Bonum Certa Men Certa

Links 12/07/2022: Microsoft/Lenovo Against GNU/Linux, Network Security Toolkit (NST) Has New Release



  • GNU/Linux

    • Desktop/Laptop

      • DaemonFC (Ryan Farmer)Matthew Garrett makes noise about Lenovo attacking GNU/Linux six years after accusing me of “spewing nonsense” for taking action against Lenovo. – BaronHK's Rants

        In 2016, I filed an antitrust complaint against Lenovo with the state government of Illinois, which opened an investigation. I believe I still have most of the documents about that. They entered into a settlement agreement with me in which they agreed to release “non-official” firmware that was “Linux-compatible” and arrange to knock it off on their future laptops, in exchange for me dropping my complaint.

        Yet here we are in 2022, and I suppose they haven’t technically violated that agreement, however, as you can still run the firmware in a non-default configuration in two ways to get GNU/Linux to load on an affected system. Apparently, there’s an option to re-enable the 3rd party Microsoft key in the UEFI setup, or you can just go in there and turn Secure Boot to “Disabled”.

        Linux boots either way on my Lenovo ThinkBook 15 ITL Gen2, which was Ubuntu certified (I am currently writing this in Fedora 36 and pleased as punch with the way my computer is operating.), but I turned off “Secure Boot”. There have been numerous issues with it, since it was designed by shitheads and implemented clumsily on GNU/Linux by another one who even got a Free Software Award for doing so, but when it is off you don’t run into any problems with it and you don’t have to figure out how to administer it and what to do when an OS fucks up something called a “dbx” that I don’t even want to read about.

        The whole system sucks. It is over-designed and full of bugs, and even assuming the user had any meaningful and straightforward way of controlling it that was guaranteed to be there (they don’t), more points of failure can only cause more breakdowns in any system.

        We’ve seen cases where people just left “Secure” Boot on because that’s what OEMs and people like Garrett recommend to do, and if they boot this OS or that OS in the wrong order, or load Windows, then their other operating systems can become quite unusable without going in there and resetting everything to factory settings and turning it off anyway.

        “Secure” Boot is a disaster waiting for a time and place to happen if you leave it on and for most users, especially ones that use competently designed operating systems, it brings nothing good to the table.

        I’m just crazy and want my computer to load what I tell it to.

        And I’m not even the first one to notice Lenovo and their insane defaults, btw.

        In 2012(?), Mr. Garrett himself blogged on whatever he was using back then that there was a Lenovo laptop that only booted if the boot manager was called “Windows” or “Red Hat Enterprise Linux”, and I don’t think they ever fixed that.

    • Applications

      • DaemonFC (Ryan Farmer)NewsWaffle on Gemini: A better way to read the news. – BaronHK's Rants

        NewsWaffle is a site in Geminispace that relays major news Web sites into a Gemini browser, such as my favorite, Lagrange. (Which I have installed on Fedora GNU/Linux from Flatpak.)

        The Gemini protocol doesn’t do much of anything that you can’t do already on the Web, if you want to use a subset of Web functionality.

        However, the point of constraining Gemini is to prevent people from being tempted to abuse sites in the direction in which the Web started to go in the mid to late 90s when browser vendor wars erupted, and ridiculous Web technologies and “incompatibility as a feature” arose, and companies started to find fundamentally inefficient and insecure technologies such as JavaScript easy to use in order to spy on the users and make their computer spend time doing things that they did not want it to do.

        Modern Web sites have gotten so grotesque that when you load their articles through Gemini using NewsWaffle, you can see the comparison between the HTML junk that it parsed, and the text that it cached and sent along to you. Oftentimes, just the HTML, not the style sheets, videos, JavaScript, or images, is 100 times larger than the Gemtext.

    • Instructionals/Technical

      • Linux HintSELinux on Ubuntu Tutorial

        One way to enhance your Linux system’s security is by adding an extra security layer using SELinux. With Security-Enhanced Linux (SELinux), the applications on your Linux systems get isolated from each other, protecting your host system. By default, Ubuntu uses the AppArmor, a Mandatory Access Control system which enhances the security, but you can use the SELinux to achieve the same.

        SELinux is beneficial, and in case of a security breach on your system, it prevents the spread of the breach to protect your system. Moreover, the tool protects the web servers depending on the mode you set for the SELinux. This guide offers a hands-on tutorial on how to disable the AppArmor, install the SELinux, enable the different modes, and disable SELinux.

      • Linux HintHow to Convert Image to PDF on Linux Command Line

        Often, you may need to convert or add the images to the PDF files, especially if you have an application and you want the users to download the images as PDF files.

        There are different online tools that convert the images to PDF. But security is always a concern, and you can’t trust these online sites with your data. The best method is to convert the images on your machine. Linux offers various command-line utilities to aid you with that. The two common tools are Img2PDF and ImageMagick.

      • LinuxTechiHow to Install and Configure HAProxy on RHEL 9

        In this guide, we will demonstrate how to install and configure HAProxy on RHEL 9 with Apache HTTP Server step by step.

        HAProxy stands for High Availability Proxy. It is an opensource and high-performance TCP/HTTP load balancer and reverse proxy for web applications. It works by distributing traffic across multiple backend web servers using a specified algorithm to prevent an application from being flooded by requests.

        Top websites that use HAProxy in their software stacks include Twitter, Reddit, Tumblr and Stack Overflow.

      • UNIX CopHow to Install PHP 7.X in CentOS 9 Stream

        CentOS 9 Stream incorporates many applications and packages with recent versions. This is generally good because it allows us to take advantage of the new features they incorporate. However, there are times when we have to install previous versions of components such as PHP. So, in this post, you will learn how to install PHP 7.x on CentOS 9 Stream.

        PHP is a web-oriented programming language. On CentOS 9 Stream version 8.1 is available, but there are times when we need an earlier version. In this sense, PHP 7.x still has some way to go, and many web applications require it.

      • Linux Shell TipsHow to Add a User to Multiple Linux Groups

        As a Linux administrator or growing Linux user, you will come across plenty of sysadmin routines that seem general yet are a must-have skill. Once such routine/skill relates to user and group administration. Such skill is important in Linux user account management where permissions (access controls) and audits are enforced by a privileged system user.

        This article will help us understand the implementation of the Linux sysadmin role related to adding a Linux user to multiple Linux groups. Therefore, to be fluent in this article guide’s walk-through, we will also need to briefly touch on user management and group management as separate modules in Linux user and group administration.

      • Barry KaulerRestore traditional direct writes to drive

        EasyOS 4.0 introduced running the session in RAM, specifically ZRAM, which is compressed RAM. This meant that the top read-write layer of the aufs layered filesystem is in RAM, which eliminates writes to the physical drive until specifically perform a session-save. It also has a speed advantage. And a security advantage.

        However, the traditional pre-4.0 behaviour, direct writing to the working-partition, can be reverted to. If you have a good quality SSD, you will probably find it will last "forever" anyway. I have been using "reasonable quality" flash sticks for years, without failure. But then, not on a continuous basis, as I my regular daily startup is a frugal install in a HDD.

  • Distributions and Operating Systems

  • Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

    • Licensing / Legal

      • The Register UKEven robots have the right to learn from open source [Ed: That's not learning, that's plagiarising]

        If the soap opera of Microsoft's relationship with open source had a theme tune, it'd be "The Long and Winding Goad".

        To a company whose entire existence depended on market control, open source's radical freedoms were an existential, cancerous threat. In return, open source was only too happy to play the upstart punk movement to Microsoft's bloated prog rock.

        In the end, both sides accepted the inevitable. Redmond wasn't going to control the cloud and mobile the way it controlled business IT, and the cloud and mobile loved open source. Interoperability was more profitable than insults. For its part, open source was, well, open. It couldn't stop Microsoft's newfound friendliness so wary acceptance became the new world order.

    • Programming/Development

  • Leftovers

  • Gemini* and Gopher

    • Personal

      • Ferrari surprisingly strong in Austria

        Strategy in motor racing can be weird. Normally you want to be in front, and you time your pit stops and make your tyre choices to avoid your rival getting ahead. But this weekend in Austria, Ferrari were happy to give Leclerc a strategy that involved passing Verstappen three times. He made the passes, and won the race, despite a throttle pedal that in the last few laps stayed on when he lifted his foot. His team mate Sainz should have been second but his engine blew and his car caught fire. "No! No! No!" he said, understandably.

      • Mushroom Growing Guide: BRF Cake Recipe & PF TEK

        Heres a post for anyone interested in mushroom growing. This document is my personal notes on making brown rice flour (BRF) cakes and using the Pf Tek procedure to fruit.

      • [Living] Hikes

        A big 'ol list of the hikes I've done, with a quick description/review for each, updated as I do more hikes.

      • Dream IX
      • Finally Settled In



        Of course, last night, I tested positive for COVID again, so that kind of marrs the whole thing, but I'll get over it, lol.

    • Politics

      • hayden white

        going to try to make this page for notes about deconstructionist historian hayden white i think. white is my new pet fixation so i want to have a home for his ideas as i understand them.

    • Technical

      • Programming

        • zshbrev

          zshbrev allows you to mix zsh code and brev code. Not for polished li’l “eggs” but for your own duct tape and chewing gum hacking and automation. Quick and dirty.


* Gemini (Primer) links can be opened using Gemini software. It's like the World Wide Web but a lot lighter.



Recent Techrights' Posts

In Norway, Android/Linux Has Just Hit All-Time High (First Time Since 2020), GNU/Linux Already Very Prevalent
Despite its small population size, Norway gave us Qt and many other things
Microsoft's Mass Layoffs Very Wide-Ranging, Media Focused on Gaming Though Microsoft Mass-Firing Lawyers and "AI" Staff (Contradicting Its Supposed "Investment" in "AI")
Microsoft plans to fire almost half a thousand people in legal roles
2012 Article About the Free Software Foundation Blasting Canonical/Ubuntu Over Adoption of "Secure" Boot (Microsoft's Remote Control Over GNU/Linux Since PCs' Power-on)
By Katherine Noyes (article has since then became 404, not found)
Debian Can Dump Blind Users Because I am Not Blind
the sort of mentality we're up against
The European Patent Office Cannot Attract Proficient Patent Examiners Who Master Their Domain
They are enablers and facilitators of corruption
 
Gemini Links 19/07/2025: "Climate Justice” and Forking Programs
Links for the day
What Wayland and Microsoft/IBM systemd Have in Common
focus on what IBM (Red Hat) is pushing while running over critics.
Linux Already Has About 60% of the "Market"
"When mentioning the client side," opines an associate, "it is essential to recite the list of other markets where Microsoft is negligible or a no-show. It is repetitive to do so, but it needs saying -- often."
Finland (and NATO) Must Move to GNU/Linux and Dump Microsoft Even Faster
"Microsoft is not a technology problem, it is a staffing problem."
The Microsofters We Sued Helped Microsoft Make GNU/Linux 'Expire' This Year
"Linux and Secure Boot certificate expiration"
linuxconfig.org Joins linuxtechlab.com and Others, Becomes a Slopfarm With Fake Linux 'Articles' (LLM Slop)
They contain "linux" in their domain names, but they are just slopfarms
Links 19/07/2025: Microsoft Cuts in China and Wall Street Journal Sued for Reporting on Jeffrey Epstein
Links for the day
Fascistic Policies Got 'Normalised' in 'Public Office'. Let's Not Let the Same Happen in 'Tech'.
Political discourse typically guides what's "normal" and what "good citizens" should believe/feel
Yes, Your Mastodon Instance Will Also Shut Down
Few people run a one-person instance in the Fediverse
The Demise of GAFAM Necessitates Greater and Broader Awareness
Morale at Microsoft is really bad
Free Software Foundation Reaches 75% of Funding Goal
Not bad for this "Fosschild"
Slopwatch: 7 New Examples of Fake 'Linux' Slop Pieces (Plagiarism With Misinformation)
Serial Sloppers need to be shunned
Links 19/07/2025: Kapo-berg Settles, Software Patents Challenged
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 18, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, July 18, 2025
Links 18/07/2025: Peace With PKK and Connie Francis Dies
Links for the day
Gemini Links 18/07/2025: Alhena 5.1.8 and Bornhack 2025
Links for the day
How to Top Up a "Limited Liability" With Even More Limitations (Dodging Accountability in the UK)
Some people call it a "shell game". Sometimes it's done for tax evasion purposes.
Free Software Foundation, Inc. (FSF) Inches Towards 75% of Fund-Raising Target
Will the cutoff date be extended again?
Gemini Space (or Geminispace) Grows, But Usage of Certificate Authority Let's Encrypt Drops Further
Ideally, all Gemini capsules should use self-signed certificates
Links 18/07/2025: More Microsoft Layoffs in Activision, The New Stack (Sponsored by Microsoft) Complains About Openwashing
Links for the day
Gemini Links 18/07/2025: OCC25 Gnus for Reading Usenet and RSS Feeds, Small Web Updates
Links for the day
[Meme] 9AM Meeting at Brett Wilson LLP
Brett Wilson LLP in space
Listing as Staff People Who Left the Company More Than Six Years Earlier
There are apparently no laws against that
Brian Fagioli Shovels Up LLM Slop (Plagiarism) Onto Slashdot, Then Uses Slashdot for Affirmation or as Badge of Honour
Notice how some of his latest slop is presented ("as featured on Slashdot")
Social Control Media Productivity
Snapping photos of the bone
The Law Firm SLAPPing Us For the Microsofters Lost 72% of Its Tangible Assets in the Past Year, According to Its Own Reports
That might help explain why they're willing to tolerate serial stranglers from Microsoft as clients
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity.com Slopfarm and Slopfarms Propped Up by Google News
"As LLM slop is foisted onto the WWW in place of knowledge and real content, it now gets ingested and processed by other LLMs, creating a sort of ouroboros of crap."
Links 18/07/2025: Weather Events and Health Hazards
Links for the day
Microsoft's All-Time Low in Finland
Microsoft is in a freefall
Security: Shane Wegner & Debian statement of incompetence
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 17, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, July 17, 2025
Gemini Links 17/07/2025: "Goodreads for Gemini" and Defence of "The Small Web"
Links for the day
Links 17/07/2025: Anger and Morale Issues at Microsoft, Wars and Conflicts Get Digital
Links for the day
CALEA / CALEA2 is the Real Problem, Not Chinese Operatives Exploiting CALEA / CALEA2 (as Any Other Nation Can)
CALEA / CALEA2 is more of a front door than a back door
99.99% Uptime in First Half of 2025
Since January there was only one noticeable outage
Nils Torvalds and Anna "Mikke" Torvalds (née Törnqvis) Hopefully Use GNU/Linux by Now
"Torvalds Family Uses Windows, Not Linus’ Linux"
Attack of the Slopfarms
FUD-amplifying bots with slop images, slop text (LLM slop)
When People Call a Best/Close Friend of Bill Gates a "Serial Rapist"
Good thing that the Linux Foundation keeps the "Linux" trademark ("Linux Mark") clean
Not My Problem, I Don't Care
Context/inspiration: Martin Niemöller
Honest Journalism About the European Patent Office Ceased to Exist After SLAPPs and Bribes to the Media
The EPO is basically a Mafia
Microsoft Bankruptcy in Russia, Shutdown in Pakistan, What Next?
It seems possible that in 2025 alone Microsoft will have laid off over 50,000 workers
Life Became Simpler When I Stopped Driving and I Don't Miss Driving When I See "Modern" Cars
Gee, wonder why car sales have plummeted...
Why I Believe Brett Wilson LLP and Its Microsoft Clients Are All Toast
So far our legal strategy has worked perfectly
EPO Jobs Are Very Toxic and Bad for One's Health
Health first, not monopolies
Response to Ryo Suwito Regarding the Four Freedoms
the point of life isn't to make more money
Microsoft's Morale Circling Down the Drain
Or gutter, toilet etc.
What Matters More Than "Market Share"
The goal is freedom, not "market share"
Tech Used to be Fun. To Many of Us It's Still Fun.
You can just watch it from afar and make fun of it all
Links 17/07/2025: "Blog Identity Crisis" and Openwashing by Nvidia
Links for the day
Greffiers and the US Attorney of the Serial Strangler From Microsoft
The lawsuit can help expose extensive corruption in the American court system as well
Credit Suisse collapse obfuscated Parreaux, Thiébaud & Partners scandal
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
The People Who Promoted systemd in Debian Also Promote Wayland
This is not politics
UK Media Under Threat: Cannot Report on Data Breach, Cannot Report on Microsoft Staff Strangling Women
The story of super injunction (in the British media this week, years late)
Victims of the Serial Strangler From Microsoft, Alex Balabhadra Graveley, Wanted to Sue Him But Lacked the Funds (He Attacked Their Finances)
Having spoken to victims of the Serial Strangler From Microsoft
Links 17/07/2025: Science, Hardware, and Censorship
Links for the day
Gemini Links 17/07/2025: Staying in the "Small Web" and Back on ICQ
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, July 16, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, July 16, 2025