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Links 9/9/2011: NASA and Linux, Samsung Not Buying MeeGo





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Contents





GNU/Linux



Free Software/Open Source



  • Web Browsers



  • Oracle/Java/LibreOffice

    • Oracle v. Google - Google's Expert Report and a Jury Issue
      In our article from September 2nd on the Oracle/Google copyright issues, we included a number of declarations, including that of Prof. Owen Astrachan of Duke University. There were two exhibits identified in the Astrachan declaration, but neither of the exhibits were available at that time. Now Exhibit 3, Astrachan's Rebuttal Expert Report 391 [PDF] is available in redacted form, and we have reproduced it below.


    • How Open is Oracle?
      Oracle's history with Sun's open source projects is one that did not start out well. The openSolaris project was killed off, Apache has left the executive committee of the Java Community Process and multiple projects have been forked including OpenOffice (with LibreOffice), Hudson (with Jenkins) and MySQL (with MariaDB). Oracle has also launched legal action against Google over Java in Android.




  • BSD

    • The New Installer Of FreeBSD 9.0
      FreeBSD 9.0 Beta 2 was officially released yesterday, about one month's late, but it comes with several new features. One of the new features to FreeBSD 9.0 is a new installer (pc-sysinstall) for this BSD operating system, which the developers have requested that it be put through its paces.




  • Openness/Sharing

    • UniPro: Open Source Bioinformatics Business with UGENE
      Unipro: Unipro is a small company with about 60-70 software engineers. The company expertise is focused on the following areas: compilers and low-level optimizations development, virtual machines development, quality testing, parallel and cloud-based computing.




  • Standards/Consortia

    • Google adds offline support to Docs
      Google Docs is a popular tool for collaboration and web-based document creation: boasting compatibility with common file types including Microsoft Office and the Open Document Format, a generous helping of free storage space, and easy to use web-based tools, it's proving a tempting move for those unwilling to shell out for the latest iteration of Microsoft's offering.






Leftovers



  • Cablegate





  • Finance

    • "Fraud As a Business Model"
      There were many factors that contributed to our recent financial bubble: deregulation, cheap money from the Fed, failure to enforce remaining regulations, crony capitalism, hubris, speculation, leverage, and fraud among other problems. While fraud wasn't the only issue, it was and is a significant contributor to the credit bubble. Restraining fraud is a necessary but not sufficient condition for a sound financial system. Congressional investigations in recent years have put ample evidence of fraud in the public domain.


    • Goldman Sachs: More Than A Travesty Of A Mockery Of A Sham
      Goldman Sachs isn’t the only bank to rip-off its clients and America. But because it is the best at what it does it is the most profitable bank in the world, for now.

      Regular, old everyday trading is the key to Goldman’s success.What does that mean? I’m not talking about Goldman’s “big short” and how it bet massively against the subprime mortgage market while simultaneously selling huge quantities of designed-to-fail mortgage securities to its own customers.




  • Privacy

    • No, technology is not going to destroy your privacy in the future


    • Hurt Locker File Sharing Suits Come North: Federal Court Orders ISPs to Disclose Subscriber Info
      File sharing lawsuits involving the movie the Hurt Locker have been big news in the United States for months as tens of thousands of lawsuits have been filed. It now appears that the lawsuits are coming to Canada as the Federal Court of Canada has paved the way for the identification of subscribers at Bell Canada, Cogeco, and Videotron who are alleged to have copied the movie. Late last month the court ordered the three ISPs to disclose the names and addresses of subscribers linked to IP addresses alleged to have copied the movie. The ISPs were given two weeks to respond and are entitled to be reimbursed for their expenses. In reaching its decision, the court cited the BMG Canada v. Doe case, the last major Canadian case involving peer-to-peer file sharing lawsuits. That case opened the door to further lawsuits, though it established some privacy safeguards. In this instance, the court cited PIPEDA as evidence that the personal information can be disclosed as well as federal court rules for the legitimacy of the claim and the necessity of acquiring the information for the lawsuit to proceed. There is no indication that the ISPs challenged the order or that there was an opportunity for a public interest intervention as was the case in the earlier CRIA lawsuits.




  • Intellectual Monopolies



    • Copyrights

      • Canada to U.S.: please blacklist us!
        Hyper-vigilant Internet Law Prof Michael Geist seems to be the first to have combed through the latest batch of WikiLeaks diplomatic cables, searching for any document containing the words “Canada” and “copyright.”


      • Long-awaited copyright bill returns, but top court to wade in too
        Heritage Minister James Moore says he's hoping for long-languishing amendments to the Copyright Act to pass by Christmas, but the Supreme Court of Canada could wind up forcing more tinkering with the law.

        Canada's top court said Thursday it will rule on five separate intellectual property cases together as a bundle, and what it decides could directly impact the Act or at least its interpretation.








Recent Techrights' Posts

Birss Replaces Vos in UK's High Court, LLM Slop Plagiarism a Contentious Issue
Only days ago we mentioned Sir Geoffrey Vos in relation to lobbying for LLM slop
Despite the Mass Layoffs Microsoft's Debt Soared by 5.1 Billion Dollars in Just 3 Months
This is why Microsoft asks 60,000 workers to leave
What Linus Torvalds Told Me Two Decades Ago
It seems like he was eager to distinguish himself from the "elders" of FSF [...] For anything "revolutionary" to happen in the sciences one must accept the risk of living in poverty like Tesla (the person, not the right-wing fanatics) and Torvalds isn't too old to "cause a stir"
 
Links 30/10/2026: "Over 41,000 DHS Employee Records Leaked Online" and Concerns Over Radicalism in France
Links for the day
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XXIV - It's an Inherently American Issue and American Elections Are at Risk From Restricted ('Secure') Boot and LLM Chatbots (Disinformation at Scale)
We'll focus a lot on US elections in the coming days
"Early Retirement" (Silent Layoffs) for Everybody Except the Executives
Some will stick around even past 70
Gemini Links 30/10/2026: Solar MiniBBS, Kubernetes With FreeBSD, "Sysadmin Day"
Links for the day
Microsoft Layoffs Far Worse Than the Media Tells (Microsoft Spin Laundered as "Reporting")
Some people are made to "retire" and sign an NDA to make it seem like a happy ending and mostly consensual retreat
Links 30/10/2026: Google Crashes on Slop Disappointment and GAFAM's "Data Center Blitz Is Burning Through Cash and Scaring Wall St."
Links for the day
Fake 'Articles' in The Register MS Concerning "AI"
We don't suppose The Register MS will be around for much longer after this bubble pops
GNU/Linux as a Free Software Platform is More GNU (and GPL) Than Linux
GNU predates Linux by nearly a decades and it was born to tackle injustices
Who Or What Are Security Professionals/Experts?
Companies like GAFAM are willing to tolerate cheaters because those companies themselves are cheats
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XXIII - What Garrett Did Puts Elections at Risk (Also in His Own Country, Where a Dictator Trusts Only Machines That 'Support' Him)
UEFI 'security' is only as trustworthy as its ferocious boosters
Gemini Links 30/10/2026: RIP Patrick Stewart and Amp Integration
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, October 29, 2026
IRC logs for Thursday, October 29, 2026
The Metric is Not the Mission
"Passing Thoughts" by Andy
More Than 5 Years Have Passed Since Official Release of Vista 11 and in the US It's Measured as Only 3 Times Bigger Than GNU/Linux on the Desktop/Laptop
If mobile is culled from the statistics, then GNU/Linux is somewhere near 11%
It's About Intention, Not Attrition, at Microsoft
Microsoft does in fact aim to push many workers off the cliff
The Next 50 Years of Emacs (and GNU)
GNU's founder made the widely used editor, GNU Emacs
Links 29/10/2026: Microsoft-Connected and Funded Openwashing at FOSDEM, Tragedy in Spain
Links for the day
Gemini Links 29/10/2026: London, Worcestershire, and Robot Exclusion Protocol
Links for the day
The Register MS is Publishing Spam About "AI" for HP, Sponsored by HP, Even Composed by HP
Or "HPE" as they choose to call themselves (with the hype of "enterprise")
Links 29/10/2026: Anthropic Still Sued Over Copyright Infringement (Plagiarism Isn't "Training"), Elon Musk Openly Admits He Helps Putin Crush Ukraine
Links for the day
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XXI - Techrights Was Right, So Why Was It Punished by Lawfare While the Culprits Walk Away Scot-free?
Techrights did a public service, cautioning about real risks to the public, but the people who caused the problems walk away scot-free
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XXII - Still "Radio Silence" From "Restricted Boot" Perpetrators (After Techrights Proven Right Again)
Maybe when they sober up they'll say something...
'Secure' Boot Is Not Secure, Here Are News Reports About the Latest Evidence
We'll be linking to this page in the future as evidence of the catastrophe
No, Microsoft Isn't Doing Well (It Has Struggled for a Long Time)
Microsoft isn't growing, the shares are a Ponzi scheme of sorts
What Makes Techrights a Community
Communities can accomplish a lot. They cannot be "bought" and "sold", they're based on trust, mutual respect, and shared ideology.
Linux Links 29/10/2026: Refractor Stargazing and Making Better Use of RAM in Linux
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, October 28, 2026
IRC logs for Wednesday, October 28, 2026
Project Glasswing and PHP2Shell vulnerability
by Akira Urushibata
Turning Point for the Slop Industrialists
First, a lot of people who work on "hey hi" at Microsoft (no matter the buzzword or brand, e.g. "copilot") are impacted
Links 28/10/2026: Slop Bubble Pops in China, Rocky Linux Creator Becomes Slopper, Openwashing by the Slop Pushers Explained
Links for the day
Gemini Links 28/10/2026: Slop Plagiarism Considered a "Weapon", "Completely restored HTML interface to the Orbital Fox mailing list"
Links for the day
The Corrupted Corporate Media is Spinning Massive Microsoft Layoffs as "Investment in AI" Instead of Evidence That "AI" Nonsense is Catastrophic
Microsoft asking 30% of its staff to leave is a sign of bubble
Links 28/10/2026: "Rest of World Faces Prospect of Shutting Down" and Robert Reich Says "Musk Wants Me Imprisoned"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 28/10/2026: Cold Outside Again and Maths
Links for the day
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XX - Restricted and Moot, or How 'Secure Boot' Turns Out to be a Disaster (Again) This Week
It already has a history of breaking/bricking servers
100 Years of IBM Racism
GAFAM is not about "diversity" or "equity" or whatever. It's a greedy, money-making venture, even if they appoint CEOs of colour
Racism at Microsoft
Microsoft tribalism has an element to it aside from corporate allegiance
Intercontinental Brigading - Part IX - Literature About Malignant Narcissists in America Silencing the Press
There's a price for criticising abuses
Compelling Examiners at the European Patent Office to Fake "Growth" (in Patent Monopolies) Using Slop and Sloppy Processes
The agenda of management is likely illegal and the methods likewise
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, October 27, 2026
IRC logs for Tuesday, October 27, 2026