Bonum Certa Men Certa

Links 25/12/2022: Kodi 19.5 and Linux 6.2 RC1



  • GNU/Linux

    • Web Pro NewsStack Overflow: Linux Surpasses macOS Among Developers

      Linux has reached a major milestone, surpassing macOS among developers for both personal and professional use.

      Linux has long been the third most popular operating system (OS), after Windows and macOS. Stack Overflow has released its 2022 Developer Survey, and it’s good news for Linux fans.

      According to the Developer Survey, Linux use has passed macOS by a significant margin. Linux is used by 40.23% of developers as their primary OS for personal use, while 39.89% use it as their primary OS for professional use. In contrast, macOS is used as a primary OS for personal use 31.07% of developers and for professional use by 32.97%.

    • SlashdotStack Overflow Survey Finds More Developers Now Use Linux Than MacOS - Slashdot

      Justin Garrison works at Amazon Web Services on the Kubernetes team (and was senior systems engineer on several animated films).

    • Linux Made SimpleLinux Weekly Roundup #215

      We had a full week in the world of Linux releases with Manjaro Linux 22.0, Clear Linux 37860, Bluestar Linux 6.1.1, ArcoLinux 23.01.03, Q4OS 4.11, Linux Mint 21.1, EndeavourOS 22.12, and BunsenLabs Beryllium.

    • Kubernetes

    • Audiocasts/Shows

    • Kernel Space

      • Linux mailing listsLinux 6.2-rc1
        So it's Christmas Day here, but it's also Sunday afternoon two weeks
        after the 6.2 merge window opened. So holidays or not, the kernel
        development show must go on.
        
        

        Thanks to a lot of people sending their pull requests early, I got much of the merge window work done before the holidays started in earnest, and mostly before my pre-xmas travel. So despite flight delays, missed connections, and the resulting airport hotel excursions, the merge window mostly went smoothly, and there was no reason to delay rc1.

        That said, realistically I expect most people to be on vacation for at least another week, so I wouldn't be surprised if we end up with a delayed final release due to the season. But it's too early to worry about that yet, we'll just have to see how it goes.

        Also, 6.2 looks like it's a bigger release (certainly bigger than 6.1 was). The summary below is, as usual, just my merge log: we've got about 13.5k commits from ~1800 people in total in this merge window, which is actually not that far off the total size of the whole 6.1 release. But let's hope that despite the size, and despite the likely slow start of the post-merge-window calming down period, we'll have a smooth release.

        And in the meantime, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all (replace as appropriate with whatever holiday, if any, you are celebrating).

        Linus
    • Graphics Stack

      • WCCF TechAMD Focuses On Various Driver Improvements For RDNA 3 GPUs Running In Linux

        AMD left Linux users without great graphics support when they released the new Radeon RX 7900 GPUs based on the RDNA 3 architecture. The graphics kernel was old and did not prepare users with newer firmware during launch. Now, engineers are beginning to change their focus towards the RDNA 3 support with a newly published firmware update, allowing users to rely on the frame buffer from the firmware when the AMDGPU driver crashes.

    • Applications

      • Make Use OfWhat Are the Best Disc Burning Apps for Linux

        CDs and DVDs might seem to be a relic of the past with most people choosing to stream music and video from remote servers to their entertainment devices, and storing large collections of files on USB flash drives of up to a terabyte.

        But even though few laptops come with an optical drive these days, it's occasionally useful to burn a CD or DVD for use in your car, or for entertainment in an area where network connectivity is spotty. Here are the best tools for CD burning on Linux.

      • Ubuntu HandbookKodi 19.5 Released! How to Install in Ubuntu 22.04 | 20.04 | 22.10 | UbuntuHandbook

        Happy Christmas and happy new year to my dear readers! Kodi, the popular home media center software, release 19.5 version to celebrate the holidays.

        It’s the last point release for the 19.x release, while Kodi 20 now is in RC2 stage. And, this release mainly include bug-fixes and improvements backport from dev release.

    • Instructionals/Technical

      • VideoHow to install MEGASync on KDE Neon - Invidious
      • Linux Made SimpleHow to install MetaTrader 5 with the Traders Global Group Incorporated Broker on a Chromebook

        Today we are looking at how to install MetaTrader 5 with the Traders Global Group Incorporated Broker on a Chromebook.

      • AddictiveTipsHow to convert images on a Chromebook

        Do you have some image files you need to convert to your Chromebook? Can’t find any Chrome OS apps that do the job? Good news! Since Chrome OS supports Linux, it is possible to install the Converter tool. An easy-to-use tool for converting image formats. Here’s how to get it working on your system.

      • LinuxOpSysHow to Make Ubuntu Terminal Look like Kali Linux

        Here learn how to make your Ubuntu terminal look like Kali Linux. For this install zsh shell, zshell plugins and some additional tools.

      • Why won't crusty old host recognize my shiny new terminal emulator?

        Spiffy new terminal emulators seem to come with their own terminfo definitions. Venerable hosts that I ssh into tend not to know about those. kitty comes with a thing to transfer that definition, but it breaks if the remote host is running tcsh (don't ask). Similary the one liner for alacritty on the arch wiki seems to assume the remote shell is bash. Forthwith, a dumb shell script that works to send the terminfo of the current terminal emulator to the remote host.

      • Make Use OfHow to Find Your MAC Address on Linux

        If you are administering a Linux system, there will likely be times when you need to know your system's MAC address. You may need this information for several reasons. Perhaps you want DHCP to assign you a fixed IP address. For this, you will need the MAC address so that you can add the IP and MAC address mapping to your DHCP server configurations.

        You may also need this information for MAC address filtering to allow or block certain devices on your network. Or maybe you want to set up Wake-on-LAN. Whatever the reason is, here are a few different ways to find the MAC address on your Linux system.

      • How to Install Microsoft Teams on Ubuntu [Ed: This is proprietary Microsoft spyware; better never to install such a thing]
      • Make Use OfReducing Docker Image Sizes With Alpine Linux Images

        The size of a Docker image affects its runtime and the performance of your application. Small containers run faster, are easier to manage, and take up less disk space.

        There are several ways to reduce the size of Docker images. In particular, you can use Alpine Linux images which are much smaller than the rest.

      • UNIX CopInstall Samba Server with Selinux and Firewalld Enabled

        Hello, friends. In this post, you will learn how to Install Samba Server with Selinux and Firewalld Enabled. For this post, we will use Rocky Linux 9, but actually the algorithm followed should work for other distributions, of course making the necessary modifications.

  • Distributions and Operating Systems

  • Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

    • Programming/Development

      • Perl / Raku

        • Russ AllberyEagle's Path: podlators 5.01 (2022-12-25)

          podlators is the Perl distribution providing Pod::Man and Pod::Text, along with related modules and supporting scripts.

          The primary change in this release is the addition of configurable guesswork for Pod::Text, paralleling Pod::Man. I had forgotten that Pod::Text also had complex heuristics for whether to quote C<> text that have the same Perl-specific properties as Pod::Man. This is now configurable via a guesswork option, the same as in Pod::Man, although the only type of guesswork supported is quoting. I also updated the default regexes, which include some fixes from Pod::Man.

        • Russ AllberyEagle's Path: rra-c-util 10.3 (2022-12-25)

          This is a minor feature and bug fix release of my collection of utilities and tests intended for copying into other packages I maintain.

          The new feature is an additional Perl test using Test::Kwalitee to check a few more things about the Perl packaging, and a MANIFEST.SKIP file that is suitable for copying as-is into most Perl packages.

        • RakulangRaku Advent Calendar: The 2022 Raku Advent Posts
      • Python

        • TecAdminHow to Call a function in Python - TecAdmin

          In Python, a function is a block of code that performs a specific task and can be called from other parts of your program. Functions are an essential part of Python programming, and they allow you to write reusable, modular code that is easier to maintain and debug.

          In this tutorial, we will learn how to call a function in Python. We will discuss the different ways you can pass arguments to a function, and we will also look at some common mistakes to avoid when calling functions in Python.

        • TecAdminCurrent Date and Time in Python: In-Depth Tutorial - TecAdmin

          Getting the current date and time is a common task in Python programming. There are several ways to do this, depending on your needs and the libraries you have available. In this article, we will explore some of the most common methods for getting the current date and time in Python, including using the built-in datetime module, the time module, and the dateutil module. We will also discuss how to format the date and time values as strings, and how to convert between timezones. Whether you are working with timestamps, scheduling tasks, or just want to display the current date and time in your Python program, this article will provide you with the tools you need.

      • Rust

        • Amos WengerDay 15 (Advent of Code 2022)

          The day 15 puzzle falls into the "math puzzle" territory more than "let's learn something new about Rust", but since several folks asked if I was going to continue... let's continue.

  • Leftovers

    • Matt RickardChristmas 2022

      Over the next few days, I'll be reflecting on the predictions I had for 2022 and the process I used to get there (the process is more important to me than the outcome). I'll reflect on some of the things that I did, and some of the things I wished I had done. And finally, I'll try to put out some thoughts on what I think 2023 might hold, for both me and the the broader market. And it wouldn't be an end-of-the-year reflection without thinking about some of my posts that resonated the most (and the ones that resonated the least) and why.

    • Security

      • Help Net SecurityOpen-source tool for security engineers helps automate access reviews - Help Net Security

        ConductorOne open-sourced their identity connectors in a project called Baton, available on GitHub. Each connector gives developers the ability to extract, normalize, and interact with workforce identity data such as user accounts, permissions, roles, groups, resources, and more, so they can audit infrastructure access, start to automate user access reviews, and enforce the principle of least privilege.

      • Linux Kernel Security Bug Allows Remote Code Execution for Authenticated Remote Users - Slashdot [Ed: The severity of 10 is no longer 10 for the "Linux" flaw; it was SMB related and was downgraded later, days after all the drama]

        This new program, which was introduced to the kernel in 2021, was developed by Samsung. Its point was to deliver speedy SMB3 file-serving performance....

        Any distro using the Linux kernel 5.15 or above is potentially vulnerable. This includes Ubuntu 22.04, and its descendants; Deepin Linux 20.3; and Slackware 15.

      • Security AffairsCritical Linux Kernel flaw affects SMB servers with ksmbd enabled [Ed: No, the severity is not 10!]

        Experts warn of a critical Linux Kernel vulnerability (CVSS score of 10) impacting SMB servers that can lead to remote code execution.

  • Gemini* and Gopher

    • Technical

      • the concept of fragments log, taken from Brandur

        This post might be cross-linked from the gemlog, but it's not gemlog. Wait nevermind

        It will be the other way now.

      • cleaning

        I’ll be doing some general cleaning by the end of this week and that includes this gemlog. changing the header/footer and maybe adding something other than email for getting in touch.

      • Evolving harn: C + Forth polyglot system

        I presented my project as an interactive linker for a harnessed C compiler. And it true: I've implemented the infrastructure for extracting compiled C functions and data out of ELF object files, and interning them into the system, including being able to replace old versions with new ones. I set up a basic way to track ingested code as symbols, which are kept in packages, kind of like Lisp. The whole thing lives as an image which can be saved and restored. Oh, and I made provisions for keeping the sources of everything ingested.

      • Xmas

        • Merry Christmas

          No matter what holiday(s) you celebrate this season, I hope it brings you an opportunity to be with people you care about and share in your joys and gratitude.

        • it's 25th, how has December been

          One has been in my family and the other I bought because the former had keyboard keys not working. The keyboard issues are something that historically one could sometimes fix by twisting the whole case of the laptop. Dad suggests it may be fixable by remounting the keyboard. That other one I bought had the keyboard work well but the Touch Stick in it has issues about going all the way upper-right or all the way lower-left, unless pressed hard in the opposite direction. I had to install the pointing device driver and in it I can disable Touch Stick separately from Touch Pad. I expected the former one to have a broken HDD and the other one to lack a HDD. But they turned out to both have HDDs. The former one had Ubuntu 6.XX with the familiar login prompt sound and the other one had an empty installation of Windows 98 that I subsequently reinstalled, also having a sticker for Windows.. 95, which seems a bit odd.


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



Recent Techrights' Posts

Omarchy is Already Dying
Same as the life cycle of slopfarms
Slop's Achilles Heel: It Increases the Workload, Not Just Costs
Set aside its inability to scale well
Improving techrights.org
Technical debt (like 17 years with WordPress) is something that's better to address early, not later
Laos Leaving GAFAM Behind, Gradually
Yesterday evening it was measured at 10% for GNU/Linux at one point
China Says Goodbye to Microsoft
It is hardly surprising that Windows is shedding off userbase all around the world
 
Fired by IBM for Medical Leave, Rampant Censorship of IBM Critics Explained
We've already caught and showed many cases where thelayoff.com deleted comments that were not even remotely racist
Links 19/08/2026: First Amendment Under Fire by White House of Cards, "Universities Were Forced to Pay Up" for Not Censoring
Links for the day
Gemini Links 19/08/2026: What Friendship Means, Sm0lNet/SmolNet, and New Feeds
Links for the day
No, WSL (Windows With Fake 'Linux') Isn't Growing Faster Than Ubuntu, This Was Disinformation Spread by a Microsoft Propaganda Site, Then Spread by Slopfarms
Be sceptical; Microsoft is truly desperate for anti-Linux spin right now, seeing that Windows is in a freefall
Microsoft's Mass Layoffs Impact the Ability to Run Microsoft
Can Microsoft still run Microsoft?
Microsoft's Active Directory ("AD") and "Entra" Are National Security Threats
Even the US government concluded Microsoft could not be trusted for security; it issued a formal report about it in April 2024
Instant Impact: GNU/Linux Skyrockets to 10% in China Days After Policy Changes
Let's see what the 'aftermath' looks like by year's end
Links 19/08/2026: Timothy James King (AmigaDOS) Dies, GitHub Goes Offline, Finland Wants to Shun Social Control Media
Links for the day
Mass Layoffs at Dropbox, Blame the Debt, Not Slop Hype
The debt of Dropbox Inc., which isn't an imaginary (estimated) thing, is over 4 billion dollars
Microsoft is 'Angel of Death' to Developers (Even Its Own), 'Voluntary' Layoffs Happening Again
From what we are hearing and reading, there are 'voluntary' layoffs again
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, August 18, 2026
IRC logs for Tuesday, August 18, 2026
Gemini Links 19/08/2026: Shirts, Handwriting, and Fights in Geminispace
Links for the day
They Were Wrong All Along
Two women combined won't deliver a healthy baby in just 4.5 months
A "Tech Journalist" Would Not Cover Vote on LLMs as a Sex Issue
For a moment there you have to pause and wonder, is this a "Tech Journalist" or the Daily Stormer?
20,000 by Year's End
The "New Techrights" will have 20,000 pages by year's end
Last Night GNU/Linux Measured at 9% in Africa
Nighttimes in Africa are times when GNU/Linux usage on desktop/laptop devices typically surges, based on Clownflare [...] It changes in favour of GNU/Linux
Gemini Links 18/08/2026: Google Bait and Switch (Getting College People 'Hooked' on 'Cheap' Storage, Then Backups Gone), a "Question of E-mail"
Links for the day
Bluesky is in Trouble
Bluesky is a private company (unlike Bluesky Digital Assets Corp. in Toronto, that one runs a pyramid scheme!), so it's hard to know for sure just how much money it is losing
Links 18/08/2026: US Abandons South Korea, New Legal Disputes Over Slop Plagiarism in the Music Scene
Links for the day
Linux Losing Interest in Users' Freedom, Pursues DRM Instead
"Linux" is (or was, as GNU/Linux) meant to empower - not artificially restrict - the users
GNU/Linux in Ecuador and Colombia: Growing, Still Below International Average
locals turn away from Windows and try GNU/Linux instead
IBM is Dead or Dying. Now It Asks Workers to 'Resign' Voluntarily.
To save face, to pretend no layoffs are happening (as it might alarm shareholders) [...] We keep hearing more and more stories like that
Links 18/08/2026: Sergey Brin Controlling State Policies, "Dario Amodei's (Anthropic) Wife Is Closely Linked to Jeffrey Epstein"
Links for the day
SBS News Interviews Daniel Pocock
The locals say this PR stunt (by the bigot, Farage) was a waste of money
Clownflare Sees One in 7 Web Requests in Libya Originating From GNU/Linux
GNU/Linux has taken a (foot)hold there
Openwashing and Manifestos Composed in Private by Dictators With Deliberately Addictive (and Subsidised, Bundled) 'Tech'
It's long, so make a cuppa first
SLAPP Censorship - Part 153 Out of 200: Decades of Debt, Weaponising Borrowed Money to Try to Put Their Critics in Debt
they've always had a financial report by now
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, August 17, 2026
IRC logs for Monday, August 17, 2026
Gemini Links 18/08/2026: Solar Power, Kipple and Impermanence, Catastrophe Ethics
Links for the day
Evri (HermesUK) is Now Run by Bots and Hallucinating Scammers
Years ago they virtually removed support and tried chatbots instead
Less Technology, More Life
Technology is being associated (sometimes rightly) with physical and mental problems
Google Search Has Gotten Worse (a Lot Worse)
getting worse
Birthday in 80 Days
we'll start decorating and party online with our community
Loans and Massive Debt at Microsoft, This Won't End Well.
Microsoft running out of money to pay salaries (to the point of paying people for 'voluntary' layoffs) is a positive sign?
Gemini Links 17/08/2026: Life in Plain Text, Mimicking KARL, Release of Jugulans, Avoiding Slop
Links for the day
Clown Storage Without Backups
Setting up several reliable copies of the data, plus several off-site backups (this data is nowhere as sensitive as medical data), should only cost a few grand
FreeCAD is Becoming Slop-ware, Use LibreCAD Instead
It has regular releases and "Qt5 is mandatory" now [...] they at least audit what they add
Cuba and Venezuela High in Adoption of GNU/Linux
some of the "communist" nations
Links 17/08/2026: Myanmar’s Cholera Outbreak, China Sends Commercial Vessels Through Arctic
Links for the day
GAFAM Loyalty Has Come to an End, Morale Low, People Whose Future is Uncertain Choose to Become "Lifers"
morale is low and there's no loyalty anymore
SLAPP Censorship - Part 152 Out of 200: Injunctions Do Not Cover Criticism, They Have Scope
self-incriminating communications
Clownflare Sees About Quarter of Web Requests in Ireland Coming From GNU/Linux
Well, in Ireland it seems like many people adopted GNU/Linux
Clownflare: In Australia and New Zealand GNU/Linux Peaks at Over 10% During Working Hours
That right there is interesting in its own right
Slowing Down by Intention
At the moment we have 6 or 7 ongoing series
Gemini Links 17/08/2026: Chamboree, Partial Solar Eclipse, Lady Macbeth
Links for the day
Links 17/08/2026: "Bluesky Is Down Again!" and "Anti-Social Media"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, August 16, 2026
IRC logs for Sunday, August 16, 2026