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
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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.
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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
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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
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Ruby 2.1 has many improvements including speedup without severe incompatibilities.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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So by the mid-1980s, programming in schools was surging...
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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.
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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.
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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
- What We Said About Red Hat's Fate Under IBM Turned Out to be Right on the Money (That IBM Lacks)
- There are no layoffs at IBM
- At Clacton by-election Hustings Event Daniel Pocock Says "Social [Control] Media Has Contributed to Some of the Anti Social Behaviour."
- No doubt many problems in society are caused or at least amplified/accentuated by this horrible phenomenon
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- Start of September 2026 'Voluntary' Mass Layoffs at IBM, Start of October Red Hat Employees Forced Into the 'Bloodbath' (After Collapse of IBM's Shares)
- Red Hat is in trouble
- A Data Centres Hub Puts Everyone at Risk, Especially People Who Live Near Them at Times of War/s
- Spoiler: Datacentres are military targets, they attract missiles, some with nuclear warheads
- GAFAM Mass Layoffs and Mountains (Trillions of Dollars in 'Secret' or 'Off-the-Ledger') Debt
- GAFAM is having layoffs this month
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- Links 07/08/2026: "BMW Is Showing Commercials On Their Car's Dash Screens And They Want You To Think It's A Treat", Software Patents on Drones
- Links for the day
- IRC Networks Show No Signs of Going Away, IRC Enters Its 39th Year
- That IRC daemons are still actively developed and patched in summer of 2026 (over 38 years after IRC was born) says a lot about IRC's importance
- Social [Control] Media Needs to Die
- I am a bit shocked to recall that I wasted a lot of time on it
- Some Malware is Legal Because It's Made and Distributed by Politically-Connected GAFAM
- In reality, the security non-experts 'championed' (and salaried) by GAFAM are anti-security people who advocate back doors
- The GNU/Linux Anniversary is Next Month, Not This Month
- It'll turn 43
- IBM Insiders Explain Why IBM is in Very Serious Trouble
- Will IBM last long enough for any "quantum" deliverables to become a reality?
- The Register MS Took Money From Broadcom to Publish Fake 'News' With "AI" Mentioned 35 Times
- not legitimate or authentic journalism.
- GNU/Linux Approaching 20% in Georgia (the Country)
- Usage of GNU/Linux was near 0%, as measured by statCounter, several years ago
- IRC Proceedings: Thursday, August 06, 2026
- IRC logs for Thursday, August 06, 2026
- Gemini Links 07/08/2026: Radio Amateurism, Summer Updates, and Programming "Taste"
- Links for the day
- Links 06/08/2026: Billboard Chart Contaminated by Slop Plagiarists, Sheinbaum Blasts Social Control Media
- Links for the day
- A Long Break and What's Coming Next Year
- Some time next year we definitely plan to show how the EFF failed women, failed bloggers, and basically prioritised GAFAM
- Daniel Pocock on a "metre-long ballot paper"
- The Debian "cult" (as he calls them collectively) is simply jealous of him
- Links 06/08/2026: Disney and Fentanylware (TikTok) Deal, "Hearing Aids Shenanigans"
- Links for the day
- IBM Mass Layoffs Began Yesterday, They're Sold as "Voluntary", the "Offer" Runs for Two Weeks (Last Day August 19th 2026)
- IBM will self-detonate while using contractual agreements to force people to smile
- Many GNU/Linux PCs Are Not Connected to the Net or Don't Use the Web
- Saying GNU/Linux user-agents are just "bots" (Microsoft Lunduke and other Microsofters say this) is like asserting that the Twin Towers fell not because of two giant planes but because of explosives
- They Call Occupations "Professions" Because the "Pro" Means Something
- If you want to find tech news online
- New Conference Paper (Science of Cyber Security) Credits RMS With Delaying Passwords
- When it comes to passwords, RMS was "right"
- Removing Gender Barriers in Computer Science
- It is not that "women aren't good at maths"
- In Brunei, GNU/Linux Approaches International Average of 8.5%
- a sharp rise from 0% to about 7.5% happened in a few years
- 15% of IBM Staff Marked for Layoffs ("RAs"), the Workers' Objective is to Find Another Employer and Leave
- "That's not a workforce, that's a waiting room."
- Maintenance to be Completed Tonight (IPv6)
- Notice how, after 25+ years, we're still not fully adopting IPv6, we're only about 50% there
- August 2026 Microsoft Layoffs Confirmed by Staff This Week
- It's hard to assess how many are impacted but signed an NDA, preventing them from speaking about what really happened
- analytics.usa.gov Says 7% of Sessions Come From GNU/Linux and ChromeOS. If ~40% (Mobile) Get Omitted, It's More Like 11%.
- In desktops and in laptops GNU/Linux has become a big player
- IBM Cannot Survive for Much Longer, There Are Limits to RAs and Offshoring, IBM Now Asks Workers to Quit
- IBM is in very serious trouble
- SLAPP Censorship - Part 141 Out of 200: Brett Wilson LLP Failed to Learn From the Mistakes of the European Patent Office (EPO)
- my solicitor, David Allen Green, put them in their place
- Texts of the Claims From Balabhadra (Alex) Graveley and Matthew J. Garrett Almost Identical, I am Suing for Abuse of Process
- Half a decade ago Balabhadra (Alex) Graveley from Microsoft and GNOME was arrested for strangulation in Texas
- Gemini Links 06/08/2026: "Eat That Frog", Mutt Terminal Email Guide, and BASICODE
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, August 05, 2026
- IRC logs for Wednesday, August 05, 2026
- Big Announcement Tomorrow
- Stay tuned...
- GNU/Linux Seen Exceeding 10% in Antigua and Barbuda
- In Antigua And Barbuda, what's seen this month is not far from the average
- Gemini Links 05/08/2026: Family Room, Smoke, and Alarm clocks
- Links for the day
- The Establishment, Oxford, Google & Debian artificial intelligence conspiracies
- Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
- SLAPP Censorship - Part 140 Out of 200: You Become What You Eat, Your Clients Become You
- In 2024 Brett Wilson LLP failed to heed a decade-old warning
- Debian losses in Switzerland hidden until after DPL election debate
- Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
- Links 05/08/2026: Microsoft's (XBox's) "Devastating July" and "Never Write With" Slop, Says New York Times
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 05/08/2026: No to Slop, Dangers of Clown Computing, and Reducing Internet Usage
- Links for the day
- The Register MS Takes Money From NVIDIA and HP to Promote Their Ponzi Scheme, "AI", in a Fake 'Article' That Says "AI" 42 Times
- "The media"... selling us scams for profit
- Fertility app privacy, Britain's teenage pregnancies & faith based schooling
- Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
- In Chile, GNU/Linux Approaches 4%
- Let's see if it can exceed 5% by year's end
- No Room for Misogyny and Incels in Free Software
- How can we ever trust men whose own family and their own partners cannot trust?
- How to Dehumanise a Triple National
- Don't be easily incited against those who sacrifice a lot to inform the public of suppressed topics
- In El Salvador, ChromeOS and GNU/Linux Now Measured at Around 12%
- signs of gradual and steady adoption of GNU/Linux
- Software in the Public Interest (SPI) Starts Spending Big Money in an Effort to Resist Lawsuit From Daniel Pocock
- They've lost over half a million dollars in the latest 3 years
- The Establishment, Cambridge, Steve McIntyre & Debian suicide cluster
- Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
- Links 05/08/2026: Internet Archive Harmed by Slop Bot, "EBay And Former Execs Agree to Pay $56 Million For Trying to ‘Crush’ a Journalist"
- Links for the day
- Luxembourg and Software Freedom
- Luxembourg's adoption of GNU/Linux has quite consistently been higher than the European average
- The Free Software Foundation (FSF) Web Site is Online, GNU's Site Having Issues (Ongoing Issues)
- We hope they can rectify the issues with the GNU Web site
- Freedom Includes the Liberty to Disagree (and be Listened to, Not Censored)
- Freedom is our collective strength
- Tanzania: GNU/Linux Now Seen on 8% on Desktops/Laptops (User Clients)
- numbers have more than doubled
- IBM CEO Says IBM Won't be Bankrupt by 2028 or 2029 (When He Reaches Retirement Age)
- IBM has no path to survival
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, August 04, 2026
- IRC logs for Tuesday, August 04, 2026
- Gemini Links 05/08/2026: Being Good, Tildeverse and Tilde.pink, Games
- Links for the day