Bonum Certa Men Certa

Taking Techrights to the Next Level in 2023

"Apple is fighting against powerful and fundamental economic forces. In the short term, Apple’s technological and industrial design prowess can help to prop up dying business models."

--Timothy Lee



Summary: I've reached a state of "closure" when it comes to my employer (almost 12 years for me, 9+ years for my wife); expect Techrights to become more active than ever before and belatedly publish important articles, based on longstanding investigations that take a lot of effort

Today we published the last daily part of the Sirius 'Open Source' series (there will be more coming, there's already stuff on the way, but not to be published on a daily basis). This series covers, explains and concludes my resignation from that dying company*. It also marks a turning point where I can devote all my time to personal software projects and writing projects. I have a lot of unpublished stories. It takes time to process and verify the facts. Accuracy is paramount. It's the scientific way; we don't tolerate "marketing".



"At the moment Techrights is doing internal stuff, including server migrations."The Microsoft GitHub series (Microsoft GitHub Exposé/"GitHub: Where everything comes to die") will resume later this year. Some rumours about GitHub layoffs need verification. Remember that GitHub will one day shut down like CodePlex did. It is inevitable. Users of the platform don't get to decide on when or how it happens. It'll just happen. There's no business model! Since 2018... only losses. Microsoft now tries to 'monetise' GitHub as a plagiarism blender. Will you buy monthly subscription for Microsoft to assist your blurred-away plagiarism? This is in court right now.

At the moment Techrights is doing internal stuff, including server migrations. We're moving to Alpine. There's also self-improvement work around processes. The goal is to increase our capacity and produce more output (Daily Links, articles, videos, analyses focusing on strategic areas), letting new programs do some of the work, offloading/automating some existing tasks and streamlining others.

"The last time I was not employed was the time I finished my Ph.D. (that in itself was like employment as I was a full-time postgraduate student)."Bear with us while we code some new programs. It may seem slow, but we've only just recovered from a sudden disk/storage failure and I've been speaking to people over the telephone about scandals we're eager to expose in February. Curiously enough, some of our articles about Microsoft layoffs are going 'viral' weeks after they were originally published. It seems safe to say that Microsoft layoffs are (quite frankly as usual) a lot bigger than what the Microsoft PR depsrtment claims and we already see rumours about another wave of Microsoft layoffs (already in the planning).

The last time I was not employed was the time I finished my Ph.D. (that in itself was like employment as I was a full-time postgraduate student). At age 40 I finally managed to position myself to focus purely on this site and its community. Quite a few people in IRC have been there for nearly 15 years (our main channel turns 15 in a couple of months), so we sort of 'grew up together' on the Net. Speaking of the Net, tomorrow we change our home connection from copper to fibre. It'll make things easier. There may be brief outages for Gemini (DNS changes). ______ * Sirius is dead company walking. It accelerated its demise by doing irrational things and mistreating staff.

Recent Techrights' Posts

GNOME Foundation's Microsoft Developer Account
"Lately they're teaming up with Mozilla to eliminate middle click paste - something which I use continuously."
Links 10/01/2026: "Abolish ICE or GTFO", Calls to Ban X/Twitter From Apple/Google App Stores (or Implement National Blocks) Over MElon Turning It Into Non-consensual Deepfake Porn Site
Links for the day
EPO People Power - Part XXX - New Year Starts, Cocainegate Still Discussed a Lot, António Campinos Desperate for Distraction From It
Why the sudden change or 'generosity'? [...] Actual cocaine addicts caused nervous breakdowns among sober people
IBM and Microsoft Hiding Layoffs in Similar, Overlapping Ways
Performance Improvement Plans aplenty
IBM is a Cancer That Attaches Itself to Everything
Red Hat should have remained an independent company
 
Monday, January 12, Red Hat Layoffs Allegedly Planned
We'll update this post or follow up if or when we get more information
Slop Still Becoming Rare as Another Week Ends
Generally speaking, calm and quiet is desirable, it's what we hope for (an absence of slop, a lack of need to keep abreast of it, ultimately)
Links 10/01/2026: Iran Offline, Venezuelans Decry Civilian Casualties
Links for the day
GAFAM Wants War
Go war! Go bailouts! Go debt! Go Wall Street!
GNU/Linux and Chromebooks Rose to Almost 10% in Haiti
What's noteworthy is that this month GNU/Linux is measured at around 8% and ChromeOS at about 2%
2026 Might be the Year Microsoft Replaces Layoffs With Mass Firings (No Severance Payments to Dismissed Staff)
It's hard to "see" PIPs unless insiders blow the whistle
Links 10/01/2026: STV Layoffs (Scottish TV), “CBS Evening News” in Chaos (Culls and Censorship by the US Regime)
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, January 09, 2026
IRC logs for Friday, January 09, 2026
Gemini Links 10/01/2026: Blackout, E-Waste, and Secondary Smartphone
Links for the day
Plot Twist: Microsoft MSN Relays Articles Hinting at or Pointing to Mass Layoffs Soon, Other Gossip
the narrative from Microsoft's "PR bunny" (Shaw) is showing mold already
Links 09/01/2026: Google and Character.AI Implicitly Accept Chatbots Kill Kids and GLP-1 ‘Slimming Pens’ Turn Out to be a Lot Worse Than Advertised
Links for the day
'Vibe Coding' is Not "AI", It's a Sewer, It is Junk
Linus Torvalds was wrong. 'Vibe coding' isn't good for anything.
GNU/Linux May be Approaching 10% "Market Share" in Montenegro
The surge started around 2021
At IBM, "Employee Reviews" (or Appraisals in the UK) Are a "Trojan Horse" for RAs (Mass Layoffs), a Waste of Time
comments from IBMer serve to suggest that appraisals can be precursors
Links 09/01/2026: Technical Blogging Lessons Learned and Google's Gmail Getting a Lot Worse
Links for the day
More IBM Layoffs in India
If IBM cannot afford to retain workers in India, then something is truly "out of control" at IBM
Escaping GAFAM Colonialism Requires Homegrown Free Software
GNU/Linux now measured at 3% in Zambia
Dr. Richard Stallman Has Done No Harm to the GNU Project or the FSF (He Had Benefited Both, Always, Even After the Attacks on Him Began)
Some people try to prevent Dr. Stallman from speaking or having a platform where many people can hear him
GNU/Linux at 4% in Saudi Arabia, Says statCounter
Some years ago Windows fell to a "market share" of just 11% there
Microsoft Isn't Denying the Mass Layoffs
Still silence from Microsoft
In Western Africa GNU/Linux Flirts With 5% Market Share
there's a gradual increase in GNU/Linux usage there
Gemini Links 09/01/2026: Pro1 X Repair and the Mercury Protocol
Links for the day
Links 09/01/2026: Cambodia and China Extradition, "NATO’s High-risk Patrols Near Ukraine"
Links for the day
No, Microsoft Did Not Deny the Q1 Mass Layoffs (Microsoft Can Delay These)
Maybe they disperse or delay the layoffs (changing plans), but the layoffs are going to happen
Only One Person in Charge of Fedora is Not IBM Staff
This is not a community project, it's just a way for IBM to onboard unpaid volunteers
This Is Not a Drill, GNU/Linux is Really Going 'Mainstream' on Laptops (and Desktops)
It is important to explain to people software freedom
IBM Albany Layoffs
not only did many in the site lose their job; there's more to come "and likely another one in February" (weeks from now)
EPO Workers' Industrial Action to Include Many Strikes, to Last Several Months
In some ways, The Hague and Bavaria are becoming almost indistinguishable from Moscow
EPO People Power - Part XXIX - Getting DER SPIEGEL, FAZ, Deutschlandfunk and Sueddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) to Cover EPO Scandals
We kindly ask our readers to contact their local media and urge it to cover the scandals
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, January 08, 2026
IRC logs for Thursday, January 08, 2026
Gemini Links 08/01/2026: "New Year, Old Plans" and Alex's "Butlerian Jihad"
Links for the day
LLM Slop About "Linux" Scarce and of Very Low Quality
At this rate, we reckon there may be one (or zero) per day by year's end
IBM's "Forever Layoffs" (to Bypass Warnings or Notices as Required by WARN Act)
There is a bunch of speculations about when the next "major round" of RAs will be
Attempts to Undermine This Site's Latest Series Using Intimidation, Threats, and Presumptuous Accusations
threatening language is less effective when everyone is an alibi
Links 08/01/2026: "Golden Smartphone" Scam and Riseup Account Issues
Links for the day
Links 08/01/2026: Possible "Collapse of NATO Over Greenland"; Journalistic Malpractice and "US Voters Hate Slop"
Links for the day
EPO People Power - Part XXVIII - A Sensitive Issue for Germany and The Netherlands
If Germans who read this series can communicate this to public officials or to their media, maybe they can strike a nerve and get the ball rolling
Age Discrimination at IBM Discussed Amid Mass Layoffs (Especially in the United States)
Workers are anxious. Are they next to face the axe?
Gemini Links 08/01/2026: Potentiometer Calculator, Power Outages, Why You Should Abandon Discord for IRC (e.g. Ergo), and Formatting Gopher Posts
Links for the day
Links 08/01/2026: More Software Patents Squashed, White House Repeats Misinformation From the Kremlin
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, January 07, 2026
IRC logs for Wednesday, January 07, 2026