Bonum Certa Men Certa

Links 12/09/2022: New in KDE Plasma 5.26, Istio Has New Releases



  • GNU/Linux

    • Audiocasts/Shows

    • Kernel Space

      • WCCF TechAMD Utilizes User-Space Hinting To Achieve Faster EPYC CPU Performance in Linux

        Before the Linux Plumbers Conference (LPC) session, to be held next week in Dublin, Ireland, AMD will be conducting a seminar on improving the scheduler for split last-level cache, or LLC, architectures. K. Prateek Nayak, an engineer of the Linux server team for AMD, published a patch series focusing on counting user-space hinting at task placement. This new development displays AMD's intent to improve the Linux kernel's scheduler for split-LLC CPU plans to aid their EPYC server processors.

    • Applications

      • Make Use Of3 Ways to Screenshot Right-Click Context Menus on Linux

        There are many easy-to-use screenshot utilities for Linux, but most of them fail to capture context menus and tooltips if not configured properly.

        If you take a lot of screenshots on your computer, there are several tools that can help you do it effectively. However, most of these screenshot tools don't allow you to screenshot right-click menus in Linux.

        As such, if you need to take screenshots of right-click/context menus on your computer—perhaps to help someone troubleshoot an issue with their system—you have to look toward other methods.

        If you use Ubuntu, there are a few different ways to do this on your computer. Follow along as we check out these methods to screenshot right-click menus in Linux.

    • Instructionals/Technical

      • Linux Made SimpleHow to install Sonic Battle Rematch on a Chromebook

        Today we are looking at how to install Sonic Battle Rematch on a Chromebook. Please follow the video/audio guide as a tutorial where we explain the process step by step and use the commands below.

      • VideoHow to install Visual Studio Code on Pop!_OS 22.04 - Invidious [Ed: Or don't. It's proprietary software that Microsoft uses for spying.]
      • Linux HintHow to List Installed Packages in Ubuntu 22.04

        A “package” is a compressed file archive containing all the files that come with a particular application. Several examples of packages are .tgz, .deb, and .rpm. Today, we will explore how to display the list of all the packages installed on our system. To do that, we have presented three different methods. We have used Ubuntu 22.04 to demonstrate the procedure. We will run easy-to-follow Linux commands on Ubuntu’s command line (Terminal) to list the packages.

        Without any further ado, let’s get started!

      • Linux HintHow to Open a File With Nano Editor in Linux?

        GNU nano is a text editor for Unix-like computing systems or operating environments using a command line interface.

      • Linux HintMySQL JSON Data Type

        You may have often heard about the type of clothes or food a person may like. Just like that, the value in a variable can be of a different type. These types define the class of a variable and to which category it belongs and which operations can be used on them. For a programmer or developer, it’s very common to use many data types every day while coding. Within databases like MySQL database, MySQL works so well with many data types as its open source platform. Our topic is to cover the JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) datatype in databases without adding complex examples and unnecessary details. Therefore, you have to log in from your Linux system and open its terminal application further.

    • Desktop Environments/WMs

      • K Desktop Environment/KDE SC/Qt

        • DebugPointKDE Plasma 5.26: Top New Features and Release Details

          KDE Plasma 5.26 is about improving the desktop experience, a huge set of bug fixes and some very nice, much-needed changes.

          The majority of the changes in this release revolve around desktop customizations. However, a vast amount of under-the-hood bug fixes and cleanup is a welcome change for the stability of the desktop. This release is based on Qt 5.15.2 and KDE Framework 5.98.

          The most iconic changes are animated wallpaper, resizable kick-off menu, tray widgets and Discover updates related to Flatpak.

  • Distributions and Operating Systems

    • ZDNetLooking to switch to Linux from Windows? The Feren OS Transfer Tool makes it easy | ZDNET

      Feren OS is a version of the Linux operating system that leans heavily into the KDE Plasma desktop with plenty of tweaks, such as substituting the Nemo file manager in place of Dolphin, to make it as elegant as it is user-friendly.

      I've already reviewed Feren OS, but there's a tool within the desktop distribution that focuses specifically on Windows users to help them make the migration. That is what I want to highlight here.

      [...]

      Anyone looking to adopt Linux as their daily operating system would be remiss if they didn't at least give Feren OS a try.

  • Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

    • Programming/Development

  • Leftovers

    • Proprietary

      • IT WireiTWire - VMware pays fine to settle SEC charge of misleading investors

        Multi-cloud services provider VMware has paid a fine of US$8 million (A$11.6 million) following a settlement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission over a charge of misleading investors about its order backlog management practices.

        In a statement issued on Monday, the SEC said these practices meant the company could "push revenue into future quarters by delaying product deliveries to customers, concealing the company’s slowing performance relative to its projections".

        It found that these practices had begun in fiscal 2019. "VMware began delaying the delivery of licence keys on some sales orders until just after quarter-end so that it could recognise revenue from the corresponding licence sales in the following quarter," the SEC said.

      • John GruberDiffusion Bee 1.0: Easy to Install Stable Diffusion for Apple Silicon Macs [Ed: Apple easy to use? No!]

        It’s been a bit tricky to get running on Apple Silicon Macs, because (among other factors) the Python situation is complex.

      • IT WireiTWire - Apple fixes 10 bugs including two zero-days under exploit

        Apple has released fixes for 10 bugs in macOS Big Sur, including two zero-days that are being exploited in the wild.

        Both the zero-days, CVE-2022-32894 and CVE-2022-32917, were attributed to an anonymous researcher and affect the kernel of the operating system.

        Apple offered no details about these issues, merely saying, "An application may be able to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited."

    • Linux Foundation

    • Security

    • Transparency/Investigative Reporting

    • Environment

      • [Older] Teachers’ Forum Condemns NCERT’s Decision to Remove Chapters on Climate Change | NewsClick

        After widespread outrage, a teacher’s forum has also stepped in to criticise NCERT for removing crucial chapters concerning climate and weather change from students' syllabus and has urged a rethink on the issue and reintroduction of the chapters.

        In a statement released recently, Teachers Against Climate Crisis (TACC) highlighted said chapters on the greenhouse effect, weather, climate and popular environment movements from syllabi for classes 6th to 12th were crucial and should not have been removed.

    • Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

      • AccessNowGlobal Leaders of Digital Human Rights: Marianne Díaz Hernández recognized as international changemaker - Access Now

        Access Now is proud of Marianne Díaz Hernández, #WhyID Campaigner at Access Now, and her global recognition as one of Ouano Foundation’s 2022 Global Leaders of Digital Human Rights.

        “At Access Now, we’re well aware of the significance of Marianne Díaz Hernández’s work in fighting for the rights of people and communities impacted by technology and digital agendas, and we are overjoyed to see her tireless efforts acknowledged on a global scale,” said Carolyn Tackett, Campaigns and Rapid Response Director at Access Now. “We look forward to learning more from this gathering of global leaders, including Marianne, Access Now board members Arzu Geybulla and Nanjala Nyabola, and many others who have been at the heart of our movement for a more rights-respecting digital future.”

  • Gemini* and Gopher

    • Personal

      • Like Riding a Bike

        I started playing squash again after a five-year break. It wasn't a voluntary break by any means, just weird life stuff I suppose. Regardless, I got a membership with the local community centre and booked my first court in ages.

        Going into it I knew my stamina was going to be really bad. I'm relatively active, but squash always kicks my ass when I'm returning to it after a while. It probably has to do with the short, intense bursts of movement that get me. However, knowing it had been years since I last picked up a racket, I was really worried my skills would be almost gone.

    • Technical

      • Internet/Gemini

        • My Favourites page from Kristall

          I just published a page on this capsule to list my favourites from Kristall (Gemini Browser). There are some interesting stuff there that you could use as a starting point on your Gemini voyage. :)

      • Programming

        • Real life examples of bad upstream packaging

          The debate between upstream and downstream packaging rages on, especially as of late. I thought I'd express some frustration at some third party repositories I've tried to install lately and what went wrong.

          [...]

          Fedora has strict packaging guidelines on what's allowed in the base repositories. Usually this may be due to patenting issues, but security and quality is another issue. Fedora makes no guarantees about the security or quality of third party repositories. Examples are COPR and RPMFusion. COPR is a build service similar to openSUSE's Open Build System while RPMFusion works closely with Fedora to provide packages that cannot land in Fedora itself.

          However, increasingly as of late, developers have opted to take over packaging of their own software themselves. Many people argue that this is a good thing as it cuts out the middleman. After all, developers would know their own software best, updates can be delivered faster and it's better for security right? However, there are some downsides to this approach that I will detail below.


* Gemini (Primer) links can be opened using Gemini software. It's like the World Wide Web but a lot lighter.



Recent Techrights' Posts

In 2009 Microsoft Was Valued at ~150 Billion Dollars, Now They Tell Us Microsoft Lost ~1,000 Billion Dollars in Value. Does That Make Sense?
Or Microsoft lost 700 billion dollars in "value" in less than two weeks
Microsoft Stock Crashed When Alleged Vista 11 Numbers Disclosed
And last summer Microsoft indicated that it had lost 400 million Windows users
It's Not About Speed, It's About the Message (or Its Depth)
Better to write news than to just link to news if there's commentary that the news may merit
Mobbing at the European Patent Office (EPO) - Part IV - EPO Can Get Away With Murders, Suicide Clusters, and Systematic and Prolonged Bullying by 'Team Campinos' ("Alicante Mafia" as Insiders Call It)
Nobody in the Council or the EU/EC/EP gives a damn as long as laws are broken to fabricate 'growth'
Jeff Bezos Isn't Just Killing the Washington Post, He's Killing Thousands of News Sites/Newsrooms (in Dozens of Languages) That Rely on It for Many Decades Already
Not just slopfarms; even the Ukraine-based reporters are culled by Bezos, who's looking to please the dictators of the world
Central Staff Committee Confronted António Campinos for Giving His Cocaine-Addicted Friend Over 100,000 Euros to Do Nothing, Just Pretend to be Ill, While Cutting the Salaries of Everybody Else
"On the agenda: Amicale framework & Financial assistance for courses"
How to Win Lawsuits in 5 Simple Steps
Keep issuing threats every week and send 60 kilograms of legal papers to the target
Living in Freedom When 'False Flag Operations' Like EFF Get Captured by Billionaires to Take Freedom Away
There are many ways to think of Software Freedom
 
Biggest "AI Companies" (Meta, Alphabet, Microsoft) Borrowed (Additional Debt) About $100,000,000,000 in a Year
Who will be held accountable for all this?
In Case You've Missed It (ICYMI), Google's Debt More Than Doubled in a Year
Wait till it "monetises" billions of GMail users with slop
PIPs and Silent Layoffs at IBM (and Red Hat) Still Going on, It's "Forever Layoffs" (to Skirt the WARN Act)
American workers out
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, February 06, 2026
IRC logs for Friday, February 06, 2026
Stressful Times for Team Campinos ("Alicante Mafia") at Europe's Second-Largest Institution
Keep pushing
Growing Discrimination in the European Patent Office (EPO)
it's a race to the bottom, basically
Converting FOSDEM Talk on Software Patents in Europe Into Formats That Work for "FOS" and Don't Have Software Patent Traps
transcoded version of the video
Google News Drowning in (or Actively Promoting) Slopfarms Again
LLM slop is a nuisance
Gemini Links 07/02/2026: "Choosing a License for Literary Work" and "Social Media Is Not Social Networking (Anymore)"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 06/02/2026: Git and Email Patches; MNT Pocket Reform
Links for the day
Geminispace Net Growth in 2026 About a Capsule a Day
A pace like this means net gain of ~300 per year, i.e. about the same as last year
Benjamin Henrion Warned About the Illegal and Unconstitutional Unified Patent Court (UPC) in FOSDEM 2026
Listen to Benjamin Henrion
Economies Crashing Not Because of Slop Improving 'Efficiency' (That's a False Excuse) and 'Expensive' (Read: Qualified) Workers Discarded in Race to the Bottom
Actual cocaine addicts are pushing out moral people
IBM's CEO Speaks of Layoffs, Resorts to Mythical (False) Excuses
This has nothing to do with slop
Links 06/02/2026: Voter Intimidation and Press Shutdowns in US, Web Traffic Warped by LLM Sludge
Links for the day
Does Linux Torvalds Regret Having Dinners With Bill 'Russian Girls' Gates?
See, the rules that govern the Linux Foundation and its big sponsors aren't the same rules that apply to all of us
IBM: Cheapening Code, Cheapening Staff, Cheapening Everything
IBM's management runs IBM like it's a local branch of McDonald's. IBM is a junk company with morbid innards.
GNU/Linux Measured at 6% in One of the World's Largest Nations
Democratic Republic Of The Congo
Linux Foundation Operative Says We and Our Software All "Owe an Enormous Debt of Gratitude" to a Software Patents Reinforcer
The only true solution is to entirely get rid of all software patents
More Than 99% of "AI" Companies Aren't AI, They're Pure BS
We need to discard those stupid debates about "AI" and reject media that gets paid to participate in such overt narrative control (manipulation like The Register MS)
AI Used to Save Lives, Now "AI" is a Grifting Scheme That Burns the Planet and Will Crash the Economy
What the media calls "AI" (it gets paid to call it that) is the same stuff that could instead be dubbed "algorithms"
Amutable is a Microsoft Siege Against Freedom in GNU/Linux, Just Like the People Who Brought You 'Secure Boot' Controlled by Microsoft
Do whatever is possible to avoid Amutable and its "products"
Growing Focus on Publication
Over the past ~10 days we always served more than a million Web hits per day
"Going to be a large number of Microsoft layoffs announced soon"
Everybody knows a giant wave of layoffs is coming Microsoft's way
End of the 'GPU Bubble' and NVIDIA Finally Admits It Won't Bail Out Microsoft OpenAI Anymore
circular financing (financial/accounting fraud)
Corrupt Media Won't Hold Accountable Rich People for Role in Pedophilia
Journalistic misconduct or malpractice is a real thing
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, February 05, 2026
IRC logs for Thursday, February 05, 2026
EPO Management ("Alicante Mafia") Not Properly Sharing Information on Scale of Strikes by EPO Staff
disproportionate (double) deductions in salaries against people who participate in strikes, which are protected by law
Gemini Links 06/02/2026: Slop/Microslop, Home Assistant, and Valid Ex Commands
Links for the day
Blackmail evidence: Debian social engineering exposed in ClueCon 2024 talk on politics
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Bitcoin crash: opportunity or the end game?
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Changes at the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)
SRA is basically a waste of money
Claims That IBM Will Lay Off 20% (or 15%) of Its Workforce This Year Unless It Finds a Way to Push Them All Out by Threats, Shame, Guilt
Where are the articles about IBM layoffs?
IBM Isn't a Serious Company Anymore, It's a Ponzi Scheme Operated by a Clique and It Misuses Companies It Acquires to Prop Up or Legitimise the Scheme
IBM seems like it's nothing but a "Scheme"
Google News Drowning in Slop About "Linux" (Slopfarms Galore)
Google should know better than to link to any of these slopfarms, but today's Google is itself a pusher of slop
Links 05/02/2026: EU Commission Gutting Net Neutrality
Links for the day
Gemini Links 05/02/2026: NixOS Books and Monochrome Emojis
Links for the day
Links 05/02/2026: Canadian Government Uses US LLMs to Override Expert Opinions, NVIDIA Troubles Due to Enablement of Mass Plagiarism ('Piracy') Misleadingly Obscured as "Hey Hi"
Links for the day
Explaining the Letter From JUDGE SYKES FRIXOU, Threatening Me Around the Time GNOME's Nat Friedman Lost His CEO Job at Microsoft GitHub and His Best Friend Got Arrested for Strangulation
this letter (with annotation) is critical
Linuxiac Not Rehabilitated, It's Still Full of LLM Slop (Part of a Trend)
The Web as a resource/source of information is perishing
"Sponsored by Azul" to Write Fake 'Article' About Azul, Quoting Azul Itself
The "journalism" industry [sic] became so utterly corrupt
JuristGate is for sale: three billion Swiss francs for a domain name
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Like Microsoft and IBM, the 'Alicante Mafia'-Governed EPO Does PIPs Nowadays (at the EPO, It's "Professional Incompetence Procedure")
So "PIPs" are definitely in the EPO and we saw letters sent to staff
Time for Change, More New Articles, Less Curation
The oligarchy wants to gut the real press and replace media with slop and social control media (or social control media with slop in it, i.e. their own voices, mechanised)
Gemini Links 05/02/2026: Coercion, Antibiotics, and LVDT Project
Links for the day
Almost 1,600 EPO Employees Went on Strike Last Week
There is another strike coming 2.5 weeks from now
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, February 04, 2026
IRC logs for Wednesday, February 04, 2026