Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Real Issues, Not Gossip

Outcast



Summary: Why Techrights has been focused almost entirely on the issue of patents since its inception

THERE is a difference between covering what's important and covering what gets more readers. Those two things are not the same (nor do they overlap), as tabloids clearly demonstrate. Techrights spent a lot of time covering Novell, which brought not so much traffic; but this issue was important. Novell was Microsoft's pathway towards patent FUD, as tool for suppressing GNU/Linux adoption (now it is going after Java/Linux, or Android). But what bothers us a bit is extreme fascination with Ubuntu at the expense of other GNU/Linux distributions -- something that has become somewhat less of an issue earlier this year because Ubuntu does not make it into the news so much anymore.



The only thing worse than the above trend (covering only one distribution) is the personification of operating systems. When GNU/Linux news becomes news about selected individuals, then the articles cease to be technical. They also become emotionally charged (people are mentally wired and good at hating people, not amorphous institutions). Having said that, if one is considered to be a "subjective" writer, this does not invalidate his or her opinion; it might actually be necessary in order to drive progress. "Balance" is hinged on the assumption that we must also cover and almost promote less civilised sides that are often outdated and seldom rational.

We often give credit to particular types of sites for driving everything forward. Phoronix, for example, is very good in that regard. Then there are some sites that produce detailed reviews, which are an invaluable (very valuable) service to the community and technical documentation/HOWTOs have their place too, although these are usually less like news items. Then there are pundits like SJVN, who do a whole mixture of things. But let us remember that Shuttleworth or Torvalds are not surrogates of GNU/Linux and to speak about their personal life as though it determines the success of Freedom is just plainly pointless. What we currently consider to be the #1 issue (for this particular area of IT) is software patents, so all of today's posts will cover the subject as thoroughly as possible and provide a lot of external links for those who wish to know more.

Attaining the goal of software patents elimination is definitely achievable. Let us not be distracted by minor details that either affect one single person or one particular software package. Software patents can apply to all software and everyone who either develops or just buys products (and overpays). We can do something which actually matters to a lot of people rather than sink into the fringe of gossip.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Open Source Initiative (OSI) Privacy Fiasco in Detail: The OSI Does Not Respect Anybody's Privacy
The surveillance mafia that bans dissent or key people (even co-founders) with dissenting views
The LLM Bubble is About to Implode, Gimmicks and Financial Shell Games Cannot Prevent That, Only Delay It
To inflate the bubble MElon is now doing the classic trick of buying from oneself for a fictional value
 
LLM Slop Piggybacking News About GNU/Linux and Distorting It
new examples
Links 31/03/2025: Press and Democracy Under Further Attacks in the US, Attitudes Towards Slop Sour
Links for the day
Gemini Links 31/03/2025: More X-Filesposting and Dreaming in Emacs
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 30, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, March 30, 2025
Links 30/03/2025: Security Breaches, Crackdowns on Dissent/Rival Politicians
Links for the day
Gemini Links 30/03/2025: London Soundtrack Festival, Superbloom, gmiCAPTCHA
Links for the day
Phasing Out Vista 10 in Nations Where ~90% of Windows Users Still Rely on It
Recipe for another Microsoft disaster
The Cost of Pursuing the Much-Needed Reform/Shield Against Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs)
“It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare.”
Links 30/03/2025: Contagious Ideas, Signal Leak, and Squashing Lousy Patents
Links for the day
Links 30/03/2025: "Quantum Randomness" and "F-1 Visa Revoked" in US
Links for the day
Gemini Links 30/03/2025: US as a Threat, Returning to the WWW
Links for the day
Links 30/03/2025: Judge Blocks Dismantling Of VOA, Turkey Arrested Many Journalists
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, March 29, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, March 29, 2025
Judges Would Never Rule for Men Who Strangle Women or Against Women Who Merely Wrote Articles About Abuse They Had Received From Men
We don't intend to do "trial by media", so we won't be disclosing claims and defences until it's over
Windows is an Unnatural Disaster, It is Also Avoidable
there's a wide window of opportunity opening
Gemini Links 29/03/2025: Less YouTube and More Station
Links for the day
In Some Countries, Such as Thailand, Firefox is Already Measured at Less Than 2% (One Day Firefox Will Get Blocked, Not Only Lack Support)
Web consolidation around Chrom-isms will doom the Web as we know it
Killing the News With Spam and Slop Benefits Those Whose Desire is an Uninformed Population
adoption of Free software depends indirectly on political activities/activism
Links 29/03/2025: Trademarks Battles, Fires Destroy More Than 3,000 South Korean Homes
Links for the day
Open Source Initiative (OSI) Privacy Fiasco in Detail: An Introduction
Perhaps tomorrow or perhaps next week we'll share more information about what happened and what was reported to the California Privacy Protection Agency
Links 29/03/2025: More Crackdowns on Science, "Hey Hi" Slopping is Flopping
Links for the day
IBM's BS (Bait, Switch) Regarding Ways to Stay Onboard
PIPs, RTOs, and forced relocations are just an illusion of choice (or ability to recover)
Costa Rica Almost Bankrupt Because of Microsoft
the incidents in Costa Rica are Windows incidents
Gemini Links 29/03/2025: Art of Looking, Wireguard, EMacs
Links for the day
Links 29/03/2025: Attacks on Social Security and War Updates
Links for the day
Banned evidence: Ars Technica forums censored email predicting DebConf23 death, Abraham Raji & Debian cover-up
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, March 28, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, March 28, 2025