Bonum Certa Men Certa

Links 26/08/2023: OpenTF's Fork of Terraform



  • GNU/Linux

    • Graphics Stack

      • GamingOnLinuxNVIDIA posts NVAPI core software development kit on GitHub

        Without any additional commit messages except the repository description, Nvidia posted the source code for its Developer Kit tool on Github under the NVIDIA Corporation organization umbrella.

      • GamingOnLinuxRadeon RX 7800 XT and RX 7700 XT revealed, plus more details on FSR 3

        AMD just announced the Radeon RX 7800 XT and Radeon RX 7700 XT Graphics Cards, and they're giving out more details on FidelityFX Super Resolution 3 (FSR 3).

      • TechdirtNvidia Embraces Modding Community For ‘Half Life 2’ Project, Valve Apparently Cool With It

        It’s always nice when you get several stories in a row that contrast with one another in order to make a point. We were just discussing Rockstar’s decision to scoop up a roleplaying and modding community in order to build in new and interesting ways to play GTA and Red Dead Redemption games. What I had hoped out loud would be a sign that Rockstar was turning over a new leaf on modding communities was dashed almost immediately as the company then went after another group of mod-makers for the crime of being fans of its games and trying to make them more interesting and playable. Game companies don’t have to do this sort of thing.

    • Applications

      • Linux LinksBest Free and Open Source Alternatives to Apple Launchpad

        macOS is Apple’s proprietary operating system for its line of Macintosh computers. Its interface, known as Aqua, is highly polished and built on top of a BSD derivative (Darwin). There’s a whole raft of proprietary applications that are developed by Apple for their operating software. This software is not available for Linux and there’s no prospect of that position changing.

        In 2020, Apple began the Apple silicon transition, using self-designed, 64-bit ARM-based Apple M1 processors on new Mac computers. Maybe it’s the perfect time to move away from the proprietary world of Apple, and embrace the open source Linux scene.

        Apple Launchpad is a central location where you can view all your apps and easily open them.

        Launchpad is proprietary software and not available for Linux. We recommend the best free and open source alternatives.

    • Instructionals/Technical

      • Effortless Email Sending on Linux: A Step-by-Step Project Guide

        Emails have been an essential part of communication. Today in this blog we are going to know how to send emails without ever going to your browser or Gmail app by just using some cool command lines on Linux. you may ask But why to do all this for now I will say maybe just to look like a hacker.

      • Network WorldThere's more to more than meets the eye

        The more command on Linux may have a lot more options than you know and use.

      • TechTargetA quick breakdown of Postman vs. Insomnia

        Does your organization need the fully loaded capabilities of Postman or the lightweight implementation style offered by Insomnia? Read this quick breakdown to get the picture.

      • Pi My Life UpRunning Plausible Analytics on the Raspberry Pi

        Plausible Analytics on the Raspberry Pi is a relatively straightforward process thanks to being installed through a Docker container. We will, however, need to make adjustments to get it running on our ARM based system.

      • Linux HandbookHow to Save cURL Output to a File?

        While the curl command was created to make things work without any human interaction, you can still use it to save output to a file.

    • Games

      • Positech GamesMaking a hobby game!

        I have to say though… its already very very fun. There is something very adrenaline-rushy about playing it on the harder levels, where everything gets a bit hectic. In these days of F2P, monetization, competitive e-sports, multi gigabyte patches, and achievements and so on… there is something very pleasurable about a simple game where you move left and right and hit the fire button!

      • GamingOnLinuxFactorio: Space Age revealed giving you a fleet and multiple planets

        We knew an expansion was coming as it was confirmed some time ago, but now Wube Software have revealed much more about what's now called Factorio: Space Age.

      • GamingOnLinuxARMORED CORE VI FIRES OF RUBICON runs well on Steam Deck and desktop Linux

        ARMORED CORE VI FIRES OF RUBICON is the big new release developed by FromSoftware Inc, the same team from ELDEN RING and it does seem to run quite well on Steam Deck and desktop Linux.

      • GamingOnLinuxOver 11,000 games now rated Steam Deck Playable

        There's currently somewhere around 92,000 games on Steam and so it's going to take a long time for Valve to check them all on Steam Deck but here's some recent picks.

      • Linux HintBest Free Linux Mint Games

        Gaming on PC has historically been the domain of the Windows operating system. That’s true even to this day. While there are some awesome Linux games on the market, most modern games are primarily developed with Windows in mind.

        However, Linux gaming has come a long way since then. Long gone are the days when you had to tinker with numerous packages, scripts, and whatnot to make even the simplest game run consistently. Thanks to the relentless community effort, Linux gaming is something one can seriously consider.

        However, not everything is sunshine and rainbows. There are a couple of hiccups that you should know when deciding a game on Linux...

    • Desktop Environments/WMs

      • K Desktop Environment/KDE SC/Qt

        • Nate GrahamThis week in KDE: tap-to-click by default

          This week we weren’t done improving input device defaults; for Plasma 6, touchpad tap-to-click is now enabled by default! If you’re curious about the reasons, click that link.

          In addition, convergence is starting to happen. You might notice that the number of open Plasma 6 issues is lower this week than it was last week! A good sign for sure.

  • Distributions and Operating Systems

    • New Releases

    • Fedora Family / IBM

      • Network WorldOpenELA group pushes for bug compatibility with RHEL

        A dramatic disagreement in the enterprise Linux community has some distributions scrambling to keep their code compatible with Red Hat, as the acknowledged biggest player in the space cracks down on source code distribution.

        The core issue is the existence of several “downstream” Linux distributions based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Those distributions were historically based on CentOS, a free RHEL clone developed originally for the purposes of testing and development. The downstream distributions in question, however, are supported by companies like CIQ and Oracle – which sell support services for their “clones” of RHEL. This has led to a long-running tension between those companies and Red Hat, whose supporters argue that the downstream companies are simply repackaging Red Hat’s work for profit, while detractors say that Red Hat is violating the sprit – if not, technically, the law – of open source.

    • Canonical/Ubuntu Family

      • GamingOnLinuxCanonical give some thoughts on the future of Ubuntu Desktop

        Ubuntu is one of the top most used Linux distributions on the desktop and Canonical, the company behind it, has a new blog post up giving some thoughts on the future of Ubuntu Desktop.

      • UbuntuUbuntu Desktop: charting a course for the future

        It has been a little while since we shared our vision for Ubuntu Desktop, and explained how our current roadmap fits into our long term strategic thinking. Recently, we embarked on an internal exercise to consolidate and bring structure to our values and goals for how we plan to evolve the desktop experience over the next few years. This post is designed to share the output of those discussions and give insight into the direction we’re going.

        These values form the framework by which we determine our priorities and measure our progress, and hopefully inspire those that want to contribute to this experience to focus their energies in ways that are aligned with our longer term ambitions.

    • Devices/Embedded

      • Automotive World LtdWind River Linux is selected by ZEEKR for future EEA development

        Wind River€®, a global leader in delivering software for mission-critical intelligent systems, today announced that Wind River Linux has been selected by global electric mobility technology brand ZEEKR to power its future electronic and electrical architecture for software-defined vehicles.

    • Open Hardware/Modding

      • Raspberry PiUsing an aircraft’s altimeter to replay mountain bike journeys

        Maker Glen Akins wanted to relive his best mountain bike ascents and descents, so he hacked a vintage aircraft altitude indicator (also called an ‘altimeter’) using Raspberry Pi Pico and a little digital data conversion wizardry.

      • HackadayPatching Together Logic Gates

        The digital world offers many advantages over its analog relatives, the use of boolean logic among them. Some of the functions, like NOT, OR, and AND are fairly straightforward and line up nicely with their linguistic counterparts. Others are more elusive, like XOR and NAND. For those just getting their start in digital logic, this teaching tool allows different logic gates to be wired together with patch cables.

  • Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

    • OpenTF Announces Fork of Terraform

      Two weeks ago, HashiCorp announced they are changing the license to all their core products, including Terraform, to the Business Source License (BSL). In an attempt to keep Terraform open source, we published the OpenTF manifesto, and the community response was huge! Over 100 companies, 10 projects, and 400 individuals pledged their time and resources to keep Terraform open-source. The GitHub repository for the manifesto already has over 2.5k stars, and the number is growing quickly!

      The manifesto outlined the intent of the OpenTF initiative in two steps — the first was to appeal to HashiCorp to return Terraform to the community and revert the license change they were making for this project. The second, in case the license was not reverted, was to fork the Terraform project as OpenTF.

    • LWNOpenTF Announces Fork of Terraform

      The OpenTF Foundation has announced that it is moving forward with its eponymous fork of HashiCorp Terraform, which was recently changed to a non-FOSS license by the company. The organization has applied to become part of the Linux Foundation, ""with the end goal of having OpenTF as part of Cloud Native Computing Foundation"". There is a GitHub repository for its manifesto, but the code repository for OpenTF is private for now, with plans to open it up in the next week or two. Work has been going on for the last week and more developers are coming on board...

    • TechTargetOpenTF begins HashiCorp Terraform fork, pledges donation [Ed: HashiCorp is a Microsoft shill, so let's hope the fork succeeds]

      The vendor-led group says it wants to donate a fork based on the latest open source version of the infrastructure as code tool to a foundation, ideally the Linux Foundation or CNCF.

    • Unicorn MediaFOSS Week in Review: Kali Cleans House, Kalendar Becomes Merkuro, Brave’s Unfree Assistant, & More…

      Well, ya might have noticed that I somehow missed last week’s FWIR. Busy, busy, busy, which unfortunately means that forces other than FOSS Force are vying for my time. I’ll be writing about that next week…maybe. Look for it, it’ll be an interesting read if I do, a tale filled with cancer surgery (not me but in my home), followed by emergency brain surgery (also, not me but in my home), all in the midst of losing the home we’ve been renting for 30 years (just when rentals are either not available or priced so high that my retirement savings be gone in a few years).

      Oy vey.

    • Jean-François Fortin TamJean-François Fortin Tam: Why I picked the biggest furry elephant as my microblogging platform (and refuse to self-host a Mastodon server)

      This article will require between 1 and 2 minutes of your attention if you read only the first half; obviously double that if you also feel like reading the second (more philosophical & strategic) half.

      As you may know, in addition to this blog here, I have also been microblogging very actively for years (whether on Twitter or on LinkedIn), particularly the day-to-day / work-in-progress of my Free & Open Source software contributions across GNOME and the FreeDesktop, and that habit shall outlive Twitter’s 2022-2023 chaotic hostile takeover and sabotage by its new majority shareholder/owner. I have (reluctantly) found refuge in the shire that is the fediverse, a quirky platform filled with countless technical & usability challenges, but eh, what else have we got left? Tis the last bastion we have (we’ll see what happens when Meta/Facebook “enters the chat”, will it be like what happened with XMPP? 🤷)…

    • Computer WeeklyWhat to expect from Open Source Summit Europe 2023 [Ed: Adrian Bridgwater still running ads/puff pieces for LF]

      Just for a (welcome) change, the Computer Weekly Open Source Insider team is not off to San Francisco, Las Vegas, Barcelona, Boston or London’s glittering ExCeL centre, this time it’s Bilbao.

    • TechTarget6 open source GRC tools compliance professionals should know

      Organizations must meet a variety of regulatory compliance requirements today. Here's a look at six open source GRC tools and related resources that might help.

    • Web Browsers/Web Servers

      • Daniel StenbergCVE-2020-19909 is everything that is wrong with CVEs

        The new CVE has an ID containing 2020 and that is weird. When you register a CVE you typically get it with the year you request it. Unless you get an ID for an old problem of the past. Is that what they did?

        Sources seem to indicate that this was published just days ago.

    • SaaS/Back End/Databases

      • Balthazar RouberolPinning your SQLite version across environments

        The project I'm currently working on only has a single external dependency: SQLite, with full text search enabled. As a result, the application is extremely easy to package and run. However, I found out that ensuring that you have the exact same SQLite version and feature set in all your environments (development machines running macOS and linux, CI and production) is trickier than I expected.

      • The Register UKMariaDB's revenue grows as new CEO settles in, but bank loan discussions continue

        MariaDB reported $13.0 million total revenue for the third quarter of fiscal 2023 and annual recurring revenue of $55.0 million, an increase of 14 percent year-on-year. Operational losses narrowed to $12.2 million for the quarter, down from $13.1 million in the same period last year.

    • Productivity Software/LibreOffice/Calligra

      • The Register UKLibreOffice 7.6 arrives: Open source stalwart is showing its maturity

        LibreOffice, formerly known as OpenOffice, before that called StarOffice, and which evolved from a German CP/M word processor called StarWriter, is the leading open source desktop office suite. StarWriter was released in 1985, so the product family is now nearly 40 years old – considerably older than Linux itself. Its history is so long that when The Reg reported that Sun was acquiring Star Division and making the product free last century, this was still a young publication, newly moved from email newsletter to website. (You can tell by how short those stories are.)

    • Education

      • FreeBSDSave the Date: November 2023 FreeBSD Vendor Summit

        Mark your calendars! The November 2023 FreeBSD Vendor Summit will take place November 2-3, 2023 at the NetApp Campus in San Jose, CA. The Vendor Summit will feature a single track of talks on both days.

    • Programming/Development

      • Kurt McKeeRevitalizing stalled open source projects

        This post is a response to this very common refrain. It provides strategies for contributing to an open source project whose development has stalled by triaging pull requests and issues.

        I'm writing this post as someone who has been on both sides of this over the last ~20 years of contributing to, and maintaining, open source software projects. I've encountered stalled projects and helped revitalize them, and -- as the long-time maintainer of a popular project -- I've benefited from others injecting energy into a project.

      • [Old] Martin FowlerOn Pair Programming

        Many people who work in software development today have heard of the practice of pair programming, yet it still only has patchy adoption in the industry. One reason for its varying acceptance is that its benefits are not immediately obvious, it pays off more in the medium- and long-term. And it's also not as simple as "two people working at a single computer", so many dismiss it quickly when it feels uncomfortable. However, in our experience, pair programming is vital for collaborative teamwork and high quality software.

      • RlangrOpenSci News Digest, August 2023

        You can read this post on our blog. Now let’s dive into the activity at and around rOpenSci!

      • Python

        • Seth Michael LarsonPython vulnerability disclosure end-to-end

          The advisory for CVE-2023-40217 was published this week which affects Python versions before 3.11.5, 3.10.13, 3.9.18, and 3.8.18. This was my first end-to-end vulnerability disclosure for Python which included handling of embargoed info (ie non-public), a coordinated release of fixed Python versions, and publishing of the advisory to the security-announce@python.org mailing list and to the PSF Advisory Database.

          Now that I've experienced the flow from end-to-end and I can start to think about where there is potential for improvement and what items need to be on our "checklist" to reduce stress and guesswork from remediation developers, release managers, and coordinators. This process is pretty opaque (for obvious reasons) so I also wanted to share the experience with everyone to know what's happening in the background to keep Python users safe.

      • Shell/Bash/Zsh/Ksh

        • DJ AdamsBash shell expansion inside double quotes

          In the context of this month's SAP Developer Challenge on APIs, some participants working through today's task have tripped up on a Bash feature, a feature which is one of a family of features relating to "expansion" of information. In this short post I dig into what that feature is, and how to ensure you don't trip yourseves up with it.



Recent Techrights' Posts

Microsoft's Bing Falls to Fourth in the Europe/Asia-Based Turkey, Share Halved Since LLM Hype, Now Only 1% (Sometimes Less)
Turkey (Eurasia) is another example of Microsoft failing with LLM hype and just burning a lot of energy in vain (investment without returns)
Backlash and Negative Press After Microsoft Tells Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) People to DIE
Follow-up stories
Censorship as Signal of Opportunity for Reform
It remains sad and ironic that Wikileaks outsourced so much of its official communications to Twitter (now X)
The World Wide Web Has Been Rotting for Years (Quality, Accuracy, and Depth Consistently Decreasing)
In the past people said that the Web had both "good" and "bad" and that the good outweighed the bad
Comoros: Windows Plunges to Record Low of About 6% in Country of a Million People (in 2010 Windows Was 100%)
Many of these people earn a few dollars a day; they don't care for Microsoft's "Hey Hi PC" hype
The Mail (MX) Server Survey for July 2024 Shows Microsoft Collapsing to Only 689 Servers or 0.17% of the Whole (It Used to be About 25%)
Microsoft became so insignificant and the most astounding thing is how the media deliberate ignores it or refuses to cover it
Windows Down From 98.5% to 22.9% in Hungary
Android is up because more people buy smaller mobile devices than laptops
Microsoft Windows in Algeria: From 100% to Less Than 15%
Notice that not too long ago Windows was measured at 100%. Now? Not even 15%.
 
Joel Espy Klecker & Debian on Joe Biden's health and Donald Trump's assassination
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, July 17, 2024
IRC logs for Wednesday, July 17, 2024
Links 18/07/2024: Hostname Pedantry and Retro Coding
Links for the day
Fedora Week of Diversity (FWD) 2024 Attracting 0.01% of the IBM Staff "Was a Success"
They expect volunteers (unpaid slaves) to do the PR for them...
African's Largest Population (Nigeria) Approaching 80% Android "Market Share" Amid Steady Monthly Increases While Microsoft Has Mass Layoffs in Nigeria
Microsoft- and Apple-sponsored Western (or English-speaking) media chooses to ignore that or treat it as irrelevant (a racist disposition in its own right)
[Meme] The Warlord's Catspaw
Thugs that troll us
Microsoft Misogyny Will be the Fall of Microsoft (Covering Up for Misogynists is a Huge Mistake and Highly Misguided Short-term Strategy)
Microsoft's undoing may in fact be its attitude towards women
Red Hat Keeps Behaving Like a Microsoft Reseller (for Proprietary Stuff!), Microsoft Employees as Authors in redhat.com
In some ways this reminds us of Novell
UEFI 'Secure Boot' Once Again Bricking PCs and Fake Security Models Are Perishing in Geminispace
Let's Encrypt has just fallen again
Links 17/07/2024: New Attacks on the Press, European Patents Squashed Even at Kangaroo Court (UPC)
Links for the day
Gemini Links 17/07/2024: Proponents of Censorship and New Arrivals at Gemini
Links for the day
Links 17/07/2024: School Budget Meltdown and Modern Cars as Tracking Nightmares
Links for the day
This Should Certainly be Illegal, But the Person Who Helped Microsoft Do This is Still Attacking the Critics of It
perhaps time for an "I told you so post"
[Meme] A Computer With an Extra Key on the Keyboard Isn't Everyone's Priority
(so your telling me meme)
Africa as an Important Reminder That Eradicating Microsoft Doesn't Go Far Enough
Ideally, if our top goal is bigger than "get rid of Microsoft", we need to teach people to choose and use devices that obey them, not GAFAM
Billions of Computers Run Linux and Many Use Debian (or a Derivative of It)
many devices never get updated or even communicate with the Net, so exhaustive tallies are infeasible
[Meme] Microsoft is Firing
Don't worry, Microsoft will have some new vapourware coming soon
More DEI (or Similar) Layoffs on the Way, According to Microsoft Team Leader
What happened shortly before Independence Day wasn't the end of it, apparently
[Meme] Many Volunteers Now Realise the "Open" in "OpenSUSE" or "openSUSE" Was Labour-Mining
Back to coding, packaging and testing, slaves
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, July 16, 2024
IRC logs for Tuesday, July 16, 2024
Microsoft Windows "Market Share" in New Zealand Plunges to 25%
Android rising
[Meme] Ein Factory
A choice between "masters" (or "master race") is a false choice that results in mass exploitation and ultimately eradication (when there's little left to exploit)
Links 17/07/2024: Open Source Initiative Lies and Dark Net Thoughts
Links for the day
SUSE Goes Aryan: You May Not Use the Germanic Brand Anymore (It's Monopolised by the Corporation)
Worse than grammar Nazis
Media Distorting Truth to Promote Ignorance
online media is rapidly collapsing
Gratis But Not Free as in Freedom: How Let's Encrypt is Dying in Geminispace
Let's Encrypt is somewhat of a dying breed where the misguided CA model is shunned
Android Rises to New Highs of Almost 80% in Cameroon
How many dozens of nations will see Windows at under 10% this coming winter?
Links 16/07/2024: TikTok Ban in Europe and Yandex Split
Links for the day
Gemini Links 16/07/2024: On Packrafting and on Trump Shot
Links for the day
[Meme] Firefox Users Who Think They Know Better Than Mozilla
Enjoy Firebook
Firefox Used to Have About Half the Market in Switzerland, But It Doesn't Stand a Chance Anymore (Chrome Surging This Summer)
Mozilla has managed to alienate some of the biggest fans of Firefox
Microsoft's Biggest Losses Are in Europe This Summer
Microsoft's ability to milk a relatively rich Europe is fast diminishing
How to Make Software Suck and Discriminate Against People at the Same Time
ageism glorified
Bing Was at 2.6% in Russia When LLM Hype Started. Now It's Down to 0.8% (for 3 Months in a Row Already)
The sharp fall of Bing may mean that exiting the Russian market won't matter to anybody
[Meme] Microsoft Seems to be Failing to Comply With WARN Act (by Refusing to Announce Mass Layoffs as They Happen)
since when does Microsoft obey the law anyway?
Microsoft Layoffs Are Still Too Frequent to Keep Abreast of and Properly (or Exhaustively) Classify
The "HR" department knows what's happening, but whistleblowers from there are rare
Bahamas Joined the "5% Windows" Club
statCounter only traces back about 1 in 20 Web requests to Windows
Links 16/07/2024: Salesforce Layoffs and Microsoft's DMARC Fail
Links for the day
Antenna Abuse and Gemini Abuse (Self-hosting Perils)
Perhaps all this junk is a sign of Gemini growing up
Possibly Worse Than Bribes: US Politicians and Lawmakers Who Are Microsoft Shareholders
They will keep bailing out Microsoft to bail themselves out
The Software Freedom Conservancy Folks Don't Even Believe in Free Speech and They Act As Imposters (Also in the Trademark Arena/Sense)
Software Freedom Conservancy was already establishing a reputation for itself as a G(I)AFAM censor/gatekeeper
Djibouti Enters the Windows "10% Club" (Windows Was 99% in 2010)
In Africa in general Microsoft lost control
GNU/Linux Share Doubled in the United States of America (USA) in the Past 12 Months
Or so says statCounter
Even in North Korea (Democratic People's Republic Of Korea) Google Said to Dominate, Microsoft Around 1%
Google at 93.26%
[Meme] The Red Bait (Embrace... Extinguish)
They set centos on fire, then offer a (de facto) proprietary substitute for a fee
Shooting the Messenger to Spite the Message
segment of a Noam Chomsky talk
[Video] Boston Area Assange Defense (Yesterday)
It was published only hours ago
Guinea: Windows Down From 99.3% to 2.7% 'Market Share'
Guinea is not a small country
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, July 15, 2024
IRC logs for Monday, July 15, 2024
What's Meant by "Antenna Abuse" (Gemini)
syndication is not a monopoly in Gemini and if one doesn't condone political censorship, then one can create one's own syndication service/capsule
Microsoft Layoffs and Entire Unit Termination: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
What an announcement to make just before Independence Day
Links 16/07/2024: Old Computer Challenge and One Page Dungeon Contest
Links for the day