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Links 13/07/2022: Rust Losing More People



  • GNU/Linux

    • Desktop/Laptop

      • The Register UKSlimbook updates Linux laptop ranges ● The Register

        Another vendor has refreshed its Linux laptop lineup for the summer, and some of the new models look strangely familiar.

        Last week we covered the new Pulse G2 laptop from Germany's Tuxedo Computers. Close behind it are new models from several other vendors of Linux laptops with very similar specs.

        In an unusual move that provides the FOSS project with additional funding, the KDE organization sells hardware under its own brand. A notable example is the KDE Slimbook, and it just launched two fourth-generation models of the Slimbook IV.

        The specs of the Slimbook IV are much like those of the Tuxedo Pulse G2: AMD Ryzen 7 5700U CPUs, with eight cores and 16 threads. The CPU clock speed varies between 1.8GHz and 4.3GHz according to load, and there's 8MB of cache. The onboard Vega8 GPU runs at up to 1.9GHz.

        The machines have two DDR4 SODIMM slots, and can take up to 64GB of 3,200MHz memory, and also have two M.2 slots for up to 4TB of NVMe storage. They have both onboard Gigabit Ethernet and Wi-Fi 6 for a maximum speed of 2.4Gb/s, plus Bluetooth 5.2.

    • Server

      • The Hidden Cost of Fixing Your Kubernetes Clusters

        While the adoption of Kubernetes to speed software development has become a recipe for success in the containerized world, many organizations working to streamline and optimize their processes are encountering a major issue—namely, a heavy cost for repairs. When defects and other code issues occur without a cost-awareness and savings plan in place, the price of Kubernetes ownership can go through the roof. The good news is, cost optimization in Kubernetes boils down to two key words—proper configuration.

    • Graphics Stack

      • 9to5LinuxDXVK 1.10.2 Brings Fixes for Dead Space, Myst V, Godfather, and Many Other Games

        DXVK 1.10.2 fixes bugs and crashes in many video games, including Beyond Good and Evil, Dead Space, Myst V, Day Z, Dirt Rally, Godfather, Limbo, Return of Reckoning, Scrapland Remastered, and Planetary Annihilation: TITANS.

        The Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Majesty 2, Onechanbara Z2: Chaos, Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare 2, Small Radios Big Televisions, Sonic Adventure 2, Supreme Commander, and SpellForce Platinum Edition video games also received improvements.

      • Low-resolution-Z on Adreno GPUs - Danylo’s blog

        Now, a year later, I returned to this feature to make some important improvements, for nitty-gritty details you could dive into Mesa MR#16251 “tu: Overhaul LRZ, implement on-GPU dir tracking and LRZ fast-clear”. There I implemented on-GPU LRZ direction tracking, LRZ reuse between renderpasses, and fast-clear of LRZ.

        In this post I want to give a practical advice, based on things I learnt while reverse-engineering this feature, on how to help driver to enable LRZ. Some of it could be self-evident, some is already written in the official docs, and some cannot be found there. It should be applicable for Vulkan, GLES, and likely for Direct3D.

    • Instructionals/Technical

      • Its FOSS9 Rather Unknown Ways of Using Neofetch in Linux - It's FOSS

        Neofetch is a simple command-line tool that displays an ASCII logo of the distribution along with a few system information in the terminal. It looks beautiful and you can easily show which distribution, desktop environment, and themes you are using when you share the screenshots of your desktop in various Linux communities.

      • OSTechNixEnable Nested Virtualization In Proxmox VE - OSTechNix

        Proxmox is my preferred hypervisor to deploy various containers and VMs. Sometimes, I want to create a VM inside another VM. Meaning - I just want to host a guest hypervisor(i.e VM) in my physical Proxmox hypervisor. Have you ever wondered how to setup a guest hypervisor in a host hypervisor? In this guide, I will show you how to enable nested virtualization in Proxmox VE and then enable VT-X in the guest hypervisor.

      • How to perform CRUD functionalities in Django Rest Framework – NextGenTips

        An API (Application Programming Interface) is a set of rules shared by a particular service. These rules determine in which format and with which command set your application can access the service, as well as what data this service can return in the response. It acts as a layer between your application and external service.

        REST API (Representational state transfer) is an API that uses HTTPS requests for communication with web services. From the python site, the REST API can be viewed as a data source located on an internet address that can be accessed in a certain way through certain libraries.

      • Make Use OfHow to Use the New Chromebook Linux Interface

        If you recently upgraded your version of Chrome OS, you may have noticed something different when you launch the Linux environment in Chrome OS version 103 and higher. Here's how to use the new Chrome OS Linux interface.

      • HowTo ForgeHow to Install NFS Server and Client on Ubuntu 22.04

        NFS or Network File System is a protocol that allows local users to access remote data from multiple disks and directories in the same way as local access. In this tutorial, you will learn how to install the NFS Server and Client on the Ubuntu 22.04 Server. You will also learn how to mount the NFS shared directory automatically at system boot on the client machine.

      • ID RootHow To Install qBittorrent on Fedora 36 - idroot

        In this tutorial, we will show you how to install qBittorrent on Fedora 36. For those of you who didn’t know, qBittorrent is a free open-source cross-platform P2P BitTorrent client. The software also has an integrated RSS reader so that it can be used to download files directly from RSS feeds. This application is known to work effectively and efficiently on many operating systems such as Linux, Microsoft Windows, and FreeBSD. It is written in the C++ language.

        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 the step-by-step installation of the qBittorrent BitTorrent client on a Fedora 36.

      • VideoInstall DTOS on ArcoLinux (Now With Awesome and Qtile!) - Invidious

        DTOS now comes with the option to install any (or all) of three window managers: XMonad, Awesome and Qtile. I have also been fixing a lot of bugs with DTOS in recent days, so I thought I would do a test run. Today, I'm installing DTOS on top of ArcoLinuxB Awesome Edition.

      • Tips On UNIXInstall Audacious 4.2 On Ubuntu / LinuxMint / Fedora & Alma Linux | Tips On UNIX

        This tutorial will be helpful for beginners to install Audacious 4.2 on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, Linux Mint 20.3, AlmaLinux 9, Rocky Linux 8, and Fedora 36.

      • Linux HandbookConvert Hex to ASCII Characters in Linux Bash Shell

        Got a bunch of hexadecimal characters and want to convert them to a readable decimal system (ASCII)?

        There are multiple ways to convert hex to ASCII in Linux. You may also use these methods in your shell script if required.

      • ID RootHow To Install Ansible on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS - idroot

        In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Ansible on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. For those of you who didn’t know, Ansible is the simplest way to automate apps and IT infrastructure. It runs on many Linux operating systems and is configured quite easily. It uses the open SSH service to perform the various networking tasks ensuring a well secure and protected communication environment. Nowadays IT environments are very complex and often need to scale extremely quickly. Automation makes system administrators’ and developers’ jobs easier and allows them to focus attention on other tasks that add value to an organization.

        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 the step-by-step installation of Ansible on Ubuntu 22.04 (Jammy Jellyfish). You can follow the same instructions for Ubuntu 22.04 and any other Debian-based distribution like Linux Mint, Elementary OS, Pop!_OS, and more as well.

      • Red HatInstall storage in your application cluster using Rook | Red Hat Developer

        Developers running applications in the cloud have traditionally separated their applications from storage, but recent services such as the Rook Operator for Kubernetes make it easy to create storage in the cloud. This article shows how to use Rook for object storage. Our example runs a single-node Red Hat OpenShift cluster on your laptop or desktop using Red Hat OpenShift Local (previously known as CodeReady Containers). We'll install Rook, create object storage on OpenShift Local, and perform some bucket notifications.

      • Red Hat OfficialHow to troubleshoot your network with Nmap | Enable Sysadmin

        Expert troubleshooting skills are a must for sysadmins. Understanding how to identify and resolve problems that you come across is crucial to creating the best resolutions. Tools help you be successful in the quest for answers. Nmap is a helpful tool for security and IT professionals.

        Without understanding what network ports are open, it would be impossible to assess a system's security. System administrators use Nmap to check if systems are online and help discover any problems in their network. You can also detect operating system versions, determine whether services are online, test embedded network stacks, and even identify aggressive network traffic.

      • Linux Shell TipsHow to List All Existing Groups in Linux System

        Being able to manage users and groups in a Linux operating system environment is an important milestone in terms of Linux administration and security. Under Linux, each user account is automatically associated with a single primary group. A Linux user cannot be a member of two or more primary groups, only one.

        However, when it comes to secondary groups, it’s a different case. A single Linux user account can be associated with more than one secondary group (up to 15).

        In summary, a primary group is OS-assigned to each Linux user account and is linked to user-created files whereas secondary groups can be associated with multiple Linux user accounts and are not always automatically assigned.

      • Trend OceansHow to Install Metasploit Framework with GUI Method on Linux - TREND OCEANS

        Rapid7 and the open-source community manage the widely used penetration testing framework, Metasploit. It is a very powerful tool used by cybercriminals as well as ethical hackers to test and create exploits for networks or servers.

      • Linux Shell TipsHow to Determine the Number of Linux RAM Slots in Use

        A RAM is important in determining the performance spectrum of your Linux-powered machine. On the other hand, think of a RAM slot as the main memory socket or slot that physically exists on the computer’s motherboard to hold installed/inserted and compatible RAM.

        These RAM slots determine/specify the number and type of RAM compatible with the Linux-powered machine you are using. SDRAM (Synchronous DRAM), DDR (Double Data Rate), and DIMM (Dual In-Line Memory Module) are examples of some common RAM types. It is the computer motherboard that determines the existing number of RAM slots.

        Therefore, when the term RAM is mentioned, we should always think of RAM modules and RAM slots. Each RAM slot is compatible with a specific RAM module. Examples of popular RAM modules include DDR1, DDR2, DDR3, DDR4, and SDRAM.

  • Distributions and Operating Systems

    • SUSE/OpenSUSE

      • SUSE's Corporate BlogZizo partners with SUSE to harness the power of open source [Ed: Shipping proprietary software while seeking to "harness the power of open source" for openwashing]

        It can help assist in making data-driven decisions, which can in turn, act as a catalyst to accelerate the digital transformation journey. In a nutshell, we can say that data is the new lifeblood of any digital enterprise – but it is only valuable when it is the right data, in the right format, and available at the right time. Therefore, in a world where data is growing exponentially, Zizo, a leading provider of big data and edge analytics, decided to build solutions that are flexible, adaptable and cost effective; with the ability to be deployed either at the edge, or in the data centre.

    • Fedora Family / IBM

      • Venture BeatRed Hat’s new CEO to focus on Linux growth in the hybrid cloud, AI and the edge | VentureBeat

        When IBM acquired Linux vendor Red Hat for $34 billion in 2019, Paul Cormier took the reins as Red Hat CEO. After three years, Cormier is now handing those reins over to a new leader.

        Yesterday, Red Hat announced that long-time engineering leader at the company, Matt Hicks, will now be the company’s president and CEO. Cormier will move to the chairman role, where he will continue to be an active participant in the company’s activities.

        In an interview with VentureBeat, both Cormier and Hicks emphasized that now is the right time for a CEO transition.

      • Red Hat OfficialRHEL 9 networking: Say goodbye to ifcfg-files, and hello to keyfiles

        In my first Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) fast-track training in 2002, we were using Red Hat Linux 7.2, and I learned to love the network configuration files in /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts. Later, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 6 introduced NetworkManager (also known as ‘NM’).

      • Red Hat OfficialRed Hat Shares ― Special edition: Red Hat Summit 2022 recap

        The Red Hat Shares newsletter helps IT leaders navigate the complicated world of IT―the open source way.

      • Enterprisers ProjectCloud migration: 3 top business advantages

        Despite the global trend toward cloud migration, some businesses are pushing back, claiming the productivity and cost savings aren’t living up to their expectations. In fact, a recent McKinsey survey found that 75 percent of respondents went over budget on their cloud migration process and 38 percent were behind schedule.

      • Enterprisers ProjectDigital transformation: 3 things successful CIOs know

        CIOs leading digital transformation initiatives are fundamentally changing the way their business operates.

        Digital transformation starts with the business, not the technology, and it’s no easy feat. According to a BCG report, “only about a third of transformations meet or exceed their target value and achieve sustainable change: these are the companies in the win zone. Worry-zone companies create some value but do not meet their targets and produce only limited long-term change.”

        Digital transformation is the implementation of new technology, people, and processes to improve the business. Any business IT strategy should the following three tenets in its digital transformation initiative.

    • Canonical/Ubuntu Family

      • NeowinLinux Mint 21 beta ISOs pass tests meaning their release is imminent - Neowin

        The Cinnamon, MATE, and Xfce editions of Linux Mint 21 beta have been approved for release by the Linux Mint project according to its community website. In an announcement last week, the Linux Mint project leader said that the beta was due last week, but there were issues with the beta ISOs which meant they received a “Rejected” status during the tests. Now that they have been approved, their release should be imminent.

        Typically, the beta period lasts about two weeks for any last minute issues to be tested by a wider audience. Following the beta, the final ISOs are made available to the public. In-place upgrades are sometimes enabled soon after the release and other times they are delayed to give more time for testing to be done of the new operating system version.

    • Devices/Embedded

      • peppe8oNeopixel (Addressable RGBs) LEDs strip with Arduino

        To have colored animations for beautiful displays, Neopixel is good as it can give any color combination. It looks like a RGB LED, but can work with one pin to control all in series. It’s cheap and easy to install for room decoration.

      • CNX SoftwareWeAct RP2040 board adds 16MB flash, USB-C port to Raspberry Pi Pico form factor - CNX Software

        If the Raspberry Pi Pico’s 2MB of QSPI flash is not quite sufficient for your needs, and you’d not quite a fan of micro USB ports, the WeAct RP2040 “clone” comes with up to 16MB flash and a USB Type-C port for power and programming.

        Another improvement is the addition of a reset button, which can be convenient for flashing UF2 firmware, and the pinout remains mostly the same. The price is not quite as low as the original Raspberry Pi Pico, but the board sells for an affordable $5.99 with 2MB flash, while the 16MB flash variant goes for $8.99 with shipping included in both cases.

    • Open Hardware/Modding

      • CNX SoftwarePixel Pump is an open-source, manual pick-and-place machine (Crowdfunding) - CNX Software

        Pixel Pump is an open-source hardware vacuum pump that should be easier to use than a pair of tweezers to pick and place SMT components, and suitable for prototypes and small production runs.

        The system comes with a pen with five exchangeable stainless-steel nozzles to match the size of components, a foot pedal, and several tactile silicone buttons with RGB backlighting to control the unit.

  • Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

    • MedevelCalDavZAP: A Self-hosted Open-source CalDAV Server

      CalDavZAP is an open source CalDAV web client implementation released under GNU Affero General Public License (version 3.0).

      [...]

      The project is released and licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License (version 3.0).

    • Programming/Development

      • Ubuntu PitCoding vs Programming: An In-depth Comparison

        Coding vs. Programming, the debate regarding the two terms being the same or not, has been going on for decades. It is a question that every tech beginner always considers and confuses. Sometimes, even the experts use the terms interchangeably because they do not believe that the differences matter much.

        But in reality, coding and programming are different. There are many factors where they differ, and it takes people years of experience to truly understand them. However, the IT industry uses both these fields to develop softwares that impact our daily lives – so they’re equally important.

      • Ubuntu PitTop 10 Best Programming Tools for Kids in 2022

        Kids are, by default, curious beings. Everything is new to them, and they love to explore. In this era of technology, keeping children up-to-date is also a part of parenting. Introducing them to programming is a great start, and there are tons of programming tools for kids to make it a fun experience.

        Studies suggest that the best age to start with programming or coding is around five to seven years, depending on the kid’s understanding and reading capability. Like mathematics, programming also helps children open to problem-solving methods and think more logically, which can benefit them in the future.

      • QtQt for Android Automotive : Outrun Demo Integration

        The Outrun project was started to demonstrate the development process when using the unified design and development tools that Qt offers, by creating a digital cockpit from early design to UI implementation, visual effect creation, building connectivity, and finally running it on various environments.

        The last step in the Outrun project development is connecting the UI to the vehicle platform. Currently the Qt for Android Automotive module provides vehicle properties through both C++ and QML APIs. It also offers a submodule to access Android notifications (to be released later). If we analogize the project to solving a jigsaw puzzle, connecting the UI to the vehicle would be the last pieces of the puzzle. You probably know that placing the final pieces of a jigsaw puzzle should be much easier than the first pieces.

      • QtCompiling QML to C++: Fixing unqualfied access

        This is the eighth installment in the series of blog posts on how to adjust your QML application to take the maximum advantage of qmlsc. In the first post we've set up the environment. You should read that post first in order to understand the others. We're going to learn how to avoid unqualified access now.

        You will see quite a few warnings on unqualified access when compiling Qt Creator with qmlsc enabled. An access to a name in QML is called "unqualified" if the name is neither found in the directly surrounding QML scope, nor an ID or a type name. Usually this means you're accessing members of the root element of a component, context properties, or undeclared signal parameters. Most of those are easy to fix. Let's look at the TimeMarks.qml file in the tracing library.

      • gfldex: Coercive bits

        Altreus was looking for a way to convert a list of bitmask names, provided as a string by the user, to a bitmask. He wished for BUILDARGS, as provided by Perl’s Moose but was given good advise how to solve the problem without making object instantiation even more complex. Nobody can stop me from doing just that.

      • Rust

        • Rust BlogChanges at the Clippy Team [Ed: Rust exodus continues, but this is the spin (as people step down). Rust is too focused outsourcing itself and sending developers into the jaws of Microsoft. It is something to avoid.]

          With the new additions to the team, we should be able to handle our long PR queue better.

          [...]

          At the same time, we recently granted some of our oldest members the well-deserved alumni status. We want to thank Pascal Hertleif and Martin Carton for all their contributions, especially in the early days. People joining today probably never worked with them on Clippy, but without them, we probably wouldn't be here.

          We also want to thank Philipp Hansch for their contributions to Clippy and all of the review work they've done over the years. To this day phansch is one of the most active Clippy contributors (measured by the number of commits).

          And finally, thank you to mikerite, who stepped down from an active reviewer/team member position but will be staying on as a contributor. We're looking forward to continue working with them!

  • Leftovers

    • TediumWhy Digital News Outlets Haven’t Nailed Alt-Story-Form Journalism

      I have a bone to pick with one of the best-known news outlets on the internet, and pick it I shall. Since 2017, Politico cofounders Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen, along with a cast of notables, have taken a brevity-driven approach to writing about the news of the day, no matter what form it takes, on a site called Axios. Much of the content is written in bullet points that are designed to focus points of communication. The company has branded this approach as something called “Smart Brevity.” Now, it would be one thing to write everything in a quick hit format, but they’ve gone further than that, attempting to sell the communication approach to businesses and even writing a book about it, as if VandeHei is friggin’ running IBM over here. As someone who once ran a popular website that specialized in brevity, I first watched this state of affairs with a sense of cynicism, then bemusement. I have written Twitter threads to remind people that, hey, they weren’t first. I can’t help but think about, given all the tools they have, how little they do with brevity! Today’s Tedium is questioning whether that alternative story form journalism has a place on the internet besides bullet points. —

    • Linux Foundation

      • Linux Foundation's Site/BlogOpen Mainframe Project Announces Schedule for the 3rd Annual Open Mainframe Summit on September 21-21 in Philadelphia, PA [Ed: IBM mainframes are proprietary, but 'Linux' Foundation gets paid to lies to you about it (openwashing). The lies are products and service.]

        The Open Mainframe Project, an open source initiative that enables collaboration across the mainframe community to develop shared tool sets and resources, announces the schedule for the 3rd annual Open Mainframe Summit, which will be in-person in Philadelphia, PA, and streaming online for global attendees. This year’s theme focuses on security, which is top of mind for every company that uses mainframes.

      • Linux Foundation's Site/BlogSODA Foundation Announces 2022 Data & Storage Trends Survey [Ed: Nothing to do with Linux, nothing to do with research (just spam and marketing)]

        To address evolving Data and Storage needs throughout the industry, SODA Foundation, in partnership with Linux Foundation Research, is once again conducting a survey to provide insights into challenges, gaps, and trends for data and storage in the era of cloud native, edge, AI, and 5G. The results will serve to guide the SODA Foundation technical direction and ecosystem.

      • Linux Foundation's Site/BlogJamie Thomas: What is the OpenSSF [Ed: Linux Foundation now works for/with Microsoft shills like Shimel; this is a catastrophe]

        Jamie Thomas is the General Manager, Systems Strategy and Development at IBM and is also the OpenSSF Board chair. She sat down with Alan Shimel of TechStrong TV during OpenSSF Day in Austin to share about OpenSSF and how the open source community is rallying together to increase the resilience of open source software.

      • Linux Foundation's Site/BlogFDC3 2.0 Drives Desktop Interoperability Across the Financial Services Ecosystem - Linux Foundation [Ed: This is not a community, it's not "Open Source", it's a carte of banksters diluting the "Linux" brand so that Zemlin and his cohorts can steal a lot of money (monetising an attack on brands we built)]

        The Fintech Open Source Foundation (FINOS), the financial services umbrella of the Linux Foundation, announced today during its Open Source in Finance Forum (OSFF) London the launch of FDC3 2.0. FDC3 supports efficient, streamlined desktop interoperability between financial institutions with enhanced connectivity capabilities.

    • Entrapment (Microsoft)

      • The Register UKGet over it: Microsoft is a Linux and open source company these days [Ed: Get over it. Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols works on Microsoft payroll via LF and ZDNet]

        In 2001 then CEO Steve Ballmer declared: "Linux is a cancer." Later, Microsoft sponsored SCO's copyright attack on Linux; claimed that Linux violated unnamed Microsoft patents; and forced Linux-based Android vendors to pay for dubious patent claims. Bill Gates and Ballmer's Microsoft wanted to see Linux and open-source software (OSS) dead and buried.

        They did it because, as Microsoft's Halloween documents show, they believed "OSS poses a direct, short-term revenue and platform threat to Microsoft, particularly in server space."

      • Bleeping ComputerMicrosoft July 2022 Patch Tuesday fixes exploited zero-day, 84 flaws

        Today is Microsoft's July 2022 Patch Tuesday, and with it comes fixes for one actively exploited zero-day vulnerability and a total of 84 flaws.

    • Security

      • Privacy/Surveillance

        • Bruce SchneierPost-Roe Privacy

          This is an excellent essay outlining the post-Roe privacy threat model. (Summary: period tracking apps are largely a red herring.)

        • MediumFear, Uncertainty, and Period Trackers

          You have probably been seeing a lot of scary news coverage about period tracker apps and databases, and you might be wondering whether or not you should be deleting your period tracking app. If you use a period tracker, but your threat model does not include the additional risks of say: helping other people get abortions, we don’t currently have evidence of imminent threats of large-scale preemptive investigation of you based on personal health app data. The biggest threat of criminalization is that a third party (like hospital staff or a relative) reports someone to the police for their pregnancy outcome — not that police find their period data in a database.

    • Civil Rights/Policing

      • DaemonFC (Ryan Farmer)Illinois DCFS kills one child every month while investigating parents for allowing kids to walk the dog. – BaronHK's Rants

        I think one can reasonably argue that the kids are dead due to DCFS, which was found in contempt by a state judge and is still in contempt of court today, months later.

        I think that there’s something poetic about the State holding itself in contempt 12 times. I mean, nothing happens because the State can’t punish itself. How does a State that has no money except what it stole from me and my spouse and millions of other Illinoisans fine itself? Where does the money it takes from itself even go? This is the kind of bullshit that only happens in government. When the judge throws the director of DCFS in prison for contempt until things start getting better or he resigns, I’ll be impressed. Until then, what is even the point?

        None of this should be a surprise. Illinois is managing child services as effectively as the State Police manage gun control (the FOID Act) and as effectively as they’re managing the roads. Letting us drive over pot craters while they’re busy causing an 11 year traffic jam at US 41 and Grand Avenue in Gurnee, because it will “help with climate change”.

    • Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

    • Monopolies

      • TechRadarCampaigners urge US Senate to address Big Tech's monopoly

        Digital rights campaigners are urging US Senators to address what they consider "the fundamental problem that plagues our online ecosystem."

        From Alphabet (parent company of Google and YouTube) to Meta (Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp), Apple, and Amazon, just a handful of US companies - known as "Big Tech" - monopolize the market.

  • Gemini* and Gopher


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



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Microsoft Windows "Market Share" Measured Around 2.7% in Iraq, Plunges to 6.5% in Saudi Arabia
Microsoft isn't on the agenda in Iraq
GNU/Linux Share in Sweden Has Doubled Since PewDiePie, A Swede, Recommended It
months ago he moved to GNU/Linux, then told others to consider doing the same
GNU/Linux Hits Record High in Portugal
GNU/Linux picking up in Portugal
Gemini Protocol is Not Dying, It's Growing
When people say things like "Gemini Protocol is dying" the data does not support them
GNU/Linux is Thriving This Summer
It is meanwhile acknowledged, even by Microsoft pushers, that many GNU/Linux PCs will get sabotaged next month
The End of Microsoft's Reign in Spain: Windows Falls to All-Time Lows in Spanish Web Traffic
Windows sank to new lows in Spain
The Bots Never Sleep: In The Weekends, Slopfarms Dominate Google News, Majority of Entries in Google Are Fake Articles About 'Linux'
Google is fast becoming an ocean of plagiarism; the same goes for Google News, which was supposed to have extra quality control
Russia's Yandex Has Caught Up With Bing in Terms of "Market Share"
Microsoft has been firing loads of Bing workers for over 2 years already
Canada: GNU/Linux Up to Records Highs, Windows Down to Record Lows
Microsoft already announcing some plans to shut down Vista 11
Gemini Links 02/08/2025: Transducers in Typed Racket and American ISPs
Links for the day
Links 02/08/2025: Microsoft Already Kills Vista 11 SE, Smartphone Sales Down, Truth Gets "You're Fired!" in the US
Links for the day
Video: The Rise of GNU/Linux and Free Software as Seen by RMS in 2004
DTP's founder argued that when Windows goes below 85% "market share", it'll lose its grip in the monopoly sense
Russia: GNU/Linux Rises to Highest Adoption Level Since Invasion of Ukraine
Moving up in the north
Microsoft's Latest Financial Report: We "Gained" 300 Million Dollars in "Goodwill" and Liabilities Grew by 32 Billion Dollars
Microsoft's debt has reached an all-time high
The Register US = The Register MS
Formerly The Register UK
Weeks After Microsoft Shut Down Its Operations in Pakistan Windows Falls to All-Time Lows
Only less than a month ago it was quietly revealed, based on laid-off staff, that Microsoft shut down in Pakistan
Criminal Behaviour is the Standard Operating Procedure at Microsoft
In the future I'll be able to tell how, when dealing with SLAPPs from Microsofters, their Microsoft services failed me and sometimes even blocked my contacts
GNU/Linux Rises to All-Time Highs in Europe
many people will get fired for buying Microsoft
All-Time Highs for GNU/Linux on the Client Desktop/Laptop, Based on Steam Survey
GNU/Linux rose to 2.89% in Steam
Links 02/08/2025: Blaugust 2025 and "Russia Declares Navalny Memoir ‘Extremist’"
Links for the day
Free Software is Not a Business Model
Go ahead, ask your friend, "how do you plan to monetise your children?"
When (Almost) One-Man Operations Are Disguised as Medium-Sized Companies
the CEO hides in the US (hiding from his ex-wives, 4 daughters from those wives, and Sirius staff that he defrauded)
LLM Slop Harms Real Literature, Real Web Sites, Real Journalism
LLM slop is a parasite and it'll run out of legitimate outputs
Upcoming OSI Scandal Series
The OSI is a rogue actor because it serves Microsoft in exchange for money
Slopwatch: The Issue Persists, But the Consensus in the Media Changes as Google Enrages It With LLM Plagiarism
We've meanwhile assessed the latest output from Linuxiac
Microsoft Actually in Trouble, Microsofters Unable to Obey Judges' Orders
For the second time in a week, Microsofters are unable to obey orders
IRC Proceedings: Friday, August 01, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, August 01, 2025
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
Links 02/08/2025: İstanbul Retail Inflation Reaches 42.48%, US FBI Opens Office in New Zealand
Links for the day
Gemini Links 02/08/2025: ZFS, LLM Hype, and Fake Modules
Links for the day
Links 01/08/2025: Health, Conflict, and Attacks on Freedom of the Press
Links for the day
Microsoft's Debt Exploded by 15.4 Billion Dollars in the Past 9 Months Alone (Despite All the Layoffs)
As of minutes ago, at 6PM on a Friday, the numbers are made public
Meeting (Webchat) With Maria Arranz Gomez, Florian Grundies, Jürgen Janda and Konstantinos Kortsaris Confronts EPO Management About Breaking Promises and Crushing Workers
The lack of consistent messages suggests plans other than what's advertised and the lack of consultation (secrecy) likewise
Links 01/08/2025: "The Great British Firewall" and U.S. Army Sponsors Palantir
Links for the day
For Second Day in a Row, Top Story in The Register MS is "Microsoft Says"
The editor in chief exercises control over everybody else
LLMs as Attack Method Against Free Software and Programming
DDoS in "hey hi" (slop) clothing
Stability and Reliability, Backward Compatibility
I don't fancy relying on social control media as "sources"
What "the News" Looks Like in 2025
The "says" (or "sez") phenomenon
History Will Be Distorted, Sometimes Intentionally, Under the Guise of Intelligence (Manipulated/Curated Slop)
Militarised misinformation or military-grade chaff is a national security threat, even domestically
Financial Engineering Companies: A Company Worth 4 Trillion Dollars Would Not Borrow 100+ Billion Dollars at Interest Rates Like Today's
Many headlines perpetuate the lie Microsoft had just 2 waves of layoffs
Microsoft is Googlebombing "Linux" While Paying Former News Sites to Publish SPAM
How much lower will IDG sink?
Google as a 'Bullshit Generator' Disguised as Intelligence
It'll probably cause Google to get sued a lot, both by individuals and companies
As Expected, Google in the UK Now Experiments With Slop Instead of Web Search
At this point more people ought to stop and think: Does Google's search engine deserve trust?
The Data You Don't Give Away is Your Advantage
stop sharing data that does not need to be shared
Being Obedient or Doing the Right Thing
The world always changes for the better because of people who think "Outside the Box", not the cogs
Gemini Links 01/08/2025: Happy Hacking Keyboards and New Gemini Arrivals
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 31, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, July 31, 2025