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Links 24/11/2021: Rust Crisis and Team UPC Still Faking 'Progress'



  • GNU/Linux

    • Audiocasts/Shows

      • A Look at WordPress 5.9

        WordPress 5.9 is expected to be a ground-breaking release. It will introduce the next generation of themes with Twenty Twenty-Two joining the fun and over 30 theme blocks to build all parts of your site. In anticipation of the January 25th release, we hope you enjoy this sneak peek of 5.9.

        New design tools will allow you to create exactly what you want, from adding filters to all your images to fine-tuning the border radius on all your buttons. With WordPress 5.9 providing more design control along with streamlined access to patterns, you can easily change the entire look and feel of your site without switching themes.

      • Zenith: Like Htop But With Zoomable Graphs? - Invidious

        It's been a while since we last looked at an htop clone but there's shortage of them, this is zenith is like htop but also with zoomable graphs. At the time of recording the Github made no indication of the GPU graph only being available on Nvidia cards, I recorded this about 2 months ago and in that time nothing major has changed.

      • Linux Command-Line Tips & Tricks: Over 15 Examples! - Invidious

        The number of command combinations you can come up with on the Linux command-line is seemingly endless, and there are some real gems out there that you might not know about. In this video, Jay goes over some of his favorite command combos, time-saving tricks, and other various tips he wish he learned sooner.

    • Kernel Space

      • Linux Prepares For Next-Gen AMD CPUs With Up To 12 CCDs - Phoronix

        The latest Linux kernel patches confirm that next-gen AMD Zen processors are capable of featuring up to twelve CCDs.

        Currently the k10temp Linux driver for temperature monitoring of AMD processors can handle up to eight core-complex dies (CCDs) while next-gen AMD Zen processors will have configurations up to 12 CCDs to accommodate higher core counts.

        The latest Linux patches explicitly say, "The newer AMD Family 19h Models 10h-1Fh and A0h-AFh can support up to 12 CCDs. Update the driver to read up to 12 CCDs."

      • Graphics Stack

        • Vulkan 1.2.200 Released With Two New Extensions - Phoronix

          Out today is Vulkan 1.2.200 as the newest spec revision to the Vulkan graphics/compute API.

          With Vulkan 1.2.200 is the usual assortment of clarifications and corrections to this leading cross-platform graphics API. But besides that usual documentation churn, there are also two new extensions: VK_ARM_rasterization_order_attachment_access and VK_EXT_depth_clip_control.

    • Instructionals/Technical

      • How to install Python 3.11 on Fedora 35 – NextGenTips

        In this tutorial, we are going to learn how to install Python 3.11 on Fedora 35.

        Python programming language is an interpreted high-level general-purpose programming language. Its design philosophy emphasizes code readability with its use of significant code indentation.

        We can begin by installing a python 3 interpreter on our system. This is a program that reads Python programs and carries out their instructions, you need it before you can begin python programming.

      • How to install and configure MongoDB 5 on Ubuntu 20.04

        In this guide we are going to learn how to install MongoDB 5.0 Community Edition on an Ubuntu 20.04 server.

        MongoDB is a cross-platform document-oriented NoSQL database program that uses JSON-like documents with optional schemas. MongoDB is developed by MongoDB Inc. and licensed under the Server Side Public License.

        MongoDB was built for people building internet and business applications who need to evolve quickly and scale elegantly. Companies and development teams of all sizes use MongoDB for a wide variety of reasons.

        Instead of storing data in tables of rows or columns like SQL databases, each record in a MongoDB database is a document described in BSON, a binary representation of the data. Applications can then retrieve this information in a JSON format.

      • How to install and set up Jenkins in FreeBSD 13

        In this Guide we are going to learn how to install and configure Jenkins in a FreeBSD 13 Server.

        Jenkins is a popular opensource automation tool to perform continuous integration and build automation. Jenkins allows to execute a predefined list of steps, e.g. to compile golang source code to build build binary file. The trigger for this execution can be time or event based.

      • How to watermark a UTF-8 plain text file

        Watermarking plain text isn't easy. Plain text files don't have headers (or magic numbers), and although you can insert invisible control characters, those characters may get revealed by text editors and word processors.

      • How To Install Wireguard on Debian 11 - idroot

        In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Wireguard on Debian 11. For those of you who didn’t know, Wireguard is one of the well-known and a great open-source VPN solutions. Wireguard aims for better performance and more power than IPsec and OpenVPN. Wireguard protocol passes traffic over UDP.

        This article assumes you have at least basic knowledge of Linux, know how to use the shell, and most importantly, you host your site on your own VPS. The installation is quite simple and assumes you are running in the root account, if not you may need to add ‘sudo‘ to the commands to get root privileges. I will show you through the step-by-step installation of the Wireguard VPN server on a Debian 11 (Bullseye).

      • How to play Fable Anniversary on Linux

        Fable Anniversary is a remaster for Fable: The Lost Chapters by Lion Head Studios and Microsoft Game Studios. The remake was released on Steam in 2014, and there is no plan for a Linux release. However, with a few tweaks, you can get the game working on Linux.

      • How to install the Elementary OS desktop on Arch Linux

        Elementary OS is a great operating system with a beautiful desktop environment. Unfortunately, Elementary OS’s desktop is attached to Ubuntu. While Ubuntu is a decent operating system, it’s not as versatile as Arch Linux.

        If you love Arch Linux and want to use the Elementary OS desktop environment, you can. The Pantheon desktop is now in the official Arch Linux repos and can be installed. Here’s how to get it working on your system.

      • Really lossy compression of JPEG

        Suppose you have a tool that archives images, or scientific data, and it has a test suite. It would be good to collect sample files for the test suite, but they are often so big one can't really bloat the repository with them.

        But does the test suite need everything that is in those files? Not necesarily. For example, if one's testing code that reads EXIF metadata, one doesn't care about what is in the image.

        That technique works extemely well. I can take GRIB files that are several megabytes in size, zero out their data payload, and get nice 1Kb samples for the test suite.

      • LibreOffice Releases User Guides for Impress and Calc 7.2 - FOSS Force

        LibreOffice, the open source office productivity suite, announced on Tuesday the release of new user guides for two components of LibreOffice 7.2.

        Available now for free download are Impress Guide 7.2, for the suite’s slide presentation component (similar to PowerPoint), and Calc Guide 7.2, for LibreOffice’s spreadsheet component. A guide is already available for LibreOffice Writer 7.2, as well as a 7.2 Getting Started guide.

        These are remarkably complete guides, with the smallest (Impress) weighing in at 372 pages and the largest (Calc) containing 547 pages.

      • Jolla/Sailfish OS: Developing our Developer Docs

        From a technical perspective Jolla has for a long time operated a three-pillar strategy; those pillars being Sailfish OS, Android App Support and our Developer Offering. If you watched Sami’s recent presentation at the ten year celebrations in Berlin, you’ll have seen the last of these highlighted as one of our unique assets: a “World-Class Developer Experience”.

      • How to install Balena Etcher on Debian 11 Bullseye - Linux Shout

        Tutorial to install and run Balena Etcher on Debian 11 Bullseye Linux using command line terminal (repository) or portable AppImage.

        Etcher, an open-source tool to write ISO/Image files on a USB stick or SD card. It is available to run for all mainstream OS such as Linux, Windows, and macOS. Furthermore, in addition to the installer version, Windows also has a portable Etcher version that can be used without installation

        Using this program to write image files to removable media. It supports various image formats are * .iso , * .img , * .bin and also packed variants. The program also recognizes whether the image is bootable. Optionally, the successful write process can also be compared with the image file in order to identify damaged data carriers.

      • The Calc Guide 7.2 is at the Station!

        This 548 pages guide is for beginner to advanced users of Calc, the spreadsheet component of LibreOffice. You may be new to spreadsheet software, or you may be familiar with another program, this book covers the main features of Calc. The new Calc guide has been updated from Calc Guide 7.1. It covers changes that are visible in the user interface, including the new Search Commands tool, the global toolbar lock, details of the properties dialog, improvements in the Status and Sidebar, new menu entries, standard filter dialog and new cross-shaped cursor.

        The book also introduced contents on user interface variants, AutoInput tool, the Find toolbar, the Paste Special dialog, the AutoFilter tool, template dialogs, QR code generation, multi-column feature for text boxes, updates on the Solver, Print, PDF and Certificate dialogs, as well as External data tool for HTML tables, updates on the Scriptforge library and the new built-in UNO object inspector.

      • How and When to Update openSUSE Tumbleweed | Blathering – CubicleNate's Techpad

        I am often asked how often and when I update my openSUSE Tumbleweed machines. There are lots of opinions out there and many of them might be more right than my own, but my method has been reliable for my uses for about four years and counting. I run openSUSE Tumbleweed and openSUSE Leap on various machines using multiple architectures and I am quite confident that my methods are sound. Ultimately, the frequency you update has to work with you, your use cases and your network limitations. It should also be noted, when doing an “update” in Tumbleweed, it is a full on Distribution Upgrade, not just the updating of packages as you would perform on an openSUSE Leap machine. I am using “Update” in the most general term possible. I had must consternation over this title, as a consequence of knowing the difference between update and distribution-upgrade.

        It is generally considered best to keep your system as up to date as possible, at all times to prevent nefarious actors from gaining access to your system and your data. I also realize that this is not always practical and as such have been noodling around what kind of frequency once should do their updates. This is a question I receive rather frequently and decided that I am going to blather a bit about how and when to update while including some of the difficulties I have experienced over the year.

      • Using SlickStack to Install WordPress Automatically on Ubuntu 20.04 - ByteXD

        SlickStack is essentially a collection of scripts for quickly and easily installing WordPress, with Nginx1 as a web server, on Ubuntu LTS.

        It aims at making it easier for users to deploy lightweight, fast and secure WordPress websites, and guides users and helps them secure their server during the installation process.

        This is especially useful for new users who just need to painlessly setup a fast and secure WordPress website on a cheap Ubuntu server, which can be cheaper and faster than paying for shared hosting. These servers usually cost $5-$10.

        The philosophy of SlickStack can be found towards the end of their main page at slickstack.io. That, along with the fact that the developer is very experienced in web hosting and passionate about the project, are the factors that I think make SlickStack worth considering for your projects.

        The developer is very helpful and frequently asks for feedback regarding the direction of SlickStack, so they can improve. This is very important, because if you adopt a software for your long term project, you want to know that software will stay up-to-date, will get new features, and will patch any potential vulnerabilities.

        In this article we’ll go over how to use SlickStack to install WordPress on a server running Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, as well as give you a basic overview of some of its options. We won’t be able to cover all of its options, however, so be sure to check their Github and slickstack.io for more in-depth info.

    • Games

      • Crusader Kings III: Royal Court releases February 8, 2022 | GamingOnLinux

        With the Crusader Kings III: Royal Court expansion, would-be monarchs will have new ways to manage courts, build nations, and display the prestige of their dynasty for everyone in the realm to see. It's now set to release on February 8, 2022.

        This is the first major expansion for the game, that has gone on to receive a very warm reception from players both new and old with it seeing now over 42,000 user reviews on Steam with a Very Positive rating. We enjoyed it a lot here too, so we're also very much looking forward to this!

    • Desktop Environments/WMs

      • K Desktop Environment/KDE SC/Qt

        • Linux history: KDE and Gnome vie for the Linux desktop [Ed: Automated translation from German]

          As with so many open source projects, it all starts with a Usenet posting. In it, the Tübingen computer science student Matthias Ettrich announced a new project on October 14, 1996: the “Kool Desktop Environment (KDE)”. He is looking for comrades-in-arms in the Usenet group de.comp.os.linux.misc: Ettrich describes in detail the inadequacies of previous Unix user interfaces and has specific ideas about what needs to change. The name KDE is based on the Common Desktop Environment (CDE), which was common in the commercial Unix environment at the time. CDE is on the one hand too expensive for Ettrich, on the other hand he finds the Motif program library used for the surfaces terrible.

          One of the first to get involved in the new project is the Hamburg-based software developer Kalle Dalheimer, who is employed by Star Division: “Part of my work was also following the development of graphical interfaces under Linux. That was when Matthias Ettrich’s posting appeared.” In retrospect, Dalheimer describes his motivation to be there as a mix of ideology and selfishness. He didn’t want to use Windows on principle, but Dalheimer saw no future for Unix and Linux systems with the existing brittle graphical interfaces.

    • Distributions

      • New Releases

        • Grandma will be thankful when you install deepin Linux 20.3 on her PC this Thanksgiving

          This Thursday is one of my favorite holidays -- Thanksgiving! While I will absolutely fill my (large) belly with turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, and other traditional foods, I will be sure to celebrate the true nature of the day as well -- being thankful. This year, I am thankful for my health, my family, and of course... Linux!

          Yup, folks, we should all be thankful that many wonderful Linux distributions exist, making it possible for people to enjoy truly free and open source software. One of the prettiest Linux-based operating systems is deepin. Today, version 20.3 of the Debian-based operating system becomes available for download, meaning you can install it on your Grandma's computer after eating her yummy cooking. What better way to thank your Thanksgiving host than replacing Windows with Linux for them? Forget dual-booting. She will be so pleasantly surprised when she turns on the computer!

          "In deepin 20.3, the Stable kernel is upgraded to version 5.15 with better compatibility, system security vulnerabilities are fixed, some deepin applications come with new features and optimizations to meet the needs under different scenarios, and DDE issues are fixed and optimized to improve the overall user experience. The Stable kernel is upgraded to version 5.15 with better support for Intel 12th Gen processors and NTFS file systems, and better system compatibility. Both LTS and Stable kernels can be installed and manually upgraded in deepin," explains the developers.

      • Screenshots/Screencasts

      • IBM/Red Hat/Fedora

        • 253: Keepin IT RHEL with Red Hat's Scott McCarty - Destination Linux

          This week’s episode of Destination Linux, we are speaking with Scott McCarty of Red Hat about their latest RHEL innovations. Then we talk a little Dungeons & Dragons with a callout to the community to get a D&DLN live session going. Plus we’ve also got our famous tips, tricks and software picks. All of this and so much more this week on Destination Linux. So whether you’re brand new to Linux and open source or a guru of sudo. This is the podcast for you.

        • Scott McCarty: What is open core? [Ed: Proprietary software disguised as “open”, i.e. #openwashing]

          What is open core? Is a project open core, or is a business open core? That's debatable. Like open source, some view it as a development model, others view it as a business model. As a product manager, I view it more in the context of value creation and value capture.

        • Deep dive into application integration with our TCS partner – IBM Developer

          Integrating and connecting your various applications with the right data across multiple clouds can be a daunting task. IBM Cloud Pak for Integration is an enterprise-ready, containerized software solution containing all the tools you need to integrate and connect application components and data within and between clouds. These tools include application integration, API integration, enterprise messaging and event streaming.

          Earlier this year, I collaborated with Santhosh Ramanathan, a Cloud Pak for Integration (CP4I) Consultant from TCS, to develop an entire series on all the significant features of CP4I for the Partner Developer Success Program. TCS, a leading global IT services, consulting, and business solution organization, has been an incredible partner with IBM. This program was built with a focus on educating the developer community through partner collaboration. We decided to work together to break our series into three significant parts. Here is how it went:

    • Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

      • Web Browsers

        • Mozilla

          • Firefox Brings The Fire: Shifting From GLX To EGL | Hackaday

            You may (or may not) have heard that Firefox is moving from GLX to EGL for the Linux graphics stack. It’s an indicator of which way the tides are moving in the software world. Let’s look at what it means, why it matters, and why it’s cool.

            A graphics stack is a complex system with many layers. But on Linux, there needs to be an interface between something like OpenGL and a windowing system like X11. X11 provides a fundamental framework for drawing and moving windows around a display, capturing user input, and determining focus, but little else. An X11 server is just a program that manages all the windows (clients). Each window in X11 is considered a client. A client connects to the server over a Unix process socket or the internet.

            OpenGL focuses on what to draw within the confines of the screen space given by the window system. GLX (which stands for OpenGL Extension to the X window system) was originally developed by Silicon Graphics. It has changed over the years, gaining hardware acceleration support and DRI (Direct Rendering Interface). DRI is a way for OpenGL to talk directly to the graphical hardware if the server and the client are on the same computer. At its core, GLX provides OpenGL functions to X11, adds to the X protocol by allowing 3d rendering commands to be sent, and an extension that reads rendering commands and passes them to OpenGL.

          • Do you run Void on your Power Mac?

            If so, heads up, because builds for your configuration may be ending soon (along with Void PPC on big-endian platforms generally). If you want this to continue, and you've got the interest, chops or gumption, you can help by becoming a maintainer -- take a look at the Void PPC Github. Most of you are probably running the glibc variant, which will end by January 2023, but if you are running musl-based packages those repos will be taken down by the end of 2021. Don't whine to the maintainer, please: the current matrix is four different repos which all require their own maintenance and builds. Even just 32-bit glibc would probably benefit a whole lot of people and yourself. If this is important to you, there's no time like the present to step up.

      • Funding

        • Software Freedom Conservancy donors challenged with largest match yet - Software Freedom Conservancy

          Donations will be matched (up to $159,191) thanks almost entirely to contributions by a few very generous anonymous donors. Contributions by individuals keep Software Freedom Conservancy afloat, and it's with your help that we are empowered to do the vital and sometimes overlooked work in software freedom. We also have some gracious donors who brought the amount up a little more to the prime number you see above: Chris Neugebauer and Josh Simmons, Mark Galassi, Stephen Paul Weber, Tony Sebro, and VM Brasseur are contributing to our match fund and encourage others to give as well.

      • FSFE

        • FSFE Calls for 'Device Neutrality' in EU's Proposed 'Digital Markets Act' - FOSS Force

          In a press release issued Monday ahead of a planned preliminary vote on the EU’s proposed Digital Markets act by the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee, the Free Software Foundation Europe called for device neutrality to be included in the proposed law.

          The German-based FSFE is a sister organization to the Free Software Foundation, although the two are legally and financially separate entities

          “On the imminent voting of the Digital Markets Act – the latest EU proposal on internet platform regulation – the FSFE demands device neutrality as a fundamental element for safeguarding consumer protection in open, fair, and contestable digital markets,” the FSFE said in its statement.

      • Programming/Development

        • Use symbolic constants instead of magic numerical constants – EasyHack

          There are many situations that you need to use numerical constants in your code. If you use numerical literal values directly instead of symbolic constants, it can cause problems. For example, consider this piece of code that calculate area of a circle:

          double area = 3.14 * r * r;

          This is not OK, because:

          1. The value of π is not 3.14 nor 3.141592. π is an irrational number, and the suitable value depends on the number of decimal places that you can/want to use among unlimited decimals of π.

          2. Suppose that you want to change the numerical literal to increase the number of decimals that you use. You should search for 3.14, and check one by one to see if it is actually π, or it is another 3.14 unrelated to the well-known mathematical constant.

        • Rust

          • Entire Rust moderation team resigns ● The Register

            The Rust language community is in disarray following the resignation of the entire moderation team, citing the "structural unaccountability" of the core development team.

            The moderation team, represented by Andrew Gallant, posted its resignation to GitHub yesterday, stating that it was "done in protest of the Core Team placing themselves unaccountable to anyone but themselves."

            Therefore, the post goes on to explain, "we have been unable to enforce the Rust Code of Conduct [CoC] to the standards the community expects of us."

  • Leftovers

    • Hardware

      • Significantly Improved Egg Timer Makes Pictionary Better | Hackaday

        The traditional sand timer, known colloquially as an egg timer, served its purpose well over the centuries since its development. However, [MakerPaul] realised it had some significant flaws that were ruining Pictionary, and set out to fix the problem.

        If you’re not looking directly at an egg timer, it’s easy to miss the moment when the timer runs out. Resetting the timer before it runs out also requires waiting for the sand to filter to one side. Clearly the world needs a better mousetrap.

        The tipping timer from [MakerPaul] solves both those issues. In this design, sand flows down into an offset area, which tips the device over when reaching a certain time limit. Additionally, turning the device upside down and then rotating it instantly reloads the sand, meaning the timer can be reused immediately.

      • Charging Phones With The Power Of Paper Pulp | Hackaday

        Here it is, the most exciting reveal since the Hackaday Prize ceremony — [Eric Strebel] uses the pulp mold he designed and built over the three previous videos. In case you missed our coverage so far, [Eric] set out to design an eco-friendly wireless charger that’s meant to be disposable after six months to a year of use, and looks good doing it.

        [Eric] started by cutting up a lot of cardboard and pulping it in a brand-new Oster blender that honestly looks to be pretty heavy duty. Pulping consists of blending the cardboard bits with water until a soupy chili-like consistency is reached. That blender lasted all of 20 minutes before breaking, so [Eric] promptly replaced it with a Ninja, which was way more up to the challenge of cardboard.

    • Integrity/Availability

      • Proprietary

        • Security

          • Imunify360 Flaw Can Lead to Code Execution [Ed: Security should never be an "addon"; it should be a design trait]

            There is a vulnerability in some versions of the Imunify360 web server security platform that can allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code in some specific circumstances.

            The vulnerability is a PHP deserialization issue and it exists in versions 5.8 and 5.9 of Imunify360, a product designed to detect malware and other security issues on web-hosting servers. Researchers at Cisco Talos discovered the vulnerability, which is in the Ai-Bolit functionality of the product. The researchers found that an attacker can exploit it in a couple of different ways.

          • Guarding against DCSync attacks

            Gaining access to domain admin credentials is part of the endgame in many sophisticated attacks where threat actors are trying to maintain persistence. One of the ways that adversaries accomplish this is through DCSync attacks.

          • Attackers Will Flock to Crypto Wallets, Linux in 2022: Podcast [Ed: They now post "SPONSORED CONTENT" attacking the security credibility of Linux]
          • Addressing CPAN vulnerabilities related to checksums

            This blog post addresses checksum and signature verification vulnerabilities affecting CPAN, the cpan client, and the cpanm client, which were published in a security advisory on 23rd November 2021. If you're not aware of this topic, you might like to start by reading the advisory. This post gives a high-level description of the issues, what has been done to address them, what is still left to do, and what you should do. If you have any questions on this, you can add comments here, or email the PAUSE admins (modules at perl dot org).

            Before we dig into the details, we'll first give an overview of how the relevant parts of the CPAN ecosystem work.



          • Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt/Fear-mongering/Dramatisation

            • WhiteSource Adds SBOM Tool That Lists Vulnerabilities [Ed: WhiteSource is almost a de facto Microsoft proxy [1, 2, 3]]

              WhiteSource has added a software bill of materials (SBOM) tool to its portfolio that, in addition to capturing the components of an application, also surfaces vulnerabilities that should be addressed.

          • Privacy/Surveillance

            • Apple to NSO: sue you

              Today, Apple filed a lawsuit in California against Israeli spyware company NSO Group for allegedly facilitating surveillance of Apple users. Access Now applauds Apple in taking a bold stand against surveillance tech used to facilitate human rights abuses.

    • Transparency/Investigative Reporting

    • AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

      • Another voter fraud accusation blows up in Republicans' faces

        The mysterious case of Rosemarie Hartle's vote in the last presidential election, three years after her death, was trumpeted in November 2020 by the Nevada Republican Party and various prominent conservatives. From then-President Donald Trump on down, Republicans used stories about phony votes cast under the names of dead people as key evidence for their claim that Joe Biden's victory was marred by major fraud.

        The Hartle mystery is now solved. And it turns out that the fraud was committed by a Republican.

        Hartle was married to Las Vegas businessman Donald Kirk Hartle, a registered Republican. In November 2020, Hartle told Las Vegas television station 8 News Now (KLAS-TV) that he felt "disbelief" when he found out that a mail-in ballot was submitted in his late wife's name. It was "pretty sickening," he said at the time, adding that he didn't know how it could've happened.

    • Civil Rights/Policing

      • Interpol Election Raises Fears About Authoritarian Influence

        TIINA JAUHIAINEN KNOWS the reach of the United Arab Emirates firsthand. In 2018, Jauhiainen helped her friend and skydiving partner Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed al-Maktoum escape the country after accusing her father, the ruler of Dubai, of restricting her basic freedoms and locking up her sister. Jauhiainen and Sheikha Latifa fled the UAE on Jet Skis and boarded a yacht, but they were captured by Indian commandos in international waters and sent back to the UAE, where Sheikha Latifa was returned to her family and Jauhiainen was detained for a few weeks.

        Months later, back in her native Finland, Jauhiainen applied for a visa to Australia, where she wanted to visit a friend. Australia rejected her application, stating that she was the target of a criminal investigation. She later learned that she was named in a “red notice” requested by the UAE and issued by international policing agency Interpol — and only after a lawyer intervened did she get the notice rescinded. “It just shows how easily they can abuse the system,” Jauhiainen told The Intercept.

        Now Jauhiainen and others who have been detained in the UAE are watching Interpol’s upcoming election with concern. Ahmed Naser al-Raisi, a senior official with the UAE’s Interior Ministry who oversees security forces and detentions, is running for president of the organization. Al-Raisi’s fate will be decided at a meeting of Interpol’s General Assembly in Istanbul next week, and human rights advocates have been waging a campaign to stop him and a Chinese official who is also running for office.

      • It’s the University of Austin Against Everyone — Including Itself - POLITICO
      • Justin Bieber called on to cancel Saudi Arabia concert by slain journalist's fiancée

        The fiancée of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi wrote an open letter published by the Washington Post calling for Justin Bieber to cancel his upcoming concert in Saudi Arabia.

        "That's why I am writing to you with a plea: Cancel your Dec. 5 performance in Saudi Arabia," Hatice Cengiz wrote Saturday. "This is a unique opportunity to send a powerful message to the world that your name and talent will not be used to restore the reputation of a regime that kills its critics."

        Bieber is set to headline at Saudi Arabia's Formula One Race in December, joined by artists such as ASAP Rocky, David Guetta and Jason Derulo in Jeddah's inaugural Grand Prix.

        Cengiz urged Bieber to remember he is performing on an invitation from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman himself.

        "Nothing of significance happens in Saudi Arabia without his consent, and certainly not an event as important and flashy as this," Cengiz wrote. "Your face is even featured on the event's website with his — the executioner of my fiance, Jamal."

    • Monopolies

      • Patents

        • Bill for Austria to ratify UPC Agreement’s PPA continues to progress in parliament [Ed: Team UPC wants us to think that Austria miraculously replaces the UK, in complete violation of the Vienna Convention. They've lied all along so why stop now?]

          In its plenary session on Friday 19 November, Austria’s National Council unanimously approved the draft legislation enabling Austria to ratify the Protocol on the Provisional Application (PPA) of the Unified Patent Court Agreement (UPCA) (report, recording). The National Council’s approval followed the unanimous approval and report of its Committee on Research, Innovation and Digitisation. The bill has now passed to the Federal Council and was assigned yesterday to its Committee on Innovation, Technology and the Future. If the Federal Council raises no objections, the final steps to promulgation of the law are authentication by the Federal President, countersignature by the Federal Chancellor, and publication in the Federal Law Gazette.

      • Copyrights

        • The EU Copyright Directive’s Neighboring Rights for Press Publishers: A work in progress

          Italy and Spain are latest in the line of European countries to adopt the European Union’s Directive on Copyright. The EU finalized the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market in 2019 with the objective of ensuring “fairer remuneration for creators and rightsholders, press publishers and journalists, in particular when their works are (re)used online.” The Copyright Directive has been the subject of much debate, with Article 17’s requirement of prior authorization for uploading copyright protected content responsible for the bulk of the controversy. However, another section of the Copyright Directive that has garnered substantial attention is Article 15, which creates “neighboring rights” for press publishers for the online use of their publications. According to the World Intellectual property Organization (WIPO), ‘neighboring rights’ or ‘related rights’ are ancillary to copyright, and essentially enable press publishers to exclusively authorize or prohibit the use, reproduction, indexing or aggregation of their content, while ensuring that the legal and financial interests of persons and entities that have contributed to making the work available to the public (such as the original author) remain protected.



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[Meme] How to Kill Unions (Staff on Shoestring Budget Cannot Afford Lawyers)
What next for the EPO? "Gig economy"?
The EPO's Staff Union (SUEPO) Takes Legal Action to Rectify the Decrease in Wages (Lessening of Purchasing Power)
here is what the union published
Gemini Links 24/12/2024: Deedum Gemini Client Gets Colour Support, Advent of Code 2024
Links for the day
Microsoft Windows Slides to New Lows in Colombia
Now Windows is at an all-time low
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, December 23, 2024
IRC logs for Monday, December 23, 2024
A Strong and Positive Closing for the Year's Last Week
In a lot of ways this year was a good one for Free software
Feels Too Warm for Christmas
Christmas is here, no snow in sight
Links 23/12/2024: 'Negative Time' and US Arms Taiwan Again
Links for the day
Links 23/12/2024: The Book of Uncommon Beings, Squirrels, and Slop Ruining Workplaces
Links for the day
Links 23/12/2024: North Korean Death Toll in Russia at ~1,100, Oligarch Who Illegally Migrated/Stayed (Musk) Shuts Down US Government
Links for the day
The World's 'Richest Country' Chooses GNU/Linux
This has gone on for quite some time
Richard Stallman on Love
Richard Stallman's personal website includes a section that lists three essays on the subject of love
Apple's LLM Slop Told Us Luigi Mangione Had Shot Himself, BetaNews Used LLMs to Talk About a Dead Linus Torvalds
They can blame it on some bot
Microsoft, Give Me LLM Slop About "Linux" and "Santa", I Need Some Fake Article...
BetaNews is basically an LLM slop site
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, December 22, 2024
IRC logs for Sunday, December 22, 2024
Technology: rights or responsibilities? - Part XI
By Dr. Andy Farnell
GNU/Linux and ChromeOS in Qatar Reach 4%, an All-Time High
Qatar has money to spend, but not much of it will be spent on Microsoft, or so one can hope
Links 22/12/2024: Election Rants and More Sites Available via Gemini
Links for the day
Links 22/12/2024: North Pole Moving and Debian's Joey Hess Goes Solar
Links for the day
This 'Article' About "Linux Malware" is a Fake Article, It's LLM Slop (Likely Spewed Out by Microsoft Chatbot)
They're drowning out the Web
Early Retirement Age: Linus Torvalds Turns 55 Next Week
Now he's almost eligible for retirement in certain European countries
Gemini Links 22/12/2024: Solstice and IDEs
Links for the day
BetaNews: Microsoft Slop is Your "Latest Technology News"
Paid-for garbage disguised as "journalism"
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, December 21, 2024
IRC logs for Saturday, December 21, 2024