Programming News Picks: Focus on Free Software
- Dr. Roy Schestowitz
- 2014-02-16 23:26:19 UTC
- Modified: 2014-02-16 23:26:19 UTC
Summary: 2014 news picks that focus on programming and development, especially of Free software or using Free software tools
Demise of Proprietary
-
HTML5 developers queried recently by tools vendor Sencha remain dedicated to building apps via Web technologies, even as doubts have been cast on how effective HTML5 is vis à vis native development. Many of those same developers, however, have dropped support for the classic Microsoft Windows platform.
Surveying 2,128 business application developers from the HTML5 development community, including users of its own tools, Sencha found that 70-plus percent of developers planned to do more with HTML5 in the 2013 timeframe than they had done the previous year. And 75 percent will work further with HTML5 in 2014. More than 60 percent of developers have migrated to HTML5 and hybrid development for primary applications. For the coming year, just 4 percent of HTML5 developers plan to cut back on HTML5.
-
I still remember IBM's provocative announcement in 2001 that it was putting $1 billion toward the development and promotion of Linux. While such billion-dollar commitments from IBM are now so routine as to be unremarkable, back then a billion dollars meant a lot. I was working for an embedded Linux vendor at the time, and most of our sales cycle was spent explaining why GPL-licensed Linux wasn't the technology equivalent of terminal cancer. (Thanks in part to Microsoft's contribution.)
Google
-
The second video features Jason Hibbets's full interview with Chris DiBona Open Source Director at Google. Find out how DiBona measures his performance, why he once called open source "brutal," and more on working for Google and the future of open source.
-
Over 280 attendees representing 177 mentoring organizations gathered for a two-day, code-munity extravaganza celebrating the conclusion of Google Summer of Code with the annual Mentor Summit held at Google in Mountain View, California.
GitHub
-
GitHub's position as the repository of choice for open source community projects is today one of dominance, most would argue.
Officially often referred to as a "web-based revision control service" (rather than simply a software code repository), this classification is an obvious nod to the site's inherent level of active community involvement as open projects are continuously developed, refined and augmented.
-
So, what’s the problem? Well, that’s simple. It seems that Fox News’ technology department –run by a motley crew of half-witted quick-study-types– failed to explain GitHub, and also disregarded both spelling and punctuation in favor of adopting what I would describe as a rogue journalistic style; a style that exists far beyond the confines of traditional English language rules. It is now with great pleasure that I flog the holy-hell out of the following screen capture in an attempt to make them cry.
-
I have an open source script for a specific site (I'm trying not to call anything by name here) that a few other developers and I recently moved to GitHub. We've been joined by several new developers since we moved to the new system, including one very active one in particular. However, this active one has started changing a lot of the project.
First of all, he deleted our versioning system (not like Git, but like that—we called it versions v4.1.16) and said it would be better to simply push the code to the site when we think it's ready. Now there's no centralized place to put release notes, which has become annoying.
-
GitHub has become the de facto repository for open source projects. So, we were excited for the opportunity to sit down with GitHub's co-founder and CIO Scott Chacon during the All Things Open Conference in Raleigh, NC.
Python
-
One year ago the Puerto Rico Python Interest Group (prPIG) was founded on one purpose; to create a sustainable user community based on software development in Puerto Rico. On February 20, 2014 we will celebrate our first anniversary with an open format meeting with lightning talks from the community.
-
Programming languages are crucial to a programmer as they boosts their productivity. Keeping in mind the fact that programmers may not be comfortable with all the coding languages around, we thought of compiling a list of programming languages set to make it big in 2014.
-
Python community, friends, fellow developers, we need to talk. On December 3rd, 2008 Python 3.0 was first released. At the time it was widely said that Python 3 adoption was going to be a long process, it was referred to as a five year process. We've just passed the five year mark.
-
In an article entitled “Python Displacing R As The Programming Language For Data Science,” MongoDB’s Matt Asay made an argument that has been circulating for some time now. As Python has steadily improved its data science credentials, from Numpy to Pandas, with even R’s dominant ggplot2 charting library having been ported, its viability as a real data science platform improves daily. More than any other language in fact, save perhaps Java, Python is rapidly becoming a lingua franca, with footholds in every technology arena from the desktop to the server.
Git
LLVM
-
It looks like there's finally going to be stable point releases of the LLVM compiler infrastructure for pushing out bug-fixes quicker, whether you're using the Clang C/C++ compiler or depending upon LLVM for your GPU driver compiler back-end.
-
It's nearly one month late but the LLVM 3.4 compiler infrastructure is now available with the updated Clang C/C++ compiler front-end, the usual LLVM sub-projects, and also some new compiler tools.
-
The release of LLVM 3.4 is imminent and with the major compiler infrastructure upgrade comes update to the Clang C/C++ compiler front-end, LLDB debugger, and other LLVM sub-projects. LLVM 3.4 is a very righteous release and in celebration of its forthcoming release, it's back into compiler benchmarking season at Phoronix.
Ruby
-
Ruby 2.1 has many improvements including speedup without severe incompatibilities.
-
The Ruby project has done a new major release on Christmas for their popular programming language. Ruby offers performance speed-ups but without severe incompatibilities, according to the release announcement.
Misc.
-
Regular readers of this column won't be surprised to hear that I love both Ruby on Rails and PostgreSQL. Rails has been my primary server-side Web development framework for about eight years, and it has managed to provide solutions for a large number of consulting and personal projects. As for PostgreSQL, I've been using it for about 15 years, and I continue to be amazed by the functionality it has gained in that time. PostgreSQL is no longer just a relational database. It's also a platform supporting the storage and retrieval of many types of data, built on a rock-solid, ACID-compliant, transactional core.
-
In the sometimes dark and mysterious world of computers, I see open source programming and community around it as a force of good. Open source sparks and kindles a connection between people that I think is hard to find elsewhere in programming. Working with open source, a programmer builds important and powerful collaboration skills. This is significant because many of us (programmers and self-proclaimed nerds) are rather antisocial. Open source programming helps us cultivate social behaviors like sharing, improved communication, and collaborating towards a common goal.
-
So by the mid-1980s, programming in schools was surging...
-
The Checkpoint-Restore Tool has reached version 1.0 as part of the CRIU project. Checkpoint/Restore In Userspace allows for users to freeze running applications and checkpoint it to the hard drive as a file and that checkpoint can then be restored to a running process later on. CRIU is different from suspend-and-resume with the Linux kernel in that this is a tool for handling individual programs and it is implemented in user-space.
-
The development team behind the Clutter software, a library for creating compelling, portable, dynamic and fast graphical user interfaces (GUI), has announced a few days ago that the second maintenance release of the stable Clutter 1.16 branch is available for download.
-
Jim Kukunas of Intel OTC published the set of 13 patches on Monday that include medium and quick deflate strategies, a faster hash function with SSE 4.2 support, PCLMULQDQ-optimized CRC folding, SSE2 hash shifting, and other changes/tuning.
Recent Techrights' Posts
- Linuxiac May Have Reverted Back to LLM Slop (Updated Same Day)
- Is he back off the wagon?
- Links 15/01/2026: Internet Blackouts, Jackboots Society in US
- Links for the day
- The Last 'Dilberts' or Some of the Last Salvaged (Comic Strips Which Disappeared Shortly After They Had Been Published)
- Around the time the creator of Dilbert went silent he published some strips mocking TikTok and usage of it
- GAFAM is a National and International Threat to Everybody
- GAFAM is just a tentacle in service of imperialism
- Don't Cry for Gaslighting Media in a Country Which Loathes the Press
- my wife and I received threats for merely writing about Americans
-
- Links 15/01/2026: Starlink Weaponised for Regime Change (by Man Who Boasted About Annexing South American Countries for Tesla's Mining), Corruption in Switzerland Uncovered by JuristGate
- Links for the day
- GAFAM and IBM Layoffs Outline
- a lot of the layoffs happen in secrecy and involve convincing people to resign, retire, relocate etc.
- Coming Soon: Impact With EPO Cocainegate
- Will Campinos survive 2026?
- The Creator of Git Probably Doesn't Know How to Install and Deploy Git
- Nobody disputes this: Mr. Torvalds created Git
- Slop is a Liability
- Slopfarms too will become extinct because people aren't interested in them
- EPO People Power - Part XXXVI - In Conclusion and Taking Things Up Another Notch
- They often say that the law won't deter or stop criminals because it's hard to enforce laws against people who reject the law
- Running Techrights is Fun, Rewarding, and Gratifying
- In Geminispace we are already quite dominant
- Red Hat is Connected to the Military, Its Chief Comes From Military Family (From Both Sides)
- The founder of Red Hat's parent company literally saluted Hitler himself (yes, a Nazi salute)
- Red Hat (IBM) is Driving Away Remaining Fedora Users
- I've not used Fedora since Moonshine
- Robert X. Cringely Has Already Explained IBM's Bullying Culture (Towards Its Own Staff)
- IBM is a fairly nasty company
- Proton Mail compromise, Hannah Natanson (Washington Post) police raid & Debian
- Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, January 14, 2026
- IRC logs for Wednesday, January 14, 2026
- Gemini Links 15/01/2026: "Ode to elinks", envs.net Pubnix and Downtime at geminiprotocol.net
- Links for the day
- Still Condoning Child Labour and Exploiting Unpaid Children Developers as PR Props (to Raise Monopoly Money)
- These people lack morals. So they project.
- "Security, AI or Quantum" on "the IBM Titanic"
- Who's RMS?
- Hours Ago The Register MS Published Microsoft Windows SPAM "Sponsored by Intel." The Fake 'Article' Says "AI" 34 Times.
- The Register MS isn't a serious online newspaper
- EPO People Power - Part XXXV - Where Else Will Corruption and Substance Abuse be Tolerated?
- We need to raise standards
- Status and Capital
- People who do a lot are too busy to boast about it and wear fancy garments
- IBM Paying the Price for Treating Workers Badly and Discarding Real Talent (Because It's "Expensive")
- IBM is dead man walking
- Turbulence Ahead
- I last rebooted my laptop in 2023
- Google News Rewards Plagiarism With LLMs (About Linux, Too)
- Google is in the slop business now
- Links 14/01/2026: Failing Economy and Conquest Abroad as a Distraction From Domestic Woes
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 14/01/2026: The Ephemerality of Our Digital Lives and "Summer of Upgrades"
- Links for the day
- Projection Tactics - Part III: Silencing Inconvenient Voices Online
- If X gets banned in the UK, it'll be hard to see what the spouse says in public
- Outsourcing on Microsoft's Agenda, Offshoring Also
- "In some cases, India hiring is poised to replace certain roles previously based in the U.S."
- Links 13/01/2026: 'Dilbert' creator Scott Adams Passes Away With Cancer, Ban on X/Twitter Considered for CSAM Profiteering
- Links for the day
- The Goal is Software Freedom for All
- Anything to do with "Linux Foundation" is timewasting
- Reminder That Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Is Not Free, And It's Because of IBM
- software freedom just 'gets in the way'
- Under IBM, in Order to Game the Stock Market, Red Hat Resorted to Boosting the Biggest Ponzi Scheme in Human History
- This is what IBM turned Red Hat into
- Revision handed Microsoft the keys to the distortion of the past/history
- This isn't the first time The Register MS rewrites computing history in Microsoft's favour, as we pointed out several times in past years
- What Will Happen to GAFAM After the US Defaults Rather Than Bails Out the Market?
- Or tries to topple every government that doesn't play by its rules?
- EPO People Power - Part XXXIV - Bad Optics for the European Union (for Failing to Act and Tolerating Cocaine Use in Europe's Second-Largest Institution)
- There are principles in laws which tie awareness with complicity
- EPO's Central Staff Committee is Now Redacting (Self-Censoring) Due to Threats From the EPO "Mafia"
- "On the agenda: salary adjustment procedure for 2025 (as of January 2026)"
- "AI" (Slop) 'Demand' Isn't Growing, It's Fake, It's a Pyramid Scheme
- They try to resort to 'creative' accounting (fraudulent schemes like circular financing)
- Difficult Times at IBM and Microsoft Ahead of Mass Layoffs (Probably Before This Month's Results Unless Postponed to 'Prove' Rumours 'Wrong')
- IBM and Microsoft used to be tech giants. Nowadays they mostly pretend by pumping up their stock and buying back their own shares.
- Canonical: Make Ubuntu Bloated (Debian With Snaps), Then Sell the 'Debloated' Version for a Fee
- If people want a light distro, then they ought not pay Canonical but instead choose a light (by design) GNU/Linux distro
- People Don't Want "Just Enough", They'll Look for Quality
- That's why slopfarms will go away or become inactive
- Gemini Links 14/01/2026: 3D and Tiny Traffic Lights Pack
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, January 13, 2026
- IRC logs for Tuesday, January 13, 2026
- Slop Waning Whilst Originals Perish
- Slop is way past its "prime"
- XBox's 'Major Nelson' Loses His Job Again, This Time in a Microsoft Mono Pusher
- Microsoft hasn't much of a future in gaming. XBox's business is in rapid decline and people who push Mono to game developers are the same
- Links 13/01/2026: Russia Weaponises Weather Against Civilians, Beijing-Controlled HK Attacks Legal Team of Besieged Critics
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 13/01/2026: Loss of Desire to Produce, Individual Consumption
- Links for the day
- Shobhit Varshney From IBM Pushing Slop at Large Bank, Another McDonald's Waiting to Happen?
- How long can they get away with phony narratives like "replaced by AI"?
- Links 13/01/2026: Ubisoft Layoffs, "India IT In Shambles", and Microsoft Chatbot Killing People
- Links for the day
- IBM is Not a Leftist Company, the "I" Stands for Imperialism, and Poo Floats to the Top
- Remember that AK is military from both sides of his family
- Links 13/01/2026: More Mass Layoffs in GAFAM, Catching Up With Political News of Early January
- Links for the day
- Freedom of Speech in the UK (or Freedom of the Press/Expression) and Protection From Adversaries
- undressing people without consent and in very bad taste is not "speech"
- Ending the Status Quo at the European Patent Office (EPO) This Year
- Things will continue to get worse as long as the "Digital Majority" stays silent and/or passive
- Greenland Ought to Move to GNU/Linux, Not Apple
- GNU/Linux at 4%
- So When Will British Politicians, Police, Government Departments Quit Twitter (X.com)?
- They sure bring constituents there (by being there)
- If You Care About Freedom, Don't Follow IBM Red Hat (Like Microsoft Novell 20 Years Ago)
- IBM Red Hat and Microsoft don't seem to compete
- IBM Red Hat Does Not Compete With Microsoft, It's a Microsoft Reseller
- even if employees of Red Hat dislike and distrust Microsoft
- Red Hat Layoffs, Even of "AI" Staff in India
- This is how companies die
- LLM Slop Isn't Replacing Online News, It's Just a Pest That's Gradually Going Away as Money for Slop Runs Out
- Slop likes to talk about itself (like some kind of 'web-cancer')
- Not Journalism: Almost 80% of the 'Articles' We Saw About Torvalds and 'Vibe Coding' Are LLM Slop (Sometimes Slop Images)
- The real issue is, Torvalds who created Git as a solution to proprietary prison is entertaining Microsoft's own proprietary prison
- EPO People Power - Part XXXIII - Interest From Some European Media, For a Change
- Without it, we'll become another Russian Federation
- Just Another Reminder That Microsoft Didn't Deny Mass Layoffs
- Remember that Microsoft never denied this
- GNU/Linux Measured at 6% in Réunion This Year
- Population sizes like a million people are nothing to sneeze at
- Dr. Andy Farnell on Marketing Bad Things Like Slop Using FOMO (Fear of "Being Left Behind")
- many of the same themes we often cover here
- IBM Stock Compared to Bitcoin, Fake Articles About IBM Promote Myths About IBM
- The stock moves based on false marketing
- Bluewashing Continues, Red Hat Onboarding Interns in Low-Paid Regions
- It's the end of the second Monday of 2026
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Monday, January 12, 2026
- IRC logs for Monday, January 12, 2026
- Gemini Links 13/01/2026: ScottoRang and Outage
- Links for the day