03.27.23

Gemini version available ♊︎

Links 26/03/2023: OpenMandriva ROME 23.03, Texinfo 7.0.3, and KBibTeX 0.10.0

Posted in News Roundup at 12:49 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

  • GNU/Linux

    • Audiocasts/Shows

      • Open Source Security (Audio Show) ☛ Free Software Security/Josh Bressers: Episode 368 – The Sovereign Tech Fund with Fiona Krakenbürger

        Josh and Kurt talk to Fiona Krakenbürger about the Sovereign Tech Fund. This is a fund created by Germany to fund important open source projects. Fiona has amazing insight into how this fund was created, what it’s doing today to help fund open source. She discusses where we go from here and what the future will look like. The Sovereign Tech Fund is a forward thinking program to fund open source across the world. This episode is a window into the future.

      • GNU World Order (Audio Show) ☛ GNU World Order 505

        **polkit-kde-agent** , **powerdevil** , **poxml** , **print-manager** ,

        **prison** , **pulseaudio-qt** , **purpose** from the Slackware **kde**

        package set.

        shasum -a256=533bba40acd690d666ad17934dd66c073ea61784eaf85eacd398220cf0051a94

    • Kernel Space

      • Linux mailing lists ☛ Linux 6.3-rc4
        Things are looking pretty normal for this time of the release process.
All the stats look very regular, and the diffstat mostly does too.

I say "mostly", just because we had a bunch of xfs fixes last week,
which makes the diffstat skew that way more than usual. But even that
is mainly for a self-test addition. The actual code changes are much
smaller.

So instead of the usual 50+% drivers, the rc4 diffstat is about "one
third drivers, one third filesystems, one third rest". Not all of the
filesystem stuff is xfs, of course - we have cifs, btrfs and ksmbd
fixes too.

On the driver side, it's a mix, but networking and gpu shows up as
usual. With USB and thunderbolt fixes showing up, and the rest being
fairly random.

And "the rest" is all the normal stuff. Self-tests, core networking,
architecture updates, nothing odd there.

Let's hope things stay normal. And, as normal, testing and reporting
issues is appreciated,

       Linus

    • Graphics Stack

      • Free Desktop ☛ [ANNOUNCE] libinput 1.23.0
        libinput 1.23 is available!

Thanks to Yinon Burgansky, this version has a new pointer acceleration
profile: the "custom" profile.
This profile allows users to tweak the exact response of their device
based on their input speed.

On X11, the code required to configure a custom acceleration profile
was already merged [1].
In the Wayland world, now that libinput 1.23 has been released,
compositors are able to expose this feature to their users. 

Peter Hutterer already covered how this feature works on his blog in
detail, so make sure to have a look at his article [2].

In addition to the new acceleration profile, this release includes a
set of new quirks for different hardware. The work done for Razer
hardware is especially noticeable.

Finally, various bugs has been fixed and the CI has been improved.

[1] https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/xorg/driver/xf86-input-libinput/-/merge_requests/39
[2] http://who-t.blogspot.com/2023/01/libinput-and-custom-pointer.html

Thanks to everyone involved for making this new version possible:

Aksel Stokseth (1):
      add quirks for Logitech MX Master 3B

Benjamin Tissoires (1):
      CI: bump b2c and kernel

Bill A (1):
      quirks: add generic quirk for Dell 2-in-1 models for side volume buttons

Cyril LEVIS (1):
      fix: add apple m2 keyboard quirks

Diep Pham (1):
      quirk: Lenovo P14s Gen 1 AMD Trackpoint

José Expósito (13):
      test: remove unused variable
      tablet-pad-leds: fix compiler warning when -Dlibwacom=false
      tablet: fix compiler warning when -Dlibwacom=false
      test: fix compiler warning when -Dlibwacom=false
      test: fix uninitialized variables
      sparse: make some variables static
      quirks: add quirks for Positivo-Vaio touchpad
      tools/record: fix quirk error message
      quirks: touchpad: add ModelPressurePad
      doc/user: fix trackpoint quirks path
      quirks: fix DWT on Legion 5i
      quirks: add a note to not quirk the Bolt Receiver
      libinput 1.23.0

Lucas Zampieri (1):
      Allow rotation on all mice and for any angle

Marge Yang (1):
      quirks: Dell Mayabay (Pressure Pad).

Peter Hutterer (36):
      doc/user: explicitly specify language as en
      test: print the usage from the symbols-leak-test
      Remove trailing whitespaces in the tree
      Remove a few empty lines with nothing but a lonely tab
      Remove duplicate empty lines in our source
      tools: fix a tab after space whitespace issue
      gitlab CI: add a job to check for whitespace issues
      quirks: allow overriding of AttrEventCode and AttrInputProp
      evdev: only read the trackpoint multiplier on trackpoints
      tools: add a libinput list-kernel-devices tool
      tools: add a --hid toggle to libinput-list-kernel-devices
      doc/user: document the new list-kernel-devices tool
      meson.build: fix a deprecation warning
      CI: give the meson-build.sh script a proper license tag
      CI: make the meson-build.sh script even more generic
      CI: use meson compile over ninja directly in meson-build.sh
      filter: add helper functions to create/destroy a delta smoothener
      doc/api: set HAVE_DOT to YES
      doc/user: fix sphinx warning
      tools: add --replay-after and --once to libinput replay
      CI: bump to use Fedora 37
      gitlab CI: drop comment about weekly rebuild of images
      gitlab CI: remove a leftover use of a fedora image
      gitlab CI: explicitly run the test in the systemd service
      CI: update to latest ci-templates
      CI: add new workflow rules
      test: give the generic MT touchscreen realistic ranges
      quirks: fix duplicate section names
      quirks: change all 3-digit matches to zero-prefixed 4-digit matches
      tools: honor FDO_CI_CONCURRENT in the tools option parser
      test: drop the explicit -n auto to the tool options test
      CI: make the ci-fairy commit check verbose
      test: comment two tap tests
      test: add a quicks file validation test
      test: add a test to make sure we don't accidentally add Logitech receivers
      quirks: add a bunch more Razer internal keyboards

Richard Stefun (1):
      Improve X280 support

Tobias Bengfort (3):
      filter: simplify speed_factor()
      doc/user: fix tap in palm exclusion zone
      touchpad: rm dead tp_palm_tap_is_palm

Yinon Burgansky (3):
      Introduce custom acceleration profile
      filter: validate custom acceleration function's points size
      filter: add scroll movement type to the custom acceleration profile

Zhangyuan Nie (1):
      quicks: invert horizontal scrolling for Logitech MX Master 3S

gogogoghost (1):
      quirk: Google Chromebook Atlas (Pixelbook go)

hrdl (2):
      evdev-tablet: clip touch arbitration rectangle
      evdev: apply calibration for touch arbitration
      • Free Desktop ☛ [ANNOUNCE] mesa 23.0.1
        Hi list,

I know this email is going out a little late, but better late than
never. Which may also be the name of the 23.0.1 release. I must
apologize, I was running behind to start with, and then the troubles
with the CI pushed me even further behind. As such, there are still a
great number of patches nominated that are not in the release. I
basically got what I could in by the end of day Friday, and cut that as
the release, and I'll continue to pull in patches over the next week and
half to have a normally scheduled release on April 5th.

There's a lot here, covering a wide swath of the mesa codebase,
especially Intel, AMD, and Zink.

Cheers,
Dylan

    • Applications

    • Instructionals/Technical

      • Make Use Of ☛ How to Install IDLE Python IDE in Ubuntu

        When starting out in Python, setting up a coding environment can be challenging. IDLE (Integrated Development Learning Environment) is a Python IDE that simplifies the process for the same. You can start coding immediately after you install it.

        IDLE is an easy-to-use IDE with features that make it easier for you to write and run Python code. It comes pre-installed with some operating systems, but on Linux, you need to install it. Learn how to install IDLE on Ubuntu and how to use its interactive shell.

      • How to Write a Simple Linux Bash Honeypot

        The first step in a malicious hacker attack is scanning. This means that an attacker will scan its target for open ports and vulnerabilities.

      • Linux Capable ☛ How to Delete MySQL User Accounts

        MySQL is a widely used open-source relational database management system (RDBMS) that allows you to store, organize, and retrieve data efficiently. User account management plays a crucial role in maintaining the security and integrity of your database.

      • Linux Capable ☛ How to Install Kdenlive on Ubuntu 22.04 or 20.04

        When it comes to video editing, Kdenlive stands out as a versatile and user-friendly solution for Linux users. Developed on the KDE platform, this open-source video editor has gained widespread popularity among multimedia enthusiasts and professionals alike.

      • Linux Capable ☛ How to Install KTorrent on Ubuntu 22.04 or 20.04

        KTorrent is an efficient and feature-rich BitTorrent client designed for the KDE Plasma desktop environment on Linux systems. Built with user-friendliness and flexibility, KTorrent offers advanced features catering to beginners and experienced users.

      • Linux Capable ☛ How to Install MyPaint on Ubuntu 22.04 or 20.04

        MyPaint is a highly versatile and user-friendly open-source digital painting application designed to cater to artists of all levels. With its powerful, dynamic brush engine and sleek, intuitive interface, MyPaint has become a go-to tool for creatives looking for a seamless digital painting experience.

      • Linux Capable ☛ How to Check the MySQL Version

        MySQL is an open-source relational database management system (RDBMS) that is widely used for web applications and content management systems. Knowing the MySQL version you are running can be essential for compatibility, security, and performance reasons.

      • ID Root ☛ How To Install LibreOffice on Linux Mint 21

        In this tutorial, we will show you how to install LibreOffice on Linux Mint 21.

      • ID Root ☛ How To Install MyPaint on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

        In this tutorial, we will show you how to install MyPaint on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. For those of you who didn’t know, MyPaint is a free, open-source graphics application designed specifically for digital painting and drawing.

      • ID Root ☛ How To Install ProcessWire on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

        In this tutorial, we will show you how to install ProcessWire on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.

      • ID Root ☛ How To Install Audacity on Rocky Linux 9

        In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Audacity on Rocky Linux 9.

      • Linux IT ☛ Emanuele Rocca: EFI and Secure Boot Notes

        To create a bootable EFI drive to use with QEMU, first make a disk image and
        create a vfat filesystem on it.

        $ dd if=/dev/zero of=boot.img bs=1M count=512
$ sudo mkfs.vfat boot.img

        By default, EFI firmwares boot a specific file under /efi/boot/. The name of
        such file depends on the architecture: for example, on 64 bit x86 systems it is
        bootx64.efi, while on ARM it is bootaa64.efi.

        Copy /usr/lib/grub/x86_64-efi/monolithic/grubx64.efi from package
        grub-efi-amd64-bin to /efi/boot/bootx64.efi on the boot image, and that
        should be enough to start GRUB.

      • Linuxiac ☛ How to Install VMware Workstation Player on Debian 11 (Bullseye)

        Install VMware Workstation Player on Debian 11 (Bullseye) and easily enjoy virtualization. Follow our step-by-step tutorial to get started.

      • FOSSLinux ☛ Maximize functionality with these tmux plugins & extensions

        In this article, we will explore valuable tips and tricks for using Tmux plugins and extensions, including how to install them, configure them, and use them to streamline your workflow. Whether you are a beginner or an advanced user, this guide will provide you with the knowledge you need to take your Tmux experience to the next level.

      • FOSSLinux ☛ Simplifying virtualization on Ubuntu with GNOME Boxes

        In this guide, we will provide a step-by-step tutorial on how to install and use Gnome Boxes on Ubuntu. We will cover the steps involved in installing Gnome Boxes, creating and managing virtual machines, and configuring virtual machine settings. We will also explore some popular use cases for Gnome Boxes.

      • FOSSLinux ☛ Exploring the Pop!_OS Desktop Environment

        In this guide, we will provide an introduction to the Pop!_OS desktop environment. We will cover its features, customization options, and differences from other popular desktop environments. We will also explore some popular tools and applications for working with Pop!_OS.

    • Games

    • Desktop Environments/WMs

      • K Desktop Environment/KDE SC/Qt

        • Building Plasma against Qt6

          As you probably have heard by now the lastest development versions of Plasma and KDE Frameworks require Qt6. This transition has been in the works for a few years by now, but it was only somewhat recently that we took the plunge and started relying on Qt6 exclusively for Plasma. Plasma 5.27 is the last Plasma 5 release and continues in bugfix-only mode.

          For people who want to hack on Plasma features this raises the obvious question: How do I build Plasma 6 to hack on it?

          Before diving into this, a word of warning: Current Plasma master is in no way “ready for production”. There are known-broken things and things may temporarily regress at any time. That said, the only way to get towards a stable thing is to dig in and fix things. So let’s see how to do that.

          For this explanation I’m assuming you have build KDE software with kdesrc-build before. If not we have some extensive documentation for that. First you need at least Qt 6.4 installed. The usually best way to get that is from your distribution. If your distribution does not have Qt6 packaged yet please complain^Wtalk to them. CMake should complain about any missing Qt6 modules/development files, but make sure you have the qtpaths tool installed beforehand. It should be named something like qtpaths6 or qtpaths-qt6.

        • KBibTeX 0.10.0 released

          After the recent release
          of KBibTeX 0.9.3.2           as the last release of the 0.9.x branch, it is
          now time to make a stable release of KBibTeX 0.10.0.
          Tar-balls are as usual available at KDE’s
          download mirrors          . Some of the changes were documented
          more than two years ago in a pre-release (0.9.90)          , but here are the
          highlights taken from the ChangeLog: [...]

  • Distributions and Operating Systems

    • It’s FOSS ☛ blendOS Aims to Replace All Linux Distributions

      Sounds too far-fetched?

      Well, blendOS pitches itself to be the ultimate distro-blend.

      blendOS is a new project by Rudra Saraswat, known for Ubuntu-based remixes, and Ubuntu Unity in particular (which is now an official Ubuntu flavour).

      I would say the project has a pretty accurate name for what it wants to achieve.

      But, how does blendOS aim to be a replacement to all? What is it all about?

    • Arca Noae ☛ I want ArcaOS 5.1!

      ArcaOS 5.1 is complete and ready for release. The holdup is really related to our distribution system, which is based on the WooCommerce platform.

    • Boiling Steam ☛ Time to Stop Using (and Recommending) Solus

      I’ve complained in the past about Solus (Linux distro) when they could not be bothered to fix their Steam Linux client packaging after Proton 5.13 was long out (they eventually did)…

    • Reviews

      • Distro Watch ☛ Review: siduction 22.1.1

        I like Debian and run it on almost every computer I own, so siduction felt very familiar to me. In some ways it was a preview of Debian 12, and in other ways, it was an interesting look at some advanced features that go beyond the conservativeness of vanilla Debian. The three major features covered in its release notes — chroot helper, Nala, and snapper — are all great features. I just wish the chroot helper worked with my eMMC drive, but siduction would not be the first distribution that had issues when the only storage available is eMMC storage.

        If Debian-based distributions are your preferred Linux distributions, I highly recommend giving siduction a try. It offers many interesting things while remaining familiar. There are certainly plenty of Debian-based distributions out there, but siduction provides a lot of features that make it different from other distributions. Sure, it lacks the conservativeness of Debian Stable, but aside from the issue with the siduction-btrfs package on an ext4 install, I ran into no major issues when working on this review. Though, I am somewhat amused by absurdity of the root password issue, but that was 99% on me for doing something I knew would likely end up ending in the situation that it did.

    • PCLinuxOS/Mageia/Mandriva/OpenMandriva Family

      • Linuxiac ☛ OpenMandriva ROME 23.03 is Here: Get Ready to be Impressed

        Shining with KDE Plasma 5.27.3 and vanilla GNOME 43.3, OpenMandriva ROME 23.03 will impress and satisfy every user’s taste.

      • 9to5Linux ☛ OpenMandriva Lx 23.03 Released with Linux 6.2, Mesa 23, and KDE Plasma 5.27

        OpenMandriva Lx 23.03 is here almost three months after the introduction of OpenMandriva Lx 23.01 ROME as OpenMandriva’s first-ever rolling-release edition where you install once and receive updates forever.

        This release bumps the kernel to the latest Linux 6.2, ships with the latest and greatest KDE Plasma 5.27 LTS desktop environment series, which is accompanied by the KDE Frameworks 5.104 and KDE Gear 22.12.3 software suites, and features out-of-the-box support for the Flatpak universal and sandboxed binary format.

      • PCLOS Official ☛ Opera Browser 97.0.4719.28

        The Opera Browser has been updated to 97.0.4719.28 and available through our software repository. No need to go hunting all over the internet to find your favorite web browser when they are in the PCLinuxOS software repository!

      • PCLOS Official ☛ Vivaldi Browser 5.7.2921.65

        The Vivaldi Browser has been updated tp 5.7.2921.65 and shipped to our software repository.

      • PCLOS Official ☛ PaleMoon Browser 32.1.0

        The PaleMoon Browser has been updated to 32.1.0 and available from the software repository.

      • PCLOS Official ☛ Chromium Browser 111.0.5563.64

        The Chromium Browser has been updated to 111.0.5563.64 and available from the software repository.

      • PCLOS Official ☛ Brave Browser 1.49.128

        Brave Browser has been updated to 1.49.128 and has been shipped to the software repository. Brave Browser is one of the best Chromium based browsers on the market.

    • Devices/Embedded

    • Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications

  • Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

    • Art

      • Libre Arts ☛ LibreArts Weekly recap — 26 March 2023

        Week highlights: new releases of topologicpy and LSP plugins, new features and
        improvements in GIMP, Inkscape, FreeCAD, Olive, automatic generation of
        subtitles from audio is coming to Kdenlive.


        GIMP

        There’s some minor porting of various file support plugins to
        GimpProcedureDialog API going on. Other than that, no major changes.

      • David Revoy ☛ Fa Bd Comics books on SCAMazon: don’t buy them

        Achievement unlocked: we found with the Pepper&Carrot community Fa BD Comic, the publisher of the worst derivations of Pepper&Carrot made so far.

        Unfortunately, the product’s are published under my name and also in the name of artists who sent fan-arts of Pepper&Carrot… That’s why I write this article to describe a bit this scam and desktop publishing carnage happening right now on Amazon and inform the audience of Pepper&Carrot to not buy them.

        Brace yourself, cause we are going in the territory of the zero absolute of quality, graphic designs horrors, colorimetry nightmares and bad layout.

    • Content Management Systems (CMS)

      • Bryan Quigley: Email list to Ghost site – PastaDollar.com

        From a pricing perspective, the platform scales with your audience size. Importantly, Ghost does not take a cut of your membership subscription revenue. For this reason, the pricing incentives mean your Ghost site is more cost-effective when you have 100% paid members and 0% free members. I’m sure that ratio is a pipe dream for most publications, but that’s how the business model works. Pricing is currently $9/mo for any site with 500 or fewer subscribers, including web hosting.

    • GNU Projects

      • GNU ☛ Texinfo 7.0.3 released
        We have released version 7.0.3 of Texinfo, the GNU documentation format.

This is a minor bug-fix release containing minimal changes from the
previous release (7.0.2).

This package contains tools to produce documentation in various
formats, including HTML and PDF, from source files in the Texinfo
format.  Texinfo is a text-based format with commands for marking text,
document structuring and indexing.

https://ftpmirror.gnu.org/texinfo/texinfo-7.0.3.tar.xz


https://ftpmirror.gnu.org/texinfo/texinfo-7.0.3.tar.gz

If automatic redirection fails, the list of mirrors is at:

https://www.gnu.org/prep/ftp.html

Failing that, you can use the main server:

https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/texinfo/texinfo-7.0.3.tar.xz


https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/texinfo/texinfo-7.0.3.tar.gz

Please email any comments to bug-texinfo@gnu.org.

The Texinfo web page: https://www.gnu.org/software/texinfo/

Support free software ~ https://www.fsf.org/ ~ https://www.gnu.org/

News:

* texi2any
  . fix performance regression when Perl binary extension (XS) modules
    are not being used (e.g. with TEXINFO_XS=omit)

* info
  . further fix of recoding of UTF-8 files to ASCII to avoid text
    disappearing from nodes
  . avoid possible freeze at start of a file with `-v nodeline=pointers'
      • GNU ☛ texinfo @ Savannah: Texinfo 7.0.3 released

        We have released version 7.0.3 of Texinfo, the GNU documentation format. This is a minor bug-fix release.
        It’s available via a mirror (xz is much smaller than gz, but gz is available too just in case):
        http://ftpmirror.gnu.org/texinfo/texinfo-7.0.3.tar.xz
        http://ftpmirror.gnu.org/texinfo/texinfo-7.0.3.tar.gz
        Please send any comments to bug-texinfo@gnu.org.
        Full announcement:
        https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-texinfo/2023-03/msg00087.html

      • GNU ☛ a2ps @ Savannah: a2ps 4.15.3 released [stable]
         GNU a2ps is an Any to PostScript filter.  Of course it processes plain
        
text files, but also pretty prints quite a few popular languages.
        
For more information, see https://www.gnu.org/software/a2ps/
        
This release is a minor bug-fix release; no pressing need to update unless
        
you’re affected by a bug it fixes (see the end of this message for details).
        
Here are the compressed sources and a GPG detached signature:
        
  https://ftpmirror.gnu.org/a2ps/a2ps-4.15.3.tar.gz
        
  https://ftpmirror.gnu.org/a2ps/a2ps-4.15.3.tar.gz.sig
        
b2ae4016b789a198c50a2f1dc0fefc11bda18ebe  a2ps-4.15.3.tar.gz
        
0A6B4OtNy/LUlj2J4d8rtm9x5m1ztBUsQ8+YOOaq98c  a2ps-4.15.3.tar.gz
        
The SHA256 checksum is base64 encoded, instead of the
        
hexadecimal encoding that most checksum tools default to.
        
  gpg --verify a2ps-4.15.3.tar.gz.sig
        
  pub   rsa2048 2013-12-11 [SC]
        
        2409 3F01 6FFE 8602 EF44  9BB8 4C8E F3DA 3FD3 7230
        
  uid   Reuben Thomas <rrt@sc3d.org>
        
  uid   keybase.io/rrt <rrt@keybase.io>
        
  gpg --locate-external-key rrt@sc3d.org
        
  gpg --recv-keys 4C8EF3DA3FD37230
        
  wget -q -O- 'https://savannah.gnu.org/project/release-gpgkeys.php?group=a2ps&download=1' | gpg --import -
        
  gpg --keyring gnu-keyring.gpg --verify a2ps-4.15.3.tar.gz.sig
        
  Gnulib v0.1-5892-g83006fa8c9
        
* Noteworthy changes in release 4.15.3 (2023-03-26) [stable]
        
 * Bug fixes:
        
   - Fix fixps to use GhostScript’s ps2write device instead of defunct
        
     pswrite.
        
 * Build:
        
   - Fix a problem building PDF version of manual.

    • Programming/Development

      • Geeks For Geeks ☛ How to Implement OTP View in Android?

        An OTP View or PinView in android is a widget that allows users to enter their PIN, OTP, etc.

      • Rlang ☛ Little useless-useful R functions – Transforming dataframe to markdown table

        Writing markdown documents outside RStudio (using the usual set of packages) has benefits and struggles. Huge struggle is transforming dataframe results into markdown table, using hypens and pipes.

      • Rlang ☛ Reading Remote Data Files

        Sometimes data arrives as a series of individual files each of which is organized in the same way—which is to say, each of which has the same variables, features, or columns.

      • Dirk Eddelbuettel ☛ Dirk Eddelbuettel: littler 0.3.18 on CRAN: New and Updated Scripts

        The nineteenth release of littler as a
        CRAN package
        landed this morning, following in the now seventeen year history (!!) as
        a package started by Jeff in 2006, and joined
        by me a few weeks later.

        littler
        is the first command-line interface for R as it predates
        Rscript. It allows for piping as well for shebang
        scripting via #!, uses command-line arguments more
        consistently and still starts
        faster        . It also always loaded the methods package which
        Rscript only began to do in recent years.

        lives on Linux and Unix, has its difficulties on macOS due to
        yet-another-braindeadedness there (who ever thought case-insensitive
        filesystems as a default were a good idea?) and simply does not exist on
        Windows (yet – the build system could be extended – see RInside for
        an existence proof, and volunteers are welcome!). See the FAQ
        vignette         on how to add it to your PATH. A few examples
        are highlighted at the Github repo, as well
        as in the examples
        vignette        .

    • Standards/Consortia

  • Leftovers

  • Gemini* and Gopher

    • Personal

      • Sunset! 2023-03-25 (Fairbanks, AK, USA)

        I felt bad that my wife is not usually able to come along on these sunset chasing adventures, since one of us has to stay with the kids, so I decided to bring the whole family along this evening. I could only think of a few decent parking spots with the right view for this, so I settled on Hot Springs Gas, a gas station a little east of Fairbanks, which has a decent view to the west, and also a bathroom and snacks for children. It almost goes without saying that trying to watch the sunset while trapped in a vehicle with three young children for 50 minutes is far from a tranquil experience.

      • Rain, rain, rain

        It rained most of Wednesday and Thursday, and all day yesterday and today. I’m
        wondering if it’s going to wash away all the cherry blossoms. The trees are out
        in full bloom now.

      • Do I need Windows

        Not the operating system, but the display concept. Do I actually need them?

        I’ve been thinking a bit about my computing setup, primarily, how I plan to reconfigure my desktop machine to move off of Manjaro. It has been “fine”, but I’ve found delays and fuck ups from their end, and some “choices” they’ve made to just not align with my personal computing preferences.

        // FWIW, I’m the type of gal that expects my computer to work the same every time I boot it. If you, computer, decide to update something that I didn’t explicitly authorize in the updater? See Ya!! And Ubuntu, and now Manjaro have broken that rule. Which is often why I stick to mainline distros like Debian, or Arch + a DE and not get “out of the box” type stuff, since that’s someone/group controlling the direction, and I’m perfectly capable of doing nothing thanks :)

      • What a nice day

        It was a really nice 22c/71f today; it was nice and sunny and HOT. I had to run
        to the store around lunch time and I was hot wearing a thin jacket. Kids on the
        street were in T-shirts and shorts. Too bad it’s going to rain the rest of the
        week :/

        Also at lunch was the news that Japan won the WBC (World Baseball Classic.) It
        was, of course, all over the TV on most of the channels. I checked the news
        back home but the only bit there was this story way down the page. It took a
        while to find it cnn.com, too.

    • Technical

      • Gave up TWTXT

        After some time of trying I have decided that TWTXT is not for me. In its current form it shares many negatives of other social networks while almost nothing to offer (for me). Unlike the Gopher, it’s useless on older computers (SSL is required for most people’s files).

        I don’t say I will not try it once more in future but at the moment I have no use for it.

      • systemd, a Retrospective

        Ah, systemd. More or less this was Linux under new management, same as the old management. For example, systemd on RedHat Enterprise 7 (2014) had a charming feature where, sometimes, it would fail to shutdown a host, and one would eventually stride to the server room and apply the Paperclip of +3 System Slaying. Such already unbent paperclips had been hung on the racks for exactly this purpose. RedHat 7 (2000) also had this feature. Folks with money might have remote management, or maybe a data centre tech would be wandering about Europe at 2 AM as one kept the Sev-1 line informed of their progress. Regardless, there was a manual reset because of a wedge at shutdown. Different clowns, same act.

        [..]

        That systemd generated more than 20 log lines by default for each and every mailman cron job on RHEL7 was charming. What was the point of all that log spam? I forget how I squelched it; RedHat Linux is fairly maintenance heavy.

        [...]

        The past tense means I haven’t really touched Linux in a while; there is an Alpine Linux virt under vmd(8) somewhere, gently unused. And a big-endian Debian MIPS qemu thing used even less to test that code does not assume little-endian. OpenBSD gets the complexity and maintenance needs just about right.

      • Monitor your remote host network quality using smokeping on OpenBSD

        If you need to more the network quality of a link, or the network availability of a remote host, I’d recommend you to take a look at Smokeping.

      • Emphasis vs Italics

        Same goes for strong and b.

        I like that it gives you a choice between _ and *, that they mean the same thing, and that you can mix and match them, and that double means stronger. That was a good design decision that was a lot easier to remember than the other markup formats I was using before. So solutions where “_ is cite and * is em” are no good, especially when they don’t fix things like Linnaean names.

        I suggest that Markdown installations that do allow fallthrough HTML should stick with em and strong as the default, since those are the most common cases and fallthrough HTML can handle the special cases, but Markdown installations on online forums that disable fallthrough HTML (i.e. where Markdown is used in lieu of bbcode or Wiki syntax), it should generate i and b instead of em and strong. It’s less wrong.

      • Announce: release of run-many=1.0.0

        I just uploaded first release of “run-many” tool that is standalone implementation of colored interleaved output like “docker-compose up” or “devenv up”.

      • Signal Corps Sergeant 1st Class

        I was just looking at an old photo of my great grandfather. He was in the 99th aero squad in WWI, which I think I’ve written about previously. Maybe not.

        In any case, I noticed that in this photo, he had handwritten the names and ranks of the people around him, who were all officers. But, none of them had sleeve insignia, except him. He didn’t bother writing his own name or rank, of course. Saving the memories for himself, I think.

      • Will I outlive NetBSD?

        I was recently reading a detailed account of Apple UNIX, a Macintosh-compatible UNIX operating system published by Apple for Macintosh computers with m68k CPUs. The account appeared to have been written in 2001, based on one screenshot of the author’s PC desktop. The account concludes by recommending that operators of m68k-based Macintosh computers who wish to run UNIX on their machines find an alternative to Apple UNIX for a number of reasons. They recommend NetBSD.

      • Fedora Deprecates Legacy BIOS Installs

        As of release 37, Fedora has deprecated legacy BIOS installs [0] -
        you can still boot and presumably upgrade an existing OS install
        over the network, but you can no longer install it fresh.

        I think the biggest issue with this decision for me is the lack of
        awareness around e-waste and re-purposing of old hardware that may
        have many years of useful life left. I know I am not alone in that
        I mostly buy refurbished or older computers. I keep them for years
        and maintain them or replace parts in them as needed, and only junk
        them when they are truly dead.

      • Trisquel 11 on a New Desktop

        I needed to replace my aging desktop, which is my daily driver for
        work, so last week I purchased a refurbished “business desktop” with
        four CPU cores, a large SSD and plenty of RAM (32GB), which is more
        computing power than I have ever had. My old desktop has half that
        amount of RAM with a SATA HDD, and was beginning to groan under the
        weight of all the web-based and other apps I’m forced to use while
        at work. Things like Google apps and Slack were noticeably sluggish.

      • Internet/Gemini

        • What happened to index.gmi?

          I am quite sure that Gemini server on tilde.pink user to serve directory index automatically, now I have to regenerate “index.gmi” manually. I understand that it makes server simpler which is good, but that broke by dist/ directory, which is bad. Did I miss an announcement?

        • Tinylog

          I had a feeling looking at my capsule that there should be a last time stamp for every section. Because without that reader must check every link if there was any change. So I implemented a script for that…

        • Gophersphere is (still!) volatile

          Gophersphere was crowded at the beginning of the 90s. And it was empty
          at the end of the same decade. We are aware that most of that content
          was lost. The only archive which is available is from 2007 and we are
          naming it The Wayback Machine. The same as that from Internet
          Archive. But Internet Archive which is operating The Wayback Machine
          for WWW has 802 billion web pages, not some small amount of final
          stage content of Gophersphere. Probably there isn’t any other backup
          of Gophersphere from the earlier years. And we can only weep for that.

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

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DecorWhat Else is New

  1. IRC Proceedings: Friday, June 09, 2023

    IRC logs for Friday, June 09, 2023

  2. Links 10/06/2023: libei 1.0.0 and Qt Creator 11 Beta

    Links for the day

  3. Jim Zemlin Boasting in 2022: Linux Foundation Has Revenue of Over 200 Million Dollars; IRS in 2022: Linux Foundation Has Revenue of 139 Million Dollars

    As noted here months ago, the Linux Foundation is run by a lying, manipulative charlatan who merely milks the brand “Linux” to enrich himself; where is that anomaly coming from?

  4. 'Linux' Foundation: Spendings on Salaries Increased More Than 20% in One Year

    As per the document just published after it had been submitted 7 months ago, salary-related expenditures rose from 49,386,990 to 59,791,694 in one year

  5. Links 09/06/2023: JDBC FDW 0.3.1 and Godot 4.1 Beta

    Links for the day

  6. Gemini Links 09/06/2023: Thoughts on Flatpak and Apple Cultists

    Links for the day

  7. Trying to 'Finish the Job' of Bully de Blanc and Deb Nicholson by Rewriting History (and Even Terms) for Microsoft

    Heather J. Meeker is trying to rewrite history and now we can see who her financial masters and hosts are (lots of Microsoft); The media portrayed her as some kind of historian for Free software a few months ago (as funding had been secured), but she already outsources everything to proprietary software controlled by Microsoft. This will be corporate revisionism; moreover, there’s employment history with Microsoft. As an associate put it: “The employment history with Microsoft is a dead give away that she will only spew lies and disinformation” (using books and such; the revisionism is well funded); the latest blog from the OSI is also sponsored by Microsoft (both the blog post and the person who wrote it)

  8. Links 09/06/2023: Tor Browser 12.0.7 and Many Linux Devices

    Links for the day

  9. Linux Foundation Demotes Mr. Linux, Linus Torvalds, to Third (in Salaries), Only Uses Him for the Name

    The Linux [sic] Foundation‘s tax filings (divulged by the Nonprofit Explorer) show that it now pays “CHRIS ANISZCZYK” and “JAMES ZEMLIN” more than it pays “LINUS TORVALDS”, sans bonuses. Torvalds fell to third place already. Mr. Zemlin pays himself over $1.2 million a year. He doesn’t even use Linux. He lacks credentials and accomplishments (except for selling out to companies like Microsoft), but he keeps pandering to power and money (Bill Gates). It should be noted that the Torvalds bonus was added only after backlash had erupted.

  10. HMRC is Just Taking Taxpayers' Money and Not Enforcing the Law (or Selectively Enforcing It for the Political Masters)

    What we've been demonstrating or highlighting so far this year is a defunct system of accountability, wherein the government officials and their associates are essentially above the law; can they endure the negative press that entails?

  11. GNU/Linux Decade in India: From 1.5% to 13.5%

    The world's largest population is quick to move away from Windows; not many adopt Apple (Indians don't care for overpriced junk), so GNU/Linux is growing fast

  12. IRC Proceedings: Thursday, June 08, 2023

    IRC logs for Thursday, June 08, 2023

  13. Links 09/06/2023: Microsoft's 'Online' ("Clown"/OneDrive) Storage Goes Down Again, Files Cannot be Reached

    Links for the day

  14. What Will Happen After All Major News Sites Die Isn't Pretty

    With webspam, chaff, sponsored puff pieces and worse things being presented as "the news" we're running out of actual purpose for the World Wide Web

  15. HMRC 3 Weeks Later: No Action, Same as 'Action Fraud' (Your Tax Money 'at Work')

    When people need police enforcement against a crime it turns out that police is “MIA” (missing in action); it might matter that Sirius worked with the British government, so there’s a reduced incentive to affirm crimes were committed and then arrest the perpetrators

  16. Links 08/06/2023: Istio 1.18 and FreeIPMI 1.6.11

    Links for the day

  17. Gemini Links 08/06/2023: Sourcehut, Gemini Identity, and BBS Comments on Cosmos

    Links for the day

  18. IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, June 07, 2023

    IRC logs for Wednesday, June 07, 2023

  19. The Need to Evolve on the Internet

    Tux Machines is one year away from its twentieth birthday and its increased focus on protocols aside from HTTP/S is paying off; Tux Machines also weaned itself off all social control media, including Mastodon and Diaspora (they're not the future, they're the past)

  20. EPO Management is Still Bullying the Staff (While Breaking the Law and Violating the European Patent Convention)

    Overloaded or overworked EPO workers are complaining about further deterioration at the workplace and their representatives say "this management style may well contribute to feelings of disengagement, depression, or even burn-out"

  21. His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Not Responding After 20 Days (Well-Founded Report of Tax Fraud) and British Police Pretending Not to Exist

    The crimes of Sirius ‘Open Source’ have helped unearth a profound problem in the British law enforcement authorities; What good is a monopolistic taxman (called after the British Monarchy even in 2023) that cannot assess its own tax abuses? Or abuses connected to it via a contractor? Meanwhile, as per what I was told, the police is not responding to my MP and that’s ANOTHER scandal (police not only refusing to act against crimes, committed against many people, but moreover not responding to elected politicians)

  22. Links 08/06/2023: Cinnamon 5.8 and Leap 15.5 Release Mature

    Links for the day

  23. Gemini Links 08/06/2023: Emacs and Thoughts on Bubble

    Links for the day

  24. Links 07/06/2023: Reddit Layoffs and OpenGL 3.1 in Asahi Linux

    Links for the day

  25. Gemini Links 07/06/2023: Jukka Charting Geminispace

    Links for the day

  26. IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, June 06, 2023

    IRC logs for Tuesday, June 06, 2023

  27. NOW LIVE: Working for the Public — Universities, Software and Freedom - a Talk by Richard Stallman at Università di Pisa (Italy)

    As noted a few hours ago, Richard Stallman is delivering a talk at Università di Pisa this morning

  28. Richard Stallman's Talk is in Two Hours and There's a BigBlueButton Livestream

    Dr. Stallman is in Italy to give talks at universities this week; he will soon give a live talk, accessible in his site or directly at the source

  29. Links 06/06/2023: Angie 1.2.0, New EasyOS and EndeavourOS Released

    Links for the day

  30. Gemini Links 06/06/2023: OpenKuBSD, GrapheneOS, and More

    Links for the day

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