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Links 14/07/2023: Linux Mint 21.2 “Victoria” and Microsoft Blames 'China' for Microsoft Issues



  • GNU/Linux

    • 9to5Linux ☛ Star Labs Unveils the Byte Mk II Mini Linux PC, Drops AMD for Intel CPU

      The first generation Star Labs Byte mini PC was announced more than a year ago on April 2022 and it was powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 5800U Octo-Core processor with AMD Radeon graphics, supporting up to 64GB RAM and up to 6TB SSD storage.

      The Byte Mk II is powered by a 1.00GHz quad-core Intel “Alder Lake” N200 processor with Turbo Boost up to 3.70GHz, 6MB smart cache, 6W TDP, 25W PL2, 4 cores, 4 threads, and Intel UHD graphics. It also comes with up to 16GB 3200MHz DDR4 RAM and up to 2TB M2 2280 SSD storage (expandable to up to 6TB).

    • ZDNet ☛ Linux has over 3% of the desktop market? It's more complicated than that

      Every few years, people get excited that maybe this will be the year of the Linux desktop. Now, I can argue, and I have, that happened long ago. But when you're talking about the traditional PC running a desktop Linux system such as Linux Mint, MX Linux, or Ubuntu, the numbers remain minute. In StatCounter's latest desktop market share numbers, Linux has made it up to 3.08%.

    • Desktop/Laptop

      • Unicorn Media ☛ Wowie Zowie! Linux Use Hits 3%! The Year of the Linux Desktop Is at Hand!

        Only 32 years after Linus Torvalds sent his famous email announcing Linux to the world, Linux use has risen above 3%, all the way to 3.08% Now, ain’t that some phenomenal growth? At this rate we should hit the 10% mark sometime around 2091, just in time for the Linux Centennial Celebration.

        I’m kidding, of course, about the 10% by 2091 thing. For one thing, we probably won’t even be using operating systems then. For another, we will probably have been evicted from the planet long before then. A planet-wide eviction, I understand, is performed by shutting down the life support system, just so you know. You won’t be able to breath. It’ll be like drowning in air instead of water.

        But I digress. This article is about the rising use of Linux, not the coming apocalypse.

      • Liliputing ☛ System76 Virgo laptop PCB design open sourced ahead of release

        Linux PC company System76 has been selling laptop and desktop computers that ship with Linux software for years. But up until recently the company had primarily been sourcing its PCs from third-party manufacturers and slapping its own branding and software on those systems.

    • Audiocasts/Shows

      • mintCast Podcast ☛ mintCast 416 – The Red Hat Diaries

        First up in the news: Mint Monthly News, Steam Deck exceeds 10,000 games, Red Hat fights public opinion, new LibreBoot is out, Google whines about their new AI search, Peppermint OS upgrades to Bookworm, a new KaOS, First Amendment fails at Supremes, and Solus 4 is released

        In security and privacy, StackRot is here, and so is ProtonPass

        Then in our Wanderings, Moss makes money, Joe goes 3D, Bill mics up, and Majid thumbs his nose at inflation

        Download
      • Linux in the Ham Shack ☛ LHS Episode #510: K2BSA Deep Dive

        Hello and welcome to the 510th installment of Linux in the Ham Shack. In this episode, the hosts interview one of their own -- Bill, NE4RD -- about the K2BSA …

      • Montana Linux ☛ Video: History of Unix
    • Graphics Stack

      • The Register UK ☛ Three signs that Wayland is becoming the favored way to get a GUI on Linux

        It has taken about 15 years to get there, but there is mounting evidence that the Wayland display server may soon topple X11 as the most common way to get a GUI on Linux.

        We've reported on growing endorsement for Wayland recently. The team developing Linux for Apple Silicon Macs said they didn't have the manpower to work on X.org support. A year ago, the developers of the Gtk toolkit used by many Linux apps and desktops said that the next version may drop support for X11. But this sort of thing feels to us like it's trying to push users towards Wayland, rather than actually attracting anyone.

        One of the developers of the Budgie desktop, Campbell Jones, recently published a blog post with a wildly controversial title that made The Reg FOSS desk smile: "Wayland is pretty good, actually." He lays out various benefits that Wayland brings to developers, and concludes...

      • HowTo Geek ☛ What Is Wayland on Linux, and How Is It Different From X?
        Wayland is a modern replacement for X11, which has been the default windowing system on Linux for decades. Wayland is a communication protocol and that defines the messaging between an X Window display server and client applications. The Wayland project provides client and server libraries that enable applications to use the protocol.

        The Wayland project was started by a Red Hat developer in 2008.

    • Instructionals/Technical

      • Own HowTo ☛ How to install Arch Linux

        Installing Arch Linux was always seen as an impossible step to take especially by newbie users, since you had to setup everything by yourself, as there was no installer included in the official system.

      • Linux Capable ☛ How to Install Liquorix Kernel on Pop!_OS

        The world of Pop!_OS is ripe with opportunities for customization and performance enhancements, a universe where the Liquorix Kernel shines brightly. This guide will walk you through the process of installing the Liquorix Kernel on Pop!_OS, a potential game-changer for your system.

      • Linux Capable ☛ How to Install Open VMware Tools on Pop!_OS

        VMware Tools, also known as Open VMware Tools on Linux systems, offer a critical set of utilities designed to enhance the performance and usability of virtual machines, making them indispensable for Pop!_OS Linux users.

      • TechRepublic ☛ How to Edit the Linux Hosts File

        In this step-by-step guide from Jack Wallen, learn how to access and modify the Linux hosts file to control the mapping of hostnames to IP addresses.

      • TechRepublic ☛ Video: How to Edit the Linux Hosts File

        In this TechRepublic How to Make Tech Work video, Jack Wallen shows how to access and modify the Linux hosts file to control the mapping of hostnames to IP addresses.

      • HowTo Forge ☛ How to Install LibreNMS Monitoring Tool on AlmaLinux 9

        LibreNMS is a monitoring tool that supports auto-discovery with multiple protocols, including SNMP, ARP, OSPF, and BGP. In this guide, I will show you how to install LibreNMS Monitoring Tool on your AlmaLinux 9 server. I will run LibreNMS with PHP-FPM, Nginx web server, and the MariaDB database.

      • Own HowTo ☛ How to fix "yay command not found" on Arch Linux

        Are you getting the error "yay command not found" when trying to install a package on your system? This error means that yay is not installed on your system, or it could be corrupted and you can't use it to install anything.

      • Linux Capable ☛ How to Install XanMod Kernel on Pop!_OS

        Welcome to this exciting journey into a dimension of system performance and optimization, focusing on the XanMod Kernel and its potential benefits to Pop!_OS Linux users. The guide is designed to be an in-depth tutorial that will walk you through the step-by-step process of installing the XanMod Kernel on your Pop!_OS operating system.

      • Linux Capable ☛ How to Enable reuseport in NGINX

        NGINX, a high-performance HTTP server, has become an industry favorite due to its stability, rich feature set, and efficient resource usage. Yet, leveraging its full potential often necessitates bespoke configurations. A key component of these configurations is the reuseport directive, a powerful tool capable of greatly improving your server’s performance.

      • ID Root ☛ How To Use ps Command on Linux

        Process management is a crucial aspect of Linux administration, ensuring efficient resource utilization and system stability. Among the numerous tools available for process monitoring and control, the ‘ps’ command stands out as a powerful and versatile option.

      • ID Root ☛ How To Install Kitty Terminal Emulator on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

        In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Kitty Terminal Emulator on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. In the Linux environment, a terminal emulator plays a crucial role in providing a command-line interface to interact with the system. Kitty Terminal Emulator offers a wide range of features and advantages that enhance productivity and customization options. …

      • FOSSLinux ☛ A Practical Guide to Force Deleting Linux Directories

        Linux is an incredibly versatile operating system, empowering users with robust features and granular control over their systems. However, its high level of flexibility can also make it a bit challenging, especially when it comes to certain tasks like force deleting directories. Maybe you're dealing with stubborn folders that refuse to be deleted or directories protected by complex permissions. No matter the situation, having the know-how to force delete directories in Linux can be a valuable skill.

      • HowTo Forge ☛ Install TYPO3 CMS with Nginx on AlmaLinux 9

        TYPO3 is a free and open-source Enterprise-grade content management system. In this guide, I'll show you how to install TYPO3 CMS on an AlmaLinux 9 step-by-step. We will install TYPO3 CMS with the Nginx web server, MariaDB database server, and PHP-FPM.

    • Games

    • Desktop Environments/WMs

      • GNOME Desktop/GTK

        • ID Root ☛ How To Install Gnome on Debian 12

          In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Gnome on Debian 12. For those of you who didn’t know,€ Gnome is a powerful desktop environment designed to provide an intuitive and efficient user experience. It offers a plethora of features and benefits that make it a preferred choice for many Debian users.

        • GNOME ☛ Christian Hergert: Spellchecking for GTK 4

          Apparently, spellchecking was preventing some people from porting their applications to GTK 4. So I spent a little time today extracting Text Editor’s spellcheck engine into a library you can use in your GTK 4 application without having to write fun data-structures on your own.

  • Distributions and Operating Systems

    • Make Use Of ☛ Haiku: The BeOS-Inspired Open-Source Desktop OS Explained

      If you think modern Linux distros are too complicated, Haiku is an open-source OS that aspires to be as simple and elegant as its namesake Japanese poetry format. While it's still in beta, if you have fond memories of BeOS, Haiku might be a promising alternative to desktop Linux.

      Haiku is an open-source reimplementation of BeOS. BeOS was developed by Be, Incorporated in the '90s. The company was founded by Jean-Louis Gassée, who had headed the Mac group at Apple in the '80s.

      BeOS was originally designed for the company's short-lived BeBox machines, before being ported to Mac clones, then the Mac itself, and finally Intel-based PCs.

      BeOS was designed to work well with multimedia and to run as efficiently as possible. One forward-thinking element was its support for multiple processors when this was uncommon on desktop computers in the 1990s.

      BeOS' multithreading allowed it to stay responsive even when running heavy graphics and video, which astonished a lot of observers, as seen in this promotional video from the late '90s...

    • New Releases

      • Elive 3.8.34 beta released

        The Elive Team is pleased to announce the release of 3.8.34 Beta

        This new version includes: Nvidia drivers: Lots of improvements have been included, such as support for Optimus cards (Intel + Nvidia GPU laptops), OpenCL, video rendering, switching drivers in Live mode, and a better installation process. Graphical drivers: Much improved for compatibility and support for any performant application like Blender or DaVinci Resolve. Ctrl+Alt+Del: A special feature created by Elive has been added that runs some helpers to make the life of the user easier.

      • Barry Kauler ☛ EasyOS Kirkstone-series version 5.4.7 released

        Version 5.4.6 was released on July 6, 2023:



        [...]

        In the previous post, I mentioned KeePassXC password manager crashing with "illegal instruction" when tested on my Compaq Presario PC. The fix is to use v3.1 encryption instead of v4 -- I think that this was already reported in the forum.

        So, 5.4.7 has the pre-created KeePassXC database now v3.1. One thing to remember: the pre-created database requires password "woofwoof" to open.

        There are various other improvements that didn't get posted about in the blog. For example, thanks to madanadam for more Turkish translations.

      • 9to5Linux ☛ Linux Mint 21.2 “Victoria” Is Now Available for Download, Here’s What’s New

        Linux Mint 21.2 was in public beta testing since June 21st, 2023, which gave the developers enough time to fix remaining issues and offer users a stable and rock-solid release. Just like previous releases, Victoria is available with the Cinnamon, Xfce, and MATE desktop environments.

        This is the second installment in the Linux Mint 21 series, which means that it’s based on Canonical’s long-term supported Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish) operating system series and it’s powered by the Linux 5.15 LTS kernel series, which will also be supported for a few years.

    • Fedora Family / IBM

      • IT Wire ☛ Oracle takes big swing at IBM over locking up RHEL source code

        In a joint blog post published on 10 July, and headlined "Keep Linux Open and Free€ – We Can’t Afford Not To", chief corporate architect Edward Screven and Oracle Linux Development chief Wim Coekaerts pointed out that by making it more difficult to obtain updated RHEL source code, Red Hat was directly attacking projects like Rocky Linux and AlmaLinux that have sprung up to fill the gap left by CentOS.

        Oracle is the second major company to make an official statement about the Red Hat move. The first, German open source vendor SUSE, said on 11 July that it would invest more than US$10 million (A$14.97 million) to fork the publicly available RHEL source code and make it available to world+dog with no restrictions.

      • Red Hat Official ☛ OpenShift sandboxed containers on-prem: Going nested without nested

        Peer-pods is a new Red Hat OpenShift feature that enables an OpenShift sandboxed container (OSC) running on a bare-metal deployment to run on OpenShift in a public cloud and on VMware. It's not uncommon to want to run OpenShift in a virtual machine instead of on the bare-metal nodes. While it's possible to run a virtual machine inside a virtual machine, it demands a whole new subset of support concerns when you do it in production. In this article, I'll demonstrate how to solve this problem, using a combination of peer-pods and libvirt.

    • Devices/Embedded

      • Purism ☛ Purism and Linux 6.2 to 6.4

        It’s time to report on code flowing upstream again: Following up on our report for Linux 5.19, 6.0 and 6.1 this summarizes the progress on mainline support for the Librem 5 phone and its development kit during the 6.2, 6.3 and 6.4 development cycles.

        It’s crucial to describe our boards correctly and we constantly improve that description based on specifications, driver code and the hardware. During the last weeks and months we’ve improved power consumption and completed selfie-camera support among other things...

    • Open Hardware/Modding

      • CNX Software ☛ smolOS brings a Linux-like command line interface to ESP8266 microcontroller

        smolOS (pronounced small OS) is an open-source, lightweight MicroPython program that implements a POSIX-style (Linux-like) command line interface for the ESP8266 WiFi microcontroller. Krzysztof Jankowski (w84death) designed smolOS to be easy to use, allowing the listing and removing of files and also including the smolEDitor which, as its name implies, is a simple text editor. There are currently eight commands with the familiar ls, cat, and rm, plus ed to launch the text editor, welcome to show the welcome screen above, cls to clear the screen, mhz to set the processor speed to 80 or 160 MHz, and info to display some hardware and software information. The project looks to be a work in progress, and the developer highlights the editor is at the alpha stage of development, so more features may be implemented over time by Krzysztof himself or by the community of developers.

      • Hackaday ☛ PicoDebugger Makes Development Easier

        Debugging a Raspberry Pi Pico is straightforward enough; it simply involves hooking up something up to the USB and SWD pins. [Mark Stevens] whipped up the PicoDebugger to make this job easier than ever before.

      • Hackaday ☛ An ESP In Your Mini TV

        When miniature LCD TVs arrived on the market they were an object of desire, far from the reach of tech-obsessed youngsters. Now in the age of smartphones they’re a historical curiosity, but with the onward march of technology you can have one for not a lot. [Taylor Galbraith] shows us how, with an ESP32 and an LCD we rather like because of its CRT-like rounded corners.

    • Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications

  • Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

    • SaaS/Back End/Databases

      • PostgreSQL ☛ Announcing the release of pg_cirrus - Hassle-free PostgreSQL cluster setup

        We are delighted to announce the Beta1 release of pg_cirrus. This automated tool streamlines the process of setting up a 3-node cluster, making it significantly easier for users to set up and manage high availability in PostgreSQL.

        We understand that configuring a PostgreSQL cluster can be a complex and time-consuming task, which is why we have designed pg_cirrus to help make the process faster and more efficient.

    • Content Management Systems (CMS)

    • Programming/Development

      • TecAdmin ☛ How to Disable Functions in PHP

        When you’re working with PHP, one powerful feature you might not be aware of is the ability to disable certain built-in functions.

  • Leftovers

    • Hardware

      • Hackaday ☛ AC-DC Converter Is Reliable, Safe, And Efficient

        When first starting an electronics project, it’s not uncommon to dive right in to getting the core parts of the project working. Breadboarding the project usually involves working with a benchtop power supply of some sort, but when it comes to finalizing the project the actual power supply is often glossed over. It’s not a glamorous part of a project or the part most of us want to be working with, but it’s critical to making sure projects don’t turn up with mysterious issues in the future. We can look to some others’ work to simplify this part of our projects, though, like this power supply from [hesam.moshiri].

      • Hackaday ☛ No Acid: Open ICs With A Tesla Coil

        We’ve taken ICs apart before, but if they are in an epoxy package, it requires some lab gear and a lot of safety. Typically, you’ll heat the part and use fuming nitric acid (nasty stuff) in a cavity milled into the part to remove the epoxy over the die. While [100dollarhacker] doesn’t provide much detail, he appears to have used a Tesla coil to do it — no hot acid required.

      • IT Wire ☛ Huawei set to surmount US ban, return to 5G phone biz: report

        A second research firm estimated shipments could reach 10 million units, but provided no details to back up this conclusion.

        According to the China Securities Journal, Huawei was reported to have raised its 2023 mobile shipment target to 40 million units in July, from 30 million at the start of the year. However, there was no mention of 5G phones.

        The research firms told Reuters that Huawei had announced in March that it had made breakthroughs in electronic design automation tools for chips produced at and above 14nm.

        Citing their own industry sources, these firms said they believed Huawei's EDA software could be used with SMIC's N+1 manufacturing process to make 7nm chips.

        SMIC was blocked by the US from buying EUV machines from Dutch firm ASML; such machines are needed to make 7nm chips.

        However, some analysts said there were indications SMIC had somehow managed to produce 7nm chips by tweaking simpler DUV machines it could still purchase freely from ASML.

    • Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

      • Reason ☛ Was Trump's Operation Warp Speed a Success?

        Join Reason on YouTube and Facebook Thursday at 1 p.m. Eastern for a discussion about lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic with Institute for Progress founder Alec Stapp.

      • The Atlantic ☛ The Republican Lab-Leak Circus Makes One Important Point

        “Lab leak” has too many meanings.

      • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Over 30% of Hong Kong students have ‘binge gamed,’ as experts warn of mental health issues linked to online addiction

        Over 30 per cent of Hong Kong students have “binge gamed,” experts have said, adding that research shows a correlation between online gaming addiction and poor mental health.

      • RFA ☛ China signals willingness for more fiscal stimulus

        The much-anticipated rebound post COVID lockdowns has so far failed to materialize.

      • uni Michigan ☛ Michigan Medicine launches PEACH program to address youth health inequities

        Michigan Medicine launched the Program for Equity in Adolescent & Child Health in February to combat health inequities and develop interventions to improve outcomes for patients across Michigan and the United States. The program was initially proposed before the COVID-19 pandemic, but its establishment was delayed until July 2022 due to insufficient funding.

      • The Nation ☛ Amid Partisan Politicking, Revelations on a Covid Origins Article

        On Tuesday, the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic held an oversight hearing on “The Proximal Origin of SARS-CoV-2,” a peer-reviewed paper that played an influential role in shaping the early public debate about the origin of Covid-19. The paper was published in the journal Nature Medicine in March 2020 and came out firmly in favor of a natural origin for the virus, with its five prominent authors writing that “we do not believe any type of laboratory scenario is plausible” in explaining the origin of SARS-CoV-2.

      • The Nation ☛ When Death Is the Best Choice, Is It a Choice at All?

        As long as someone places Michal Kaliszan’s hands on a keyboard and a mouse, he has enough strength and dexterity to use a computer. Once his hands are there, the 40-year-old software developer at Blackberry can start his workday. But for anything else—”personal care, activities, and daily living”—he needs someone’s help.

      • Federal News Network ☛ New Zealand prosecutor alleges tourists were not warned before volcano eruption in 2019 killed 22

        A New Zealand prosecutor says tourists received no health and safety warnings before they landed on the country’s most active volcano ahead of a 2019 eruption that killed 22 people. There were 47 people on White Island when superheated steam erupted, and most of the 25 who survived had severe burns. Prosecutor Kristy McDonald told the court as a trial opened Tuesday that the eruption at the popular tourist destination was not predictable but was foreseeable. The island’s owners, their management company and two tour operators are on trial in Auckland District Court for allegedly failing to adequately protect tourists and staff.

    • Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

      • Microsoft Set for New Round of Layoffs

        The technological sector is still experiencing hard times. Reportedly, Microsoft layoffs a number of employees from its customer service, support, and sales team.

      • House Republicans interrogate FTC’s Khan over regulation of Big Tech [Ed: 'Conservatives' are protecting Microsoft again]

        The chair of the Federal Trade Commission defended her aggressive legal strategy toward the country’s biggest technology companies Thursday as House Republicans charged that the agency has become overzealous and politicized under President Joe Biden.

    • Security

      • Security Week ☛ Hardcoded Accounts Allow Full Takeover of Technicolor Routers

        Multiple hardcoded accounts on the Technicolor TG670 DSL gateway router can be used to completely take over the impacted devices.

      • Security Week ☛ Chinese Cyberspies Used Forged Authentication Tokens to Hack Government Emails [Ed: Misleading framing. Microsoft is at fault here, not the expert here.]

        Microsoft says a Chinese cyberespionage group tracked as Storm-0558 has used forged authentication tokens to access government emails.

      • Trail Of Bits ☛ What we told the CFTC about blockchain threats

        Dan Guido, CEO In March, I joined the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Technology Advisory Committee (TAC), helping the regulatory agency navigate the complexities of cybersecurity risks, particularly in emerging technologies like AI and blockchain. During the committee’s first meeting,

      • Security Week ☛ Citrix Patches Critical Vulnerability in Secure Access Client for Ubuntu [Ed: Proprietary software is not "Secure Access Client"]

        Citrix has patched a critical-severity vulnerability in Secure Access client for Ubuntu that could lead to remote code execution (RCE).

      • Security Week ☛ Fortinet Patches Critical FortiOS Vulnerability Leading to Remote Code Execution

        Fortinet patches a critical-severity vulnerability in FortiOS and FortiProxy that could lead to remote code execution.

      • Security Week ☛ SAP Patches Critical Vulnerability in ECC and S/4HANA Products

        SAP on July 2023 Security Patch Day released 16 new security notes, including one addressing a critical vulnerability in ECC and S/4HANA (IS-OIL).

      • Security Week ☛ MOVEit: Testing the Limits of Supply Chain Security

        The need for cyber resilience arises from the growing realization that traditional security measures are no longer enough to protect systems, data, and the network from compromise.

      • RFA ☛ Chinese hackers breached US email servers for a month [Ed: Microsoft servers breached; they try to change the narrative now]

        National security adviser downplays a hack on Microsoft-hosted government email servers.

      • Security Week ☛ Microsoft Revokes Many Signed Drivers Used by Chinese Cybercriminals [Ed: Again, Microsoft is fully at fault here, yet lousy publishers make it look like Microsoft is the saviour]

        Microsoft has revoked signed drivers used for post-exploitation activity, in many cases by Chinese cybercriminals.

      • TwinCities Pioneer Press ☛ Chinese hackers breached State Dept., other government email on eve of Blinken visit, officials say [Ed: The simpler way to put it, Microsoft suffered a major breach, looks for political actors to blame]

        U.S. officials say state-backed Chinese hackers foiled Microsoft’s cloud-based security and hacked the email of officials at multiple U.S. agencies that deal with China ahead of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to Beijing last month. The surgical, targeted espionage accessed the mailboxes of a small number of individuals at an unspecified number of U.S. agencies and was discovered by the State Department. Officials said none of the breached systems were classified. The hack was disclosed late Tuesday by Microsoft, which said email accounts were haced at about 25 organizations globally beginning in mid-May. A U.S. official said the number of U.S. organizations impacted was in the single digits.

      • Reproducible Builds: Reproducible Builds in June 2023

        Our summits are a unique gathering that brings together attendees from diverse projects, united by a shared vision of advancing the Reproducible Builds effort. During this enriching event, participants will have the opportunity to engage in discussions, establish connections and exchange ideas to drive progress in this vital field. Our aim is to create an inclusive space that fosters collaboration, innovation and problem-solving. We are thrilled to host the seventh edition of this exciting event, following the success of previous summits in various iconic locations around the world, including Venice, Marrakesh, Paris, Berlin and Athens.

      • Silicon Angle ☛ Bugcrowd finds hackers are more skeptical about AI than Silicon Valley investors

        Crowdsourced cybersecurity startup€ Bugcrowd Inc.€ has today released a new report that found hackers are more skeptical than Silicon Valley investors when it comes to artificial intelligence.

      • IT Wire ☛ Microsoft cloud breached, but US Government had to tell it so

        The email account of US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo was among a slew of accounts breached at both the State and Commerce Departments by attackers, claimed to be from China, who gained access through a vulnerability in Microsoft's Azure cloud platform.

      • IT Wire ☛ Dragos helps US government agency keep Rockwell bugs in check

        A statement from Dragos said Rockwell had analysed a novel exploit capability affecting select modules in ControlLogix EtherNet/IP communication module models, 1756-EN2, 1756-EN3 (CVE-2023-3595), and 1756-EN4 (CVE-2023-3596). The exploit was attributed to a state actor.

        Rockwell, one of the bigger providers of providers of industrial automation and digital transformation technologies, reported the two vulnerabilities to the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

        Dragos said it had worked in advance of the disclosure "to co-ordinate and help assess the extent of the threat".

      • Bleeping Computer ☛ Microsoft July 2023 Patch Tuesday warns of 6 zero-days, 132 flaws

        Today is Microsoft’s July 2023 Patch Tuesday, with security updates for 132 flaws, including six actively exploited and thirty-seven remote code execution vulnerabilities.



      • Scoop News Group ☛ Hackers based in China nab email data from US government agencies [Ed: This article does a lousy job at explaining that Microsoft was at fault here, not China. Microsoft uses xenophobia to distract from its culpability.]

        A Chinese hacking group focused on espionage utilized a flaw in a Microsoft authentication system to target the U.S. government.

      • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China-based hackers breached email accounts of US government agencies, Microsoft says [Ed: Again, this is a misleading framing. Microsoft isn't the expert, Microsoft is the party at fault. Microsoft is an ultra-racist company.]

        Chinese-based hackers seeking intelligence information breached the email accounts of a number of US government agencies, computer giant Microsoft said. “The threat actor Microsoft links to this incident is an adversary based in China that Microsoft calls Storm-0558,” the company said in a blog post late Tuesday.

      • New York Times ☛ Chinese Hackers Targeted Commerce Secretary and Other U.S. Officials [Ed: Way to distract from Microsoft's incompetence; why not sue Microsoft for this?]

        The hackers took aim at specific email accounts in the State and Commerce Departments, officials said.

    • Defence/Aggression

    • Environment

      • Democracy Now ☛ “A Climate-Changed World”: Vermont Confronts Historic Flooding Again, 12 Years After Hurricane Irene

        Parts of Vermont experienced their worst flooding this week in nearly a century after two months’ worth of rain fell over the course of 48 hours. Nearly 100 people have been rescued, and locals are deeply concerned for the unhoused residents. “The state has really been hammered,” says journalist David Goodman in Waterbury. The host of the public affairs podcast and radio show The Vermont Conversation explains how the town adapted to flooding caused by Hurricane Irene, and calls for the state to adapt rather than simply replace damaged infrastructure: “​​In a climate changed world, that doesn’t work.”

      • Off Guardian ☛ Reality Check: No, we didn’t just have “the hottest week in 100,000 years”

        Kit Knightly The buzz in the Climate Change news is that the five hottest days in the last 100,000 years all happened last week, according to the World Meteorological Organization.

      • Quartz ☛ The North Atlantic ocean is the warmest it's ever been

        The North Atlantic ocean is getting less frigid, with 2023 shaping up to be the warmest year on record.

      • New York Times ☛ Rising Heat Underground Is Sinking Chicago Ever So Slightly

        Basements and train tunnels constantly leak heat, causing the land to sink and straining building foundations. Scientists call it “underground climate change.”

      • Axios ☛ Expansive, intense heat wave is only getting started, NWS warns

        An "extremely dangerous" heat wave is ramping up from Florida to California, and is poised to topple records and threaten public health.

        The big picture: The extreme heat has prompted the National Weather Service to issue heat alerts for more than 86 million people, according to heat.gov, with the hottest temperatures destined for the Southwest.

      • Democracy Now ☛ Texas Governor Outlaws Life-Saving Water Breaks for Workers as Climate Crisis Fuels Heat Waves

        We take a closer look at the impact of the massive heat dome in Texas, where extreme heat is bearing down on some of the state’s most vulnerable populations, including workers and prisoners. At least three people have died after working in triple-digit heat, just as Republican Governor Greg Abbott signs into law a new measure that overrides mandatory water breaks for workers. Meanwhile, 32 people have been reported to have died in Texas prisons, most of which lack air conditioning and are prone to increased rates of heat-induced cardiac events. We are joined on Democracy Now! by Steven Monacelli in Dallas, who is The Texas Observer’s special investigative correspondent. His recent piece is headlined “Texans Die from Heat After Governor Bans Mandatory Water Breaks.”

      • New York Times ☛ Summer Heat Killed 61,000 in Europe in 2022, Study Says

        Researchers suggest that strategies to cope with higher temperatures aren’t keeping pace with global warming.

    • Finance

      • Cirrus Logic Layoffs 2023: What to Know About the Latest CRUS Job Cuts

        Cirrus Logic says that it is laying off 5% of its global workforce. The company says that this reduction is due to trouble with a product release and overall market conditions. That product was originally set to come out this fall, but will no longer come to market as expected.

      • ABP ☛ Sachin Bansal's Navi Technologies Lays Off Nearly 200 Employees: Report

        According to Navi technologies' draft IPO paper, the company had 4,680 employees as of December 31, 2021

      • Scheerpost ☛ Why Are There No Slums in China?

        Walking through China’s cities, you will quickly notice the absence of large slums or pervasive homelessness common to the rest of the world.

      • Scheerpost ☛ Ellen Brown: The Federal Debt Trap: Issues and Possible Solutions

        “Rather than collecting taxes from the wealthy,” wrote the New York Times Editorial Board in a July 7 opinion piece, “the government is paying the wealthy to borrow their money.”€ 

      • Michael West Media ☛ CBA customers dipping into savings and tightening belts

        Young home owners who bought during the COVID-19 pandemic are pulling back their spending sharply as interest rates rise and cost of living pressures persist.

        Commonwealth Bank of Australia head Matt Comyn has told a federal parliamentary inquiry many households are clearly feeling the strain, hauling in their discretionary spending and dipping into savings.

      • The Telegraph UK ☛ Pound hits fresh 15-month high as rally continues

        The pound has tipped above $1.31 for the first time since April last year after wholesale inflation in the US came to a near standstill.

        Sterling has risen for a sixth session to a new 15-month high as it was also boosted by data showing the UK economy shrank by less than expected in May.

        US producer prices barely rose in June from a year earlier, gaining 0.1pc in the smallest advance since 2020, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

      • Michael West Media ☛ Robodebt and Robododger: PwC's consulting operation revealed

        The double standard is glaring, further illuminated by the findings of the Robodebt Royal Commission. While the AFP dithered for years investigating the blue-chippers from PwC for selling state secrets to foreign corporations, it was as quick as a rat up a drainpipe when it came to sending out letters to Centrelink clients threatening them with prison sentences unless they paid their Robodebts. Michael West reports.

        This strike on Australia’s most vulnerable – the Robodebt scheme targeted 381,000 people to unlawfully recover more than $750m – was badged “Taskforce Integrity”.

      • Michael West Media ☛ Morrison should be 'embarrassed' over robodebt: Shorten

        Government services minister Bill Shorten says Scott Morrison should be embarrassed by the robodebt royal commission but it is up to the former prime minister to decide if he should quit parliament.€ 

        Mr Morrison is facing fresh calls for his resignation based on his role in the failed debt recovery scheme as uncovered by a royal commission into the government program.€ 

      • Quartz ☛ The fastest bank run in US history was sparked by crypto banking

        For all the attention placed on the recent failures of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and First Republic Bank, surprisingly little focus has been placed on what exactly sparked the fastest bank run in US history (SVB’s), which then triggered the collapse of Signature and First Republic.

      • Michael West Media ☛ CBA, Westpac chiefs to front banking inquiry hearing

        The bosses of Westpac and Commonwealth Bank are set to be be quizzed about their interest rates and approach to helping scammed customers.

        The federal parliament’s economics committee will hold a second day of hearings in Canberra on Thursday, having received evidence from ANZ and NAB on Wednesday.

    • AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

    • Censorship/Free Speech

    • Civil Rights/Policing

      • Scheerpost ☛ Post-Conviction Review Could Correct Three-Strike Law Injustices

        Incorporating newer research about post-adolescent brain development would help those sentenced under outdated, racist policies.

      • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong passes bill to broaden justice department’s power to appeal cases at the High Court

        Hong Kong’s “patriots-only” legislature has passed a bill which broadens the Department of Justice’s powers to appeal cases, including not-guilty verdicts in national security trials, at the city’s High Court. The Legislative Council (LegCo) passed the Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill 2023 on Wednesday by a show of hands.

      • RFA ☛ Communist Party takes direct charge of the running of Hong Kong

        The Hong Kong and Macau Work Office is charged with 'maintaining national security' in the city under a 2020 law

      • Project Censored ☛ The Colonial Origins of the Concept of “Whiteness" / How Bisexuality is Treated Within Native Communities - The Project Censored Show

        Then in the second half of the program, Eleanor speaks with Jen Deerinwater. Drawing on their own life experiences, they discuss how bisexuality is widely misunderstood or dismissed, even by other queer people. Deerinwater also adds her observations about how bisexuality is treated within Native communities, and explains that the Native concept of “two-spirit” is about more than an individual’s sexual orientation.

      • ACLU ☛ Looking Beyond Haaland v. Brackeen

        Last month, the Supreme Court issued a decision in Haaland v. Brackeen, delivering a landmark victory for tribal sovereignty, Native children, Native families, and the future of Native people. In a 7-2 decision by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the Court rejected all of the constitutional challenges to the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) — some on the merits and others for lack of standing.

        The ACLU submitted an amicus brief in the case, and has been following the issue closely because of the profound threat it poses to Indigenous communities, particularly federally recognized tribes in the United States. In light of this victory at the Supreme Court, we are now urging states to take action and introduce or strengthen existing state-level ICWA protections.

    • Digital Restrictions (DRM)

      • Tom's Hardware ☛ Denuvo Claims Its DRM Does Not Hinder Gaming Performance [Ed: Denuvo and the straw man. The main problem with DRM is not this.]

        The team behind Denuvo claims that its DRM does not hinder gaming performance as many gamers have claimed. To resolve this, Denuvo is building a new program that will allow reviewers to compare new games with and without the DRM installed.

    • Monopolies



Recent Techrights' Posts

Gemini Links 07/10/2026: Nostalgia, Neutral Map, and Shorthanding
Links for the day
Slop is Plagiarism
Plagiarism is not "theft" and copyright infringement is not "piracy"
 
Microsoft's XBox CEO Asha Sharma Tells Staff That Many Thousands of Layoffs Are in Fact "Return to Growth"
Get it? Layoffs are "growth".
Gemini Links 07/10/2026: On Feeling Guilty Leaving the US, Multinet, and Limiting Net Usage
Links for the day
The Cyber Show Explains the Concept of "Data Rape"
a metaphor some might find crude
FREE BEER is Still Online, But Barely Active
25 years ago or even 20 years ago many spoke of open/free beer (or "COLA")
Syria: GNU/Linux Has Surged to 8% "Market Share"
I don't have a convincing explanation for this
IBM Dimming Down the Lights on IBM Consulting, No Knowledge or Experience Required
They just "ride" the (old) brand, that's all
Statement on American SLAPP
Crossposted from schestowitz.com
Today The Register MS Published "SPONSORED FEATURE" and "SPONSORED POST" With "AI" 31 Times in Them
This isn't a "Reality" or "Era of AI", it's a paid-for spam campaign
Links 07/10/2026: Unrest in France and Rumours of Plague in Russia
Links for the day
Brigading Against Women - Part XXII - The Lozza Problem (in Length)
Garrett's case was a waste of the Court's money
JavaScript in Richard Stallman's Web Site
For search he is using CGI, not JavaScript
EPO's Local Staff Committee The Hague (LSCTH) Plans Presentation Next Week (Coinciding With Apparent Coronation of 'Cocaine King' Campinos)
They've outsourced this session to the dictator's spying eye
The GNOME Foundation's Code of Conduct Has Been Misused to Hide Corruption
People who value free speech and freedom of expression won't touch social control media with a 10-foot bargepole
Voting for Freedom of the Press
American elections happen every 4 years
What Brett Wilson LLP and Matt Garrett Don't Want People to See/Read
Book-burning is counterproductive
Book-Burning Mindset Does Not Work
It makes the suppressed voices more widely known
Microsoft's XBox in 'Freefall'
XBox is practically finished
IBM is Almost Defunct
IBM is doomed. It just tries to test how much more patience the shareholders have.
Criminalisation of Journalism
"Journalist Derya Okatan arrested in Turkey for allegedly possessing classified material"
Brigading Against Women - Part XXI - Hiding Behind the Veil of "Privacy" After Telling Nazi Things in IRC Channels of Techrights and Physically Threatening People
To merely explain an abuse (or crime) requires naming people; that's a fundamental tenet of reporting
Links 07/10/2026: Quitting Smartphone and "Meta's Muse Is Spying on All Your Friends and Family"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 07/10/2026: Greed, In Praise of Zotero, and The de-Google Path
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, October 06, 2026
IRC logs for Tuesday, October 06, 2026
Microsoft Hiring Only on the Cheap
Much of the same can be said about GAFAM and IBM
Gemini Links 06/10/2026: Nightfall Express, Shorthanding, and Raspberry Pi Desktop Gets a Debian Trixie Refresh
Links for the day
20th Anniversary Next Month
We are currently trying to agree on a plan for next month's celebrations
Taking Photos With Richard Stallman (RMS)
What's the point?
GAFAM Attack on FreeDesktop
Now they push lots of LLM slop into Linux
EPO Union Bemoans Lack of Social Dialogue as Dictator Wishes to Govern Forever (No Elections, No Rivals), Hide the Many Issues
"Exchange of open letters"
GNU/Linux Has Risen in France Since the Order to Adopt GNU/Linux (in Public Services)
We can expect the same in countries like Denmark, Switzerland, Germany, and The Netherlands
On Microsoft Hiring Freeze or No Permanent Jobs at Microsoft Anymore (Amid Many Silent Layoffs)
Microsoft has changed what it can offer workers
IBM Cannot Hide the Layoffs Forever
we welcome whistleblower to tell us more and send us documents related to that
EPO's Central Staff Committee Asking The Council to Get Rid of Corrupt Campinos
We'll be covering EPO scandals around the time of that meeting
Gemini Links 06/10/2026: EU Kids Act, Practicality of Gemini, and Games
Links for the day
Links 06/10/2026: Data Breaches Epidemic and Turkey Blocking Journalists
Links for the day
The Whole Point of Computing is That Computers Are Deterministic (Speed With Predictable Accuracy)
Unlike stochastic parrots that stochastically utter out lies
It's Not a Linux Back Door If It's an Unpatched Device
"Linux Backdoor" is a glaring misfit, a possibly 'obscene' term
What is a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA)? When Law Firms Become the Litigants.
And the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) needs to be more serious about tackling this
Brigading Against Women - Part XX - Attempts by Lozza to Deplatform Techrights and Tux Machines Only Days After I Sued Garrett and My Wife Also Sued Garrett (Shortly Before the Serial Strangler From Microsoft Joined)
in 2024
Links 06/10/2026: A Year Since "NSA Whistleblower Reality Winner Released From Prison", World Tries to Deal With El Niño
Links for the day
"SIRIUS CORPORATION LIMITED" as Evidence of the Financial Shell Games in the UK
Rianne and I still have some fond memories of the time the ex-wife of the CEO treated us like human beings
Lots of Silent Layoffs at IBM Last Week, Employees Explain Patterns of Those Impacted
It wasn't just gossip, it actually happened even if the media chose to look the other way (as usual)
Gemini Links 06/10/2026: Fighting for Purpose, Gemlogs, and Gemtext
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, October 05, 2026
IRC logs for Monday, October 05, 2026
Red Hat is Phased Out of Existence This Month Onwards
Within a few years we'll probably not see many redhat.com addresses anymore; many became ibm.* last week
Finland's GNU/Linux Share Measured at 12%
Last month GNU/Linux was measured at about 10% in Finland
UK Layoffs and Closures by Microsoft. In Expected Blow, Microsoft Likely Shuts Down Another Studio.
Microsoft's layoffs are never-ending, they just try to keep them all secret.
NVIDIA Buys the Media With Companies It Sponsors to Pretend to be Customers (Circular Funding Scheme)
The media crisis worsens
Discussion About Potential Sale of EPO Buildings and Enshittification of Europe's Largest Patent Office
It's noteworthy that only one hour (or 70 minutes) was devoted to so many topics
Brigading Against Women - Part IXX - Overreaction From Young Female Professional After Invalid Threats Made and Sent From an Incel in Another Continent
Cowards who send threats after committing crimes online
Stonewalling by Bots
We'll now turn our attention back to EPO and other matters
Gemini Links 05/10/2026: "Posthumanism", Cardputer, and More
Links for the day
Links 05/10/2026: “I’m Embarrassed on Behalf of the Tech Industry” and Slop Scammers "Lobbying the Vatican"
Links for the day
SIRIUS OPEN SOURCE LTD Officially Insolvent, Is Reform UK Next?
Sirius no more
Links 05/10/2026: "Congress Must Investigate War Profiteers Once Again" and Update on Thomson Reuters v. Ross Intelligence
Links for the day
libera.chat is an Agenda-Peddling Platform Run by Agenda-Peddling Individuals
The volunteers of libera.chat ("staff") aren't working for free, they work towards an agenda
Nobel Season is Plutocracy Week
Later this week the billionaires will give a fake "Nobel" (in "Economics") to someone who parrots their preferred narrative and those same billionaires will use "Nobel" to bless the promoter of their latest pyramid scheme/buzzword
GNU/Linux Market Share in North America 13% This Past Weekend
It is perhaps not shocking that adoption of GNU/Linux is very high there
When Did Europe Begin to Side With White-Collar Criminals (or Participate in Suppressing People Who Oppose Them)?
How much corruption can we tolerate before the European Union becomes another Russian Federation?
Libera Chat's "Level of Control Might Make Sense for a Corporate Platform"
IRC is not centralised
Brigading Against Women - Part XVIII - Turning Censorship Attempts (Articles About Matthew Garrett) Into Mild Redactions
What Lozza did two years ago
Greenland Needs Digital Sovereignty
the large icy island isn't moving to GNU/Linux as quickly as the rest of Europe
Tracker of Internet Relay Chat Networks Out of Service (But Not Down) Since Thursday
We should note that the number of unique networks they track has grown since we last checked
Gemini Links 05/10/2026: NixOS, Guix, Codeberg Banning Slop, and "Gopher Apps on Android"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, October 04, 2026
IRC logs for Sunday, October 04, 2026