- SLAPP Censorship - Part 91 Out of 200: Legal Aid in Support of Freedom of the Press and British Women (Attacked by Americans)
- bolstered by prominent counsels
- Codecs and Software Patents - Part XII - GNU's Web Site Will Soon Have Many Recent Talks by Chief GNUisance Richard Stallman (RMS)
- GNU videos being transcoded or converted into AV1
- The Fall of Slop (Even Microsoft Admits There's a Problem)
- If Microsoft admits that slop is too expensive and is for "entertainment purposes" because it cannot be relied upon, why would anyone other than the pushers and profiteers still insist that slop bears potential?
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- It's Friday Night Again, So Microsoft is Again Shelving (Under Weekend Lull) Nightmare News for XBox Staff
- It did the same thing when the chiefs of XBox got canned
- Links 29/05/2026: "Spyware Economy" and Cuba's Energy Crisis
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 29/05/2026: Rap Rant and LLMs Criticised
- Links for the day
- Akira Urushibata on Misleading Numbers From Anthropic's Project Glasswing (False Marketing by FUD Tactics)
- Posted yesterday and approved a short while ago
- [Video] Richard Stallman's Rapperswil (Switzerland) Talk Online
- accessible without proprietary software
- Trusting Trust is an Old Issue, Predating Rust and LLM Slop by Over Half a Century
- Microsoft Lunduke wants to make a case against Rust and slop (LLMs), but the issues he addresses aren't exactly new or unique
- California Should Have Abandoned So-called 'Age‑Verification Laws', Not Make Exemptions (for Now)
- This has nothing to do with 1) children 2) safety 3) safety of children
- Links 29/05/2026: Cory Doctorow on Why the Internet Feels So Broken, American Pope on Defederation
- Links for the day
- Techrights Does Not Censor Information About IBM, It Platforms and Retains Suppressed Voices From Inside IBM
- They don't like it when people criticise the management [...] panic attacks mentioned
- Bob (Robert) Cringely Devoted Three Years of His Life Trying to Profit From LLM Slop and Now He Sounds Off, It's Just Not Working and It Can Crash the Economy Soon
- "The labs raising money at valuations with too many zeros are happy"
- Techrights After About 60,000 Articles in 20 Years
- Sites fail if they don't offer anything new or if they wrongly believe that adopting slop to parrot other sites will give them exposure
- Organised Plunder or Robbery: GAFAM and Hardware Companies Rely on Media Bribery to Perpetuate False Narratives and to "Drive Sales" (and Drive Prices Upwards)
- The price-fixing seems plausible and, if so, we need to demand action
- Linux Foundation Destroys the Identity and History of Linux
- Groklaw's PJ was thorn on the side of LF sponsors
- The Problem of Microsoft Crimes
- Opposing crime isn't "hatred"
- Red Hat Will Die Inside a Dying IBM
- IBM isn't where Red Hat came to thrive but where it came to die
- Very Large Strike at the European Patent Office Today, "Production" Sank a Huge Deal
- At this pace, we might be looking at tens of thousands fewer European Patents being granted this year
- Gemini Links 29/05/2026: Leadership and Religion, the Board Game (Second Edition)
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Thursday, May 28, 2026
- IRC logs for Thursday, May 28, 2026
- Links 28/05/2026: Pakistan and Afghanistan Are Still Fighting, Iranians Back Online
- Links for the day
- "LLMs Are Not Much More Than Plagiarism Engines"
- the impact of LLMs on communities and software projects
- Is Slop Profitable Yet? No.
- Everything is a giant minus
- Bob (Robert) Cringely Has Just Explained That After 3 Years of Hard Work It Became Apparent LLM Slop is Unfit for Purpose in Courts
- Added moments ago to Daily Links
- Links 28/05/2026: LibreSSL 4.3.2, "Jeff Bezos Is Afraid Of What Comes Next", Measles Making a Comeback
- Links for the day
- PCs That Are Made to 'Expire' and 'Secure' Boot Contributing to Planned Obsolescence
- People who are responsible for this ought to be held accountable
- Evil, Faceless Corporation: Google Steals Money From You If You Don't Purchase an Android Device for MFA
- At this point, under the guise of "hey hi" (slop) Google is firing tens of thousands of workers
- People Go Back to Basics, Abandon Microsoft's GitHub to Avoid Slop
- The media didn't pay any attention to GitHub's de facto chief quitting Microsoft only a few months ago
- SLAPP Censorship - Part 90 Out of 200: When Efforts to Silence His Spouse and Also the Wife of a Blogger in Another Continent Only Give More Exposure to Embarrassing Information
- The Garrett trial ended in October 2025
- IBM - Much Like the European Patent Office (EPO) - Gives the President (Head of Board and CEO) All the Money While Staff Drowns in High Inflation Rates
- They're discussing the same sort of thing we often see mentioned in the EPO
- "THE REGISTER EXPLAINER" as "Paid-for SPAM" at The Register MS With "AI" 40 Times in the Short Page
- What will be left of The Register MS in a few years?
- 2025: EPO President Campinos Breaks the Cookie Jar, Steals Another Million Euros While His "Brother-in-Law" Does Cocaine at the Office and Staff Prepares Rolling, Indefinite Strikes
- any additional month of Campinos in charge of the EPO is a liability not just to the EPO but the EU as well
- Gemini Links 28/05/2026: Dumping Microsoft GitHub, Gopher Rabbit Hole
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, May 27, 2026
- IRC logs for Wednesday, May 27, 2026
- Links 27/05/2026: TSMC Workers Next to Consider Strikes, Ceasefire Cracking
- Links for the day
- SLAPP Censorship - Part 89 Out of 200: SRA Admits Malfunction, That's Why Transparency is Paramount
- There have been more efforts than we can to count or can enumerate (probably over 100 such efforts) to gag us and to prevent us writing about what has happened
- Our Free Software Activist in Connecticut (USA)
- We'll soon revisit the latest round of legislation on "age" (surveillance, ID)
- Links 27/05/2026: Living Without 'Smartphoones' and "Russia’s Biggest Attack on Ukraine in 18 Months"
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 27/05/2026: The USA as an "Experiment" and Some Ubuntu Manuals
- Links for the day
- [Video] Full Video of Richard Stallman's Talk in Rome
- It seems inevitable that the official GNU site will have it
- Slop is a Passing Fad, It's About Faking Productivity (Plagiarism, Misinformation, and False Positives)
- Slop is a bubble. Some people accept it later than others.
- Anderon - Like Kyndryl - Could be Far Deeper in Debt Than Its Alleged Worth (Vapourware)
- Time will tell, but it seems like a Federal-enabled (by the Federal Government) accounting scam, nothing more, nothing less
- The Media That Keeps Covering "AI" Because the Pushers of It Pay for Spam
- 23 times in the page they mention "AI"
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, May 26, 2026
- IRC logs for Tuesday, May 26, 2026
- Codecs and Software Patents - Part XI - The Stance of RMS (Dr. Stallman) Reassured GNU Regarding AV1
- cautioned against software patents since the early 90s if not earlier