TechBytes Episode 86: Debian GNU/Linux and Firmware

Dr. Roy Schestowitz

2013-07-24 10:06:40 UTC
Modified: 2013-07-24 10:07:30 UTC

Richard Stallman in nature
Direct download as Ogg (00:06:42, 3.5 MB)

Summary: Richard Stallman's suggestion for people who want to compromise on the issue of firmware

THE latest Debian GNU/Linux, like the previous version (6.x), comes without notorious firmware by default, which causes inconvenience to some, yours truly included. I discussed this with Stallman and here are his views on the matter. ⬆

As embedded (HTML5):

Keywords: gnu fsf richardstallman

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More Mass Layoffs at Microsoft, Only Weeks After the "Buyout" Nonsense (Glorified Severance to Highest-Paid American Staff): Next up it is LinkedIn
IBM Lost Nearly 33% in "Value" in 3 Months (Shares Down $100), But Nobody Held Accountable: This is a truly dysfunctional company
IBM's Kyndryl Down Almost 20% in 5 Days, IBM Down 35% in About 6 Months, Further 'Staff Reductions' at Red Hat (Problems Paying Salaries!): Will this year's festivities be Krishna's last?
IBM is in a Freefall, When Will IBM's CEO Fall on His Sword?: Since he controls the Board, is anyone in a position to fire him?
At GitLab, "AI" is "All India": It says "as much as 30%," but they also hire and it's clear what demography is targeted
Verified Accounts of Microsoft Offering 'Retirement' (Layoffs) to People in Their 40s, Over Two Decades Earlier Than Retirement Age: It's not even about performance, it's about age (or "cost" as well as location; they cheapen the labour)
Links 13/05/2026: Slop Turns Into 2008-Style Subprime Bubble, Mass Layoffs at Starbucks: Links for the day
They Don't Like the Layoffs, So They Are Rebranding Them: Layoffs are layoffs
IBM Downgraded as the Shares Sink to New Lows: The current strategy of IBM is financial engineering, wage reductions, and mass layoffs that the corporate media refuses to even write about
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, May 12, 2026: IRC logs for Tuesday, May 12, 2026
Gemini Links 13/05/2026: TUIs and Internet Radio: Links for the day
How the European Patent Office Became a Crime and Corruption Hub, One of Europe's Biggest: incomplete outline
Techrights at 19.5 (We Started in 2006, Days After the Microsoft/Novell Deal): When Novell bought Ximian (run by the "best friend" of Graveley) it brought trouble to all of us, not just to Novell
In Croatia, Microsoft Windows Share Sank From 98% to All-Time Low of 67% (or 28% If One Counts Android): statements made last week (and last month) by Microsoft's CEO confirm that Windows is rapidly losing users
SLAPP Censorship - Part 75 Out of 200: All True, All Verifiable, Unlike Garrett and Graveley Lying to at Least Three High Court Judges About What They Did: A lot of what I said a year ago not only turned out to be correct; it was moreover affirmed by Garrett after he had sworn on the Bible and put himself at risk to his liberty
The Corrupt Lecture the Non-Corrupt - Part XXI - EPO President Campinos Bribing to Buy His Seat, But Cautions Staff Against Bribery: This isn't a democratic institution
Gemini Links 12/05/2026: Spring Cleaning and New GemText Software: Links for the day
Links 12/05/2026: Samsung Sued by Dua Lipa (Publicity Rights), ‘Savage Love’ Copyright Infringement Lawsuit: Links for the day
IBM Falls to One-year Low: At one point or threshold does the Board (controlled by the CEO) sack the CEO?
Gemini Links 12/05/2026: On Astronomy and Stargazing, Coyote Time, and Freenom: Links for the day
Links 12/05/2026: Data Centres Destroying Neighbourhoods, "Care Workers Are Saying No to 24-Hour Workdays": Links for the day
Richard Stallman to Give Public Talk in Erlangen, Germany (Next European Tour): Seems like a large room
Google "Hey Hi" (Slop) Having a Stroke, Thinks I am Married to the Grandmother of My Grandfather: Seriously!
If IBM Suddenly Vanished in the 1980s, There Would be Chaos. Not Anymore.: IBM's management has rendered IBM more irrelevant than ever before
Beehiiv and Substack Are Platform Lock-in (Similar to Vendor Lock-in), Don't Use Beehiiv and Substack (and the Likes of These): Proprietary platforms are a problem. Some people "get it" sooner than others.
Gitlab is in Trouble and Its Shares Have Collapsed: Down almost 80% since it began [...] The real issue has nothing to do with slop, it is a lack/loss of customers and erosion of the company's theoretical "value"
Microsoft: Mass Layoffs Are "Offers" (Like "Job Offers"), Culling Experienced and Highly-Paid Staff is "Softer Workforce-reduction Strategy": Media sites that play along with those lies don't do journalism, they're in the PR industry
Under IBM, Mass Layoffs at Red Hat No Better Than Oracle Under Larry Ellison (Treating Workers Like Disposables - Even Enemies - Overnight): under IBM the respect for the worker (or peer) does not exist
The Slop-Amplified Fear of Privilege Escalation (Local, Not Remote) in Linux, the Kernel: we are meant to assume this is no better and no worse than Microsoft intentionally putting back doors in everything, even encryption
Jim Zemlin/Linux Foundation Selling Anthropic Slop After Getting Bribed for Slop Marketing ('Linux' Foundation is a Pay-to-Say For-Profit Marketing Company That Buys and Manipulates the Media Based on False Pretences): Look what they've done to Steven Vaughan-Nichols (SJVN)
GitLab the Latest Company to Do Mass Layoffs and Use Slop as the Go-to Excuse (GitLab Users Should Worry Too): This round of layoffs (disguised as something else) has nothing to do with slop ("hey hi"). It's about commercial problems.
The Corrupt Lecture the Non-Corrupt - Part XX - EPO Management's Unified (One) Voice or Policy is, Doing Cocaine is OK When You're a Friend and/or Family of President Campinos: The management needs to resign to save the Office
Technology Not Meant to Last: A society apathetic towards declining production (or manufacturing) standards will end up ripped off
statCounter Cannot 'See' Chinese Operating Systems That Gain Many Millions of Users Per Month: There is no way for statCounter to recognise or show the market share of HarmonyOS
SLAPP Censorship - Part 74 Out of 200: The Basis of My Lawsuit Against Alex Graveley, Who Helps Garrett Stack the Docket in Another Continent: claim against the Serial Strangler from Microsoft
Update on Slop About "Linux": "Linux" is a term many people are interested it, so it's not shocking that slopfarms target it
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, May 11, 2026: IRC logs for Monday, May 11, 2026
GAFAM (Microsoft) "Cloud Computing" Means Another Country's Military Accesses All Your Data: reminder that confidentiality and Clown Computing are complete opposites
Another Discrimination Lawsuit Against IBM and Workers Say IBM Culls Older Workers (Just Like Microsoft): If IBM fails to retain some of the smartest people, then what is the future of IBM?
Gemini Links 12/05/2026: Android Nostalgia and Switching to Guix: Links for the day
Links 11/05/2026: Another Oracle Setback and Mass Layoffs in Iran: Links for the day
Gemini Links 11/05/2026: Older Can Be Faster and Textmode Workflow: Links for the day
Links 11/05/2026: The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Admits It Only Reacts When It's Too Late (Damage Already Done), Ombudsman’s Animal Cruelty HK Report: Links for the day
If It Takes You a Second to Serve (or Receive) a Page, That's Definitely Too Slow: For speeds at milliseconds (e.g. for pages to fully load in a tenth of a second) the pages must be ready to be sent as soon as they're requested
It's Not About Speed, It is About Patience and Adherence to Truth, Principles, Scientific Integrity: attacks on us only ever made us stronger - a lesson that our adversaries have learned the hard way
Cyber Show Does it Like Techrights: Static and Gemini Protocol as 'First-Class Citizen': HTML and GemText (over Gemini Protocol) would be rendered in tandem
Libya's Share on the Web: 5.2% GNU/Linux: GNU/Linux has hit an all-time high there
SLAPP Censorship - Part 73 Out of 200: Microsoft's Graveley and Garrett Remain Closely Connected in May 2026 ("Tag-Teaming" Against Bloggers in Another Continent): The phrase "judge a person by their friends" seems applicable here
Codecs and Software Patents - Part VI - The European Patent Office, Nokia, Microsoft, Sisvel, and More: Whatever Nokia used to be, it's certainly not an ally and a lot of the turmoil at the EPO is the fault of companies like Nokia
Discussions About When the Axe Falls at IBM/Kyndryl (11,000 Layoffs Estimated): "Kyndryl restructuring should reduce overhead functions and reduce the number of managers that lack technical knowledge"
A World After Microsoft (and GAFAM) and After GitHub Shuts Down: the only growth area is debt
Fake News, Propaganda, and Misinformation: Microsoft Investing Money It Does Not Have in "Hey Hi" (for "Entertainment Purposes" Only): This will not end well
Today the Whole European Patent Office (EPO) is on Strike and Next Monday an Even Bigger Strike: the media refuses to cover these and is thus complicit
The Corrupt Lecture the Non-Corrupt - Part IXX - EPO Management Speaks of Reputation and Integrity While Putting Cocaine Addicts in Management: If the EPO values its "reputation", then it needs to start by ousting the management
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, May 10, 2026: IRC logs for Sunday, May 10, 2026
Links 11/05/2026: Security Breaches, Politics, and Energy Crunch: Links for the day
Gemini Links 10/05/2026: "Accidental Cameras" and "Addictive" Interfaces in Social Control Media: Links for the day

TechBytes Episode 86: Debian GNU/Linux and Firmware

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