Bonum Certa Men Certa

Links 14/04/2009: State of Illinois Supports ODF, Firefox Extensions Extravaganza



GNOME bluefish

Contents





GNU/Linux

  • He's a Mac, he's a PC, but we're Linux
    Earlier this year the Linux Foundation launched a competition for budding writers, film makers and just general Linux enthusiasts to make their own grassroots advertisement to compete with Apple’s highly-successful “I’m a Mac” series of adverts. The winner has now been announced.


  • Linux For Absolute Beginners: 3 Easy Ways to Test-Drive Linux
    The computing marketplace is nearly unique in its lack of customer choice. In most other industries we have many good choices. If you don't like your Ford, you can buy a Toyota, Saab, Chevrolet, Audi, Dodge, or any of several other good brands. If you don't like Pepsi you can try Coke, Shasta, Western Family, RC. Ever notice how particular some people are about pens? There are dozens, if not hundreds of different styles and brands of pens. Milk comes from cows that are all pretty much the same, but you still have a choice of brands. Ever count how many different brands of tortilla chips are on your store's shelves?


  • How to end the Fail Whales? With Blue Whales.
    Before I joined IBM in September of 2007, I had just completed a project for a large government agency that needed a system that could accomplish approximately 5,500 database row inserts and reads per second, or approximately 18 million transactions per week. And as a customer requirement, we had to do it with COMMODITY HARDWARE. Read as, Intel Chips and Linux.


  • Windows dedicated site to try Linux!
    Neowin, the site which for the most part is Microsoft dedicated has just announced another revelation. Its editor Marshalus is trying out Ubuntu 9.04 beta.


  • Psystar Intros Core i7-Based PC with No Mac OS X Support
    Featuring your choice of Vista or Linux, the Open7 has enough configuration options to custom tailor this computer to meet your needs. Add up to three video cards with support for triple NVIDIA SLI for maximum performance.


  • [James Love on Apple]
    @cshirky notes Apple Works insists on proprietary file formats, and won't save to ODF. IMO, Apple sees Linux as desktop threat.


  • [But... But...]


  • Expanding Linux desktop market
    Making simple, big-button distros with lots of truly great commercial games, instant access to every conceivable media, dedicated support and brand-name endorsement by the titans like Dell or Google - it must work and it will.


  • What Price Cool? Mac vs. PC
    There are two major platforms: Apple and Windows, and Macs generally cost more than PCs. Thus ends the latest propagandistic report. But what about Linux?

    [...]

    This is not particularly earth-shattering news. Linux is never mentioned, of course, and some might argue that this report is a smokescreen to keep people from looking at the third alternative. And since this report emphasizes both short- and long-term costs and expenses, Linux is actually the elephant (or the jaunty jackalope) in the room.




  • K Desktop Environment

    • system trays
      A current assessment of KNotificationAreaIcon is that it's a really long name but it works right out of the box, including with xembed-only system tray environments, with only a few minor (though quite fixable) caveats at the moment. It needs some tweaking and polishing, but it should be in great order before 4.3.0 given it's current state.


    • improving freedesktop.org specs








  • Distributions

    • Distro Review - Arch Linux 2009.02
      After many broken promises and much procrastination, I finally made it onto Arch Linux and that’s where I’ve been for the past couple of weeks now. I had a failed attempt at Arch last year when my hard drive died; not Arch’s fault in any way, but since then I haven’t really had a chance to get back to it. It’s a distro a lot of people tell me about. The Arch fans are always really passionate and enthusiastic in describing it to me; so I figured it was high time I found out for myself what all this fuss was about…


    • My PCLinuxOS 2009.1 Desktop
      The installed KDE apps work perfectly in my PCLOS 2009 Gnome system. Great performance, no stability issues and now I have what I consider to be the best of both worlds working in harmony.


    • Enter gNewSense - the free Ubuntu
      By using gNewSense you can show that the freedom of the software you use is truly important to you. Hardware manufacturers can thereby be motivated to provide free drivers and firmware for their products and to allow transparency and innovation in this area of software production in the process. In addition, you can show the mother projects of gNewSense, Debian and Ubuntu, that you want to stick to principles and contracts consistently and are not content with phony exceptions.




    • Red Hat

      • Wake County Economic Development Launches New Video Series “Raleigh-Wake County Business Showcase”
        The first video profile for WCED will feature the Raleigh-based company Red Hat, Inc. Founded in 1993, Red Hat (www.redhat.com) is the world's leading provider of open source solutions and is one of the most recognized open source brands. Headquartered in Raleigh and with more than 65 offices across the globe, Red Hat serves global enterprises with open source technology and services. Solutions include Red Hat Enterprise Linux, JBoss Enterprise Middleware and a range of related management tools. Red Hat also offers support, training and consulting services to its customers worldwide.












  • Devices/Embedded

    • Review: Sandisk Sansa Clip
      I have always wanted a good quality audio player that works well with Linux and plays Ogg Vorbis files. Even though the Sansa Clip was originally released in 2007, I somehow missed it.

      [...]

      I give the Sansa Clip two thumbs up. It is affordable, it has a lot of features, it is durable... the software works well and it sounds great. It works great with Linux.


    • Will Linux overtake Windows on netbooks?
      ABI Research predicts that Linux and "alternative operating systems" (OSes) will overtake Windows XP in netbook sales by 2012. Reasons cited by ABI include the arrival of low-end ARM-based netbooks, as well as mobile stacks such as the Linux-based Android that are suited for these platforms.








Free Software/Open Source

  • Firefox

    • Install Firefox 3.6 alpha1pre Minefield in Ubuntu (from repository)


    • Firefox New Tab: Visual Update
      All has been quiet on the new tab front for the last couple of weeks. We’ve been up to two things in the process of getting the new tab ready for potential uplift into Firefox.


    • Browser wars 2009: Firefox, Chrome, & Internet Explorer
      So, while Chrome is faster and more secure and IE 8 is vastly improved over IE 7 and 6, the bottom line is that Firefox and its friends still give me a better over-all Web experience. And, when you're like me and you need to find information quickly on the Web all day long, that's no small thing.


    • Lifehacker's Favorite Firefox Extensions--Plus a Few of Our Own
      As most people who use Firefox know, its hugest advantage over other browsers is the powerful galaxy of extensions available for it. Lifehacker's top 10 list includes a few extensions that I don't use but will have to try out. In particular, I like the idea of AutoCopy, which lets you copy text online by simply selecting it, and fixes long and unweildy URLs. For anyone who writes online, it sounds like a time-saver.


    • Firefox Extensions Guide: Extend Your Experience
      If you are using Firefox and haven't yet gotten down to trying any add-ons, then hopefully this guide will help get acquainted. Sure it may seem daunting at first for the neophyte - but with a little bit of practice, you'll soon be zipping along like a pro and enjoying the experience to boot. For those of who haven't yet tried Firefox, this guide will surely help you open your horizon on what the competition offers.


    • Top 10 Must-Have Firefox Extensions, 2009 Edition
      Our new list keeps some, tosses others, and remains our go-to, Grandmaster list of the best Firefox add-ons.


    • 15 Firefox add-ons for Web developers
      They've made my work a lot easier, and they all can be downloaded in just a few seconds.








  • Licensing





  • ODF

    • Other Local Government Statistics
      Documents are available in Excel (.XLS) and OpenDocument(.ODS) formats. Before viewing the OpenDocument format you may need to download the free OpenOffice software.


    • PEAR Site Has OpenDocument Project For PHP
      This is the description of a project on the PHP PEAR site. I have to say that it looks abandoned, but that could be a false impression. Here's hoping that work continues on this. This could give every PHP developer the potential to import or export ODF documents within his project.








Leftovers

  • OneWebDay Founder Tapped By Obama
    Internet law expert Susan Crawford has joined President Barack Obama's lineup of tech policy experts at the White House, according to several sources. She will likely hold the title of special assistant to the president for science, technology, and innovation policy, they said. Crawford, who was most recently a visiting professor at the University of Michigan and at Yale Law School, was tapped by Obama's transition team in November to co-chair its FCC review process with University of Pennsylvania professor Kevin Werbach.


  • MPAA's hacking history bites it in the Aris
    THE MPAA has found that its nasty habit of paying hackers to steal emails from TorrentSpy and the Pirate Bay has ended it up in court again.


  • Obama Taps 5th RIAA Lawyer to Justice Dept.
    President Barack Obama is tapping another RIAA attorney into the Justice Department.

    Monday's naming of Ian Gershengorn, to become the department's deputy assistant attorney of the Civil Division, comes more than a week after nearly two-dozen public interest groups, trade pacts and library coalitions urged the new president to quit filling his administration with lawyers plucked from the Recording Industry Association of America.

    The move makes it five RIAA lawyers Obama has appointed to the Justice Department.






Digital Tipping Point: Clip of the Day



Nelson Pavlosky, Co-founder of Free Culture.org 07 (2005)

Ogg Theora





Digital Tipping Point is a Free software-like project where the raw videos are code. You can assist by participating.

Recent Techrights' Posts

When Large American "Tech" Companies Can No Longer Complete Payroll
In spite of several very large waves of Dell layoffs, which the media reported on, it seems like they are still experienceng payroll problems, maybe that's why money is being borrowed
Writing for Good
The Web has an abundance of junk
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XXVIII - Microsoft Doesn't Want People to Speak About Microsoft-Controlled Restricted ('Secure') Boot, a Silent Injustice and Back Door/Kill Switch
Can we please stop treating this as normal or acceptable?
 
NDA-Compatible PIPs and RAs at IBM Red Hat
We welcome Red Hat whistleblowers who can share with us the NDA/s passed their way
The Tower of Babel
More is not better
GNU/Linux Rises in African's Largest Population
15% in Nigeria [...] A country with over 200 million people
The Register MS Has Just Published a Fake Article With "AI" 28 Times in the Page (Communist Party of China Entity Paid for That)
In IRC, someone has just pointed out that an article at The Register MS repeats Microsoft's lies about its financial situation
Windows Down to All-Time Low, Says statCounter, While Microsoft Tells 60,000 Workers They're No Longer Necessary
Microsoft must be feeling "salty" right now
A British Uphill Battle to Eliminate Microsoft and Its American Back Doors
There are places of work and homes where GNU/Linux is installed and regularly used, not as a mere hobby but as a hyper-productive, practical tool
Technical Coverage of US Elections
When elections are done by computers and decided by computers it becomes a tech issue
By Killing the "Linux News Section" in Softpedia (the Most Popular Section, Based on Its Editor) Softpedia Killed Itself
Enjoy Ballmer
Linkspam in "It's FOSS" Today (and It's Not Even FOSS)
free-to-access ad for some dodgy companies and the URLs are 'tampered' for cashback
Links 02/11/2026: Slop Destroying Mathematics and "Democracy is Not on the Ballot" (in US)
Links for the day
Celebrating Photography, Celebrating Life, Celebrating Magnificent Humanity, Not Plagiarism Disservices
Any time we adopt or spread slop imagery we are participating in the problem
Year-Long Celebration Starts on Saturday
This coming Saturday we turn 20
On Desktops/Laptops, Clownflare Sees Windows at Under 60% and GNU/Linux at 15% This Past Weekend
Impressive if accurate
Microsoft Lunduke is Slop
Microsoft Lunduke is just trying to stir up hatred
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XXVII - Shooting the Messengers (People Who Oppose Microsoft Back Doors), Even Across the Atlantic
Keep this in mind later this week when a dictator either discredits the voting or covertly tampers with the voting process
Microsoft Wants 60,000 Employees Gone (One Way or Another)
At IBM, 15% of staff got marked as candidates for removal; at Microsoft it's almost 30%
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, November 01, 2026
IRC logs for Sunday, November 01, 2026
Jean-Claude Van Linus
Claude talking?
Gemini Links 01/11/2026: OpenBSD, Broken MicroHDMI, Nextcloud, and More
Links for the day
IBM Vapourware on a Budget (to Grab Bailouts From US Taxpayers)
Anderon is the sort of thing that makes IBMers uncomfortable
Links 01/11/2026: Digital Minimalism and "Palantir Cofounder Announces Cruel Plan to Breed Thousands of Lab Monkeys for Medical Experiments"
Links for the day
Microsoft Accenture in Trouble, Accenture’s Debt Skyrockets
Seeing a wave of adoption of Free software in Europe, it's not exactly shocking that "consultants" from Microsoft Accenture are no longer in demand
Microsoft Says Its "Goodwill" Value Has Been Declining for Years, But It Also Claimed That Doubled in One Year
Wall Street deserves far more criticism or scepticism (at the very least)
SkyChatz: From Nothing to #2 in IRC (in Less Than a Year)
Second only to Libera.Chat
Making Up Words or Inventing a Vocabulary
Or why Large Language Models are useless
Assange on What Lula Means to Free Press
Here in the UK we've also found our 'Lulas'
GNU/Linux is No Underdog (But There Are Attempts to Put It "To Sleep")
There's a moral imperative
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XXVI - The "Law and Order" Candidate Who Crushes Both Law and Order and Even Rejects Election Outcomes (Insurrection Follows)
A world without real technical security is a world void of democracy, justice, and human rights
Links 01/11/2026: Malaysian Media Perishing, France Belatedly Identifies Social Control Media as Weaponised Yellow Press
Links for the day
Gemini Links 01/11/2026: "Trick-or-Treating seems to be dead, at least in our neighborhood"; BaseFree Numerical System and Human Emacs
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, October 31, 2026
IRC logs for Saturday, October 31, 2026
Gemini Links 31/10/2026: MangoWM, Qutebrowser and Codeberg, Plugh
Links for the day
Massive Cuts Inside Microsoft (the Media Does Not Talk About That)
It is in many ways like IBM a decade ago
In US Government Sites, GNU/Linux Measured at New All-Time High of 7% (or About 10% Across Desktops/Laptops Alone)
There's no doubt GNU/Linux is growing
Intel Has Just Lost in One Single Day Over 150 Billion Dollars in 'Value' (Market Cap), Intel is Also Over 50 Billion Dollars in Debt
This really says a lot about Wall Street and the slop bubble, doesn't it?
They Hate Him Because He's Effective
Effective voices invite more aggressive censorship attempts
Audience Growing in Spite of the Deluge of Webslop
We probably benefit from the rejection of LLM slop
The Munich FUD Tactics (Microsoft Modus Operandi): Microsoft-Connected Sites Claim Denmark Failed With Free Software, But That's Not What Actually Happened
With Microsoft, it almost always boils down to politics
Links 31/10/2026: John Romero Comeback After Being Shafted by Microsoft, Google Faces Criminal Probe Over Deforestation in Finland
Links for the day
Gemini Links 31/10/2026: Rambling on Self-hosting and Ad Video Screens Don’t Make Money
Links for the day
Can't Trust Big Banks, Let's Try 'Bros' Instead?
But let's blame "North Korea"
IRC's Growing Popularity in 2026
No company controls or profits from IRC, it is in the Commons
"AI" as Surrogate for Debt and Distraction From Computing (Bots Described as "Agents" and/or Any Form of "Intelligence" is More Like a Religion)
We're letting people without even college degrees game the "market" (Wall Street) by lying to it
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XXV - Election Integrity at a Time of Back Doors and Very Severe Bugs in UEFI
How dare British media comment on insurrection following a US election?
"The Judge Accepted That Mrs Schestowitz Had Been the Subject of a Vicious Campaign of Online Harassment"
That's consistent with how they men treat women
Gemini Links 31/10/2026: Hallowe'en and "Thinking About People"
Links for the day
Links 31/10/2026: The Hinge on Apple's Constantly Breaking New Foldable iPhone Was "Built With Slop", Slop Causes Cash Squeeze GAFAM
Links for the day
Amazon's Debt Skyrockets by Almost 100 Billion Dollars in 9 Months
On top of that there is additional (secret, kept stealth by accounting tricks) debt
Google Illegally Destroyed a Quarter Million Trees Without a Permit for a Hypothetical Project That Might be Cancelled, Debt Has Soared by 30 Billion Dollars in 3 Months ($10 Billions Borrowed Per Month)
Google is bleeding from slop
Slavery at Microsoft
illegal if true
Many People "Left" Red Hat This Month, Including Yesterday
We already saw this with SUSE
Gemini Links 31/10/2026: "Where I Draw the Line With" Slop Plagiarism and "Nobody Cares That You're Leaving Proton" (Over Slop)
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, October 30, 2026
IRC logs for Friday, October 30, 2026