Bonum Certa Men Certa

Free Software Makes Life Easier, Not Harder

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Summary: Despite many fallacies and the lingering stigma, a life full of free (as in freedom) software is a much richer life, if not financially then in terms like personal contentment and personal freedom (including the freedom of expression)

AS pointed out in my personal site yesterday, last week marked 10 years at my current employer, a nighttime job that helps me pay the bills and has helped me keep this site 100% free of corporate influence. I'm lucky that my boss too is very opinionated and outspoken; when Microsoft contacted him to cause me trouble or when other mischievous attempts were made (like contacting clients) I was defended rather than berated.



"The reason for the title of this post is simple. When you're working among people who value software freedom you're more inclined/liberated to speak out, to express opinions openly."While I recognise that not every employer is like that (with "Cancel Culture" and all the key tactic is sometimes to shame or blackmail an employer to fire the employee, e.g. by doing damage to the employer in Social Control Media), I attribute a lot of that to my employer valuing both Free software and free speech. Those two things are closely connected; those who claim that they're not are typically those who go out of their way to impose "CoC" (or similar) to silence communities and 'weed out' opinionated people (not because they're sexist or racist or anything like that but because they put off corporate sponsors). Obstacles that deter corruption are exactly the sorts of obstacles the Free software community needs.

The reason for the title of this post is simple. When you're working among people who value software freedom you're more inclined/liberated to speak out, to express opinions openly. This site has nothing to do with my full-time (nighttime) job; the job just helps pay my bills and since I work from home it still leaves me with plenty of time for Techrights. I make full use of all my time and paying for food/roof is just part of that. At least I don't use proprietary software.

Easy StreetIn terms of disclosure, which I did before, our clients at work are mostly public sector (e.g. NHS, London Town Hall) and even some political activism sites. I've heard quite a few stories about Microsoft 'UK' over the years (how it undermined public sector contracts in the UK) and I'm well aware of why they wish to spy on users of Free software. They're truly a troublesome cult, not a firm per se.

In my personal experience, those who pursue a career in Free software and then go working for companies that focus on Free software (not monopolies like Google, which only pretend to care for software freedom by basically exploiting "Open Source" and barely giving anything back) will enjoy a life of freedom. It might not pay as much, but freedom has no price on it. It's a condition, not a product. Speaking of Google, yesterday Matthew Garrett told us (in IRC) that he had left Google. Friday was his last day. We've congratulated him on this decision (assuming it was his). Maybe instead of publicly bashing those who antagonise monopolies he can finally do some real activism, not a distraction from real and meaningful activism.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Nonfree Software in My Bank, by Richard Stallman
Updated 8 hours ago
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he is able to observe society (mores and norms) as somewhat of an outsider
 
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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
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Links for the day
LWN Has Been Down for a Long Time, Another Casualty of LLM Bots?
Time will tell. How much time though?
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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
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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
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Links 27/07/2025: More Microsoft Layoffs Coming, Science and Hardware News
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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
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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