Bonum Certa Men Certa

Liberty is Not a Moving Target

Statue of liberty



Summary: A tad philosophical take on what needs achieving and how

The absolute goalposts which define personal freedom never truly change; it's the obstructions on the way to the goal which keep moving away and showing up, so the struggle for freedom is eternal. Humans and animals are innately motivated by power -- the will to impose on others views/actions which they do not want to carry out. Slavery in the classical sense is of out of fashion in the modernised, supposedly civilised world, but new forms of slavery (notably wage slavery in the hands of lenders) filled its room. Despite distractions like imaginary outside enemies, people engage in a class battle to further restore balance in power and those who are least powerful are usually isolated geographically because -- as the famous saying goes -- out of sight, out of mind.



“Many things are interconnected and separating politics from technology is wishful thinking at best.”In 2010, many people rose up and spoke up. Rather than wave banners at a roadside people utilised the Internet, so once again those in power set up new barriers, which include censorship (e.g. blacklists), Net neutrality, bandwidth caps, domain seizures, battles against transparency, financial deprivation, and so on. And that's hardly scratching the surface of protectionist measures like copyrights and patents. Many things are interconnected and separating politics from technology is wishful thinking at best.

Freedom is relative and means of achieving freedom depend on what prevents its fulfillment/achievement. Instruments like patents may no longer exist within a few decades, but that does not mean that problems associated with creativity and knowledge-sharing will be solved. Just look at how drug bans change over the decades or centuries, sometimes to readjust and account for class factors.

In 2006 this site was established to tackle Novell and scope expanded to the extent where it touches many of the technological mechanisms for control and power (over the population at large). This hardly scratches the surface as personal freedom depends not only on the digital world. But that's why we're called "Techrights" and not just "Rights".

Recent Techrights' Posts

GNU/Linux Measured at All-Time High in Sweden
Can 'influencers' have played a role
GNU/Linux Becoming More Universal
It seems likely the end of Vista 10 coinciding with a sharp rise in memory prices (and now energy prices) will benefit GNU/Linux and therefore give us more to write about
Can Economies Like the American One Hang On?
The coming weeks will be "interesting" unless wars end
 
When Charlatans Are Only Good at Losing Money and Storytelling (e.g. About Investment in Them)
Wait till a a barrel of oil costs $300
What Apple Fans Are Missing
Apple is a bad company
The "Pale Blue Dot" Moment Had Returned
To many people, the "bitter-sweet" observation of how small we are
Saudi Arabia Does Not Rely Much on Microsoft/Windows
Putting aside politics, this is good for Free software
Almost 12 Years of Exposing Corruption in Europe's Second-Largest Institution
The "unready" President is now an abandoned President
Easter Moon Mission and Its Reminder of IBM's Demise
A lot of NASA operations now rely on GNU/Linux
When Power is Scarce and GNU/Linux Has Power
In Cuba, GNU/Linux has long enjoyed high adoption rates
Don't Totally Dismiss the 'Survivalists'
'Survivalists' or similar terms are used to describe a particular mindset of people who prepare for some really awful scenarios
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, April 02, 2026
IRC logs for Thursday, April 02, 2026
A Much Better Use of Fuel Than Slop
Something positive for a change
Hoping for Peace
There are still many things to be enjoyed, including nature and kind people
Gemini Links 03/04/2026: "Slide Rule Triple Multiplication" and End of "Picture Pages"
Links for the day
Rumours of Microsoft Layoffs This Season
Just how much trouble is Microsoft in at this point?
SLAPP Censorship - Part 31 Out of 200: Speaking About 20+ Years of Alleged Harassment/Defamation and High-Profile 'Targets' of Garrett
attempts were made to settle (in effect end the case) by the person who started the case almost half a dozen times along the way
In Asia, Windows is in Its Teens (Below 20%)
On a global scale, Windows is down to about 26%
Low Morale at IBM and Perception of Destructive Management
IBM is going nowhere, fast
Gemini Links 02/04/2026: Super Mario Galaxy Movie and New Antenna Instance
Links for the day
It Seems Like Google News Cracked Down on (Omitted, Delisted) a Lot of Slopfarms
There's no justification/point in spending so much energy just to plagiarise things poorly
Steam Survey for Last Month Says 5.33% Use GNU/Linux
big leap for GNU/Linux
Links 02/04/2026: Science News, Energy Scarcity, Oil Sold in Yuan
Links for the day
Links 02/04/2026: Apple Turns 50, Efforts To Ban VPNs
Links for the day
Gemini Links 02/04/2026: Kubernetes With FreeBSD, OFFLFIRSOCH, and Great Circle Distance
Links for the day
Dr. Andy Farnell on Microsoft Silencing or Deplatforming Opposition in the UK and Elsewhere
Microsoft as a king or a kind of "religion" one cannot question
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, April 01, 2026
IRC logs for Wednesday, April 01, 2026
SLAPP Censorship - Part 30 Out of 200: The Time We Reported Abuse to Greater Manchester Police (GMP) and It Was Escalated to Its Cybercrime Unit
he started trolling and harassing me for criticising his employers' monopolistic and users-hostile agenda
'Modern' Cars Not a Rosy Industry
The current "modern" cars already have a shelf life similar to that of many toothpastes
Wrongthink Detector and Filter in "Think About the Children" Clothing
It is not about "age verification", it's a Trojan horse for social control
IBM Facilities Now Deemed Legitimate (Military) Target, Along With GAFAM Bases
Does IBM have any defences in place to protect against "downtime by explosions"?
What Happens When Some Large News Sites Turn to Slop and Spew Out Nonsense
LLM slop makes such grotesque mistakes abundant
Hardly Seeing Slopfarms Today, Even in Google News
Google's adventures with slop increased its debt significantly
Links 01/04/2026: Quantum Hype (Turing and Google), "US Fuel Prices Surge Past $4 a Gallon"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 01/04/2026: "Sacred Week of Cycling" and Zenity for Scripts
Links for the day
Losing Debian: Sruthi Chandran election flop
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
French judgment: parasitisme by FSFE & Matthias Kirschner (CO23.002709)
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Microsoft Uses April Fools to 'Joke' About Inserting "Age Verification" (Surveillance) Into Linux
MinceR says the "lkml [message/page] one is April Fools or at least they're trying to pass it off as April Fools [however] the [GitHub] one was archived on the 8th and yesterday, so that probably isn't..."
IBM "Headcount Reductions" by Early Retirement and Death
The tragedy at IBM started 33 years ago on the first of April
Red Hat: Latin-1 character set under threat from Bishop Michael Martin, North Carolina
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 01/04/2026: Microsoft GitHub Now Pushing Ads Into People's Code/Commits, Earth Overshoot Day Draws Nearer
Links for the day
What IBM and EPO Workers Have in Common: European Media Not Covering Very Major News (Press Became Dysfunctional)
Are IBM operatives working to scuttle the process of investigative journalism?
Free Speech in the United Kingdom When "Chilling Effect" is Increasingly Prevalent
If politicians cannot even use a term like "parasitic behaviour", then where do we as a society end up?
Oracle Lays Off Because of Debt and Commercial Issues, Not Slop
Like Scam Altman, Larry Ellison hangs around Cheeto King because he could use some bailouts in the form of government contracts or phony money with an incredible name like "Stargate"
The Real Reason Many Sites and Forums Shun Microsoft Lunduke
When forums say that they banned Microsoft Lunduke or don't want him mentioned it's probably because they are familiar with the "stench" that follows him around
Gemini Links 01/04/2026: Hallucinations, Stitching, and Type Systems
Links for the day
Lots of Layoffs at IBM, "Media Blackout" About Mass Layoffs at IBM's HashiCorp and Confluent Last Month
IBM is a dying company circling down the drain while manipulating or paying the media to pretend everything is fine
Microsoft Under Investigation by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for Abusive Tactics
What's noteworthy is that this is "set to begin in May"
Sounds Like Red Hat (IBM) Layoffs in Slop Clothing
This is an IBM policy. They try to justify staff cuts.
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, March 31, 2026
IRC logs for Tuesday, March 31, 2026