Bonum Certa Men Certa

Over at Tux Machines...

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Dec 18, 2025

Cormorant with wings spread

Updated This Past Day

  1. New Low for Microsoft Windows in Slovakia [original]
    Windows falling to all-time lows
  2. Firefox DRM: Proprietary Software Downloaded, How Long Before the "AI" Company (Mozilla) Puts It There by Default? [original]
    The same old name/brand/logo, albeit not the same product
  3. Bulgaria: Windows Sank to All-Time Low, GNU/Linux Surged to 12% [original]
    the total number of GNU/Linux users observed there is about 2.5 times smaller than Vista 11 users
  4. Keeping Things Simple [original]
    The more bloated and complex something becomes, the more it should be considered worth avoiding
  5. Firefox and Mozilla Commit Suicide With Slop
    really bad
  6. MidnightBSD 4.0 Release Notes
    "I’m happy to announce the availability of MidnightBSD 4.0 for amd64 and i386"
  7. GNU/Linux Near 5% in Bangladesh, Land With Nearly 200 Million People [original]
    Of course this is becoming a huge problem for Microsoft
  8. Tux Machines Becoming a Lot More Productive [original]
    We reckon we can produce a dozen a day if we can fully focus on what matters

    New

  9. Security Leftovers
    only a few more for now
  10. today's howtos
    only 3 more for now
  11. FreeBSD 15.0-RELEASE on a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W and Year of Advocacy, Community, and Growth
    FreeBSD news
  12. Open Hardware/Modding: RISC-V, ESP32, HealthyPi
    hardware leftovers
  13. GNU/Linux and BSD Leftovers
    mostly GNU/Linux for today
  14. WordPress wants to force AI onto 43% of all websites in the world
    Content Management Systems (CMS) gone rogue
  15. Programming Leftovers
    Python, Rust, and Ruby
  16. Security Leftovers
    Security patches, incidents, news
  17. Tor Browser, Mozilla "Dinosaur", and More
    Firefox and related news
  18. Events/Audiocasts/Shows: Kodsnack, LibreOffice, and Linux Plumbers Conference
    4 new picks
  19. Updates From Debian/Freexian Collaborators
    3 new updates
  20. Open Hardware/Modding: MicroPython, Raspberry Pi, and More
    Hardware leftovers
  21. Fedora Pivots to Slop (Bad News), IBM Buys Chatbot Nonsense, Red Hat Promotes Ansible
    Red Hat news/noise
  22. Android Leftovers
    Android will let you disable Wi-Fi sharing on multi-profile devices
  23. Standards/Consortia: "D-Bus is a disgrace to the Linux desktop"; State of HTML 2025
    rants and raves
  24. Mabox Linux 25.12 Released With Panel Improvements and GTK2 Removal
    Manjaro-based Mabox Linux 25.12 introduces panel and menu improvements
  25. Programming Leftovers
    Development picks
  26. Rhino Linux 2025.4 Brings Lomiri Packages and Updated Kernels
    Rhino Linux 2025.4 introduces new Lomiri packages
  27. After Decades, Linux Finally Gains Stable GPIB Support
    The GPIB is a short-range 8-bit, multi-master interface bus that was standardized as IEEE 488
  28. There's no such thing as a beginner Linux distro (and there never will be)
    I can't count how many times I've seen articles titled "The X Best Linux Distros for Beginners" or some variation on that theme
  29. I've tried nearly every Linux package manager - these remain my favorite
    I've used Linux for decades
  30. The 5 best Linux apps for students
    So, you've decided to use Linux for your studies
  31. Open Hardware/Modding: Raspberry Pi, Framework Desktop, and More
    Devices and Linux
  32. Games: Vampire Crawlers, Tingus Goose, and More
    mostly from GamingOnLinux
  33. Free and Open Source Software, and Review
    This is free and open source software
  34. Parrot OS Switches to KDE Plasma Desktop
    Yet another distro is making the move to the KDE Plasma desktop
  35. Automotive Grade Linux Business Intelligence Journey: Introduction
    Coming from the open source world, we are naturally used to showcasing what we do in the open
  36. Microsoft Windows May Have Fallen Below 3% "market Share" in Sudan
    Perhaps many "Windows PCs" became GNU/Linux and most new purchases are Android devices, i.e. Linux
  37. How Free Software Probably Improves Physical and Mental Health [original]
    That brings us to Free software
  38. Today in Techrights
    Some of the latest articles
  39. Another Year Goes By... [original]
    We're in good hands and very robust as a platform
  40. Security Leftovers
    Security related picks
  41. today's leftovers
    with focus on Free, Libre, and Open Source Software
  42. Audiocasts/Shows: Destination Linux and What’s in the SOSS?
    2 new episodes
  43. Plasma 6.5 review - Solid improvements, destination unknown
    several dubious ergonomic choices, improved Wayland behavior and performance
  44. today's howtos
    many howtos for today
  45. Red Hat, Fedora, and Vojtux
    4 links from/about Red Hat
    The corresponding text-only bulletin for Wednesday contains all the text.

    Top-read articles (excluding bot/crawler visits):

    Span from 2025-12-11 to 2025-12-17
    1290 /n/2023/08/29/rianne_fifth_blog_post.shtml
    990 /n/2025/12/12/Pop_OS_24_04_LTS_Released_A_Letter_From_Our_Founder.shtml
    984 /index.shtml

Other Recent Techrights' Posts

IBM Effect at Confluent: Mass Layoffs and IBM's Business Conduct Guidelines (BCGs) Said to be Violated
For Confluent employees who survived the layoffs there will be "culture chock"
Estimates That IBM to Lay Off Close to 10,000 Workers in 2026 (Not Counting People Pushed Out)
There's still chatter about Confluent mass layoffs
 
People Who Decided to Boycott Novell Over Its Microsoft Alliance Should Also Boycott Canonical
As an associate put it, "selling out further, due to Microsoft moles inside Canonical"
Links 19/03/2026: "AI Glasses" as Euphemism for Mass Surveillance and ABC (US) Has Begun Publishing Slop as 'News'
Links for the day
The European Patent Office, Europe's Second-Largest Institution, is on Strike Today
Lots more to come
What People Impacted by the Bluewashing Layoffs at IBM Confluent Say (While the Media Says Nothing at All, in Effect Burying the News)
Worse yet, the mainstream media spreads lies about it right now
IBM Has Turned Red Hat and Fedora Into Slop
This is IBM policy
IBM is Being Robbed, Companies and Jobs Are Destroyed
Companies taken over by IBM will be exploited and destroyed to keep a bubble inflated for a little while longer
In Confluent Layoffs, IBM Vapourises a Quarter of Its Workforce (IBM Buys Something That It Destroys Already)
In the past, such things were typically referred to as "media blackout"; now it's just "the norm".
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, March 18, 2026
IRC logs for Wednesday, March 18, 2026
Links 19/03/2026: LLM Fatigue (It Doesn't Work as Advertised), "Small Web Feeds"
Links for the day
SLAPP Censorship - Part 15 Out of 200: Background and Particulars of Truth Regarding Techrights and Tux Machines
the basic facts (this has aged well, except the times/ages/numbers)
A Slopfarms Survey for Today (linuxteck.com, linuxsecurity.com, linuxjournal.com)
Not only did Google news link to a slopfarm; it linked to three run by the same team!
Links 18/03/2026: "Venture Capitalist Warns That It’s All About to Come Crashing Down" Due to Slop Bubble, "Birdwatching for Fun and no Profit"
Links for the day
IBM Red Hat is Still Promoting Restricted Boot Which Restricts Users' Control Over Their Computers
Red Hat under IBM is a total catastrophe
Arvind Says... Something Something "Hey Hi" (the State of Today's Media)
Look for news about IBM and most likely it'll boil down to some sound bites from an executive and nothing else
New Post Has Just Explained How IBM Gets Robbed by the People Who Fail IBM
Their plan for IBM is a personal plan
Slop-Spewing GAFAM LLM That Knows Nothing and Understands Nothing, It's a Stochastic Parrot That Cannot Even Figure Out Tux Machines is a Community That Started in Tennessee 22 Years Ago
RMS rightly calls those things "bullshit generators"
Cusdeb Makes New Presentation About Where GNU Hurd (Still a Possible Linux Replacement) Stands in 2026
coming from a generally RMS-friendly account
Gemini Links 18/03/2026: Librarians, Phone Anxiety, Growing 'Small' Net, and Slop Versus Software Engineering
Links for the day
Smug Threat by Garrett to Put My Family and I in Prison Doesn't Prove We Did Anything Wrong, It Only Proves He's Truly Desperate to Stop Further Publications That Embarrass Him
his reputation is poor in the United States
systemd Increasingly Microsoft Project, Controlled by Microsoft and Slopware
Cannot allow choice
What IBM Meant to Red Hat: "Proprietary Bundling, Restricted Source Access"
Anyone or anything that joins IBM likely shortens its lifespan
IBM Thrashing Confluent Upon Arrival, Based on Rumours
We deem it a bigger issue that investigative journalism perished, not that one must rely on hearsay online or mere "rumours"
Slop Is Plagiarism, Not (Vibe) Coding, and It's Not Automated, It Doesn't Save Money
Reject misnomers, explain what's actually happening
UPC is Still Illegal and Unconstitutional (Kangaroo Court for Patents, Manned by Corporate Staff), Federal Court of Justice of Germany Receives Belated Complaint About It
What is happening to Europe???
EPO Demonstration Happening Right Now, Later This Week Things Will Only Escalate Further
The SUEPO The Hague Committee wrote to staff this morning
Sophie Brun, Raphael Hertzog & Debian sexual conflicts of interest
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 18/03/2026: Commodore's Hedley Davis Dies, Apple Not Good Enough, Cheeto "Floats Treason Charges for Iran War Coverage"
Links for the day
A Step Close to Shutting Down the European Patent Office (EPO)
Not going to work all month long
EPO Staff Demonstration Today
The demonstration will be live-streamed for those thousands of colleagues who don't live in Munich
Gemini Links 18/03/2026: Brazilian SYN Attacks and BGP
Links for the day
LibreLocal Also Coming to Jordan, Kenya, Mexico, New Zealand, and Spain
It helps raise awareness of Software Freedom
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, March 17, 2026
IRC logs for Tuesday, March 17, 2026
Microsofters' SLAPP Censorship - Part 14 Out of 200: Men Who Strangle Women (and Worse) Trying to Force Us to Write Public Apologies to These Men
For those who never before saw a SLAPP, they basically make many demands
Instant Bluewashing at Confluent: Mass Layoffs Alleged at IBM
So the main question is, did IBM just fire 800 people?
"Vibe-forking" and Why It'll Ultimately Fail (Hype on Top of Hype)
Code made with LLMs sucks; converting solid, human-tested code into slop only complicates matters and increases risk
Updates About Richard Stallman's Free Software Foundation
After all those years (a decade) and in spite of phony scandals many people out there still respect him
LLM Slop With "Linux" in the Domain Names
This is becoming a pain and a problem also in the arts and in software engineering
The EFF Has a Bug, Fixing This Bug is Likely Not Possible Anymore
"the EFF's continued existence impairs the arrival of a replacement organization, one which will actually champion digital rights."
Links 17/03/2026: Microsoft Windows Broken by Samsung, Afghanistan-Pakistan War Escalation
Links for the day
Gemini Links 17/03/2026: Newcomers and False-Positive 'Slop'
Links for the day
Héctor Orón Martínez & Debian shadow candidate pressure on Sruthi Chandran
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 17/03/2026: American Fentanylware (TikTok) Investors Implicated in Kickbacks, "Big Oil Knew It Was Wrecking Louisiana’s Coast"
Links for the day
For Third Time in a Week The Register MS Runs Google SPAM That Paints Google as an Ally of Women (Which is False, They're Womanisers)
What does that make The Register MS to women?
British Justice Minister Sarah Sackman Blasts Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)
The "legal industry" is due for "some reckoning"
GAFAM Deprecating Old Videos ("Content") by Removing the Support for Their Format for No Good Reason
"Security" is not a valid excuse
Credit/Debit Cards Have Long Been Called Plastics, Over Time They're Becoming More Like Pure Plastics
They cost less than a dollar to manufacture
The European Patent Office (EPO) Holds a Public Demonstration Tomorrow and It'll be Live-streamed
The EPO's workforce was meant to be capable of speaking many languages and have extensive experience in the sciences
People Who Attacked Techrights Also Attacked My Mother
Picking on old ladies because you don't like Free software advocates is never OK
Little Community Element Left in CentOS
CentOS, unlike Fedora, was meant to be long supported and solid
Social Control Media is Cancel Culture (Companies Like Facebook Also Punish/Ban Accounts for Mentioning "Linux" and Lobby for Anti-Linux Legislation)
The masters of Social Control Media decide what ideas can and cannot be expressed
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 16, 2026
IRC logs for Monday, March 16, 2026