Bonum Certa Men Certa

'Journalism' in 2020: Far More Articles About What Computer Linus Torvalds Bought Than About Linux Releases

Journalista non grata and ad hominem (missing the true story to just sell ads and cause unnecessary drama), nothing about the technical project

Torvalds article in Techradar



Torvalds article in Phoronix



Torvalds article in BetaNews



Torvalds article in Slashdot



Torvalds article in The Register



Summary: Yesterday's (or late Sunday's) Linux announcement (RC7) is symptomatic of a broader issue we've long spoken about; it restricts people's ability to express an opinion, which can cloud any meritorious and substantial debate about technical matters journalists cannot grasp or comment on (it takes more effort and research)

BY MY count, having observed the news closely for about 17 years, the level of news coverage speaks for itself. Yesterday and today (assuming it is still Monday) was no exception.



Not a single news site covered the seventh RC of Linux 5.7, but there were several discussions, articles, massive comment threads etc. focusing on some rather minor detail about Torvalds getting a new PC with a different processor on the motherboard.

"This is what we've come to expect from an increasingly shallow society that doesn't like the F word (freedom) or any serious technical discussion (instead it's about brands and "apps")."In an interview dated about a decade ago Torvalds frankly and candidly complained about the media taking something small he said, then making massive story out of it, just like we're seeing him portrayed as "rude", with massive phony scandals spiraling out of control because of the tone of some E-mail message he sent in a rush (maybe not paying sufficiently close/careful attention to loss of communication nuance in writing; maybe just a little moody at that moment) instead of technical details. Linux is a technical project, but the media is reduced to little but an extension of the marketing industry, where so-called 'journalists' tend to lack the technical knowledge required to grasp programming, kernel science etc. So it becomes about personalities and brands (like "AMD"). For those who wish to see all the articles we've found (and will find; the page is updated regularly), have a look here (similar to what we have in Daily Links but restricted to one theme/topic).

If the technology sector suffers from bad "tech press", perhaps it's stuff like this...

LWN, to its credit, still does very good technical journalism. Of course it wrote about the release of the software (Linux 5.7 RC7) and did not obsess over 'gossip'. The standards are higher in LWN.

In a similar vein, Dr. Stallman (RMS) can deliver a good 2-hour talk about the importance of software freedom and then someone will wind up obsessing over something like his beard. This is what we've come to expect from an increasingly shallow society that doesn't like the F word (freedom) or any serious technical discussion (instead it's about brands and "apps").

Recent Techrights' Posts

IRC Proceedings: Thursday, May 02, 2024
IRC logs for Thursday, May 02, 2024
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
Jonathan Carter & Debian: fascism hiding in broad daylight
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Gunnar Wolf & Debian: fascism, anti-semitism and crucifixion
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Links 01/05/2024: Take-Two Interactive Layoffs and Post Office (Horizon System, Proprietary) Scandal Not Over
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, May 01, 2024
IRC logs for Wednesday, May 01, 2024
Embrace, Extend, Replace the Original (Or Just Hijack the Word 'Sudo')
First comment? A Microsoft employee
Gemini Links 02/05/2024: Firewall Rules Etiquette and Self Host All The Things
Links for the day
Red Hat/IBM Crybullies, GNOME Foundation Bankruptcy, and Microsoft Moles (Operatives) Inside Debian
reminder of the dangers of Microsoft moles inside Debian
PsyOps 007: Paul Tagliamonte wanted Debian Press Team to have license to kill
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
IBM Culling Workers or Pushing Them Out (So That It's Not Framed as Layoffs), Red Hat Mentioned Repeatedly Only Hours Ago
We all know what "reorg" means in the C-suite
IBM Raleigh Layoffs (Home of Red Hat)
The former CEO left the company exactly a month ago
Paul R. Tagliamonte, the Pentagon and backstabbing Jacob Appelbaum, part B
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Links 01/05/2024: Surveillance and Hadopi, Russia Clones Wikipedia
Links for the day
Links 01/05/2024: FCC Takes on Illegal Data Sharing, Google Layoffs Expand
Links for the day
Links 01/05/2024: Calendaring, Spring Idleness, and Ads
Links for the day
Paul Tagliamonte & Debian: White House, Pentagon, USDS and anti-RMS mob ringleader
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Jacob Appelbaum character assassination was pushed from the White House
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Why We Revisit the Jacob Appelbaum Story (Demonised and Punished Behind the Scenes by Pentagon Contractor Inside Debian)
If people who got raped are reporting to Twitter instead of reporting to cops, then there's something deeply flawed
Free Software Foundation Subpoenaed by Serial GPL Infringers
These attacks on software freedom are subsidised by serial GPL infringers
Red Hat's Official Web Site is Promoting Microsoft
we're seeing similar things at Canonical's Ubuntu.com
Enrico Zini & Debian: falsified harassment claims
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
European Parliament Elections 2024: Daniel Pocock Running as an Independent Candidate
I became aware that Daniel Pocock had decided to enter politics
Publicly Posting in Social Control Media About Oneself Makes It Public Information
sheer hypocrisy on privacy is evident in the Debian mailing lists
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, April 30, 2024
IRC logs for Tuesday, April 30, 2024