Bonum Certa Men Certa

Working Document: Strategy for Tackling Tech Abuse and Our Long-term Plans

A decade
Preparing for the next decade



Summary: We're making plans for the coming decade or decades; generally speaking, we plan to write more not just about software freedom or software patents; the issue of Internet freedom (e.g. centralisation) becomes a high priority too

THIS week we commenced the drafting of this crude list of so-called 'tech' companies and what they do (for profit and to society). I put tech in scare quotes for reasons some people can guess; I'm very cynical about the direction technology has taken, not because I'm unfamiliar with tech (my degrees are in technical fields) but because I think it's overused, misused and abused. One classic example of that is voting machines; who ever said paper ballots were so problematic? Is advancement defined as "embracing tech"? Automation? Counting a few millions of ballots once in several years isn't a massive endeavour.



In any event, we're planning to present the data we've gathered more visually. There's also this Free Software timeline from FigOSDev, who meticulously prepared the Librethreat Forecast and Librethreat Database, dealing a lot with inside threats.

tuxmachines.org turns 18 one week from now, we in Techrights turn 16 later this year, and it seems increasingly likely that I will be semi-retired (part time work) some time later this summer, which means I'll be able to spend a lot more time reading and writing.

ICANN on tuxmachines.org
Yes, tuxmachines.org is really that old and we've renewed the domain until 2027



Watch this space as we'll probably have a lot to say in weeks to come.

We've repeatedly stated that the number one priority is EPO coverage. It has had a profound positive effect and we wish to keep that. But when things are relatively calm at the EPO we want to issue 3-4 batches of Daily Links, aside from detailed articles, especially commentary about the state of Free software. Last week I registered our home as a high-priority address for power supply because we're hosting Gemini and other services from home. The expectation is that I should be able to run the site, along with our associates and awesome geeks, for decades to come. If the Web is waning, that's fine. We've been about more than the Web for 2 years already and we have our own IRC network, our own Git server, and our self-signed certificates (the centralised CA model seems to be optimised for censorship in the long run).

Stay tuned for further news and updates.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Copyleft is the Way to Go (Unless You're an Unpaid Volunteer of GAFAM)
The GPL 'family' of licences is very old and those licences were last revised in 2007
statCounter's Numbers Make Sense Given Microsoft's Falling Windows/Client Revenue
There are already articles (some last week) saying that XBox should just be ended
statCounter: New Record Highs for GNU/Linux in Its Birthplace
So Microsoft is in a tough place
 
The Latest Microsoft Layoffs Are a Wake-up Call: The Company is Running Low on Money
in most areas it is not even profitable
Links 03/02/2025: Microsoft's Termination Controversy and EU Hey Hi (AI) Act Compliance Day
Links for the day
It Seems Like BetaNews is Finally Deleting Fake 'Articles' About "Linux" by LLM Slop (aka Brian Fagioli)
Is BetaNews finally taking these problems more seriously?
Gemini Links 03/02/2025: Art is Process, Smartphones, Internet, and More
Links for the day
Links 03/02/2025: USAID Under Attack, Vista 11 Breaking Itself Again
Links for the day
About 1 in 10 Laptops/Desktops in Venezuela and Cuba Uses GNU/Linux
statCounter says GNU/Linux now exceeds 10% in Cuba
At Microsoft, Promoting Back Doors, Proprietary Lock-in and Mass Surveillance Under the Guise of Diversity ("Microsoft Philanthropy Team")
Microsoft staff enters NGOs to lobby for Microsoft and sell for Microsoft
statCounter: Android Share in Operating Systems, Per Country
Towards the bottom there are poorer countries
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, February 02, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, February 02, 2025
statCounter: In Canada, New Lows for Windows and Bing is Perishing
Windows has fallen to about 60% in desktops/laptops
Yandex Has Nearly Caught Up With Microsoft Internationally, Bing Falls to Pre-LLM Hype Levels
Of course we've been saying all along that this would happen
Germany's 'Share' of GNU/Linux Rises to All-Time High Based on This Surveyor
Many public services have made the move to GNU/Linux
Microsoft Uses the Mindset of Drug Dealers and Pays 'News' Sites to Sell 'Drugs'
Microsoft pays publishers to spread the illusion that the only viable option for developers and non-developers is "drugs" like Visual Studio and Microsoft Office, respectively
Windows Going South in the "Global South" (Africa and More)
Microsoft has long been shameless about using the tactics of drug dealers
Sharp Drop for Microsoft Windows This Month, Based on statCounter
Facebook meanwhile censors GNU/Linux advocacy
3 Months Ago Lupa Saw 4,200+ Unique Gemini Capsules; Now It Sees Nearly 4,400
many bots target our capsule (129,152 Gemini requests yesterday alone)
Gemini Links 02/02/2025: Geminispace Targeted by Chatbots, Gabbro 0.1.1 Released
Links for the day
Links 02/02/2025: Website Revamps, Blogging About Blogging, and Self-Harming Tariff Wars (Higher Prices)
Links for the day
Oracle's Debt Soars to 100 Billion Dollars (12 Billion Added in Just 9 Months!) While Larry Ellison Backs Fascism for Bailouts, Graft, and "Contracts"
Including attempts to gain control of TikTok, owing to the corrupt dictator long promoted by Larry Ellison (also via Twitter takeover)
Links 02/02/2025: Union-Busting and Censorship by Executions
Links for the day
Gemini Links 02/02/2025: Limits Pushing, Free Software Absolutism, and Why Gemini Matters
Links for the day
Slopwatch: BetaNews and linuxsecurity.com Have Just Published More Fake 'Articles' About "Linux"
There's probably more "Linux" slop out there, but we do our best to identify it on a daily basis
Richard Stallman Has Another Talk in India Tomorrow, at Least Fourth India Talks in Recent Days
In the past month he has given at least half a dozen talks
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, February 01, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, February 01, 2025
Links 01/02/2025: Chinese and American Censorship, Cloud-[sic]Native Targeted by Software Patents
Links for the day
Links 01/02/2025: Belated Happy New Year 2025 and Gabbro 0.1.2
Links for the day
Hiring for Tech Roles Based on Perceived Loyalty is No Better Than Hiring to Meet Diversity Quotas
What we're seeing right now is a national security disaster and it is almost purely about technology
S.E.O. SPAM by Serial Sloppers With L.L.M. Garbage is Hurting Linux
We continue to run Slopwatch
Links 01/02/2025: Administrative Chaos and Aviation Disasters Persist
Links for the day
Arrested: Albanian Outreachy whistleblowers, Sonny Piers GNOME & Debian connections
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 1/2/2025: LLM Hype Revisited, Linuxwashing by Oumi
Links for the day
Growing Evidence That the Patent Industry Has Become a Major Scam
Seeing that the patent "industry" has turned to serious crimes (sometimes to cover up corruption) and seeing that the net negative is clearer for all to see, people who argue for abolition of all patents will have a field day
IBM Says That Half of Its "Assets" is Basically Pure Fiction ("Goodwill")
It times get tough, IBM can sell "Goodwill" at the local pawn shop and pay back the lenders, right?
Planet Ubuntu Overrun by LLM Slop? Faizul "Piju" 9M2PJU Seems to be Publishing Fake Articles About "Linux"...
Maybe it is "assisted" by LLM slop, but slop is slop and it introduces many problems
Gemini Links 01/02/2025: LLMs, Analog Computer, and BorgBackup
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, January 31, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, January 31, 2025