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Techrights and Modularity

The downtime was not scheduled; but it was long needed

Techrights in limited mode



Summary: Why the Web site was down most of yesterday and why we focus only on a particular set of key topics, which we've assessed closely for many years

LAST night we rebooted the site's hypervisor for the first time in over 500 days, i.e. since the site's epoch on this server. Software updates and upgrades were applied and it now run the latest Linux kernel. It's Alpine Linux by the way. We also set up a container for the databases (Techright has three) and distanced it from the main site, which will also be moved to a container some time soon. With automatic/unattended updates we hope to enhance security; performance is already improved as abstraction layers are changed and components separated. Downtime should be reduced. Some time later this month we may also add "https" (TLS) support -- something which was hard to do over the years because the CentOS version we use lacks some key packages, which would be risky to install forcibly.



"It helps to have some redundancy and modularity."The long downtime yesterday was not planned; but since we've long encountered reliability issues -- partly if not mostly due to lack of disk space -- the migration was well overdue. We planned to do it this past Christmas, but instead it got done on Easter (Sunday). We'll do further work later this week, so more maintenance-related downtime will be very likely (we can't tell the exact time). In case the site is down, the latest articles (with up to 3-hour time gaps) can be found here. Better to have a mirror than nothing at all, right? This mirror is under our control (privacy), but it is separated from Techrights. It helps to have some redundancy and modularity.

Interest in our work is growing; over the past month a lot of people have linked to our investigations of Bill Gates (because he's running a PR campaign, piggybacking a pandemic for self-promotional purposes although he's not a doctor, not an expert in that domain and he never even graduated from college). We also received inquiries expressing interest in doing internships with Techrights. The number of people involved with the site continues to grow. Last week the site became unavailable about 10 times, mostly around the middle of the week, due to what seemed like a deliberate sabotage effort or DDOS. We have good defenses in places and intend to improve these later this month with packet-level filtering.

"What's most important is accuracy."Many sites write about the pandemic at the moment; it's estimated that over 90% of news and 'air time' this past month was devoted to COVID; we try not to write too much about it -- not because it's not important but because it's an area already widely-explored. For instance, TechDirt did some good work -- publication on how patents that came from the EPO's favourite fraud were used against COVID tacklers in France. It's like the EPO wants to help COVID spread faster and further. There's also that COVID 'Pledge" (in effect openwashing patents), national exemptions from patents (using emergency provisions) and various other interesting developments that we file under "Monopolies" in our Daily Links. We intend to focus on areas we know best, such as internal affairs of the European Patent Office (EPO) and Software Freedom. We always focus on matters we understand very well as it helps keep our record of accuracy. What's most important is accuracy. We're not COVID experts; we don't rely on cranks with a YouTube channel to explain it to us, either. Heck, we don't trust anything the famous criminal from Microsoft says about it. If he says something that the experts told him, then why don't TV channels invite those experts to be on the air instead? (Clue: those experts don't have the budget to bribe the media, giving it money with strings attached)

As noted hours before the downtime (maybe some readers missed it), in my 'home office' I've settled things. I moved everything to another laptop as my 11-year laptop had died a week beforehand. I probably wrote well over 10,000 posts using that laptop; it wanted to rest in peace and I could no longer salvage it (too many components thoroughly damaged with no pragmatic workaround).

Recent Techrights' Posts

The Register MS is Still Being Paid to Participate in the "AI" Ponzi Scheme Which Will Crash the Economy
The Register MS is hoping to get lucky by tricking people into a scam
Evidence Contradicting Microsoft's Non-Denying Denials and Expectation of Many Layoffs Soon
"Microsoft has had this constant drip of layoffs for months."
At Least 3 Richard Stallman Talks in Europe Confirmed So Far, Next Week in Rome There's Another
Dr. Stallman has not announced this yet
 
TLS 1.3 Dominates Geminispace (99% of Known Capsules)
it's nowadays safe to assume almost every capsule can handle TLS 1.3
Why soylentnews.org Has Been Having Technical Difficulties Lately
The network has been going up and down quite a lot this past week
A Statement Against Violence
The facts are on our side
They've Run Out of Things to Rebrand or Label as "AI"
The next few years will be interesting because if Microsoft lays off tens of thousands of workers each year, there won't be much left except mountains of debt and dying brands
Richard Stallman Confirms His Talk in Göteborg This Coming Friday
"The hosts say that the list will not be given to the state"
Most of the "Linux" Results This Morning in Google News Are LLM Slop From the Same Slopfarm, Plagiarising Phoronix
The main question is, does Google even care at this point?
Gemini Links 07/10/2025: Civil War and "Goodbye Web"
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The "AI Revolution" is Going Very Well, Right?
money that does not exist and alleged potential that is pure fiction
Links 06/10/2025: Scam Altman Himself Admits He Runs a Scam Based on a Bubble, US Administration Adopts “War From Within” Narrative to Crush Opposition/Dissent
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Slopwatch: Fake Ubuntu 'Articles' and Google News Helps People Who Plagiarise Phoronix Using LLMs
Michael Larabel can't possibly be happy about that
6,000 Pages/Articles a Year
Today in one month from now the site turns 19
When Things Become So Ubiquitous That They're Almost Nameless
The notion or the concept of software freedom isn't tied to any particular brand or project, so it should still resonate
IDG Seems to Have Abandoned Sandra Henry Stocker's UNIX/Linux Column
Unless we hear otherwise or see some update/s, this may mark another death blow from IDG
Gemini Links 06/10/2025: Winter Nights and "Virtue Signaling"
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Links 06/10/2025: Scientific Awards and Typhoon Matmo
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IP Kat Gone Bonkers, Pushing Slop in Patents (Likely Illegal, With Severe Consequences)
AstraZenecaKat: "Last time, this Kat covered some practical steps on how to ensure client confidentiality when using AI tools (IPKat)."
Links 06/10/2025: Grokipedia as Malicious Slop, US 'Martial Law' a "New Normal"
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Fake Economics and Clown Computing Circuses
who's gonna pay for these scams?
Nobel Prize in Economics Does Not Exist, It's Propaganda From Sveriges Riksbank
"It is that time of the year when it is important to remind people that there are no Nobel Prizes for professional wrestling, astrology, or economics"
Rust is Eating Linux
That's a recipe for problems
Cindy Cohn (Executive Director of EFF) is a Millionaire, Earned Almost $30,000 Per Month Before Departing While the EFF Lost Money
EFF is "Big Business"
Non-Denying Denial From Microsoft (Again) Regarding the End of XBox Consoles
It's kind of hilarious that even the site chosen by Microsoft to relay its BS, based on past loyalty, isn't quite buying it
Bringing Back Lost Articles From the 1990s: Microsoft Products Leave Door Open to NSA
Nothing has changed since then
When the Slop Bubble Pops People Will Say Richard Stallman Was Right (Again)
What was once known as Computer Science turned into "IT"
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Links 05/10/2025: Slow News Day and Wondering About the Canada Post Walkout
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Gemini Links 05/10/2025: Telnet Debugging and The Programmer’s Brain
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More Than "Just a Rumour": XBox Seems to Have Just Died
At this point, why would any studio out there target or partner with XBox?
How to Tell Your Community, Project or Company is Being Infiltrated by Saboteurs
How to identify nefarious social engineering
The Fortieth Birthday of the FSF Made Us Extremely Happy
It feels like the 'hacker community' is regrouping to discuss things and prepare for the next Big Challenge
Chat Control 2 Them, Not 2 U
Follow the advice of Dr. Patrick Breyer
Mozilla: Throw Away Your "Old" PC and Enable "Digital Rights Management (DRM)"
This is heading in a bad direction
Controlling Our Computing for Another Forty Years
40 years of freedom
Motivational Small Place to Run Large Sites
We deem this scenery motivational and inspiring
Techrights' Text Version (Daily Bulletin) Turns Five This Month
our plain-text bulletins are turning 5 this month
We'll Continue Covering the Moribund OSI and Other Dysfunctional if Not Hostile Institutions
Stefano Maffulli's departure is due to his defection and due to him failing the mission in pursuit of money (his salary)
Microsoft XBox is Dying as More Retailers Stop Stocking It and Massive Layoffs Planned Again
Microsoft is circling down the drain
Links 05/10/2025: Lufthansa Layoffs (4,000) and More Spotify Woes (Aside From Massive Debt)
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The Free Software Foundation's Livestream Has Ended, Video/s Might be Online Next
I've asked whether they'll upload video of some of the event; I still wait for an answer
The Register MS Does Not Know the Difference Between Microsoft GitHub and GitLab
At the time of writing (October 5) the article from "Thu 2 Oct 2025" remains uncorrected
Linux and the Freedom Paradox
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"Bullshit Generators" (What RMS Calls LLMs) and Fake Images Already Target the FSF
Why does Google News promote fake articles about the FSF while omitting all the real ones?
Software Patents as a Bubble
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Links 05/10/2025: Political Leftovers, Climate Change, and Security Incidents
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