06.01.23
Posted in Free/Libre Software, GNU/Linux at 1:45 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Tux Machines recently joined millions of others who had already quit Twitter, including passive posting (fully or partly automated)
As noted here some days ago, Tux Machines had officially left Twitter. Now we’re decommissioning what’s left and invite others to quit similarly. Tux Machines actually exited all forms of social control media as they’re volatile and generally a waste of time, never mind many inherent issues, especially for people who actively “engage” there. In fact, “momentum” is never a good excuse for anything, let alone staying in such nefarious sites…
Tux Machines was there for 12 years and now it’s the end.
A last reminder to leave:
Before deletion/deprecation, a local copy:
With updates stopping around the middle of May, the impact on visibility can be seen.
Nothing of value lost. █
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05.30.23
Posted in Deception, Free/Libre Software, FSF, GNU/Linux at 12:57 am by Guest Editorial Team
2 days ago (earlier this month an RSS feed was added for the updates page):
Summary: A new and more detailed explanation of what the wordplay around “pleasure card” actually meant
The dichotomy of “business vs. pleasure” is well known. Given Stallman’s inclination to play with words and even change the name of things to either oppose or mock established concepts, we believe that’s one reason why he chose to call it a “pleasure card” instead of the conventional “business card.” And if we look at his lifelong activism for software freedom and other human rights, a second obvious reason is that he has never thought of making money as a main purpose of his life.
Handing out cards to those we wish to keep in contact with is normal and a better practice than asking for people’s phone number or email address. It’s better because it avoids pressuring the receiver. Traditionally, a man asked a woman how to contact her, which could make her feel pressured. Stallman avoids that. In case a woman is not interested in further conversations, she can reject the card, take it and throw it away, or chose to never phone or email him.
However, what some people complain about is not that Stallman hands out this card or how he calls it, it’s the wording in it. That wording is the result of Stallman’s inclination to playfulness. It’s recursive humor, something that hackers like. It’s recursive in that it is an example of what the card itself says: “unusual sense of humour.”
Even though Stallman hands out these cards to men and women alike, some women take it as highly offensive, to the point of describing it as “sexual harassment.” For the sake of advancing sensible thinking, intellectual honesty, and fairness towards victims of real sexual harassment, let’s stop hyperbolizing and recognize that it’s not anything near “sexual harassment.”
We don’t know which precise words some women find offensive. We suspect it could be the expression “tender embraces” and/or the word “exotic.” There is a wave a new puritans who seem to think that it is disgusting for people to admit they wish to find a romantic relationship, except perhaps when hidden in some dating website or app.
A “tender embrace” is a hug which expresses a feeling of warmth and caring, it does not normally refer to sex. With the level of exaggeration fueled by the new puritans we are witnessing these days, one cannot avoid wondering: if Stallman had started the Free Hugs Campaign, would he be accused of “sexual harassment” for that as well?
As for “exotic,” Stallman uses the word as a qualifier for music and dance. If we look at Stallman’s preferences in these two fields, we can see that most—if not all—of the music and dance he likes is foreign and mostly unknown in the U.S., which fits the dictionary definition: “From another part of the world.”
Margarita Lacabe, a not sexual girlfriend of Stallman’s from the 80s, gives testimony of how he would share his music with her and dance: “He had me over to his place to listen to Indonesian music (or something of the sort), while he danced…”
Fortunately though, not all women feel that Stallman’s cards are “meant to be sexual come ons.” Some even appreciate the sense of humor in them.
Here’s an ironic meme depicting the dangers of the card, and Richard Stallman dancing with a robot in his Bulgarian custom at MIT in the 70s. (Source)
And here is Stallman again performing a traditional dance with a member of the Yale Political Union who doesn’t look to have taken offense. (Source). █
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05.24.23
Posted in Deception, GNU/Linux, IBM, Microsoft, Red Hat at 10:20 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Related: SiliconANGLE is Selling Coverage (Fake ‘Journalism’)
Earlier this week: IBM Loves Microsoft*
Yesterday: The transformational journey of Microsoft and Red Hat: A commitment to open source and cloud technologies (openwashing and “clown”-washing of mass surveillance or imperialism through systemic outsourcing)
A huge proportion of articles and videos in that site are sponsored by the company/ies this coverage is about and sometimes they even disclose this, albeit only at the very bottom (in small fonts). This is no exception:
Summary: SiliconANGLE insists that paying SiliconANGLE money for coverage does not lead to bias, but every sane person who keeps abreast of SiliconANGLE — and I read their entire feed every day — knows that it’s a ludicrous lie (Red Hat/IBM and the Linux Foundation also buy puff pieces and “event coverage” from SiliconANGLE, so it’s marketing disguised as “journalism”
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* As a GNU developer put it in a message to me, “IBM not only loves Microsoft, they might secretly be married! 
Since 2019, I surmised that the Microsoft-led plan is to squash the Free Software Movement and the FSF in order to make the Linux Foundation the centre of FLOSS. That way, Bill [Gates] and company will have complete control. I also believe that the 2019 attacks to remove RMS from the FSF were already in tow when they found opportunity in RMS’ email concerning Epstein and Minsky. What RMS needs is a board that understands the dynamics of management and marketing as well as being strategically savvy in the game of mega corporate power play. People who can’t be bought.”
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05.22.23
Posted in GNU/Linux, IBM, Red Hat at 12:59 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: This recent video covers Fedora and how IBM sabotages the community
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05.19.23
Posted in America, GNU/Linux, Microsoft, Windows at 7:04 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: This month’s numbers show another shark drop for Windows; GNU/Linux + ChromeOS (based on Gentoo) rose to over 5.5% in Canada, where many schools ditched Windows
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05.17.23
Posted in GNU/Linux, Microsoft, Windows at 8:31 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: CNX Software is still shilling a bunch of Microsoft and Windows products sometimes; it’s because of money
THE tragic story of Phoronix aside, yesterday we noticed this article from an author who said: “GEEKOM sent us a sample of the AS 6 mini PC with [...] the pre-installed Windows 11″ (not the first time).
“Due to greed, GNU/Linux sites and their audiences are exposed to promotion of the competition.”We gave more examples of this (about four articles in the past) regarding the same site.
A day later they did it again. Promoting Windows products for gifts (“review” units)?
This saddening trend is hurtful. Due to greed, GNU/Linux sites and their audiences are exposed to promotion of the competition. I exchanged some E-mail with the editor of the above site earlier this month. To be fair, it was a lot worse last year [1, 2]. But the problem remains largely unsolved.
Phoronix is even worse, but an issue for another day… █
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05.15.23
Posted in GNU/Linux, Videos at 9:29 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Published just over a day ago
Summary: Fairly accurate history as told by ForrestKnight on Sunday
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05.12.23
Posted in GNU/Linux, Microsoft, Windows at 9:16 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: According to these latest numbers, Windows is down to 27% and GNU/Linux is up by a lot (maybe owing to some data anomalies, but still interesting)
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