Bonum Certa Men Certa

Links 17/07/2023: Slackware Linux Turns 30, SparkyLinux 2023.07



  • GNU/Linux

    • 9to5Linux9to5Linux Weekly Roundup: July 16th, 2023

      It’s been a slow week for Linux news and releases, yet we had some great announcements this week starting with SUSE’s announcement about forking RHEL to preserve choice in enterprise Linux, Thunderbird 115 with its brand-new Supernova UI, and Linux Mint 21.2 “Victoria” with its cool new features and enhancements.

      On top of that, I tell you all about Star Labs’ new mini Linux PC and the end of life for the Linux 6.3 kernel series, and wish Slackware Linux a happy 30th birthday. You can read this week’s hottest news and access all the distro and package downloads in 9to5Linux’s Linux weekly roundup for July 16th, 2023, below.

    • Linux LinksLinux Around The World: Croatia

      We cover user groups that are running in Croatia. This article forms part of our Linux Around The World series.

    • Audiocasts/Shows

      • Jupiter BroadcastingThe Clone Grift Wars | LINUX Unplugged 519

        Have Oracle and SUSE lost their minds? Plus, we dig into Fedora's proposal to add telemetry collection to Workstation.

      • GNU World Order (Audio Show)GNU World Order 521

        Community.

        shasum -a256=25db76af713e522f7bf917defdf969dafe24ebe579502b3dde4e7ec8b837cf2a

    • Applications

      • Linux LinksRadio – Simple Radio App written in Vala

        Why do we like internet radio? There are no sign-up or subscription charges. There are a huge range of stations available from around the world. If you like classical music, pop music, folk music, news, talk radio, and much more, internet radio has something for everyone wherever you live (providing you have a net connection). Internet radio offers every format that is available on traditional broadcast radio stations.

        Radio is billed as a simple radio with a clear and concise interface. It’s written in Vala and published under an open source license.

        We tested the software using the project’s Flatpak. That’s an open source containerized package format similar to Snap. While Snap relies on a central repository for software, Flatpak can be installed from different sources. The primary source is Flathub.

    • Instructionals/Technical

      • Linux CapableHow to Build NGINX from Source on Debian 12/11/10

        NGINX, a high-performance open-source web server, is celebrated for its stability, low resource consumption, and ability to serve dynamic web content. It’s also capable of handling high-traffic loads and acting as a reverse proxy.

      • Linux CapableFirewalld: Essential Commands for Linux

        Firewalld, with its dynamic nature and comprehensive control over network traffic, stands as the vanguard of Linux system security. It provides an abstract interface to define complex firewall rules without directly dealing with iptables.

      • Own HowToHow to Install LibreOffice on Arch Linux

        Do you need to create pdfs, documents, slideshows or work on other office related tasks on Arch Linux? LibreOffice is definitely the best choice when it comes to choosing an office suite software for Linux.

      • Own HowToHow to install a rpm package on CentOS 9

        In this tutorial, you will learn how to install a rpm package on CentOS.

        rpm is a package manager that allows you to manage rpm packages on your system. In this tutorial, we are going to use two methods to install rpm packages on rhel based distros, by using yum

      • Own HowToHow to Install Linux Lite 6.6

        Linux Lite is a Linux distro based on Ubuntu.

        Created on 2012 by Jerry Bezencon, Linux Lite comes with XFCE desktop environment as default Desktop environment, and kernel 5.15.0.

        To run Linux Lite, you need 1GB of RAM, and 8GB of space on your HDD, which makes it

      • Linux CapableHow to Install, Enable, and Configure SSH on Pop!_OS

        OpenSSH is a robust utility that provides secure access to remote systems over an unsecured network. It’s a widely used encryption protocol that establishes secure communication between two untrusted hosts. Despite the availability of numerous remote server access and management tools, OpenSSH remains a popular choice due to its versatility and user-friendliness.

      • Linux CapableHow to Verify if a File or Directory Exists in Bash

        When working with Bash scripts, it’s a common requirement to check if a file or directory exists before performing an operation. This guide will provide you with a comprehensive understanding of how to perform these checks in Bash, focusing on the test command and its various forms.

      • Linux CapableHow to Install Git on Pop!_OS

        In the sphere of software development, efficiency and organization are key. With projects often being handled by multiple developers across the globe, a system for managing changes and coordinating work is critical. This is where Git, a distributed version control system created by Linus Torvalds, comes into play.

      • Linux CapableWhat is the Python randint() Function

        Python is a versatile language with a rich library of functions. One such function is the randint() function, which belongs to the random module.

      • How to Extend Veritas File System (VxFS) in Linux

        Extending the VxFX file system is a routine task for a Linux/Unix administrator and this can be done online with a few steps described in the below article...

      • LinuxConfigFinding Your Raspberry Pi’s IP Address: A Quick Guide
      • FOSSLinuxWhat you need to know about login shells in Linux

        In the Linux operating system, shells act as an interface between users and the system itself, enabling the execution of commands and scripts. Among various types of shells, the concept of a 'login shell' often comes up. But what exactly is a login shell, and how does it differ from a non-login shell?

      • LinuxConfigInstall an OS on Your Raspberry Pi: Step-by-Step
      • LinuxConfigChecking Your Raspberry Pi’s OS Version
      • LinuxConfigBoot Your Raspberry Pi from a USB: A Tutorial
      • LinuxConfigEnabling SSH on Raspberry Pi: A Comprehensive Guide
      • Ubuntu HandbookHow to Share Virtual Extended Screen in Ubuntu 22.04 | 23.04 GNOME

        This simple tutorial shows how to enable RDP remote desktop for extended screen in Ubuntu 22.04 and higher with default GNOME desktop. Since Ubuntu 22.04, the default GNOME desktop has built-in RDP support. The function has feature to share screen in ‘extend’ mode.

    • Desktop Environments/WMs

      • K Desktop Environment/KDE SC/Qt

        • Barry KaulerQtEmu GUI for QEMU compiled in OE

          There has been some great work posted to the forum on using QEMU in EasyOS. I reckon one or more GUIs would be nice, so have compiled QtEmu.

          This is QtEmu version 2.2. The original 1.x series last release was 1.0.5 in 2007, so is a dead project. It also requires Qt4. The 2.x version is a rewrite, for Qt5. Here is the homepage of the old 1.x version: [...]

        • Akademy 2023, Plasma 6 and Plasmoids

          During this week Akademy 2023 is going on in Thessaloniki, Greece. It’s always awesome, to see many old friends and getting together with that amazing hacker community which is KDE.

          There, me and Niccolò gave a talk about what;s happening in Plasma 6 and what will change, Noccolò on more visual things, about some changes we are cooking on the UI and on the visual themes. Here you can find a recording of the talk (alongside all the others of the day)

          I talked more about the work I’ve bein doing in the Plasma shell during the last couple of months: code rafactors and how the API for writing plasmoids will change.

          There were many things we were not quite happy about and now with the major release is the occasion for streamlining many things.

          Now, It’s very important those changes are are well communicated, and easy to do for developes, because there are *a lot* of 3rd party plasmoids on the KDE store, which people are using and enjoying.

  • Distributions and Operating Systems

    • LinuxInsiderRhino Linux Locks Horns With Gnome, Xfce Desktop Design

      Rhino Linux takes an already fine Xfce desktop and blends in elements of the GNOME graphical interface to create a hybrid desktop design well worth experiencing.

      The combination does for me what few other new Linux distributions have done; it has me waiting very impatiently for the first non-beta release. However, since my initial interaction with this promising distro a couple of months ago, that wait has extended into the summer season.

      The resulting desktop retains the awesome flexibility of Xfce and adds some of the more useful conventions of GNOME with a few feature dashes based on in-house artistry. For Linux users clamoring for a touch of rolling release updates to a solid Ubuntu base, Rhino Linux checks all the usability and appearance boxes missing in other alternatives.

      Rhino is still a work in progress after resuming development where its predecessor — Rolling Rhino Remix — left off. That forerunner built by an otherwise nameless developer self-dubbed “http.llamaz” offered a rolling-release unofficial variant of Ubuntu.

  • Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

    • Programming/Development

      • HackadayIllumos Gets A New C Compiler

        Illumos is an OpenSolaris-derived Unix system, and no Unix is complete without a C compiler or two. And with a name like Portable C Compiler (PCC), you would think that would be a great bet to get up and running on Illumos. That’s probably what [Brian Callahan] thought, too, but found out otherwise.

      • GentooWeek 7 report on porting Gentoo packages to modern C

        Hello all.

        First of all, I would like to give the good news of passing the Mid-Term
        evaluation. My mentor/s have provided me some valuable advice that I
        would like to incorporate in my work in the following weeks ahead.

        Coming to my work, as I said in my last report. I picked up where I left
        before week 6. Sent sent in some patches (no upstream unfortunately).
        This week I mainly worked with Juippis (my other mentor) on reviews of
        my already submitted PRs. We came across some challenges while doing,
        namely reproduction of a bug, the case being juippis and sam_ were able
        to reproduce the bug, but I couldn’t due. It was most probably due to
        compiler-rt. I still have to send in a proper fix for that bug. Which
        brings us the to second topic of setting up a test environment. Juippis
        has an excellent guide on using lxc containers for setting up test
        environment.

      • GentooWeek 6+7 Report, Automated Gentoo System Updater

        Progress on Weeks 6 + 7

        These 2 weeks were spent on the parser and the reporter. During this time, I’ve added many features to it, but there are still much more things left to be done. Due to limited time of GSoC I will implement additional features after the program end.

        Here is a list of features that were implemented so far:

        [...]
  • Leftovers

    • Ruben SchadeDaniel Jalkut projecting good

      From his Microblog yesterday

      Many people have responded to my assertion that Apple should do something good with the argument that they simply never would. My style of activism includes proclaiming unlikely outcomes. Like Phil Ochs, who sang in the midst of the Vietnam war: “I Declare the War is Over”. Optimism has its own power.

    • HackadayA Current Sensing Coil That’s Open Ended

      One of the joys of writing for Hackaday comes in learning new things which even after a long engineering background haven’t yet come your way. So it is with the Rogowski coil, an AC current sensing coil which is unlike conventional current transformers in that it’s open ended — in other words not needing to be closed around the conductor it’s measuring. [Weston Braun] has an interesting introduction to the subject, as part of his open source Rogowski coil based current probe.

    • Michael West MediaSun Cable to add wind as owners prepare to take charge

      Wind will be added to a territory-building, and potentially nation-building, plan to send Australian solar power to Southeast Asia through the world’s longest undersea power cable.

      But the completion of an asset sale agreement that would mark a clean break from Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest’s role in the $30 billion Sun Cable venture has been pushed out to early August.

    • Science

      • HackadayHalbach Array Makes Magnets Strong, Weak

        If you want a strong magnet, the obvious answer is to buy one. However, for a variety of reasons, you might want to combine several smaller magnets. There are a few ways to do this, but the Halbach array, as [wannabemadsci] explains, allows you to make an array of magnets where one side is very strong, and the other side is very weak.

    • Education

    • Hardware

      • HackadayBrute Forcing A Mobile’s PIN Over USB With A $3 Board

        Mobile PINs are a lot like passwords in that there are a number of very common ones, and [Mobile Hacker] has a clever proof of concept that uses a tiny microcontroller development board to emulate a keyboard to test the 20 most common unlock PINs on an Android device.

      • IT WireReasons for ending Foxconn-Vedanta deal are still unknown

        When iTWire contacted Vedanta for comment, a company spokesperson offered a statement that said nothing about Foxconn, only that it had lined up other partners to set up what would be India's first foundry.

        However, apart from this, the spokesperson also said that Vedanta would be holding its AGM on 14 July, adding that this meeting "should help clear a lot of the queries that we have received including yours".

        {loadposition sam08}A link to a live feed of the AGM on YouTube was provided by the spokesperson.

    • Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

    • Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

    • Security

      • HackadaySleuth Untrusted USB Communication With USBValve

        USB devices are now ubiquitous and, from an information security standpoint, this is a terrifying prospect as malicious software can potentially be injected into a system by plugging in a compromised USB stick. To help get some piece of mind, [Cesare Pizzi] created USBValve to help expose suspicious USB activity on the fly.

      • Severe Django ReDoS Bug Fixed

        It was discovered that in Django 3.2 before 3.2.20, 4 before 4.1.10, and 4.2 before 4.2.3, EmailValidator and URLValidator are subject to a potential ReDoS (regular expression denial of service) attacks via a vast number of domain name labels of emails and URLs (CVE-2023-36053).

      • GPAC DoS, Code Execution Flaws Fixed

        Multiple severe security issues were discovered in the GPAC multimedia framework, including a heap-based Buffer Overflow in the GitHub repository gpac/gpac before V2.1.0-DEV (CVE-2023-0760) and a NULL Pointer Dereference in the GitHub repository gpac/gpac before 2.2.2 (CVE-2023-3012). These vulnerabilities have received a National Vulnerability Database base score of 7.8 out of 10 (''High'' severity).

      • IT WireMicrosoft breach: sec experts say vendors should not charge logging tax

        Well-known American security expert Jake Williams has weighed in on the recent breach of Microsoft's cloud at a number of government agencies, saying that it was not acceptable that any security provider should charge a logging tax.

      • Tom's Hardware'METIOR' Defense Blueprint Against Side-Channel Vulnerabilities Debuts

        A research team with MIT has put forward a side-channel attack mitigation framework that aims to objectively and quantitatively measure the impact of certain known and unknown side-channel attacks. 'METIOR' aims to bring cybersecurity closer to the chip design space.

      • Privacy/Surveillance

        • Michael West MediaDeloitte employee sacked over information breach

          Senior Deloitte executives have confirmed an employee who shared confidential government information has been stood down by the consultancy firm.

          The executives told a Senate inquiry into the big firms the staff member had “inadvertently breached” Deloitte’s protocols by sharing the information while working on a government project.

    • Defence/Aggression

    • Environment

      • Teen VogueProtest at East Hampton Airport Over Private Jet Use to Shut Down Airport

        “These same rich people farting into the Hamptons on private jets are often the ones who make their money in industries that hugely accelerate the climate crisis,” Teddy Ogborn, action participant, and Planet Over Profit organizer, said in a statement. “As long as the 1% continues to needlessly poison our air and heat our earth, we will continue to escalate our actions against them.”

      • New YorkerBig Heat and Big Oil

        But, in Texas, the Republican-led legislature spent much of the past year at work on laws that would discourage the use of renewables and prop up oil and gas. In Congress and on the campaign trail, the G.O.P. is expending far more energy in defending gas stoves than in doing anything about this growing crisis. So far, there’s no real political penalty for that kind of reckless behavior. Indeed, Sawan told the BBC that, while there are not currently any plans, Shell wouldn’t rule out moving its headquarters from the United Kingdom to the United States, where oil companies get higher market prices for their shares. (Britain has also implemented a windfall-profits tax on energy companies. ) This suggested to him that the U.S. is more supportive of oil and gas companies, and, as he has told investors, he wants to “reward our shareholders today and far into the future.”

      • New York TimesAs Climate Shocks Multiply, Designers Seek Holy Grail: Disaster-Proof Homes

        As weather grows more extreme, geodesic domes and other resilient home designs are gaining new attention from more climate-conscious home buyers, and the architects and builders who cater to them.

        The trend could begin to dislodge the inertia that underlies America’s struggle to adapt to climate change: Technologies exist to protect homes against severe weather — but those innovations have been slow to seep into mainstream homebuilding, leaving most Americans increasingly exposed to climate shocks, experts say.

      • New York TimesFive Dead in Flash Flooding in Philadelphia Suburbs

        Sudden, torrential rains struck areas in Bucks County, Pa., trapping people in their cars. Much of the Northeast was experiencing periods of heavy rainfall.

      • Energy/Transportation

        • YLEFinland's average electricity price dips below zero Sunday afternoon

          The price of electricity turned negative at -0.06 cents per kilowatt-hour on Sunday, around 3pm, newspaper Iltalehti reported.

        • HackadayImproving Ocean Power With Static Electricity

          Water is heavy, so if you think about it, a moving ocean wave has quite a bit of energy. Scientists have a new way to use triboelectric generators to harvest that power for oceangoing systems. (PDF) Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) are nothing new, but this new approach allows for operation where the waves have lower amplitude and frequency, making traditional systems useless.

      • Wildlife/Nature

        • RTLVienna zoo no longer naming baby animals

          "For a long time, the focus was on the display of a single animal," he continued. Going forward, the zoo intends to shift its emphasis towards promoting the preservation of entire species, placing conservation at the core of its activities.

        • James GStarlight

          Like I experienced in Roman churches on vacation last year from looking up at frescoes on the ceiling, I found my neck feeling tense. The stars were captivating. I didn't want to take my eyes off them. I haven't seen so many stars in months, back when I was on a plane and was blessed with being able to look out the window and see stars from the sky while I was above the clouds.

      • Overpopulation

    • Finance

      • Michael West MediaFirst female RBA governor to bring 'reform agenda'

        The first female Reserve Bank governor is expected to bring a reform agenda to the institution as it moves to make its decisions on interest rates more transparent.

        Michele Bullock will take over as the head of the central bank in September, replacing Philip Lowe.

      • Michael West MediaAsia shares slip as China economic data underwhelms

        Asian shares slipped on Monday as a mixed bag of Chinese economic data were not as bad as some feared, but still fanned market impatience with the lack of major fiscal stimulus from Beijing.

        China reported economic growth of 0.8 per cent in the second quarter, above the 0.5 per cent forecasted, while the annual pace slowed more than expected to 6.3 per cent.

      • Michael West MediaChina's economy records frail Q2 growth

        China’s economy grew at a frail pace in the second quarter, although the annual figure was flattered by base effects, data showed with overall momentum faltering rapidly due to weakening demand at home and abroad.

        Gross domestic product grew just 0.8 per cent in April-June from the previous quarter, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday.

      • Hong Kong Free PressChina’s economy shows further weakness in second quarter

        China’s economy showed further signs of weakness in the second quarter as data Monday showed growth missed expectations and consumers remained cautious, adding pressure on leaders to unveil further stimulus.

      • New York TimesChina’s Second-Quarter G.D.P. Shows Post-Covid Rebound Faltered

        Government data shows gross domestic product growth slowed in the second quarter from earlier in the year, even though it rose over the same period in 2022.

    • AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

      • Michael West MediaOne in three media women are thinking about quitting

        Australia’s media landscape is facing a tremendous loss as one in three women in the industry contemplate quitting their jobs.

        More than half of women in the media game are either unsure about or dissatisfied with their career progress.

      • Michael West MediaTreasurer keen to progress€ global tax deal at G20

        Treasurer Jim Chalmers remains optimistic progress can be made on multinational tax reform€ at a key G20 meeting.

        Dr Chalmers and Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Philip Lowe will meet with their counterparts in€ Gandhinagar, India, this week to gain a better understanding of the global economy.€ 

      • Michael West MediaBy-election, polling show federal Labor under pressure

        Support for Labor is at its lowest ebb since the 2022 election, with the coalition seizing on a by-election win as a positive sign.

        Labor’s primary vote has fallen two points to 36 per cent, according to a Newspoll published in The Australian on Monday – its weakest result since it won office with base support of 32.6 per cent.

      • Michael West MediaUnpacking the president's mien: just how successful was Jokowi's visit to Australia?

        He came, he went and in between he did€ what exactly? Duncan Graham unpacks the reality of last week’s visit to Australia by the Indonesian president Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo.

        Before heading to Sydney for a billed three-day visit — in reality, € just one full day — € President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo’s media team gave a select few Australian journalists the inside running on what the trip was going to yield: an EV batteries mineral deal yielding billions in investments, plus extracting major concessions on discriminatory travel rules.

      • Michael West MediaConsultancy firm issue worse than expected: Gallagher

        Finance Minister Katy Gallagher has admitted the over-reliance of consultancy firms in the public service was worse than expected.

        The comments came as senior executives from one of the big four firms will be asked to explain conflicts of interest at a Senate inquiry.

      • ScheerpostChris Hedges: Cornel West and the Campaign to End Political Apartheid

        The two ruling parties have destroyed our democracy. Voting for one or the other will not bring it back.

      • Michael West MediaPoll indicates voter backlash against major parties

        Support for Labor is at its lowest ebb since the 2022 election, although the coalition has failed to reap the benefits as voters swing to independents and minor parties, according to the latest Newspoll.

        Labor’s primary vote has fallen two points to 36 per cent, according to the poll published in The Australian on Monday – its weakest result since it won office with base support of 32.6 per cent.

      • AxiosTop progressive Jayapal’s comments spark backlash from fellow Democrats

        A group of Jewish House Democrats is circulating a letter denouncing Rep. Pramila Jayapal's (D-Wash.) since-withdrawn comments calling Israel a "racist state," Axios has learned.

        Why it matters: It's the latest example of Democrats' bitter divide on Israel bubbling up in recent days as several progressives prepare to boycott the Israeli president's speech to Congress on Wednesday.

        >
    • Censorship/Free Speech

      • New York TimesAs Iraq Tries to Chill Critics, Its Newest Target Is Social Media

        This crackdown on social media is relatively new, but is of a piece with a broader campaign to silence, sideline or co-opt those who publicly question or criticize the government.

        That wider effort traces its roots to the months of demonstrations in 2019 and 2020, when young Iraqis poured into the streets demanding an end to corruption, a reduction in Iranian influence in Iraq and a new era of openness. ​Those demonstrations eventually forced the resignation of the prime minister, who was supported by Iranian-linked parties in the government.

    • Civil Rights/Policing

      • AxiosRecord-breaking migration sparks backlash in U.S., Europe
        Data: UNICEF; Chart: Tory Lysik/Axios Visuals

        Waves of migrants taking dangerous, unauthorized passages to Europe and the U.S. are fueling a new rush of anti-immigrant policies and deepening political divisions in several wealthy countries.

      • JURISTHuman rights groups condemn Russia legislation targeting transgender people

        Human rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, released statements on Friday condemning Russia’s newly adopted bill that targets transgender people. The new legislation states that citizens who have already changed their sex will be prohibited from adopting children and their marriage will be annulled.

      • Michael West MediaTime short for voice 'yes' campaign to find right pitch

        Campaigners managing the ‘yes’ case for an Indigenous voice to parliament are doing a “disappointing” job, with a leading marketing expert warning time for a turnaround is short.€ 

        Newspoll shows national support for the referendum has dropped to 41 per cent, with 38 per cent of female voters and 45 per cent of men backing the constitutional change.

      • SecurepairsSecuRepairs to testify as U.S. House asks “Is there a right to repair?”

        The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet will hold a hearing on Tuesday, July 18, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. EST. The hearing, dubbed ”Is There a Right to Repair?,” will “examine the current legal landscape of the right to repair and related intellectual property issues, including potential future avenues for policymaking.”

        The hearing will also discuss laws and regulations at both the federal and state level, including Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and the implications for a range of industries from automotive to software to consumer electronics.

      • ABCAndrew Tate accusers forced into hiding after online harassment from 'troll army,' lawyer says

        Pinter alleged that Tate's vast social media following has been turned against her clients, who are grappling with thousands of threats and relentless efforts to intimidate and undermine them. Supporters of the brothers have doxed private information of her clients and their relatives online, Pinter said, while at least two private investigators have also pursued her clients, digging into their past and showing up at their homes.

      • The HillNew technology, same problems: We need to ensure accessibility for everyone

        It took decades of challenging systemic barriers and exclusion for disabled Americans to secure their right to exist and participate fully in our society. Thirty-three years ago, Congress passed the American with Disabilities Act to protect people with disabilities from ableist discrimination. At its core, the law was intended to facilitate access to transportation and public accommodations, like restaurants and workplaces. Yet, people with disabilities still face a myriad of challenges that infringe on their right to survive and thrive in our society, and mass surveillance technology is only making the problem worse.

      • Hindustan Times‘No longer a Muslim’: Seema Haider's family in Pakistan doesn't want her back

        Mian Mithoo, a high-profile religious leader in rural Sindh, known for using his seminary to convert Hindu girls to Islam and even bandits, has openly threatened to punish Seema if she returns.

        His supporters have also threatened to attack Hindu worship places in Seema’s village but SSP Kashmore-Kandhkot, Irfan Samoo, assured Hindus and Sikhs they would be protected.

      • Deutsche WelleIran: Morality police return to enforce dress code in cities

        Iran's religious rulers have vehemently defended the dress code and see the hijab as a mainstay of the Islamic revolution that brought them to power.

        The dress code has been in force in Iran since 1979. Violators face fines or prison terms of up to two months.

      • VoxTeachers are striking for more than just pay raises

        In 2012, more than 25,000 members of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) included common good demands when they walked picket lines in front of 580 schools during a strike that lasted seven days; it was the first school strike the city had seen in a quarter-century. The teachers won salary increases and more job security — typical bargaining fare — but they also got more collective wins, like pushing back against the testing obsession of the education reform movement and fighting for more support staff, such as counselors and nurses, to serve their most marginalized students.

      • RTL'We were duped' by studios, says Hollywood actor union president

        Hollywood actors were "duped" into extending negotiations for two weeks by studios who wanted more time to promote their summer blockbuster movies, union president Fran Drescher told AFP on Thursday.

        The Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) last month postponed their initial strike deadline, in the hope of thrashing out a deal with the likes of Netflix and Disney over demands for better pay and more protection against artificial intelligence.

      • CNBCThe media industry is in turmoil, and that's not changing any time soon

        Traditional TV is dying. Ad revenue is soft. Streaming isn’t profitable. And Hollywood is practically shut down as the actors and writers unions settle in for what is shaping up to be a long and bitter work stoppage.

        All of this turmoil will be on investors’ minds as the media industry kicks off its earnings season this week, with Netflix

        up first on Wednesday.

        Netflix, with a new advertising model and push to stop password sharing, looks the best positioned compared to legacy media giants. Last week, for instance, Disney CEO Bob Iger extended his contract through 2026, telling the market he needed more time at the Mouse House to address the challenges before him. At the top of the list is contending with Disney’s TV networks, as that part of the business appears to be in a worse state than Iger had imagined. “They may not be core to Disney,” he said.

      • Michael West MediaBenchmark renewable energy deal struck on country in WA

        One of the largest Indigenous-led renewable energy partnerships in Australia will build wind, solar, and battery projects in the Pilbara region.

        Under an initiative announced on Monday, the Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation (YAC) and Southeast Asian renewable energy giant ACEN will develop, own, and operate large-scale projects in an area covering 13,000 square kilometres.

    • Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

      • Xe's BlogI don't know how I feel about email

        So recently I've been trying to use email and I just don't know how I should feel about it. There's a lot of core problems with it that seem to seep out to every part of the protocol, user experience, and the entire thing is just leaving me uncertain for its future.

      • APNICOpinion: On Internet centrality and fragmentation

        I attended a workshop on the topic of Internet fragmentation in July. The workshop was attended by a small collection of Australian public policy folk, some industry representatives, folk from various cyber-related bodies, and those with a background in Internet governance matters. It was a short meeting, so the perils of fragmentation were not discussed at length, as they often can be. Still, the concerns about the breakup of the essential bonds that keep the Internet together were certainly palpable in that meeting.

        On the other hand, there is a concern voiced in different venues at different times, that not only are the bonds that tie the Internet together too strong already, but these bonds are exclusively controlled by a handful of digital behemoths whose collective agenda appears to be based more on the task of ruthless exploitation of everyone else in the singular pursuit of the accumulation of unprecedented quantities of capital and social power.

    • Monopolies

      • IT WireUS FTC seeks temporary halt to Microsoft-Activision deal

        The US Federal Trade Commission is still seeking to stop the deal between Microsoft and games producer Activision Blizzard, requesting an appeals court on Thursday to put a temporary stop to the agreement soon after a federal judge refused a similar plea.

      • AxiosSony signs 10-year deal with Microsoft to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation

        But Sony executives questioned Microsoft's offer and terms. While those concerns were never clearly articulated in public, Microsoft could potentially use Call of Duty to hurt PlayStation even without pulling it, by offering it first or better on its own console (Microsoft has denied it would do this) or by offering Sony an unfavorable revenue split on sales of the game.

      • Michael West MediaCalls for big consultant firms to be broken up

        The former head of the consumer watchdog has called for big consultancy firms to be broken up, in a bid to reduce the risk of conflict of interest.

        Allan Fels, who previously oversaw the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, told a Senate inquiry the big firms should only focus on auditing, rather than consultancy work.



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"Total current assets" fell by more than 2 billion dollars in the past 3 months
Not Only Mass Layoffs at IBM But Complete Shutdowns "Amid A.I. Boom"
apparently about 10,000 layoffs, not counting those who got pushed out by PIPs and other means
Search @ Techrights: Almost There Now (Maybe an Anniversary Gift)
Just to be very clear, search would not be unprecedented at Techrights
At IBM, Layoffs Start at 1AM (at Night)
not a single English-speaking site covers the news about the layoffs
Envy Makes People Do Self-Harming Things (and Harm to Others)
Online communities that can be deemed successful are built around trust, mutual respect, and collective accomplishment
What Julian Darley Wrote About the Stallman Talk Regarding "AI" in Oxford (2025)
From LinkedIn (Microsoft)
"All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them." -Galileo Galilei
This site is educational
 
Links 05/11/2025: Medicare Privatisation and "Breaker Box Economy"
Links for the day
Techrights Search Will Come Early
Maybe tomorrow
It Seems Like GNOME/IBM Don't Like Women and When Budget is Limited Only Women Take the Fall
Seems like a very patriarchal, GAFAM-controlled Foundation
"Last Day" as in "IBM Sacked Me" (Cruel Euphemisms)
"The entire design and research technical leadership at IBM was laid off in the past year, including this round"
Shadow Crew and Ads Disguised as Articles
That The Register MS runs articles that are paid-for fluff isn't unprecedented
Vista 11 "Market Share" Has Fallen This Month, Based on statCounter
The US government's own data shows the same thing this month
This is How Mainstream Media, Boosted or Parroted by Slopfarms, Spins IBM's Commercial Failure and Mass Layoffs as "AI"
Some say "software focus", but most just resort to buzzwords and blame-shifting hype
Resisting Misogynists
Rianne has already added close to 100,000 pages to this site
Starting November on a Strong Note
All in all, this month started well for us as we have good, accurate publications with considerable impact
Fake Retirements Help IBM Keep the Layoff Figures Down
Yesterday we read that it was quite cruel how IBM (or Red Hat) compelled staff to pretend to be happily leaving or "retiring" when the reality was, they had been pushed out with some "package"
Cocaine at the European Patent Office Now a Subject in YouTube, Media Will Revisit the Topic
"The Cocaine Patent Office" is no joking matter
Gemini Links 05/11/2025: "Wuthering Heights" and "Winter is Coming"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, November 04, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, November 04, 2025
2 Days Until Site Anniversary Party, Search Likely to Launch Same Day
We're now just two days away from the nineteenth anniversary of the site
Richard Stallman's 2005 Article on Why Patents on Software Should be Denied
If patent law had been applied to novels in the 1880s, great books would not have been written. If the EU applies it to software, every computer user will be restricted, says Richard Stallman
"Last Day" at IBM and Red Hat as "Stealth Layoffs" (They Force People to Pretend It's Wilful)
So the real extent of the layoffs is being kept 'undercover'
Slopwatch: The WebProNews Slopfarm and the Serial Slopper
The Web is ill
Links 04/11/2025: Tensions Around Belarus Grow, Turkey’s Hype-inflation Continues
Links for the day
Corporate Media That Fails to Report Cocaine at EPO is Totally Failing to Report Mass Layoffs at IBM
How come nobody anywhere writes about this week's RAs?
Links 04/11/2025: Google Cloud Account Engages in Censorship of the Innocent, arXiv Spammed by LLM Slop
Links for the day
EPO Cocaine Chronicles: Our Aim Will be to Ensure This Becomes a Mainstream Media Topic, Not a Suppressed Scandal (Which the German State Deems Embarrassing and Detrimental to Its Pan-European Patent Franchise)
At the EPO, and perhaps in German media as well, people "fall upwards" (they get rewarded for bad things)
Static Site Generators (SSGs) Made Techrights Better, Faster, Easier to Manage
Consider adopting SSGs if you still use a CMS such as WordPress
But he Was Born in Manchester! (Origin Stories)
Borussia Dortmund does not exist!
GNU/Linux is American, Not Finnish
It started in Boston, not in Helsinki
'Hacker' 'News' Makes Dumb Assertions Against Smart People
A logical fallacy
We Turned Down Every Settlement Offer Because Truths Aren't Determined in Bank Accounts
Without free press, there won't be free society
Why I'm Always Proud of the Site I've Devoted My Life to
As a graffiti around the corner from our home says, "be a better person"
Standing Up or Standing for What's True But Inconvenient
Bad actors need to be called out
Many People Have Said That They "Leave" IBM in Recent Days (Ahead of Mass Layoffs)
So the real extent of layoffs is greater than what's publicly stated (there are silent layoffs) [...] Whatever IBM says about the scope, scale, or magnitude of the "RAs", it doesn't tell the full story
Media Coverage Regarding IBM is Vapourware and LLM Slop
With slop images, too
statCounter Says GNU/Linux Rose to 4% in the Russian Federation
Adoption of Vista 11 has been embarrassingly weak
Corruption is Not a Joke
we'll try to limit our use of humour to avoid misunderstandings or misinterpretations
The Slopfarm WebProNews is Overwhelming "linux" Results in Google News
Google News is slop
The Fall of IBM: What Happened?
Just like the EPO continues riding some old reputation acquired in the 1970s IBM relies on old myths like, "nobody gets fired for buying IBM."
IBM's CEO Already Has the Excuse for the Latest Wave of Mass Layoffs
Only days ago the CEO told a bunch of nonsense
Links 04/11/2025: Conflicts, Politics, and IPv6 at Home
Links for the day
Gemini Links 04/11/2025: Entering WiFi Passwords and Programming Rambles
Links for the day
Arch Linux Seems Like the New Debian
Arch users (btw!) are growing in relative and absolute share
Analytics From US Government Affirm a Trend: Microsoft's "Market Share" in Search is Falling
the data set is large
Holding Institutions Such as the EPO Accountable Through Public Information
Speaking truth to power is never easy
Techrights Will Contact German Media About the EPO's Substance Abuse
This scandal won't "go to waste"
EPO Staff Losing Holidays, as Usual, as the Office Increases Profits by Illegally Granting Invalid Patents While Reducing Salaries
How much more can the staff endure and generally tolerate?
Free Software Does Not Always Speak for Itself, It Needs Advocates
Legal matters that relate to sharing of code will be discussed
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, November 03, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, November 03, 2025
The Register MS Continues Looking for Money in Promotion of the "AI" Ponzi Scheme
That The Register MS participates in this deceit rather than tackle/debunk it says a lot about The Register MS
IBM Layoffs in "Software", This Likely Impacts Red Hat as Well
Many people say "software" people are impacted
Escaping Proprietary Software, Not Just Escaping Microsoft
To take control of your life adopt GNU/Linux
A Lot of Fake News About Microsoft Headcount (Also: Microsoft's Debt Rose by About 24 Billion Dollars in Past 12 Months)
If you see some headline about Microsoft's CEO making claims about hirings, look away
Techrights Turns 19 in Three Days
It would be nice to meet for a chat
Akira Urushibata on How Grokipedia Fails to Work
The Grokipedia article gives the wrong character for the "Ko" on "Koan"
Links 03/11/2025: Data Breaches, Wars, and Digital Censorship
Links for the day
Gemini Links 03/11/2025: Poetry, Old Androids and Small Shells
Links for the day
The Rumour Was True, Mass Layoffs at IBM Today
How widespread the layoffs are (or how they're disguised, e.g. PIPs) is hard to assess
Links 03/11/2025: Internet Anniversary
Links for the day
Two Years of Uptime
Reboots are seldom involuntary
Richard Stallman is Giving Another Talk in Less Than a Fortnight
in two weeks' time (13 days from now)
Windows Falls Below 20% in the UK
Many people choose to leave Windows altogether
Microsoft's Search Business Falls to Lowest Point in 2 Years, Based on statCounter
what can Microsoft sell other than shares in Microsoft?
Evidence Regarding Layoffs at Red Hat
Seems like IBM layoffs
Microsoft: Our "Goodwill" Value Grew More Than Tenfold Since 2011
Hallmark of pseudo-economics
GNU/Linux as a Boarding Pass
being mostly analogue is still feasible
Links 03/11/2025: Lack of Trust in LLMs and Windows TCO at Jaguar
Links for the day
Gemini Links 03/11/2025: Books in October and Change
Links for the day
Mozilla Firefox Won't Survive and Many Sites Don't Work With It (Compatibility Abandoned)
The Web has become monocultural
Debian is Non-Free
Devuan might be worth looking into
Slopwatch: Brian Fagioli and LinuxSecurity
This is a real problem and most certainly a big problem because when people try to find real information about security and GNU/Linux they instead read "word salads" made by bots
Four Reasons to Party With Us in Four Days, Celebrating the Four Freedoms
Today we expect to be back to a more-or-less regular publication pace
Links 03/11/2025: The "Smartphone Panopticon" and Belarus' Hybrid Attacks on EU Intensify
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, November 02, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, November 02, 2025