Bonum Certa Men Certa

Links 19/08/2009: Bordeaux 1.8.2 Released, Mozilla Service Week Coming



GNOME bluefish

Contents





GNU/Linux

  • The Curse of the Living Windows
    Fortunately, I had spent the last few months learning enough about Linux to begin my run for freedom from Windows already, so Ubuntu 9.04 was running smoothly on one of my two computers by the time DSL came to town. I knew that all I needed or wanted from an ISP was a connection to the internet -- any other services were of no interest.

    Of course, since this was a Windows ISP, there was nothing in their literature that suggested how to carry out the actual connection process other than "install the program from the CD, we will assimilate your computer and do the rest." I've learned to expect that, having endured the Driver Dramas of winmodem/linmodem on dialup, but since this is ADSL, I did need to find the magic numbers like IP address, subnet mask, gateway, and DNS server. That meant I had to call Technical Support.


  • Linux vendor revenue $1 billion by 2012? Or is it $49 billion+ ?
    Red Hat's CEO Jim Whitehurst has said that it is his goal to advance Red Hat to be the first open source vendor to hit $1 billion in revenues. Red Hat is well on its way, but Red Hat is now making an increasing amount of its revenues from JBoss middleware running on Linux.


  • Storage Basics: Clustered File Systems
    Generally speaking, shared disk setups have a single point of failure: the storage system. This is not always true, however, as "shared disk" is a confusing term with today's technology. SANs, NAS appliances and commodity hardware running Linux can all replicate the underlying disks in real time to another storage node, which provides a simulated shared disk environment. Since the underlying block devices are replicated, the nodes have access to the same data and both run a clustered file system, but this replication breaks the traditional shared disk definition.




  • Applications

    • Bordeaux 1.8.2 for Linux Released
      Supported Applications/Games:

      * Microsoft Office 2007 * Microsoft Office 2003 * Microsoft Office 2000 * Microsoft Office 97 * Microsoft Office Visio 2003 * Microsoft Office Project 2003 * Adobe Photoshop 6 * Adobe Image Ready 3 * Adobe Photoshop 7 * Adobe Image Ready 7 * Adobe Photoshop CS * Adobe Photoshop CS2 * Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 * Steam and Steam based Games * Apple QuickTime 6.5.2 Player * IrfaView 4.25 (Image files only) * Winetricks support


    • A Quick and Easy Guide to KDE KIO slaves
      Here are some other useful KIO slaves:

      * tar:/, zip:/, gzip:/, bzip:/, bzip2:/ all allow you to navigate into archives like they are folders. * fonts:/ shows installed fonts * cgi:/ runs cgi programs without a webserver * finger:/ provides information about a host name where “finger” is enabled. * settings:/ is similar to applications:/ providing an alternative method of accessing system settings. * smb:/ accesses and browses Samba shares. This is also available through remote:/ * sftp:/ is a secure file transfer over SSH. * desktop:/ shows the files inside the desktop folder. * trash:/ shows the contents of the trash can.


    • Open source Dreamweaver alternatives
      We did show you before how to install dreamweaver on Linux using wine , and as we believe that there are good open source alternative for this product , we will try to show you bellow some of the open source Dreamweaver alternatives for Linux.








  • Distributions

    • Rpath to Foresight Linux: Change to Fedora!
      In order for Foresight Linux to follow development trends more quickly, Michael Johnson (the founder of rPath and former head of Fedora) has proposed switching from rPath Linux to Fedora.








  • Devices/Embedded







Free Software/Open Source

  • Korona Brings KDE 4.3 To OpenSolaris
    While Sun Microsystems puts their weight behind the GNOME desktop environment for Solaris and OpenSolaris, there are developers that do work on providing a quality experience for KDE on OpenSolaris. However, getting KDE to run on a clean OpenSolaris installation can require building KDE from source and taking various other steps. Fortunately, for KDE fans, there is now the Korona distribution, which brings KDE 4.3 as the default desktop environment to an OpenSolaris stack.




  • Firefox

    • Mindcraft 2.0: Firefox Comes of Age
      When Firefox had only a few percent market share, it could be dismissed as a minority browser for a few enthusiasts. Now that it holds over 50% in some countries, particularly in Europe, it can't be written off so easily. The fact that Microsoft has paid for these reports shows that Firefox has come of age as a serious rival to Internet Explorer that might even wrench the browser crown from the latter's grasp in the not-too-distant future.


    • Calling All Volunteers – Mozilla Service Week needs YOU!
      Mozilla Service Week is coming up in just one month – September 14 to 21, 2009! The driving force behind service week is our strong belief that everyone should know how to use the Internet, have easy access to it, and have a great experience when they’re online. You can have a hand in helping organizations and people all over the world experience the joy of using the Web too!








  • Business

    • Open-Xchange Plans First Partner Summit
      Sounds promising. But for Open-Xchange to broaden its appeal, the company will need to effectively position itself against Microsoft’s emerging Business Productivity Online Suite (which includes Exchange Online) plus a range of successful Exchange SaaS specialists — including Azaleos, Intermedia, and mindSHIFT’s groupSPARK business.






  • Government

    • Digital Britain: Less a Policy, More a Typo
      While the digital revolution thunders along at a giddy rate in the real world, UK politicians prove to be all mouth and no trousers. Despite the rhetoric of making Britain a leader in digital content, the reality is the government just doesn't understand that this isn't business as usual, and that something has changed fundamentally, and requires a fundamentally different approach, not just some fine-tuning of old ideas.


    • HU: "Hungary should set up a open source competence centre"
      The Hungarian government should create an open source competence centre, writes the Hungarian Information Society (ITTK), a pressure group, in its annual report, published on 7 May.

      The group urges the government to increase its awareness of this type of software. "The government should is advised to make ODF an official standard in all branches of government."








Leftovers



  • Censorship/Web Abuse

    • Venezuela adopts censorship
      Venezuela has adopted a law censoring all newsmedia, prohibiting publication of anything that could encourage hatred or aggression, or even "indiscipline", among children. It also prohibits anything that "deforms the language" or attacks "healthy values, good customs or public health".


    • Comcast Fights FCC Net Neutrality Order
      The case is important because other broadband ISPs have privately feared the FCC order could hold jurisdiction over them as well.






  • ID Cards



    • How 10 digits will end privacy as we know it
      A study of 1990 U.S. Census data revealed that 87 percent of the people in the United States were uniquely identifiable with just three pieces of information (PDF): five-digit ZIP code, gender, and date of birth. Internet surfers today spew considerably more information than that.


    • DNA Database Doomed: It Works Too Well
      This is something I've been saying (without proof, admittedly) for a while: the UK's insane DNA database is doomed not because it doesn't work well, but because it works *too* well in a sense - in that it lets you frame anybody with perfect efficiency...








  • Intellectual Monopolies

    • Since When Is Sharing So Bad?
      Jerry Leichter writes "We're all taught to share as kids, and sharing is a fundamental aspect of human societies. But sharing is also "anti-market" - at least as many sellers see it. I have something - a piece of music, a lawnmower - that you need. If I share with you, we both come out ahead - but if instead you buy one for yourself, the seller and manufacturer comes out ahead..."


    • Myth Debunking: Fans Just Want Everything For Free
      This is a myth. It's a popular myth, and I'm quite sure that Sheffner and lots of folks on both sides of the debate think its entirely accurate. But it's a myth. The nature of a good economic transaction is one in which both parties are better off after the exchange. That means the people "paying" don't mind paying. They're happy to pay because they believe that what they have received is better than the cost it took to acquire it. But basic economics plays into the situation here: if the same thing can be made available by others in a better way, it's only natural for people to ask why they should have to pay.


    • Police banned from listening to the radio
      POLICE officers in Hampshire have been banned from listening to the radio in their offices because they’re breaking the law.

      [...]

      Dep Chief Con Cole broke the news to staff in an email after other forces, in particular Wiltshire, were approached by the Performing Right Society who demand a ‘substantial’ licence fee for public broadcasts.


    • P2P Banned In Antarctica?
      We know that there's been an ongoing effort by entertainment industry lobbyists to convince politicians (and others) that file sharing and P2P apps are somehow to blame for stupid government staffers accidentally leaking files via those programs. Apparently the propaganda campaign has worked in at least one area: employees of the United States Antarctic Program (USAP) were sent an alert that they need to stop using all P2P programs.


    • The Pain in Spain Falls Mainly in the Plan
      in January 2010, Spain will take over the Presidency of the European Community. Spanish Government has already announced that one of their flagships will be reinforcing the control of the Internet and criminalizing the sharing culture in the digital environment. The consequences of those decisions will be noticed in the rest of the world.


      This is the first I've heard of this: bad news if true. Anyone have any more details?


    • Radiohead Leak Their New Track To BitTorrent
      During the last few days a new Radiohead song was mysteriously released onto the Internet. The track is called “These Are My Twisted Words” and until today it was unclear where it had come from. Now, thanks to a post on the band’s blog, it seems the boys could’ve had it planned all along, as they are now linking to the song on Mininova.


    • Of Mephistopheles and Poodles
      I was always under the impression that Lord Mandelson was dark, Machiavellian and very sharp; apparently not:
      Lord Mandelson launched a crackdown on internet piracy just days after meeting a leading Hollywood critic of illegal file sharing.










Digital Tipping Point: Clip of the Day



Thomas Bartol, computational neuroscientist for the Salk Institute 10 (2005)



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

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Patients' Data Should Not be Outsourced to Any Party at All, Let's Redo the Storage Scheme
Far better than giving all our data to Microsoft and Palantir (US)
The Second-Largest Institution in Europe (EPO) is Playing With Fire and Now It Puts the Largest One (EU) at Risk
The EPO will have some more shake-ups
The EPO's Own 'Drug Bust': Berenguer is Gone, But Who Else?
EPO latest news
Improving Clarity When Presenting LLM Slop and Slop Images
There will likely be more changes (improvements) to improve the visibility of our labels
Articles About "Linux" That Are Actually Promotions of Microsoft Windows
The solution is to leave Windows, not get something "like Linux" or "similar to Linux"
Local Occupational Health, Safety and Ergonomics Committee (LOHSEC) in The Hague: Staff Representation Surprised at "Recent Changes in the Staffing of OHS Occupational Health Services (OHS)"
Once upon a time the Office offered to-notch services to all staff
IBM Exits Continue This Week
Some people talk about it anonymously, naming their role/position/unit, number of years (or band) etc.
 
Links 12/11/2025: Botulism Outbreak and Increased Russian Censorship
Links for the day
British Army Officer Said Ubuntu Needed to Abandon Sudo for Rust's Imitation of Sudo and You Can Guess What Happened Next...
The not-so-drop-in replacement
The Open Web Has Fallen, It's Just Chrome
We cannot envision any other rendering engine (or "base") making any measurable headway
The EPO's Central Staff Committee Complains About the EPO's Management Faking "Production" (Monopolies) to Make More Money
The Central Staff Committee has a new communication
Ethical Consumer Could Use a Mention of "Ethical Software"
Maybe the Free Software Foundation (FSF) can get in touch with them
Links 12/11/2025: A US President (Insurrectionist) Attacking British Media, Hyundai's Digital Restrictions (DRM)
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/11/2025: Trains in Switzerland, Software Survival, and More
Links for the day
Trying to Cancel People and Projects That You Don't Like by Changing the Focus to Politics
Don't fall for it
What Kind of Bubble is AI? We'll Find Out Very Soon
In 2022 and 2023 Cory Doctorow was one among many who asserted "AI" was a bubble
Mandrake's Gaël Duval Debunks Clickbait Nonsense From ZDNet, a Non-Coder Pushing Bot-Made 'Code' (Plagiarism Done Poorly)
"Why AI won't "Kill Open Source”
Groklaw Won't be the Latest (Nor the Last) Major Site We Lose
Many other sites will go offline; the more popular among those will get hijacked by rogue actors
Slopwatch Turns 1 Next Month
2024-12-14 is when Slopwatch began
The Issue With Firefox is Not Its Brand
Mozilla seems to be the biggest enemy of Firefox at this point
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, November 11, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, November 11, 2025
Gemini Links 11/11/2025: Kentucky, Bluesky, and Slop
Links for the day
The European Patent Office (EPO) is Still Hiding From Scandals
"No answers from VP1 to our letters to two Directors"
Like the Serial Strangler From Microsoft, Donald Trump is Out of Time and Has Jurisdiction Issues in the UK
The court system or the courts of a nations are meant to serve the nation and its media, not media lawyers or litigation profiteers
Slopwatch: Many Fake Articles About "Linux" on Monday and Today
A lot of the Web is pure garbage. A lot of 'articles' are 100% fake.
Richard Stallman to be First Speaker at Ethereum Cypherpunk Congress 5 Days From Now, FSF Looking to Raise $400,000 by Year's End
the 40+ years-old FSF, which Dr. Stallman created to help promote Software Freedom and support GNU, is starting a new fund-raising campaign
Links 11/11/2025: Misinformation/Disinformation in Twitter/X and BBC in Trouble
Links for the day
Links 11/11/2025: Slop Ruins Music, Facebook "to Discontinue Like and Comment Buttons on Third-Party Websites"
Links for the day
Adrian & Diana von Bidder-Senn, Debian: detailed history of a death
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
The Voice of Microsoft
Marketing disguised as a science
"MIT Technology Review Insights" is the Selling of Ponzi Schemes for Sponsors (MIT Lacks Integrity)
Just like IBM, they're chaining buzzwords now
Rust Keeps Breaking Ubuntu in All Sorts of Extraordinary Ways (and All Distros Based on Ubuntu Will Break Also)
The FSF's stance on this is unclear
Boot-locking Laptops and Desktops After Falsely Marketing That As 'Security' and Not Obligatory
If anyone can confirm this to us
With Net Income of One Billion Dollars Tesla Claims It Can Pay a Fake Founder (Who Paid for This Lie) 1,000 Billions
What does this tell us about Wall Street?
GNU/Linux Cannot Buy Fake Journalism and It Won't Bribe Large Publishers
Free software developers don't purchase "sponsored" placements and that will never change
The 'Politics' of Operating Systems (or Exclusion for Inclusion's Sake)
This whole 'wrongthink' policing is getting out of hand
Static Site Generators (SSGs) Save You Lots of Money and Problems
We've basically reduced the environmental/carbon footprint of the site by a factor of ~100 (2 orders of magnitude)
IBM Does Not Care About Families, Communities, and Even Its Own Workers
Red Hat isn't a family and to believe that it is would be the makeup of cults
Too Much of Today's Web is Fake, Not Just Fake News
We'll continue to advocate for adoption of Gemini Protocol
Simulating a Downtime Tomorrow Night
It is expected that network redundancy will make this maintenance invisible to us, but IRC hangups or general slowness are still a possibility
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, November 10, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, November 10, 2025
Links 11/11/2025: Conflicts and Politics From National Broadcasters
Links for the day
Gemini Links 11/11/2025: Poetry and Electronics Studies
Links for the day
Apple's Debt Grew by About 16 Billion Dollars This Past Year, "Disappointing iPhone Sales" Reported
People who buy Apple's goods based on some false notion that Apple is "cool" or ethical or "underdog" (late 90s) aren't just living in the past; they're fools
Turning Down Proprietary Software is About Making Society Better
We should not be tempted to shame people for merely trying to keep programmers honest and human rights-respecting
Debian GNU/Linux Became the Most Popular (Most Distros Are Based on It) Owing to Richard Stallman
New presentation
The Internet is Becoming Dead or a Zombie
The Internet is becoming like a giant botfarm
A Day for Poppies
This site will run as usual today. We continue our fight for Software Freedom.
"Modern" Doesn't Mean Better, It Typically Just Means Newer
RMS demonised as someone who rejects "modern society" ("rejecting modern society") by a site that uses slop extensively
The Cocaine Patent Office - Part IV: European Patent Office to Come Under Media and Political Scrutiny
We'll persist until we get some answers
Gemini Links 10/11/2025: Homelabs and KeePassRX Manual Now Available
Links for the day
63-Page Response to the EPO's Effort to Decrease the Salaries of Workers While EPO Management Snorts Cocaine for 20,000 Euros a Month
"Read more in these written comments we sent to the members of the GCC"
Response to Another New Hit Piece About Richard Stallman (RMS)
We see similar smears floating about and tackling them can help not only RMS but anyone who thinks similarly about computers
Shrinking and Cheapening the Workforce: the Future of Red Hat and IBM
Does Red Hat cheapen the workforce?
Links 10/11/2025: BBC Turmoil and Iranian Drought Crisis
Links for the day
The Register MS Still Occasionally Uses Slop
some articles don't use real images
Links 10/11/2025: "Scam Altman Gets Served Subpoena" and "China will Rule Renewable Energy"
Links for the day
ubuntupit.com Has Paused the LLM Slop (for Now)
No slopfarm ever offered any real value
More Media Coverage From Austria Regarding Cocaine Use by EPO Management
The ultimate goal is full accountability
Ponzi Economics and the Media's Role in Defending Ponzi Economics
We occasionally notice weak or almost-non-existent coverage regarding the economy
Links 10/11/2025: Very High Windows TCO and XBox Continues to Languish
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, November 09, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, November 09, 2025