Bonum Certa Men Certa

Links 31/7/2015: Lennart Poettering as 'Linux Hero' and systemd Conference Coming





GNOME bluefish

Contents





GNU/Linux



Free Software/Open Source



  • Accuvant researchers to release open source RFID access tool
    Security researchers have long known about the vulnerabilities of the RFID readers that many buildings use instead of door locks, but facilities managers have been slow to upgrade to more secure systems.

    To draw attention to the problem, at next week's Black Hat conference, Accuvant researchers will be releasing an open source piece of hardware that can be used to circumvent these readers.


  • VA Secretary: Open source is the only way to operate
    Veterans Affairs Department Secretary Bob McDonald voiced his support for open source technology July 30, as he outlined a broad reform plan that includes streamlining information technology and taking a more "holistic" look at customer service.

    "We have over 200 databases with customer information. That means if you want to change your address, you have to go to at least nine places to change your address at VA," said McDonald during a morning keynote July 30 at a conference in Bethesda, Md.


  • OpenDaylight Project Picks Up Steam


  • Kim Dotcom to create Wikimedia-style open source Mega 3.0
    Dotcom's first file locker, Megaupload, saw him accused of knowingly hosting, and indeed encouraging the upload and distribution of, stolen films and music. From his new home in New Zealand, he's fought a long legal battle on numerous fronts, fending off extradition attempts, accusing kiwi authorities of working without warrants end even trying, and failing miserably, to promote a political part .


  • Databases



  • Oracle/Java/LibreOffice



  • CMS



    • Dummy projects for new Drupal hires
      Lakhani's current role involves promoting the use of applications like Drupal, WordPress, Magento, and Redline through free tools and services. But, this Denver-based executive's experience shows most in forming the global, distributed team of developers and support staff inherent to success.




  • BSD



    • from distribution to project
      OpenBSD is going through something of a minimalist phase right now, but that wasn’t always the case. There was definitely an era of aggressive importation as well. Times change, priorities change, projects change. I wasn’t involved with OpenBSD during the early years, but I think I can explain the shift in attitudes. This is part three of an apparently ongoing series that started with Pruning and Polishing and out with the old, in with the less.


    • sashan@ on SMP pf progress
      One of our new developers, Alexandr Nedvedicky (sashan@), writes in to tell us about his trip to the lovely locale of Calgary for c2k15.




  • Public Services/Government



    • Open source part of Bulgarian eGovernment tender requirements
      The Bulgarian government has added open source as a requirement to its 'Preliminary criteria for the eligibility of eGovernment projects'.


    • IT trade groups protest Slovak licence deal
      Two IT trade associations in the Slovak Republic are objecting the renewal of a proprietary software licence contract negotiated by the country’s Ministry of Finance for all government organisations. Instead of continuing to rely on proprietary office suites, the groups want the Slovakian government to explore a transition to open source alternatives.




  • Standards/Consortia



    • WEBINAR - A standard that is not managed is not a standard
      Through their brief webinar Marijke and Marco will share with the audience how the Dutch Government is promoting the adoption of open standards through BOMOS, a method (initiated by Dr. Erwin Folmer, TNO with contribution from Marijke) which describes how to maintain and manage open standards.






Leftovers



  • Security



    • Tuesday's security updates


    • Security updates for Wednesday


    • Security updates for Thursday


    • Remote code execution via serialized data
      Serialization and, more importantly, deserialization of data is unsafe due to the simple fact that the data being processed is trusted implicitly as being “correct.” So if you’re taking data such as program variables from a non trusted source you’re making it possible for an attacker to control program flow. Additionally many programming languages now support serialization of not just data (e.g. strings, arrays, etc.) but also of code objects. For example with Python pickle() you can actually serialize user defined classes, you can take a section of code, ship it to a remote system, and it is executed there.


    • To exec or transition that is the question...


    • CIL – Part1: Faster SELinux policy (re)build


    • FCC Rules Block use of Open Source
      The United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has introduced ‘software security requirements’ obliging WiFi device manufacturers to “ensure that only properly authenticated software is loaded and operating the device”. The document specifically calls out the DD-WRT open source router project, but clearly also applies to other popular distributions such as OpenWRT. This could become an early battle in ‘The war on general purpose computing’ as many smartphones and Internet of Things devices contain WiFi router capabilities that would be covered by the same rules.


    • Hacked Jeep Cherokee Exposes Weak Underbelly of High-Tech Cars
      The Jeep Cherokee brought to a halt by hackers last week exposed wireless networks as the weakest link in high-tech vehicles, underscoring the need to find fast over-the-air fixes to block malicious intrusions.

      Features that buyers now expect in most modern automobiles, such as driving directions and restaurant guides, count on a constant connection to a telecommunications network. But that link also makes cars vulnerable to security invasions like those that threaten computers in homes and businesses.




  • Censorship



    • David Cameron wants to block non-age verifiying porn sites
      PRIME MINISTER David Cameron is looking to ensure that adult websites, the sort that MPs like, will abide by age verification standards and make sure that fumbling punters are of adult age.

      Cameron has a thing about these sites, as does a huge chunk of Westminster, and would like to see adult content subjected to bondage and inspection. He would like to give it a firm political going over and a good legislative seeing to. He wants to take it in hand.




  • Civil Rights



  • Internet/Net Neutrality



    • FCC has already gotten 2,000 “net neutrality” complaints
      The Federal Communications Commission received about 2,000 net neutrality complaints from consumers over a one-month period, according to a National Journal article today. The overarching theme of the complaints is that customers are fed up with their Internet service providers, often due to slow speeds, high prices, and data caps. In a sampling of 60 complaints, the most frequent targets were AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon.






Recent Techrights' Posts

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
'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
More IBM Layoffs in India
If IBM cannot afford to retain workers in India, then something is truly "out of control" at IBM
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
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
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
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
 
IBM is a Cancer That Attaches Itself to Everything
Red Hat should have remained an independent company
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
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
Escaping GAFAM Colonialism Requires Homegrown Free Software
GNU/Linux now measured at 3% in Zambia
GNU/Linux at 4% in Saudi Arabia, Says statCounter
Some years ago Windows fell to a "market share" of just 11% there
Links 09/01/2026: Cambodia and China Extradition, "NATO’s High-risk Patrols Near Ukraine"
Links for the day
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
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
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) Looking to Add Associate Members
"Celebrate '26 by helping us reach our New Year's goal before Jan. 16: join as an associate member today. You will help the FSF remain strong and independent to empower technology users everywhere. Join us today and help us reach our goal of 100 new associate members!"
Only Google is Still Spreading Lots of Slopfarms' Fake News and Plagiarism About Linux
2 days' worth of Google News spewing crap out about "Linux"
Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) Formally Announces Upcoming Richard Stallman Talk
Room 100, Scheller College of Business
Links 07/01/2026: Europe's 'Binding Commitments' on Ukraine's Security, "Venezuelan Leaders Project Independence"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 07/01/2026: Smart Toaster and Social Control Media Fatigue
Links for the day
Projection Tactics - Part II: Causing "Serious Harm" to Many People (Even Animals)
Narcissists and sociopaths are like that
Even Microsofters Now Speak About Microsoft Reportedly Planning to Sack 10% of Its Staff (as Early as This Month, or 2 Weeks From Now) as Real Income Falls
Microsoft buying from Microsoft isn't real income, it is accounting fraud
The four freedoms and GNU/Linux naming controversy, by Akira Urushibata
Social control media owned and run by 'broligarchs' keeps attacking RMS for insisting on names that include GNU
Crans-Montana, Le Constellation: journalists, victims' families, ProtonMail users at risk, police raids
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
GNU/Linux Reaches All-Time High in Tanzania
This month (and year) GNU/Linux is measured at an all-time high there, based on the data that statCounter can see
Open Source Initiative (OSI) Not Doing Its Job, Instead It's Promoting Microsoft Ponzi Schemes
it participates in Microsoft's Ponzi scheme, which helps Microsoft distract from or excuse the mass layoffs
Links 07/01/2026: Microsoft ChatGPT Killing People and Microsoft "Github monopoly is destroying the open source ecosystem"
Links for the day
The Register MS: Installing Free Software on Your Device is 'Sideloading'
This is a form of propaganda
Mass Layoffs in Microsoft's XBox Soon, Just Like We've Said for Months
IBM and Microsoft are heading in a similar trajectory and are hiding how bad things are using similar tactics
Mozilla's Assisted Suicide, Assisted by GNOME
Firefox is meant to get better all the time, but instead it gets worse
Now It's a Mainstream Media (MSM) Story: Microsoft Layoffs Coming, They'll be Vast (and They Blame "AI", As Usual!)
the books were cooked (accounting fraud) to hide what really went on
Frankly Getting Sick of Slop About "AI" (Slop)
Calling everything out there "AI" serves nobody and nothing but the Ponzi scheme
Stick to the Science, the Facts, the Observable Reality
Science is at the heart of this site
Africa's Search Market Has Been Unfavourable to Microsoft
In Africa, as we've just noticed, Bing is moving down, even more sharply this year
Slideshare is Slop
Be sure fools will rewrite history online
Gemini Links 07/01/2026: Looking at 2026, Linux Anti-Minimalism, Diode Function Generators, and Inkscape
Links for the day
Projection Tactics - Part I: What is "Serious Harm"? Or Whose?
the most serious harm was done to us
Links 07/01/2026: More Signs XBox the Console is Dead/Dying, Convicted Felon Repeats Threats of Greenland Annexation
Links for the day
EPO People Power - Part XXVII - Science- and Principles-First Journalism About Issues That Matter
journalism became so shallow that nowadays it can be replaced by bots
Media Gaslighting Dooms the Media
this "AI" gaslighting is done because publishers get paid to do so
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, January 06, 2026
IRC logs for Tuesday, January 06, 2026