[10:19] schestowitz[TR3][10:19] schestowitz[TR3]Firefox turns 20 this year, so heres a bit of history: When Mozilla set out to brainstorm a new browser name, the team played with combinations of animals and natural elements. Fire and fox got paired on a whiteboard, and a quick web search turned up red pandas known locally as firefoxes. They were unique, rare and perfect for us.
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[10:21] schestowitz[TR3][10:21] schestowitz[TR3]The more sharp-eyed among you will have noticed: I've not done an Ubuntu review in some six years. The reason is quite simple: I've worked for Canonical for a bunch of years, and since I have a strict policy of separation between home and work, and in the interest of objectivity and impartiality, I skipped this distro in my testing. And since I no longer work for Canonical, I can now do a [10:21] schestowitz[TR3] fresh test. It's can-onical rather than cant-onical. Excuse my pun.
[10:21] schestowitz[TR3]First, don't expect any reactionary drama. That's not me. Second, by and large, my expectations are low. One, the Linux desktop is pretty stagnated, and has been for quite a while. Two, even my darling desktop Plasma has misbehaved some recently, as I outlined in my latest Slimbook Executive report. Three, speaking of desktops, I don't like Gnome 3. It's simply anti-ergonomic, plain and s [10:21] schestowitz[TR3] imple. Nothing personal. Just pure usability and pragmatism. I'm not convinced there will be any revolutionary outcome today, especially since Gnome has become even more rigid (you need to compile themes to change basics like font color). Four, I used to love Ubuntu, it was my primary distro for many years, until the parent company switched to Gnome, when I went elsewhere. I still claim that Unity has been amazing, and to this day, [10:21] schestowitz[TR3] it is superior to the desktop environment that succeeded it. With that in mind, let's have a review.
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[18:31] schestowitz[TR3][18:31] schestowitz[TR3]All year long, but especially during the last two months of the year, ads and media that celebrate the use of freedom-violating software are fed to us by greedy corporations. No matter which holiday(s), if any, you celebrate, the spirit of cherishing our loved ones is very strong right now. Unfortunately, so is the messaging that many of us encounter on a daily basis that you have to buy t [18:31] schestowitz[TR3] he newest tech gifts (most of which are not freedom-respecting) if you want to show your friends and family that you love them. While you as one single person can't stop the production or advertising of tech that infringes on user freedom tomorrow, you can choose to not participate, and we're here to help.
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[18:40] schestowitz[TR3][18:40] schestowitz[TR3]TL;DR: Performance Comparisons has instructions for you build a Docker container that allows you to make a side by side comparison of Redis,[1] Xider,[2] and YottaDB. The image above is a screenshot of Xider and YottaDB outperforming Redis with a 32-process workload.
[18:40] schestowitz[TR3]In 2025, the Journal of Computing Languages (JCL) plans a special issue recognizing 30 years of Lua. Since YottaDB has a native Lua API, we have submitted an article to JCL for that issue. A preprint of that article is on arXiv. The article compares the Redis and YottaDB APIs, and delves deeper into the performance comparison described below.
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[18:42] schestowitz[TR3][18:42] schestowitz[TR3]TL;DR: Performance Comparisons has instructions for you build a Docker container that allows you to make a side by side comparison of Redis,[1] Xider,[2] and YottaDB. The image above is a screenshot of Xider and YottaDB outperforming Redis with a 32-process workload.
[18:42] schestowitz[TR3]
[18:52] schestowitz[TR3][18:52] schestowitz[TR3]The PipeWire team has announced the release of PipeWire 1.2.7, a bugfix update for this Linux multimedia server that manages audio and video streams. This new version maintains API and ABI compatibility with all previous 1.2.x and 1.0.x releases.
[18:52] schestowitz[TR3]While no groundbreaking new features exist, its packed with numerous improvements designed to enhance reliability, performance, and compatibility across various modules.
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[19:05] schestowitz[TR3][19:05] schestowitz[TR3]The Compute Module 5s core is a quad-core Arm Cortex-A76 processor clocked at 2.4GHz. The module is designed for use in various environments, from industrial automation to home-built projects.
[19:05] schestowitz[TR3]You can choose from multiple configurations: RAM options include 2GB, 4GB, or 8GB LPDDR4-4267 SDRAM, and storage options range from 0GB (Lite) to 64GB eMMC flash memory.
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[19:08] schestowitz[TR3][19:08] schestowitz[TR3]Today marks an exciting event for those of you for whom the beauty of your desktop is more than wishful thinking: over a year after its previous 7.1 release, the new elementary OS 8 is out now, based on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS and powered by Linux kernel 6.8.
[19:08] schestowitz[TR3]Its a major step forward for one of the most visually stunning and user-friendly Linux distros, blending a polished look with powerful new features that enhance privacy, productivity, and accessibility.
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[19:10] schestowitz[TR3][19:10] schestowitz[TR3]Three weeks after its previous 6.2.3 release, the KDE team rolled out a new bugfix update to its Plasma 6.2 series, version 6.2.4. This update does not introduce new features but improves whats already there by eliminating bugs and optimizing the user experience.
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