Bonum Certa Men Certa

Supporting Supporters of GNU/Linux, Not Just Giant Corporations

Summary: Regaining community control of the development, communication, and distribution of GNU/Linux

"Linux Voice", a promising new magazine which we mentioned the other day, is managing to raise a lot of funds after some initial coverage in the big media [1], leading to more such coverage in other news sites [2,3] and FOSS-centric news sites [4]. As "Linux Voice" is funded by people -- not advertisers -- it will not need to publish things which are friendly to companies. It can blast the NSA and the CIA, or even accuse certain companies of corruption. That's just what we need. This magazine may also involve some multimedia/audiocasts -- something which is sorely needed these days because FOSS-centric audiocasts are growing fewer (although they exist [5,6]). About 5 years ago there was far more hype driving demand for GNU/Linux on the desktop. Pre-loaded Linux was really needed at the time (GNU/Linux was harder to install/set up and it is still not so trivial [7]) and when Dell finally budged many of us celebrated with caution. Dell is now dominated by Microsoft and we should expect its GNU/Linux-powered machines to have Microsoft 'patent tax' [8,9,10]. If people want to buy a machine that has GNU/Linux preinstalled (no spyware like Ubuntu and no Microsoft tax), then Chromebook, which is also spyware, is one affordable option [11] although it would be best to support the small players -- those to whom GNU/Linux is a matter of strategy and priority. See the Pre-Installed Linux Vendor Database for options near you. Even if those options are relatively expensive, these at least go a long way in supporting those who support GNU/Linux. The cost of free (as as in freedom) press can be high and the same goes for Free software. Freedom is no self-funding; usually the opposite is true.



Related/contextual items from the news:



  1. Linux Format staff who quit plan to launch rival Linux Voice
    A group of staff who walked out a month ago from the computing magazine Linux Format are hoping to launch a rival monthly magazine of their own called Linux Voice.

    They have launched a crowdfunding campaign in the hope of raising €£90,000 to get their project off the ground - in print and in a digital format - by February next year.


  2. When three Linux journos go crowdfunding


  3. New crowd-funded Linux magazine, half of profits to FOSS


  4. Linux Format staff to launch Linux Voice magazine


  5. mintCast 183 – Python, Twitter, and Pi


  6. RDO


  7. Pre-loaded Linux: The solution to a mass of problems
    Recently, I've been looking to purchase a new machine. This all started with the problems I experienced with a new Lenovo desktop machine and PulseAudio (I've been going on about this for a while now). That same machine, which is less than a year old, has now started to display a newer, more frustrating issue of randomly powering off. Sure, there are a litany of possible reasons for this, including: Bad power supply (haven't checked this) Bad CPU fan (not the issue) Bad RAM (all RAM passes Memtest86+) Bad hard drive(s) (both drives passed e2fsck)


  8. Acer models its latest $199.99 Chromebook after the impressive C720


  9. Dell, Ubuntu Linux OS, Haswell processor, touchscreen unite in Sputnik 3 laptop
  10. Dell's Sputnik 3 touchscreen laptop has Ubuntu Linux, Intel's Haswell
  11. Dell orbits Linux a third time with revamped Sputnik notebooks
    Dell has shipped a second update to its Ubuntu-powered Project Sputnik developer laptop, and its engineers have begun testing other Dell portables with an eye to offering an even more powerful Linux workstation.


Recent Techrights' Posts

Tons of Anti-Linux 'Articles' Published by Bots (LLMs), Maybe Microsoft's
Upon closer inspection, all this FUD turned out to be LLM garbage
Ubuntu Desktop Director of Engineering Has Only One Blog Post. It Promotes Microsoft Windows.
Remember that even 15 years ago (more or less, maybe 16 years ago) Canonical appointed a a 'former' Microsoft manager (Spencer) to lead Ubuntu on the desktop
IBM Red Hat on "era of cloud computing", pushing "hey hi" (AI) hype in Microsoft Azure
LLM slop might actually be more benign than Microsoft promotion
Corruption and Rule-Breaking Prevail at the European Patent Office (EPO), Europe's Second-Largest Institution
The law does not really exist at the EPO; it can be perceived as merely a "recommendation"
404 Media Says "Workers at NASA Told to Drop Everything to Scrub Mentions of Indigenous People, Women from Its Websites" But There's Also Accessibility in the Firing Line
In the case of abandoning accessibility, everyone stands to be hurt and proprietary software can be brought in to replace standards
 
Professor Eben Moglen on How Social Control Media Metabolises Humans and Constrains Freedom of Thought
Nothing of value would be lost if all these data-harvesting giants (profiling people) vanished overnight
Social Control Media is Narcissism
Nowadays there's a lot more literature and even press coverage explaining the harms of Social Control Media
Debian Left Twitter (MElon "X"), We Think the Free Software Foundation (FSF) Should Do the Same
What would the FSF really lose if it stopped posting there?
statCounter Sees GNU/Linux Share Doubling in China Over the Past Year
It'll be interesting to see what data in the coming months shows
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, February 06, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, February 06, 2025
Richard Stallman (RMS) Confirms Next Week's Talk in Europe
He gave at least 2 talks in Europe last month
Nationalism As A Service (NaaS) by Microsoft Azure, Gutting the US Government for Profit
Will Microsoft be receiving bailouts as a reward for all this?
Rumours of IBM Layoffs Apparently Confirmed Yesterday, IBM Canada Consulting Impacted (as Rumoured)
when IBM has layoffs we must also read it as Red Hat layoffs
Gemini Links 06/02/2025: Voicemail Sucks and Night of Lights
Links for the day
Links 06/02/2025: YouTube Takedowns Out of Control, 'DOGE' Breaking Laws
Links for the day
statCounter: More Countries Where Windows is Around 1% "Market Share" (People Have Moved to Android/Linux)
in some nations Windows is already 1% or less
When BetaNews Writes Real Articles About "Linux" They Promote Windows
The Web is in a bad state. We need to at least try to correct this.
Gemini Links 06/02/2025: Cynicism and "Real Magic on the C64"
Links for the day
Links 06/02/2025: New Sanctions, Layoffs, and Executive Orders
Links for the day
Distros and Desktop Environments, Devices
GNU/Linux focused
New Rumours of IBM Layoffs in 2025, IBM Consulting Still Struggles, Based on Management
"Hey hi" (AI) has been a common excuse for business failure
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, February 05, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, February 05, 2025
Links 05/02/2025: Kessler Syndrome and News Online
Links for the day
statCounter: Monaco Now 7% GNU/Linux ("Proper")
GNU/Linux, not counting Chromebooks, is on the rise
Many Parts of Google Lose Money
It's quite apparent that many parts of Google - even some that rely on ad revenue or push ads - aren't profiting
European Internet Forum (EIF) is Dominated by American Corporations and Microsoft Lobbyists, Staff Take the Lead
Should the officials over here or the European Parliament pay attention to these people?
Links 05/02/2025: Connection without Connectivity and Unionised Grocery Workers
Links for the day
Just Because People on Top of the Microsoft Pyramid Made a Lot of Money Doesn't Mean Microsoft is Wealthy
The bigger they are the harder they fall
Gemini Links 05/02/2025: Learning, Madman Ruling a Mad Country, Back in Geminispace
Links for the day
statCounter Shows "WIntel" Chasing a Dying Market
Microsoft acts as if it's running out of money
Free Software Foundation, Inc. (FSF) Still Raising Money, Richard Stallman Contributes
total exceeding $430k
A Lot of Stuff About "Linux" in Google News is LLM Slop, Fake 'Articles'
It seems to be getting worse
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, February 04, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, February 04, 2025