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Links 11/10/2021: Pyabr OS Reviewed and Tor Browser 10.5.9



  • GNU/Linux

    • 9to5Linux Weekly Roundup: October 10th, 2021

      This has been a really great week for Linux releases, starting with the Mozilla Firefox 93 web browser and continuing with the Debian GNU/Linux 11.1 “Bullseye” distribution. Also out this week were new maintenance updates for the KDE Gear and KDE Frameworks software suites for users of the Plasma desktop.

      On top of that, the upcoming GNOME 42 desktop environment got a release date, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.5 entered beta testing, MX Linux 21 is getting ready for a final release, and users of old Mozilla Thunderbird versions can now finally upgrade to the 91 series via OTA updates.

    • Audiocasts/Shows

      • Linux Action News 210

        Apple M1 Linux development reaches a key milestone and boots a useable desktop; Ubuntu reveals a new product, and the secret SUSE project that leaked this week.

        Plus, the essential RISC-V code landing in the Linux kernel.

      • Josh Bressers: Episode 292 – Apache RCE and Twitch epic pwn

        Josh and Kurt talk about the recent Twitch hack and how in the modern age leaking source code almost certainly doesn’t matter. The leaked data however is a big deal. We also discuss a recent Apache httpd update. Some things went right, some things went wrong. Dealing with vulnerabilities is hard.

    • Kernel Space

    • Instructionals/Technical

      • Worst Case

        Suppose you’re running your organization’s crucial apps in the cloud. Specifically, suppose you’re running them them on AWS, and in particular in the “us-east-1” region? Could us-east-1 go away? What might you do about it? Let’s catastrophize!

      • Setting up IPv6 on a Linux Router

        It’s fairly straightforward to build your own router, and there are a number of tutorials for setting up IPv4 forwarding and NAT rules on Linux1. However, IPv6 is a bit more complicated. There are many BSD and Linux based operating systems like pfSense and OpenWRT, which have web management tools to make setting up IPv6 straight forward. However, if you like to run your own custom Linux distribution on your home router and control everything from the command line, this tutorial will take you through configuring dhcpcd, dnsmasq, unbound, iptables and ip6tables for full IPv6 support on your local network.

      • Why is it important to have a public IP address?

        Among the changes, it also seems that now Mauritius Telecom is putting every subscriber modem behind a NAT. To keep this part simple, let's say that normally when your home modem receives a public IP address it is connected directly to the Internet and thus is directly reachable to. Being behind a NAT means that the IP address is on the ISP's end and your modem only has a private address on the ISP's network. Therefore, your home modem is not directly reachable. Should you wish to run a server which needs to be accessible from the Internet, you cannot.

      • Archiving 24 years of personal email

        I belabour all of this, to share that phrase with five words. This afternoon I’ve been bulk importing all my mail into a clean new Thunderbird profile and exporting them as eml files. I’ll throw this onto my OpenZFS data backup pool, in case I ever want to search them. That’s the great thing about glorified text files and HTML email, the latter of which I still resent having been introduced, and not just because it made using software like the console Alpine email client untenable. But I digest.

      • We've migrated from Yubikey 2FA to the university's MFA

        We have a sensitive host that absolutely has to be protected with multi-factor authentication. When we first set it up in late 2016, the second factor we chose was touch-required SSH keys held on Yubikeys. Recently, we have been switching this host over to the university's institutional multi-factor authentication. The university's MFA uses Duo, so our sensitive host is set up to use Duo's PAM module.

      • Full WireGuard setup with OpenBSD

        We want all our network traffic to go through a WireGuard VPN tunnel automatically, both WireGuard client and server are running OpenBSD, how to do that? While I thought it was simple at first, it soon became clear that the "default" part of the problem was not easy to solve, fortunately there are solutions.

        This guide should work from OpenBSD 6.9.

      • How to change a hostname in Linux | Opensource.com

        To change your hostname on a Linux computer, use the hostnamectl command.

      • What is a hostname? | Opensource.com

        Computers have network addresses, but they're usually difficult for humans to remember. Hostnames are labels intended to help humans refer to a specific computer. Instead of navigating to 192..168.1.4, for instance, you might navigate to  linuxlaptop or linuxlaptop.local.

      • File Searching on Linux Mint

        This simple tutorial explains how to search files and folders on Linux Mint. Mint is a very popular and easy to use computer operating system from GNU/Linux family based on Ubuntu Desktop. This covers its three editions namely Mint Cinnamon, XFCE, and MATE so pick the one suitable to yours. Let's search!

      • How to install Rancher on CentOS 8 - Unixcop

        Rancher is a complete software stack for teams adopting containers. It addresses the operational and security challenges of managing multiple Kubernetes clusters, while providing DevOps teams with integrated tools for running containerized workloads.

      • How to Install or Enable Cockpit on Rocky Linux 8 - LinuxCapable

        Cockpit is a free remote server manager that is lightweight and easy to use for GNU/Linux servers. Cockpit is a web-based graphical interface for servers intended for people new to Linux to the experts such as sysadmins. Cockpit makes Linux discoverable, allowing anyone using the software to perform tasks such as start containers, administer storage, configure networks, and inspect logs.

      • difference between podman and docker. - Unixcop

        Podman is an OCI container compatible container engine that is also part of RedHat Linux, but can also be installed on other Linux distributions.

        As it’s OCI-compliant, Podman can be used as a drop-in replacement for the better-known Docker runtime. Most Docker commands can be directly translated to Podman commands.

      • Fix Problem “Failed to set locale, defaulting to C.UTF-8 ” in CentOS 8 /RHEL 8 - Unixcop

        This article describes how to fix this warning “Failed to set locale, defaulting to C.UTF-8” in CentOS 8 /RHEL 8 .

      • How to Rsync Files Between Two Linux Servers Automatically

        Setting up a backup server to take over a primary server’s operations when it becomes a victim of server downtime issues is a skill set that most Linux users and all Linux administrators need to master. It saves you from having to worry about the “what if” scenarios.

        So during a worst-case scenario where some technicalities or server breach attempts might temporarily or permanently bring your primary server down, you can always rely on the presence of a backup server that is configured to function as a twin server environment of the primary/main server.

      • How to Install Python 3.10 on AlmaLinux 8 - LinuxCapable

        Python is one of the most popular high-level languages, focusing on high-level and object-oriented applications from simple scrips to complex machine learning algorithms. Python 3.10 is the latest release and is not classed as stable compared the Python 3.9, but the final candidate is expected to be completed on the 4th of October 2021.

      • How to Install Foxit PDF Reader on AlmaLinux 8 - LinuxCapable

        Foxit PDF Reader is a free multi-platform PDF reader for Linux, macOS, and Windows. The PDF reader is a small, fast, and feature-rich PDF Reader to view, annotate, form-fill, and sign PDF documents. PDF Reader easily integrates with popular ECMs and cloud storage.

        At the end of the tutorial, you will know how to install Foxit PDF Reader on AlmaLinux 8.

      • How to Install & Configure Apache (httpd) with Let’s Encrypt TLS/SSL on AlmaLinux 8 - LinuxCapable

        Apache, also known as Apache HTTP server, has been one of the most widely used web server applications globally for the past few decades. It is a free and open-source web application software maintained by the Apache Software Foundation. Apache provides some powerful features with dynamically loadable modules, easy integration with other software, and handling of static files, among other popular features.

        In the following tutorial, you will learn how to install Apache Web Server on AlmaLinux 8.

      • How To Use Steam Proton To Play Windows Games On Linux?

        There’s no denying the fact that Linux gaming is getting better each day. Thanks to the Proton compatibility layer, which translates DirectX commands on Windows to Vulkan-understandable instructions on Linux, over 16,000 games in the Steam library can be played on Linux.

        Proton is indeed a huge deal for Linux, especially with Valve using the same in its upcoming Steam Deck with Linux. But how exactly can we use Steam Proton to play Windows games on Linux? Read more to find out.

      • How To Install Kodi 19.2 In Ubuntu 20.04 / LinuxMint | Tips On UNIX

        This tutorial will be helpful for beginners to install KODI 19.2 in Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 20.10, Ubuntu 18.04, and LinuxMint 20.2.

        KODI formerly known as XBMC Media center is a free and open-source cross-platform software media player. It is managed by a non-profit XBMC foundation and developed by volunteers around the world.

        It is now officially available for Android, BSD, Linux,macOS, and Windows operating systems. The latest version of KODI is 19.2 and comes with bug fixes and new features.

      • How to Update Fedora Linux to Get Latest Software

        Fedora Linux is a community-driven Linux Distribution maintained by Fedora Project. Fedora brings lots of improvements, bug fixes, security patches, new features very often. So it's very important to keep all software up-to-date.

        Fedora support package manager such as RPM (DNF), Flatpak, OSTree - default graphical front-ends: GNOME Software.

        In this tutorial, we learn how to update Fedora to get the latest Software. There are two methods to update Fedora: GUI and Terminal.

        Here we are updating packages (installing security patches, kernel updates, and software updates) not upgrading to a new release.

    • Desktop Environments/WMs

      • K Desktop Environment/KDE SC/Qt

        • Adriaan de Groot: Unbroken!

          Calamares is a distro- and desktop-agnostic Linux installer. It’s my day job. It is named for squid, in particular battered squid rings from the Mediterranean sea, Calamares. There’s lots of ways to catch squid and octopuses. One way is to use an octopus trap, and in Japan these have a fairly distinctive shape and are called tako tsubo. There is a specific kind of heart spasm that causes the left ventricle to take on the shape of an octopus trap; this is generally Not Good. Here’s a cute illustration from a squid-lover.

        • On Break
    • Distributions

      • Building Tiny Raspberry Pi Linux Images With Buildroot

        GOAL: Build a lightweight, bootable *.img file that you can flash onto a Raspberry Pi SD card. This will be the shortest, fastest Buildroot tutorial you read, and the tutorial is optimized for speed and simplicity. For a deep dive, see the Buildroot manual.

      • Reviews

        • Review: Pyabr OS

          Pyabr OS was one of the latest distributions to be added to the DistroWatch waiting list. The project refers to itself as a "Python Cloud Operating System", a Linux distribution mostly written in Python. The project, which declares it is developed in Iran with multilingual support, runs on x86_64 computers and 64-bit Raspberry Pi machines.

          The project's website mentions that Pyabr is a platform written in Python which offers a desktop and applications which can be run on any Linux distribution while Pyabr OS is a Debian-based operating system that runs the Pyabr software. The operating system can reportedly be installed locally or run from live media like a thumb drive. The desktop environment resembles KDE Plasma but is a custom environment called Baran which the project says is written in Python using the Qt framework.

          I was unsure going into this trial how all of this related to cloud computing or services. The term "cloud" gets thrown around on the project's website, but without a clear indication of how this affects the end user. I decided to give the project a test drive and see if I could find out.

          The Pyabr OS ISO file is a small download of just 447MB. The live system always stalled early in the boot process for 90 seconds while waiting for systemd to sort out its infamous "A start job is running..." warning. After that, the distribution booted quickly and displayed the Baran desktop which does look a lot like KDE Plasma at first glance due to its shared Qt framework and theme.

      • New Releases

    • Devices/Embedded

    • Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

      • Web Browsers

        • Pop-up from Hell On the growing opacity of web programs

          Some of the quirky things that you could do with JavaScript included creating roll-over effects (making an image change when mouse pointer is over it), creating an animation that follows the cursor as it moves and, of course, annoying the users with all sorts of pop-up windows for both entertaining and advertising purposes. Annoying pop-ups will be the starting point for my blog post, but I'll be using those to make a more general and interesting point about how programs evolve to become more opaque.

        • [Old] The Shocking Immaturity of JavaScript

          The thing that bothers me is how awful of an experience this is for people with far less experience than me. I've been in this industry for over 20 years. However, other people are attempting to get into web development this year. And they're being told in order to do so they have to learn X, Y, and Z tools…all JavaScript of course. The problem is if they run into major issues—and they do, believe me, they do—they don't know enough to grasp just how buggy and incomplete the tooling is. Instead, they think they must have just made a mistake, or simply haven't learned enough yet. The cognitive load required is staggering.

        • Mozilla

          • New Release: Tor Browser 10.5.9

            Tor Browser 10.5.9 is now available from the Tor Browser download page and also from our distribution directory.

            This version is a bugfix for Android.

      • Programming/Development

        • Python

          • FlaskCon by Python enthusiasts

            The Python Mauritius User Group (PyMUG) has been around for quite a while. One of its founding members who has been an active community member has put efforts into orgnising a virtual conference about the Flask micro framework.

  • Leftovers

    • Science

      • The Founder of Sci-Hub Is Absolutely Unrepentant

        As of September, Sci-Hub has officially existed for 10 years — a milestone that came as a lawsuit to determine if the website infringed on copyright laws sits in India’s Delhi High Court. Just a few months prior, Elbakyan tweeted that she was notified of a request from the FBI to access her data from Apple. And before that, the major academic publisher Elsevier was awarded $15 million in damages after the Department of Justice ruled that Sci-Hub broke copyright law in the U.S.

        Department of Justice ruled that Sci-Hub broke copyright law in the U.S. But that ruling can’t seem to touch Sci-Hub. And Elbakyan remains absolutely unrepentant. She advocates for a future in which scientific knowledge is shared freely, and she’s confident that it’s coming.

        Futurism caught up with Elbakyan to hear what’s next. Over email, she explained her vision for the site’s future, her thoughts on copyright law, and more. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

    • Education

    • Health/Nutrition

      • COVID Vaccination Could Help Us Avoid Disaster Amid Expected Surge in Flu Cases
      • In unprecedented move, Mexico denies permission for new variety of GM corn

        CNA data showed that Cofepris determined that the new seed variety was designed to withstand glyphosate, a herbicide that is the active ingredient in Roundup, which is made by Bayer. Cofepris, which considers the herbicide dangerous, said its rejection was based on a “precautionary principle.”

        Mexico has never allowed the cultivation of GM corn on a commercial scale but has permitted the importation of such varieties for decades. Most imports come from the United States and are mainly used as livestock feed. Before a new variety of GM corn can be imported, Cofepris must authorize it.

      • Senate Democrat says Facebook offers 'crocodile tears about protecting children'

        The comments came as Nick Clegg, Facebook’s vice president of global affairs, appeared on several Sunday shows defending the company following blistering testimony from whistleblower Frances Haugen, a former product manager at the social media platform.

        Haugen had leaked documents to The Wall Street Journal, leading to a series on Facebook alleging the company failed to adequately address anti-COVID-19 rhetoric, knew that Instagram was harmful to its younger users and had conducted research on how to attract tweens to its platforms.

    • Integrity/Availability

      • Proprietary

        • Hide My mailto: Email

          If at any point you start receiving too much spam at that email address, delete it.

        • Security

          • Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt/Fear-mongering/Dramatisation

          • Privacy/Surveillance

            • Facebook to introduce features on Instagram that nudge young people to take breaks

              The Menlo Park, Calif.-based Facebook is also planning to introduce new controls for adults on an optional basis so that parents or guardians can supervise what their teens are doing online. These initiatives come after Facebook announced late last month that it was pausing work on its Instagram for Kids project. But critics say the plan lacks details, and they are skeptical that the new features would be effective.

            • Google to give 10K free security keys to 'high risk' individuals

              Google will provide 10,000 "high-risk" users with free hardware security keys, after the tech giant warned more than 14,000 Gmail users that they may have been targeted in a state-sponsored phishing campaign.

              In a Twitter thread, Shane Huntley who is director of Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG), said that the group has sent a batch of government-backed security warnings.

            • Instagram to introduce ‘take a break’ feature and ‘nudge’ teens away from harmful content

              Instagram will introduce new measures to nudge teenagers away from harmful content and encourage them to “take a break,” from the platform, Facebook vice president of global affairs Nick Clegg said on Sunday. Clegg made the remarks on CNN’s State of the Union show less than a week after whistleblower Frances Haugen testified before Congress about internal research that showed Instagram can have a negative effect on the mental health of young people.

            • Confidentiality

              • SSH Tunneling Explained

                Although the typical use case of SSH is to access a remote server securely, you can also transfer files, forward local and remote ports, mount remote directories, redirect GUI, or even proxy arbitrary traffic (need I say SSH is awesome?). And this is just a small set of what’s possible with SSH.

                In this post, I’ll cover different tunneling features as supported by OpenSSH, which helps achieve security use cases such as remote web service access without exposing port on the internet, accessing server behind NAT, exposing local port to the internet. OpenSSH is the most widely used open-source SSH server. It comes pre-installed by default with the vast majority of Linux distributions.

              • TLS Certificate Transparency logs let us assess Certificate Authorities

                This matters for more than just a CA popularity count. One of the eternal arguments around either changing the rules for TLS certificates and CAs, or dealing with an issue with a CA, is how many people and TLS certificates will be affected. In the past traditionally there were all sorts of arguments and back and forth numbers and so on (from browsers, from CAs, etc). Today, for many questions we can go out and measure through the CT logs to count at least how many TLS certificates would be affected. How many TLS certificates would be affected is not the same thing as how much traffic or how many people would be affected, of course. But it's a start, which is more than we used to have to work with in the open.

    • Defence/Aggression

      • The Taliban say they won't work with the U.S. to contain the Islamic State

        However, Taliban political spokesman Suhail Shaheen told The Associated Press there would be no cooperation with Washington on containing the increasingly active Islamic State group in Afghanistan. IS has taken responsibility for a number of recent attacks, including a suicide bombing Friday that killed 46 minority Shiite Muslims and wounded dozens as they prayed in a mosque in the northern city of Kunduz.

      • UnidosUS severs ties with Facebook

        UnidosUS, formerly known as the National Council of La Raza, said in a statement its decision came "amid revelations on the role that the platform has played in intentionally perpetuating products and policies that harm the Latino community and undermine democratic ideals."

      • Islamic State Sinks Roots Across Africa

        Islamic State group influence in Africa has grown yearly since 2014, according to a 2021 Sky News report. By 2019, at least 22 African countries had seen suspected IS-linked activity, even if no affiliate was based there. By 2020, eight countries had seen an increase in such violence. Those eight represent West Africa’s Sahel, the current epicenter of Islamic State group violence on the continent, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Mozambique.

      • The CIA’s View of Left Political Parties in Afghanistan, 1948-79

        Cyclone did to Afghanistan what Operation Timber Sycamore has done more recently to Syria: triggered a refugee crisis of millions, reduced developed areas of the country to rubble, killed hundreds of thousands of people, and empowered far-right Islamists. But how strong was a left presence in Afghanistan before Cyclone? Could secular anarchists, communists, and socialists have formed a progressive alliance against hard-line Islamists? This article explores the CIA’s records.

    • Transparency/Investigative Reporting

      • Philippines' Nobel Prize winner Ressa says 'nothing is possible without facts'

        "In less than two years the Philippine government filed 10 arrest warrants against me -- it was pretty bleak at different times," Ressa said.

        Nonetheless, she was defiant in her defence of her battle for freedom of expression and independent journalism.

        "This is the best time to be a journalist," Ressa said as she smiled. "The times when it's most dangerous are the times when it's most important."

    • Environment

      • What if firms were forced to pay for frying the planet

        Businesses, as a rule, do not like being forced to do anything. They prefer to make voluntary gestures—just enough to keep governments off their backs. Right now they are throwing around promises to cut carbon emissions to “net zero” like confetti, on the grounds that such vows attract investors, employees and customers. It is a step in the right direction. And yet some of those pledges are paper-thin. Of more than 4,200 firms in the G20 club of big economies that have disclosed their climate ambitions, only a fifth have committed to so-called science-based targets that would keep the world on track to meet the Paris agreement’s goal. That requires firms to start slashing emissions within years, not decades. For big emitters this poses an instant threat to profitability. It strains credulity to think that altruism is enough to convince firms to act. Governments will have to apply the thumbscrews.

      • Over 70,000 March in Brussels to Demand Green New Deal, Urgent Climate Action

        Tens of thousands of people marched through the streets of Brussels on Sunday to demand Belgium's elected leaders and others from around the world finally dispense with proclamations, broken promises, and half-measures and instead "act" on the climate emergency.

        "We need a Belgian Green New Deal and we propose more than 100 concrete solutions to make it happen.”

      • 'To Change Course of History,' US Climate Movement Takes Aim at Biden White House

        Organizers for climate justice are making final preparations Sunday ahead of five days of planned actions this week to confront President Joe Biden over the urgent need to declare a climate emergency, ditch fossil fuels, and move swiftly to create a green energy economy that can create millions of new jobs in the process.

        "The fossil fuel industry has brought devastation to our homelands and it's time that we bring this fight to Biden’s doorstep."

      • Energy

        • Loopholes Are Exempting Oil and Gas Industry's Radioactive Waste From Regulation
        • How to Build a Low-tech Solar Panel?

          Before we try to answer this question, it’s important to note that the best low-tech alternative for a high-tech solar panel is often not a low-tech solar panel but direct use of solar energy. That is, putting solar energy to use without converting it to electricity first. For example, a clothesline and a solar thermal water boiler are much more efficient, sustainable, and economical than an electric tumble dryer and a water boiler powered by solar PV panels. Direct use of solar energy can happen with local materials, relatively simple manufacturing technologies, and short supply lines.

          Nevertheless, in this article, I take the question literally: can we build low-tech photovoltaic devices, which convert sunlight into electricity? In a previous article, we have seen that history offers inspiration for building more sustainable wind turbines. Can history also inspire us to make more sustainable solar cells?

      • Overpopulation

        • Opinion | The Hinge of History: A View on Our Future Extinction

          Twelve years ago, during the International Year of Astronomy that marked the 400th anniversary of Galileo's first use of a telescope, I wrote "The Value of a Pale Blue Dot"—a reflection on how astronomy has revealed a vast universe filled with an unimaginable number of stars, thus shrinking the significance of our sun and our planet. The "pale blue dot" refers to how the Earth appears in a 1990 photograph taken by the Voyager spacecraft as it reached the outer limits of our solar system. The essay suggests that the knowledge gained from astronomy "forces us to acknowledge that our place in the universe is not particularly significant."

    • Finance

    • AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

      • Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen could face legal retaliation for revelations

        Facebook has recently taken a harsher tone toward whistleblower Frances Haugen, suggesting that the social network giant could be considering legal retaliation after Haugen went public with internal research that she copied before leaving her job earlier this year.

        U.S. law protects whistleblowers who disclose information about potential misconduct to the government. But that protection doesn't necessarily cover taking corporate secrets to the media.

        Facebook still has to walk a fine line. The company has to weigh whether suing Haugen, which could dissuade other employees who might otherwise speak out, is worth casting itself as a legal Godzilla willing to stomp on a woman who says she's just doing the right thing.

        Facebook did not respond to emailed questions.

      • Facebook VP can't give 'yes or no answer' on whether algorithms amplified insurrectionists' voices

        "Facebook should not get a free pass on choices it makes to prioritize growth and virality and reactiveness over public safety. They shouldn’t get a free pass on that because they're paying for their profits right now with our safety," Haugen told the panel.

      • Facebook Is Willing to Open Algorithms to Regulators, Clegg Says

        Facebook’s chief spokesman said the company is willing to subject itself to greater oversight to ensure its algorithms are performing as intended and aren’t harming users.

        Nick Clegg, Facebook’s vice president for global affairs, defended the company’s business practices against accusations from a whistle-blower that it had put profits ahead of users’ well-being.

    • Censorship/Free Speech

      • Credit-card firms are becoming reluctant regulators of the web

        Websites can always choose not to work with Mastercard. But given that the company handles about 30% of all card payments made outside China, to do so would be costly. Visa, which manages a further 60% of payments, is also taking a firmer line on adult sites. And the trend goes beyond porn. In the shadier corners of the web, and in industries where the law is unclear or out of date, financial firms are finding themselves acting as de facto regulators.

        Since the turn of the century, “payments have become a tool of domestic and international policy,” says Aaron Klein of the Brookings Institution, a think-tank. After the 9/11 attacks of 2001 America introduced new anti-money-laundering rules and more targeted sanctions. This system—a “21st-century precision-guided munition”, as a former head of the CIA called it—obliges financial firms to block payments to the individuals on a list which today runs to 1,604 pages.

    • Freedom of Information/Freedom of the Press

    • Civil Rights/Policing

    • Monopolies

      • Patents

      • Copyrights

        • Megaupload Lawsuits Remain in Limbo After Nearly 10 Years Passed

          Almost ten years after Megaupload was taken down the lawsuits against the site and its founder Kim Dotcom are still pending. The criminal case in the US awaits the outcome of the New Zealand extradition process and two civil cases, filed by the RIAA and MPA, were this week put on hold until April 2022, but they will likely start much later.

        • Supreme Court Denies to Hear Prenda Lawyer's 'Piracy Honeypot' Appeal

          The U.S. Supreme Court has denied to hear the case of Paul Hansmeier, one of the attorneys behind the Prenda law firm, who's serving a 14-year prison sentence for his involvement in a piracy honeypot scheme. Meanwhile, court records show that Hansmeier's former colleague John Steele is already making plans for his release.



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Microsoft "news" by bots
"I saw Richard Stallman give a talk in the mid 80s, which began my fear and loathing of software patents" and "Richard Stallman was always right."
"By betraying the legacy of our ancestors, we’ve set ourselves on a path toward self-destruction — moral, intellectual, economic, and ultimately biological."
There Were Several Waves of Microsoft Shanghai Layoffs in 2025, Western Media Continues to Turn a Blind Eye to Chinese Layoffs of an Epic Scale
Sometimes select Taiwanese news sites (published in English) or automated translations are all we have
Brett Wilson LLP Spreads Trumpism to the United Kingdom, Looking to Profit From 'Legal Colonialism' (Overriding Sovereignty)
There's growing recognition of this conundrum worldwide
The Demise of Shopping in Person
In a world like this, how valued is the customer?
This Past Friday, "Nearly 700 People Came to Listen to RMS!" (Richard Stallman)
"Nearly 700 people came to listen to RMS!"
Distinguished Lecture by Richard Stallman This Coming Monday in Rome
After "Free software, Crucial for Freedom in a Digital World"
Slopwatch: UbuntuPIT Churning Out Plagiarism and the Slopfarm LinuxSecurity Turns to Pseudonyms
Our hunch is, UbuntuPIT will sooner or later realise that this toxic approach is just harming UbuntuPIT and tainting the reputation of past articles
The Lawsuit by Clients of Brett Wilson LLP Against Brett Wilson LLP is Officially On, It is Progressing, The 'Experts' Pick Outside Law Firms (RPC and Mills & Reeve) to Spare Them From Litigants in Person
So it is probably quite potent
Gemini Links 11/10/2025: Nyctography, Gerrymandering, and Lurking
Links for the day
The 'Culture Wars' in Free Software Have Gone Out of Control
Social control media amplifies such utterly infantile discourse
Teaser: To Compensate for the Fact Our Clients Are Terrible Human Beings Who Strangle Women (While on Microsoft's Payroll) and We Get Paid by Mystery Parties We Bombard You and Your Wife With Almost 10 Kilograms of Legal Papers
If you can't win an argument, then drown the other side with papers?
Links 11/10/2025: World Mental Health Day 2025, Another European Legal Defeat for Microsoft 360
Links for the day
MIT Technology Review is Part-Time SPAMfarm of Billionaires and Mega-Corporations
Does MIT operate its own "b2b" SPAMfarm?
Open Source Initiative Executive Director Leaves, Replacement Sought by Monopolists, Not the Community or OSI Members
Serves to show who runs this show...
Links 11/10/2025: China-US Tensions Grow Again, "Hey Hi" More Widely Recognised as Bubble Made of Capital That Doesn't Exist
Links for the day
Now Confirmed in Western Media: Microsoft Azure Layoffs This Month
Affirmed by more sources moments ago
Peter O'Callaghan QC represented grandparents, Westernport Hotel, at Liquor Royal Commission
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Either The Register MS Divests From FOSS Coverage or Liam Proven is on Long Holiday
Publishers perish when their audience loses trust in them
Microsoft Cancelling Another Datacentre is a Sign of Financial Trouble and Lack of Growth
The debt continues to grow
Gemini Links 11/10/2025: An Evening at the Fair and Fast Fourier Friday
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, October 10, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, October 10, 2025
Geminispace is Very Large
The word continues to spread and the number of participants grows
Another Wave of Microsoft Layoffs, This Time During National Day Holiday
This time it's China again
10 Out of 10: RMS Attracts Massive Audience in Göteborg, Sweden (All Seats Occupied, Some People Standing)
a 55-second clip of his talk
Staying Happy in Times of Crackdowns on Civil Society
Optimism in this sort of "new reality" or "new normal" seems like something for the irrational person
"Nobel" Exploited Posthumously for "AI" Hype, Now They Do the Same With "Quantum"
ere have been many jokes about "Nobel" for peace (often granted to pro-war people) and a fake one for "Economics" (establishment propaganda)
Slopwatch: Plagiarism and "Linux" Articles by Bots
Sites that do this won't survive; many of them rely on slop services (suppliers) that will cease to exist after the bubble bursts
Links 10/10/2025: Putin Admits Russia Downed Azerbaijan Airlines Jet, More New Heat Records
Links for the day
Noteworthy Claim That IBM is Firing a Lot of Lawyers This Week (RAs in the Legal Department)
A lot of what they do is patent 'trolling' or lawyering up against their own staff (e.g. HR disputes)
Links 10/10/2025: US Judge Bars Attacks by ICE On Journalists and Protesters; “We Took The Freedom of Speech Away” Says the President
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Serial Sloppers, Google News Gifting Slopfarms, and Fake News/Plagiarism About "Linux"
Google itself is a slop pusher these days
Qualcomm, the New Owner of Arduino, Blasted for Its Software Patents Tax on 'Smartphones'
A lot of Qualcomm's patents are on software. We wrote about this in prior years.
XBox Layoffs Rumours, Downtime, and Criticism From XBox Co-Founder
"everyone is ditching the xbox."
Links 10/10/2025: Honoring The Legacy Of Robert Murray-Smith, Many Articles on the Hey Hi (AI) Bubble
Links for the day
Gemini Links 09/10/2025: October Gothic and Reading Middle Earth Role Playing; C and Ada
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, October 09, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, October 09, 2025