Bonum Certa Men Certa

Techrights Plans for 2014

Summary: As 2013 (nearly) comes to an end we look back at this year, reflecting and looking ahead at the coming years

2013 was a relatively slow year for Techrights, mostly for personal reasons and nothing related to the volume of news. In recent months there has been only scarce coverage of patent issues; this was due to lack of time but also a sense of despair. Allowing corporate influence in this area has taken us nowhere but fake 'reforms' which make elimination of software patents in the United States too distant a dream. The same thing in copyright policy motivated people like Professor Lessig (of Creative Commons fame) to 'guerilla' activism and sometimes suicide (Swartz). Lessig, a friend of Swartz, turns his attention to political corruption and next month he and many others will march in protest against such corruption. Without some political action we cannot expect good technology to be triumphant. It's sad, but that's how the world works.



As noted yesterday, 2013 was good for GNU/Linux and the future holds promise. In terms of journalism, however, 2013 was very bad. Putting aside the important leaks about the NSA (which served us well for the second part of the year), surveillance put an end to the excellent site Groklaw while several other excellent sites, including The H, pretty much died for financial reasons. By now it should be realised that unless we as readers support the sites we like they are likely to simply vanish or produce less output (I now work full time elsewhere and my wife does too). A few months ago Tux Machines was put on sale because the personal affairs of its founder threatened to put an end to it; my wife and I put our savings together to acquire and to keep running it. Now that site is very much focused on GNU/Linux and to a lesser degree on Free software in general. Here in Techrights things are getting more political, usually in a way that directly relates to technology. We oughtn't shy away from politics. Good (as in benign, benevolent and technically better) policy will be imperative for progress. Without it, corruption like bribes (i.e. money) will determine who benefits from government contracts.

For quite a few years it has been possible for me to produce a daily (sometimes bi-daily) summary of links, informing readers of important news and sub-categorising it for easier absorption. I can no longer do this. It's too much. A lot of readers appreciated it, but it's no longer sustainable. Instead I occasionally post articles with relevant recent news appended and bits of commentary throughout. In 2014 it will stay the same unless readers have suggestions. Until a couple of years ago I was able to work on Techrights as though it was a full-time job (with salary of zero). Right now, if the goal is to keep the site going and always with both eyes on the ball, then cooperation is needed, e.g. contribution of articles, help in IRC (dropping links there can help), and even financial help. Of course one could turn rogue and serve privacy-infringing (remotely-hosted) ads -- even full-page ads like Phoronix does -- but that would defeat our goals and rightly make us look like hypocrites.

Techrights -- like today's Tux Machines (I've removed the ads from there) -- is viewed as a public service. It's not a business and not a job. It was never perceived that way. To help Techrights or Tux Machines is not to help some kind of business; it's to help a cause, an idea, a process.

In 2014 we are going to release quite a few new videos that I recorded with Dr. Richard Stallman. These would already have been released if I had more time to edit. For those who wonder about TechBytes (audio), editing takes a long time (especially with music segments, as the rest is raw and unedited) and there are other issues because Tim, my co-host, may soon be moving to the United States. The show began in 2010 and in its current form it's mostly centred around Richard Stallman, a person whom we agree with on many subjects.

As always, those who can financially support the site (to motivate more output) will be eternally remembered because currently there have been no more than half a dozen people who chose to do so. The sacrifice of time is ideologically driven, not business-driven. Techrights will never be anything resembling a business, just a site that gives readers what they want.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Someone Should Remind Microsoft Lunduke That Microsoft Hires Many Sexual Criminals and Pedophiles as Well
Microsoft Lunduke on an "expedition" to find one or more perverts, then generalise to everyone in the "community"
Cash Machines (ATMs) Make Mistakes and They're Proprietary Software
Correcting mistakes is a colossal challenge
Yes, Microsoft is the Problem
"I am no MS shill."
Another Failed Use Case for Chatbots (LLM): Legal Advice and Analysis
They're just some self-discrediting toy that costs way too much to operate
Nonfree Software in My Bank, by Richard Stallman
Updated 8 hours ago
 
Links 29/07/2025: Data Brokers Gone Wrong/Rogue and "Copyright Thicket"
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Linuxconfig.org, Linuxsecurity.com, Fagioli, The Register
Today's "Slopwatch" isn't the first article about LLM slop
We Cover Topics Other Sites Are Too Afraid to Cover (Even When They Know the Facts)
It's not that they doubt the truth, they just realise there may be consequences for talking about it
They Try to Tell Us the Free Software Foundation Inc is Dying, But Its Revenue Doubled Since the Dot-Com Bubble Burst
Being in "Activism" is never easy; but it does positive things for society
It's About the Cost of Workers, Not the Fictional Skills Shortage (That Does Not Exist, the Media Spreads False and Sometimes Self-Fulfilling Narratives)
This issue isn't limited to computing, some dub it "globalism"
Links 29/07/2025: More Pushbacks Against Slop and More Praises of Tom Lehrer
Links for the day
Gemini Links 29/07/2025: Purple Yarrow and Understanding Op Amps
Links for the day
This Monday WebProNews Absolutely Flooded the Web With Fake (LLM Slop) 'Articles' About "Linux", Google News Promoted Them as Legitimate
All of the following are fake articles attributed to pseudonyms or authors that don't exist; the images are also slop. Why does Google promote these?
Linuxiac is Not a Slopfarm, But at Least Some of Its Articles Are Machine-Generated Fakes
what we said about it was correct
Expect More Microsoft Layoffs
"Are more job cuts coming?"
Microsoft Behaving Like It's Running Out of Money to Pay Salaries
Does that seem like the behaviour expected from a company which claims it is "worth" trillions?
LWN Downtime Due to Linode, Not LLM Bots
"I’ve received an email letting me know that there is a potential for data loss."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, July 28, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, July 28, 2025
Links 28/07/2025: Science, Health, and Conflicts
Links for the day
Gemini Links 28/07/2025: Healthy Self-Image With Autism and a "New Life"
Links for the day
Links 28/07/2025: COVID-19 Sped up Brain Aging, "Circumvention is More Popular Than Compliance"
Links for the day
Richard Stallman is Usually Right Because He Thinks "Outside the Box"
he is able to observe society (mores and norms) as somewhat of an outsider
LWN Has Been Down for a Long Time, Another Casualty of LLM Bots?
Time will tell. How much time though?
Slopfarms Versus 'Linux' (and Against People Who Write Real Articles About GNU/Linux)
LLM slop in slopfarms by Brian Fagioli and Redazione RHC
Gemini Links 28/07/2025: Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray and Running pkgsrc in a FreeBSD Jail
Links for the day
Microsoft Turns News Sites Into Spamfarms
Is the site The Register MS the next IDG?
The Register MS/The Register US
On Saturday I contacted them for a comment (before issuing criticism)
Hacking revelations at Vatican Jubilee of Digital Missionaries
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, July 27, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, July 27, 2025
The Week to Come
Planning ahead
LLM Slop Has Only Been a Boon for Misinformation Online
The very same companies that were supposed to maintain quality (again, not limited to Google with PageRank) are now actively participating in generating and spreading slop
When They Tell You It's Free, Does That Mean No Charges (If So, Who's Paying and Why)?
there's "no free lunch"
We're Going to Focus Less on the Molotov Cocktail-Throwing Microsofters and More on Patents
We can get back to focusing on what we wanted to focus on all along
Just Trying to Keep Web Sites Honest (Journalistic Integrity)
the latest articles in LinuxIac are real
Links 27/07/2025: Political Affairs, Data Breaches, Attacks on Freedom of the Press
Links for the day
Gemini Links 27/07/2025: Hot in Japan and Terminal Escape Codes
Links for the day
Links 27/07/2025: More Microsoft Layoffs Coming, Science and Hardware News
Links for the day
Links 27/07/2025: FSF Hackathon and "Hulk Hogan Was a Very Bad Man"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 27/07/2025: DAW Mixer Chains and Simple Software
Links for the day
The Register MS is Inventing or Giving Air Time to New Conspiracy Theories so as to Distort the Narrative As High-Profile Agencies Fall Prey to Microsoft Holes
But the problem is holes, i.e. Microsoft making bad products; the problem is Microsoft
Most Editors at The Register Are American, Including the Editor in Chief, a Decade-Long Microsoft Stenographer (Writing Prose to Sell Microsoft)
It's not easy to tell where the site is based (we tried) because it's hiding behind ClownFlare and CrimeFlare hasn't been well lately
Pushers of systemd Rewrite History (Richard Stallman Said UNIX "Was Portable and Seemed Fairly Clean")
Unlike systemd
"New Techrights" Soon Turns 2 (A Few Days Before the FSF Turns 40)
We have a lot more to say about LLM bots
When Silence Says So Much
Garrett, a 'secure' boot pusher, will need to defend himself in the UK High Court
The Register in Trouble
There is not much that can be done at this point
Trajectory of The Register: From News Site/s Into "B2B"... and Into Microsoft Salespeople
Something isn't right at The Register
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 26, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 26, 2025
Misinformation in Social Control Media
Social control media passes around all sorts of tropes
Slopwatch: Fake Linux 'Articles' and Slopfarms With "Linux" in Their Names/Domains
throwing bots at "Linux" to make some fake articles