Bonum Certa Men Certa

Hostile Microsoft-backed Media Blames “Linux” for Hardware-destroying Intel Driver Bug



Reprinted with permission from Ryan

The hostile Microsoft-backed tech media has been blaming “Linux” for trouble that Intel caused which could destroy Intel hardware.



It all started last week when Intel asked Greg KH, the stable Linux kernel series branch maintainer, to bring in a patch series to better handle display power saving.



The problem was that they only marked part of the patch series for backport and what ended up in Linux 5.19.12 was a half-broken mess that was entirely the fault of Intel.



Users on bleeding edge GNU/Linux distributions, which included this author, brought in Linux 5.19.12 thinking nothing of it.



Fortunately, the problem (flickering display that may cause hardware damage) did not appear to happen to my Gen11 Tiger Lake laptop with Intel IRIS Xe graphics.



I did start experiencing some weird glitches across the system though which freaked me out wondering if they were hardware failure.



My left Ctrl key started working intermittently and my laptop kept forgetting it was plugged in and running on the battery.



Bringing in Linux 5.19.13, which reverted the changes, seems to have resolved whatever the hell was going on. So perhaps Intel caused other problems too.



Not like they’re ever going to admit that.



Intel’s products are fairly buggy.



My other system is a “Skylake” laptop, and that was the buggiest damned thing ever.



My favorite moment on that system was when I had to version lock myself to an outdated kernel in Fedora because Intel decided to turn off the power management to the GPU to try to fix a low impact security hole, and then after leaving it broken for months, gave up trying to fix the hole and turned power management back on.



Whatever Intel wants, Intel gets.



Then they get the “tech media” to “Just Blame Linux” after Intel’s “engineers” screw everything up.



In a way, they are kind of right. -drivers subsystem people, I say “people” but it’s mostly hardware companies and Microsoft, get away with murder, and it’s been like that for a while.



Linus takes the view of giving them a wide berth because if they screw up they just make a big damned problem for their users.



While that may be sort of true, it just ends up giving “Linux” more PR damage when all of the barely informed “press”, who mostly just know how to take Microsoft money to slander Free Software (where everything is also “Linux” you know, even if it isn’t), run the story.



The environment Linus created by allowing hardware companies to do whatever they want in the -drivers tree to get more drivers and marketshare is creating a quality control disaster.



OpenBSD insists on code quality audits, and that slows things down and results in missing drivers. Then people don’t use it, because “Linux has drivers”.



Then shit like this happens, with the drivers.



If you’re wondering how Intel can be so clumsy and stupid that they stopped halfway into their patch series and told Greg KH to backport it, so am I.



Maybe their buddies at Microsoft needed a fresh anti-Linux kerfuffle. That’s just conjecture, though.



Maybe they really are that stupid.



Most of their product bugs affect Windows too, not that you’d notice. Windows is already such a piece of shit you’d be hard pressed to tell where the software problems end and hardware problems begin.



Unlike Windows, GNU/Linux is generally so reliable that you notice when there’s a hardware problem and it really grabs your attention.



Basically the only reason I bought Intel again is extreme cost cutting to try to make up for their customers fleeing to AMD. But is that a longterm strategy? I don’t think that it is.



And it’s not like you can trust AMD doesn’t have bugs. They do. They’re just not as severe.



Before Apple switched to ARM processors, they started putting enablement code in MacOS for a potential switch to AMD x86, which would have been far less painful for their users, but you know Apple…..



Recent Techrights' Posts

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Hijacked Again by Patent Litigation Industry, as President Cheeto Prioritises Aggressors
The "mafia" has taken over the "industry" and the Federal system (justice and constitutions trampled upon)
Ubuntu Slop and FUD Manufactured With LLMs and Funded (by Oneself) 'Studies'
Slop and FUD are ruining the Web
Gemini Links 01/04/2025: Games and More
Links for the day
 
Links 02/04/2025: More Layoffs, Nokia Again Takes Advantage of Illegal and Unconstitutional Patent Court With Nokia Staff as 'Judges'
Links for the day
Links 02/04/2025: Seizures and Returns to Windows of 24 Years Ago
Links for the day
LLM Slop Helps Obscure and Distort News About Layoffs (IBM, GAFAM)
It's hard to find accurate information
Links 02/04/2025: Microsoft Developers Are Threatening to Go on Strike, World Backup Day Noted
Links for the day
Gemini Protocol Has Growing Appeal (the Web Got Too Bloated and Full of LLM Slop)
For any "data plan" with bandwidth limits or "tiers" it would be cheaper to use/browse Geminispace
The Web Can Survive LLM Slop, But Only If We Collectively Shun and Discourage Serial Sloppers
Doing nothing ought not be a possibility
Amid Secret Shut-downs and Mass Layoffs at Microsoft (4 Waves of Layoffs in 3 Months of 2025) Some Microsoft Staff Expected to Go On Strike
workers going on strike
Gemini Links 02/04/2025: No more on Mastodon and Gemini Mention Script in Go
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, April 01, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, April 01, 2025
My Motion Disbarring or “Striking Off” Brett Wilson LLP for Enabling Violent Americans Who Try to Crush Microsoft Critics in the United Kingdom by Multiple SLAPPs
"Guns for hire" (for Microsoft people who received Microsoft salaries)
Links 01/04/2025: Apple Fined $162M for Privacy Abuses, Disinformation Online a Growing Concern
Links for the day
Why We're Reporting Brett Wilson LLP for Apparently Misusing Their Licence to Protect American Microsofters Who Attack Women
For those who have not been keeping abreast
Newer Press Reports Confirm That Microsoft Shuts Down 'Hey Hi' (AI) Labs Despite All the Hype
The "hey hi" (AI) bubble is not sustainable
Links 01/04/2025: Mass Layoffs at Eidos and "Microsoft Pulls Back on Data Centers" (Demand Lacking); "Racist and Sexist" Slop From Microsoft
Links for the day
Stefano Maffulli and His Microsoft-Funded OSI Staff Are Killing the OSI and Killing "Open Source" (All for Money!)
This is far from over
Gemini Links 01/04/2025: XKCDpunk and worldclock.py
Links for the day
50 Years of Sabotage and a Gut Punch to Computer Science (and Science in General)
Will we get back to science-based computing rather than cult-like following?
Techrights Headlines as Semaphore
"If you are hearing this, thank you"
3 Months in 2025, 4 Waves of Mass Layoffs at Microsoft, Now Offices Shut Down Permanently
"A recent visit by the South China Morning Post confirmed that the office was dark, unoccupied, and had its logo removed."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 31, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, March 31, 2025
Links 31/03/2025: China Tensions, Bombs Falling in Myanmar After Earthquake
Links for the day
Gemini Links 31/03/2025: Falling Out of Love With Tech, Sunsetting openSNP
Links for the day
R.T.O. at IBM in Texas and Atlanta (State of Georgia) Expected as "Soft Layoffs" Catalyst This Coming Year
It also sounds like more IBM layoffs are in the making
Law Firms Can Also Lose Their Licence for Clearly Misusing It
The bottom line is, never made the false assumption that because you can pile up SLAPPs in a docket you will not suffer from bad reputation or even get disbarred
Link between institutional abuse, Swiss jurists, Debianism and FSFE
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
LLM Slop Piggybacking News About GNU/Linux and Distorting It
new examples
Links 31/03/2025: Press and Democracy Under Further Attacks in the US, Attitudes Towards Slop Sour
Links for the day
Open Source Initiative (OSI) Privacy Fiasco in Detail: The OSI Does Not Respect Anybody's Privacy
The surveillance mafia that bans dissent or key people (even co-founders) with dissenting views
Gemini Links 31/03/2025: More X-Filesposting and Dreaming in Emacs
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 30, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, March 30, 2025