Links 15/9/2011: GNOME 3.2 Preview, Rudolf Elmer Interview
- Dr. Roy Schestowitz
- 2011-09-15 11:13:13 UTC
- Modified: 2011-09-15 11:13:55 UTC
Contents
-
Kernel Space
-
Applications
-
Instructionals/Technical
-
Games
-
Desktop Environments
-
The last few years of development on the free desktop have been instructive. First, KDE stumbled and recovered with the KDE 4 series. Then, this year, GNOME and Ubuntu introduced radically new desktops. In each case, user complaints immediately poured in. Although both GNOME and Ubuntu seem determined to ignore these complaints and continue on their course, I keep wondering: could the disastrous receptions have been avoided?
-
When I installed LXDE from the Debian repository, it started right up, and its Start Menu had the usual default categories (Accessories, Games, Internet, Office, and so on). And most of my applications were in the correct categories. But a few were missing, such as Claws (my email client), and I wanted to create some new categories. No problem; I expect to do this with any new system.
-
GNOME Desktop
-
Gnome 3.2 is going to get:
* A matching GDM welcome screen.
* Integrated chat- no need to launch Empathy.
* More natural workspace switcher behaviour.
* Device hot plugging work nicely with the shell.
* More obvious waiting messages.
-
-
New Releases
-
Dyne:bolic is one of the ever increasing list of GNU/Linux distributions we recommend because of their strong commitment to user freedom. After five years of development, a new release is available.
-
Red Hat Family
-
Debian Family
-
Derivatives
-
Canonical/Ubuntu
-
Canonical recently released the first beta of Ubuntu 11.10, Code named Oneiric Ocelot. Ubuntu has ditched Gnome Shell completely and stepped up its committment to the Unity Desktop. As the final release approaches, just one month from today, we spin up this beta and take a first look at the distro that Mark Shuttleworh called, "part daydream, part discipline."
-
With more and more of one's personal and professional lives being on the computer, encrypting and properly securing those computers -- particularly mobile devices -- is incredibly important. Sadly, it's not often thought about until it's too late. It has become relatively easy to protect your personal data on Ubuntu Linux with home directory encryption support being just a checkbox-away within the installer or even full-disk LVM encryption when using Ubuntu's alternate installer. Previous tests of Ubuntu disk encryption performance have shown there is some penalty in disk-centric workloads, but the benefits are certainly worth it. In this article is a look at the Ubuntu home encryption performance under Ubuntu 11.10 with both old and new laptops.
-
"Our goal with Unity is unprecedented ease of use, visual style and performance on the Linux desktop," Canonical and Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth wrote in his blog last month.
That statement can also stand as a summary of the goals for Ubuntu 11.10 (better known as Oneiric Ocelot). Judging from the beta released last week, Ocelot promises to be a release that, so far as users are concerned, is less about innovation than about perfecting interfaces -- mainly the Unity desktop, but also one or two other applications.
-
Flavours and Variants
-
-
Imagine that you are in a store. You have two new netbook/tablet convertibles in front of you. One of them is $250.00 and runs Ubuntu Linux. The other is $350.00. They are both dual core ARM systems with 2GB of DDR3 RAM, and 64GB SSDs. On top of that, they can both run Metro applications, and have cloud synchronization features that are free of charge for starter storage amounts and pay to expand. Besides price, the Ubuntu machine has two other things that it can offer. It has a different interface, and it has an extra application store with thousands of free and libre applications. This is a very real possibility in the future.
-
Phones
-
Events
-
Expanding Linux Venues In the South (or ELVIS): A FOSS event fit for The King, this one would be held in Memphis, as close to Graceland as possible. Everyone would be required to wear blue suede shoes. We could have Elvis impersonators demonstrating various Linux distros and FOSS programs. Shoot, we could have Linus impersonators doing the same thing. And Stallman impersonators doing the same thing. And Jon ‘maddog’ Hall impersonators . . . you get the idea. This is definitely something worth planning, and I’m so far from Memphis. Is someone closer that could take the reins?
-
CMS
-
I never really “trusted” Facebook or Google+. That is to say, I never expected them to respect my privacy or keep my secrets. I’m not too secretive online anyway, and what I do have to hide, I just don’t post. But it is very clear that there is a great deal of corruption inherent in a business model which is based on concentrating the personal data from millions of users and selling that data to advertisers. At the very least, there must be a free alternative. But for that alternative to be viable, we need to use it. Identica has been around for some time now (and I use it — I’m “digitante”), and Diaspora is (after a long hard start) finally getting some wind under its wings. I’ve used it, and it’s Good Enough. In fact, you’ll find it’s pretty similar to what Facebook or Google+ offers, although there are still some rough spots.
-
To mark the one year anniversary of the creation of OpenIndiana, there's a new OpenIndiana release. OpenIndiana 151a is this new release that is timed one year after this OpenSolaris fork arrived following the fallout from Oracle killing off OpenSolaris and Solaris development in the open.
-
Finance
-
In his first interview since being released from jail, Rudolf Elmer stated to India Today that:
- the investigation against him is still ongoing, and that he could not make any detailed statements because he would be arrested again.
- the CDs he handed over to Julian Assange in the Frontline Club were empty. He also said that it was only a symbolic handover, because it was a public place, and because the police could have intervened. He also said that Assange would not have come, had there not been information.
- that he would not have been released from prison had any data been published.
-
Let’s start with the stated budget hole of $775 million. Even that figure is iffy. The fact is, we know that a multi-hundred-million-dollar structural year-end surplus is built into the budget left over from David Miller’s cost containment, the well-performing property market and prudent financial management by unelected city managers.
This money, about $300 million, is not included in the $775 million and obviously dramatically shrinks the budget hole.
It’s true that Toronto has some fiscal challenges, but they’re not due to excessive spending, which has increased by 3 to 4 per cent over the last decade, less than that of the provincial and federal budgets over the same period. It’s also in line with population growth of 2 to 3 per cent, which drives the need for more services.
-
Intellectual Monopolies
-
Copyrights
-
Copyright assignment is a topic that has received a fair bit of publicity ever since the head of Canonical, Mark Shuttleworth, started pushing the idea of developers surrendering their rights to his company when they contributed code.
Shuttleworth argues that without the freedom to do what he likes with the code - and that includes the possibility of locking it up and making it proprietary - he will be unable to make progress on Ubuntu, the GNU/Linux distribution that has soared to the top of the distro charts.
Recent Techrights' Posts
- The UEFI Restricted Boot 'Time Bomb' is About to Go Off in a Few Weeks
- Garrett was the first person to face sanctions (like muting) in our IRC channels because of his abuse; worse yet, he hijacked other people's names and then locked them out of their own accounts
- Nobody is "Replaced by AI", It's Just a Smokescreen for Jobs Being Eliminated by Lack of Money (Too Much Debt) and Offshoring
- It's also why many make the jokes about the "I" in "AI" being "India" or "Indians"
-
- Men Who Abuse Women Should Never Spend Over 3 Years of the UK High Court's Time
- This demonstrates that we need a reform in the UK
- Links 24/08/2025: Microsoft Settles Data Breach Lawsuits and Climate Change Causes Heatwaves, Water Shortages
- Links for the day
- CachyOS is Rising Fast, But Slopfarms Are 'Googlebombing' It
- CachyOS receives more media attention
- No Reason for Red Hat Relief Yet (Layoff Rumours)
- the execution could be stalled, delayed, or scheduled for some time after people come back from holiday
- GNU/Linux 6%, Windows 60% in Venezuela, Suggests statCounter
- The cash cows are dying
- Mass Layoffs Continue at Microsoft This Month (Remaining Workers See Conditions That Deteriorate)
- So far this month (one week remaining) we saw at least two waves of layoffs at Microsoft
- How SPAM E-mails With Windows-Centric Files Get Twisted as Linux Threats, Then Slopfarms Spread the Word
- Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt/Fear-mongering/Dramatisation
- Links 24/08/2025: Heatwaves Threaten Workers, Maldives Versus Press freedom
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 24/08/2025: Digital Cameras and Printers
- Links for the day
- Links 24/08/2025: GAFAM Lie About Pollution and Slop's Carbon Footprint, The Guardian Says Slop ("Hey Hi") is a Bubble That Will Send Stock Markets Into a Freefall
- Links for the day
- 80% of the Sponsored (Fake) Articles in The Register MS Are Promotions of Ponzi Schemes (Unethical Money), the Rest is Banned Chinese Business
- Is that an ethical way to make money? No.
- Should Currys PCWorld Start Voiding Warranties of Users of Vista 11?
- If a person's laptop has a mechanical issue, should this person replace GNU/Linux with Vista 11 for the repair shop? Only to damage the SSD?
- Newer is Not Always Better, and It's Possible That 'Peak' is the Past
- People creating their own platforms means progress, whereas centralisation (like moving from blogs to social control media) is the opposite of progress
- LLM Hype is Sowing Destruction: It Contributes to DDoS Attacks and Makes the Web Less Accessible (JavaScript "R U Human?" Tests)
- If it was googlebot, it would be possible to argue that you'd at least then get referral traffic from Google Search. With LLMs, all you get is plagiarised.
- Links 24/08/2025: New York Times Talks About Hey Hi (AI) Bubble
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 24/08/2025: Upgrading Debian and Mobile-indifferent Design
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Saturday, August 23, 2025
- IRC logs for Saturday, August 23, 2025
- Richard Stallman's Talk in Buenos Aires Scheduled for 16 November 2025 (a Month After FSF Turns 40)
- they've just updated their site and Stallman is listed first
- Slopwatch: Linux Journal, WebProNews, LinuxSecurity, and the Serial Slopper
- The bubble needs to burst, but even then the Web will be left with residues of these slopfarms
- Links 23/08/2025: Science, War, and Important Win for the British Media Against SLAPPers Who Abuse Women
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 23/08/2025: BaseLibre Numerical System and Back to Oldschool
- Links for the day
- "Deserved Victory" for "Women That Suffered"
- "GNM defended its reporting as being both true and in the public interest and in a judgment on Friday"
- The US Government is Now in the Business (Literally!) of Saving Microsoft and Intel
- This means that President TACO/Cheeto now has greater financial incentive to also prop up Microsoft and Windows
- Links 23/08/2025: onmicrosoft.com as Spam Cannon, The Cheeto-Intel Deal Is Official
- Links for the day
- Wired Complained About LLM Slop Only Days Before It Got Caught Doing That Itself
- Never throw stones in a glass house
- IBM "Value" Down 14.16% in a Month, Red Hat Layoffs Allegedly Discussed 12 Days Ago
- "IBM is a dinosaur. Dinosaurs get extinct when the don't keep up."
- We're Seeing More Countries Where Windows Isn't Even in Second Place Anymore (Third or Worse)
- In a way, Microsoft can barely even hold onto second place anymore
- Microsoft Workers on Canonical's Payroll
- If you want something that's sort of like Ubuntu but is not controlled by Canonical, then look into Linux Mint, Debian, or LMDE
- GNU/Linux Climbs to 4% in Sierra Leone
- Sierra Leone isn't a very rich country (to say the least), but it's better off than some of its neighbours
- The SLAPPS Run Out of Oxygen Because They're Abuse of Process
- At the end of the day we plan to publish over 1,000 articles explaining what happened
- The Register MS Gets Paid by the Employer of the Previous Editor in Chief to Promote the "AI" Ponzi Scheme, Which Does Considerable Damage to the Web and to Online Journalists
- The Register MS can 'badmouth' slop all it wants; it gets paid to inflate this bubble. It's actively participating in it.
- Soon It'll be Autumn, Time to Repair Things
- Where they don't charge an arm and a leg
- Doing Our Best to Cover Software Patents When the Mainstream Media Does Not
- Even the FSF has its limits
- Gemini Links 23/08/2025: August Questions and Network Solutions
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Friday, August 22, 2025
- IRC logs for Friday, August 22, 2025
- Microsoft Has Issues in Guyana
- It's not just Guyana
- About 25% of the "Linux" News/Results in Google News Today Are LLM Slop, Almost 20% From the Same Rogue Operators of Slopfarms
- Google, which tries to market itself as an LLM giant, apparently fails to understand what's wrong with it
- Harassing People on Holiday
- There are "no-go areas"; but that assumes all laws firms have ethical standards
- The Great, Undeniable Value of Paper Trail, Not Purely Digital Systems
- Suppose you have nothing but bits on someone else's computer and "word of mouth"...
- The Company Behind Ars Technica, Reddit and Wired Caught Publishing LLM Slop (It Also Admits It Now)
- Condé Nast busted
- Links 22/08/2025: Lagrange 1.18.8, Wired Magazine and Business Insider Caught Resorting to LLM Slop
- Links for the day
- This Saturday It's Gonna be 3.5 Years* Since Russia Invaded Ukraine. No Microsoft Protests Against Microsoft Having Provided Russia With Services.
- Companies do not have consistent policies and enforcement of "corporate values" is somewhat of an egg salad
- Slopwatch: Sites Gone Rogue, Google Promoting Lies, and DDoS Attacks by Plagiarism Giants
- Charlatans and frauds engage in a war against artistic industries, mislabeling plagiarism as "AI"
- Links 22/08/2025: Cisco Layoffs, LA Times Says "AI Hype is Fading Fast"
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 22/08/2025: K for Kentucky and Caddy Versus LLM Slopbots
- Links for the day
- The "End Software Patents" Initiative of the FSF Explains "WHY [to] ABOLISH SOFTWARE PATENTS"
- We hope to cover patent-related issues more and more as the big anniversary of the FSF approaches
- Freenode Sniffing
- The grown-ups left the building
- The Only Thing Worse Than Misinformation is Misinformation Sold to Everyone as "Intelligence"
- Misplaced trust is worse than none at all
- The Register MS Now Openly Admits LLM Hype Does Damage, But It's Also Being Paid to Participate in the LLM Hype (With Paid 'Articles' and 'Webcasts' for Paying Advertisers)
- The Register MS gets paid to do this
- End of the Smartphone Era? No.
- Maybe the media should focus on producing accurate, factual news
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Thursday, August 21, 2025
- IRC logs for Thursday, August 21, 2025
- Enshittification of Airports, Airlines, and Airplanes
- If people are willing to tolerate standard declines and enshittification (nowadays sold as "pivot to AI" or "replaced by AI" or "AI layoffs") they will pay for it some other way
- Latest Is Not Greatest: The Case of "Foldable" Tech
- don't be shamed into abandoning old things just because the "fashion industry" of Apple and Samsung tells you to
- Airlines and Their Tricks That Only Work in the 'Digital Age'
- People sceptical of the direction technology has taken are not "Luddites"
- Open Source Initiative (OSI), Which Became a Propaganda Front of Microsoft and "Hey Hi" (Hype, Misnomer), Wants You to Forget These Scandals
- A lot of these issues won't be set aside until there's a resolution