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Links 05/02/2023: Pakistan Blocks Wikipedia, Musharraf Dies



  • GNU/Linux

    • Desktop/Laptop

    • Audiocasts/Shows

      • Going LinuxGoing Linux #436 €· Welcome to Linux! Pt7 - How Can Linux Be Free?

        Question: I want to use Linux but it's free and I've heard, "'Free' is not a viable business model." How can I put my trust in a Linux operating system if the developers don't charge for it? Answer: Offering substantial products and services that provide value for free only becomes a financial problem when the developer has no other revenue source to support the free product. Here is how Linux accomplishes that.

        Episode Time Stamps
        00:00 Going Linux #436 €· Welcome to Linux! Pt7 - How Can Linux Be Free?
        02:16 The question: Free isn't a valid business model. How can open source software be provided at no charge?
        04:12 Microsoft's business model
        06:07 Google's business model
        06:32 The Killed By Google list
        07:40 Add-ons and 'crapware' to provide some missing features in Windows
        11:14 Offering free software is not unusual
        11:44 Examples of free Linux distributions backed by businesses with solid revenue models
        14:12 How open source software features are made available for other open source software to adopt
        17:13 Why Linux is not going away!
        18:53 Linux provides significant value to its users
        22:06 Not everything that's free is bad
        25:59 Switching to Linux is much like switching to macOS, Windows, or ChromeOS
        26:47 Linux fights planned hardware obsolescence
        28:29 goinglinux.com, goinglinux@gmail.com, +1-904-468-7889, @goinglinux, feedback, listen, subscribe
        29:30 End

    • Applications

      • PC LinuxExploring LXQt: A Basic Guide, Part 1

        Last year, I dabbled with LXQt on our old laptop (a secondary machine) but I had not taken an in-depth look at it until recently. I read the announcement about the release of LXQt version 1.2.0 -- on Nov. 5, 2022. Shortly thereafter, forum member daniel (Daniel Meiß-Wilhelm) created a Community LXQt 2022.11 .iso which incorporates the newest LXQt release. My curiosity was piqued, so I downloaded it, made a Live USB flash drive and installed the .iso on a spare partition of our Lenovo ThinkCentre M800 desktop computer. I would like to thank Daniel for sharing his remastering skills with the PCLinuxOS community.

        My knowledge has expanded since I have been using LXQt almost exclusively for the past month. Thus far, I am impressed by LXQt; I find it comfortable enough that it could become my sole daily driver. It is a lightweight desktop environment that is useful for older PCs with limited resources. LXQt is visually appealing, feels responsive and strikes a balance between lightness and usability. Another advantage for "set-it-and-forget-it" users is that LXQt lacks the sometimes confusing multitude of configuration options in KDE Plasma.

        If you are just starting with LXQt, I hope you will find these tips helpful and that they will save you some time as you explore the desktop environment.

      • PC LinuxRepo Review: SSVNC-Viewer

        Today I will talk about the lightweight and versatile VNC client, SSVNC Viewer, which is in the PCLinuxOS repos.

        SSVNC Viewer is the work of Karl Runge. Karl Runge worked on the LibVNCServer/LibVNCClient libraries and implemented a VNC server (the x11vnc) and the SSVNC-Viewer client.

        The author, Karl Runge, however, disappeared around 2011, and there is currently no news about him.

      • PC LinuxRepo Review: Koodo Reader

        Koodo Reader is a modern and feature-rich ebook reader powered by Electron. It offers support for Epub, Mobipocket, Kindle, PDF, HTML, and numerous other common ebook and document formats. It is also ideal for use in study work, as you can easily highlight and annotate text in any document.

        Sporting a modern and well designed user interface, Koodo Reader is quick and easy to use. It also has optional support for touchscreen gestures and usage. A dark interface mode can be enabled for reading books at night as well.

    • Instructionals/Technical

      • TecAdmin20 Basic Linux Commands for the Beginners (Recommended)

        In this tutorial, we’ll cover 20 of the most essential Linux commands that every system administrator should know. These commands are the building blocks of many common tasks, and with a good understanding of them, you’ll be able to accomplish a lot on your Linux servers.

      • Kushal Das: Using YubiKeys for your linux system

        You can use your Yubikey 4 or 5 for the rest of the tutorial.

        Why?

        If you mark your Yubikey presence is required to unlock your computer, then one not only needs your password, they will have to gain physical access to your Yubikey.

      • Linux CapableHow to Install balenaEtcher on Fedora Linux

        balenaEtcher is a popular and open-source tool used to create bootable USB drives. Its user-friendly interface is a preferred tool for many Fedora users. If you are new to Fedora, this guide will help you understand how to install BalenaEtcher on your system and get started with creating bootable USB drives. W

      • Linux CapableHow to Install WoeUSB on Ubuntu 22.04 or 20.04

        WoeUSB is a free, open-source tool that allows you to create bootable Windows USB sticks from ISO images. This tool is handy for those who want to install Windows on their Ubuntu machine or for those who want to create a bootable Windows USB stick for use on other devices.

      • Light Blue TouchpaperSecurity economics course

        Back in 2015 I helped record a course in security economics in a project driven by colleagues from Delft. This was launched as an EDX MOOC as well as becoming part of the Delft syllabus, and it has been used in many other courses worldwide.

      • Linux CapableHow to Install GIMP on Rocky Linux EL9 or EL8

        GIMP, also known as the GNU Image Manipulation Program, is a powerful and versatile open-source image editing software. It offers a range of features and capabilities that rival commercial image editing software such as Adobe Photoshop, making it a popular choice among graphic designers, photographers, and digital artists.

      • Linux CapableHow to Install OnlyOffice on Rocky Linux EL9 or EL8

        OnlyOffice is a comprehensive online office suite that offers a range of powerful tools for teams to collaborate and work efficiently. Its history dates back to 2010 when the development of OnlyOffice started with the aim of providing a better alternative to traditional office suites.

      • PC LinuxInkscape Tutorial: Design A Mandala

        I go on YouTube regularly to try to learn more about GIMP & Inkscape. Recently, I found another channel called IronEcho Design, and he had a couple of videos about creating a mandala. Mandalas are symmetrical geometric designs and are getting a bit more popular. They can be simple lines, or more complicated. I got these first two from Pixabay.

      • PC LinuxPDF Part 3B: Manipulating PDF Files, Command Line Style

        I began the series of articles about PDF files in the October 2022 issue. In that article, we talked about creating PDF files. Then, in the November 2022 issue, we talked about editing PDF files. In the January 2023 issue, we talked about how to use various GUI tools to manipulate PDF files.

        This article represents what I plan to be the last article in the series. In this one, we'll look at using some of the many command line tools available for manipulating PDF files. While I know that there are many users who avoid the command line like the proverbial plague, these command line tools are exceptionally easy to use. They are definitely the fastest way to manipulate PDF files, too. These tools follow the do-one-job-and-do-it-well philosophy that is so common for so many Linux utilities.

  • Distributions and Operating Systems

  • Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

    • Programming/Development

      • Geeks For GeeksMerge Sort Tree with point update using Policy Based Data Structure

        A Merge Sort Tree (MST) is a data structure that allows for efficient querying of the number of elements less than or equal....

      • Andrew HelwerTwo C++ bugs I wrote

        Here's a short post about two bugs I wrote while writing C++ code for the external scanner of my TLA⁺ tree-sitter grammar. External scanners use handwritten C or C++ code to parse the non-context-free parts of your language. I'll try not to dump on C++ too hard but both of the bugs are highly ridiculous and exemplify why I hope to write as little of the language as possible for the rest of my career.

      • Bryan LundukeFunny Programming Pictures Part XXII

        Ok. Not ALL of them are about programming...

  • Leftovers

    • The Straits TimesSixteen killed, dozens injured in China highway pile-up

      Nearly 50 vehicles were involved in multiple collisions along a highway in Hunan province within the span of 10 minutes.

    • The Straits TimesSouth Korea searches for missing crew after fishing boat capsizes

      Nine people were missing while three crew members were picked up by rescuers.

    • Ruben SchadeThe Independent Singapore’s “friend zone” article

      The Independent Singaporeposted a guest articleby someone offering advice for those caught in thefriend zone, a mental space where someone’s unrequited feelings are a source of resentment. Instead, it offers a cautionary tale.

      We hung out and things seemed to flow so naturally that when she mentioned that she needed a place to stay – I invited her in. I was, as they say, a helpless romantic. But once she moved into the flat, I got “friend-zoned.”

      If he wasn’t upfront with his feelings, she saw a friend offering help.

      However, she was troubled and while she did honour her two promises to me (This was back in the Asian Financial crisis and I lent her 2,000 GBP for her school fees and got her to promise that she would do well in her career. In fairness, she paid back what she owed and if the profile I saw was really her – she seems to have done well), she had some funny ideas of what friendship meant.

      This exposes the fundamental mistake friend zoners make.Love isn’t a transaction.

      Being an honourable, caring person can surface feelings, but they can’t magic them into existence. The truth comes out with empathy: would you develop feelings for someone you don’t feel that way about if they took you to dinner or bought you a nice phone? Would you… want it to work like that?

  • Gemini* and Gopher

    • Personal

      • I Can Smoke Weed Again!

        I was an off-and-on cannabis user from my mid teens through my early 30s. But then something changed. I couldn't smoke without becoming paranoid, jumpy, and emotionally distraught. It's possibly noteworthy that I was also well into a decade+ of severe untreated depression by then. So I quit. My body and psychology are obviously saying "don't do this", so I wasn't gonna do it. I tried a few times between 2013 and 2023, but I always had the same terrible experience.

      • 🔤SpellBinding: YILNPSD Wordo: BLUES

* Gemini (Primer) links can be opened using Gemini software. It's like the World Wide Web but a lot lighter.



Recent Techrights' Posts

Changing One's Name Won't Change One's Past
People who have earned a bad reputation are not magically "entitled" to reset
People Who Assault Women Are Not Victims of "Distress"
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Adoption of Gemini Protocol Still Growing
Gemini Protocol is being obscured by the media - it doesn't help that Google 'hijacked' the word "Gemini" - but people still manage to find out about it, download a client, and use it
Brett Wilson LLP "Takes it Personal" (Character Assassination, Not Professionalism). Everybody Can See That.
On behalf of violent men
Pissing Contests and Pissing Off Everyone
people who came from Microsoft are trying to vex and divide the community
Microsoft Repeats the Mistakes Made by the EPO After We Exposed a Major Microsoft/EPO Scandal 10 Years Ago
That scandal was all over the media, not just in English
 
Ubuntu is Becoming GAFAM-Like
What does that say about Canonical and Ubuntu?
Slopfarms Which Take Real Articles About GNU/Linux and Turn Them Into Copycats Which Are False
Even before the LLM hype those were quite common
The Firm That Picks on Techrights is Accustomed to Working With Criminals
Techrights never did anything illegal. So why is it being picked on by people who work with criminals?
Microsoft Said the Mass Layoffs Were for "Investment" in "AI", But It's Also Laying Off the "AI" and "Copilot" Staff
Months ago we showed many so-called "AI" people were getting the boot and this time it's the same
DryDeadFish is Dead, Long Live DryDeadFish
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Links for the day
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systemd is led by Microsoft and hosted by Microsoft
copyleft.org 'Hijacked' by the People Who Attack the Person Who Created Copyleft
So far there's nothing "tasteless" in copyleft.org, but that can change at any time in the future
Asking People to Take Down Articles and Videos Only Makes These More Popular and "Viral"
If you do something bad, one of the worst things you can possibly do it try to silence those who speak about it
Over at Tux Machines...
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Links for the day
The Demise of LLMs
We've just checked BetaNews again. They've dropped all the slop and went back to human authors.
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Turns Out LLMs for Code Don't Save Time and Don't Improve Quality
Neither legal nor useful
The Microsofters Will Have an Obligation to Compensate Us
This story isn't just about Microsoft. It's also about corruption, there are many women victims, there is abject "abuse of process", and many more scandals to be illuminated in years to come.
Reproducing at the EPO Instead of Producing Monopolies for Foreign Monopolies With Their Price-Fixing Cartels
Does the EPO recognise the need of well-educated Europeans to bear kids?
Valnet Inc. Dominates Real (Not LLM Slop) GNU/Linux Coverage in 2025
And likely in prior years, too
Free Software Foundation (FSF) Fund Raiser Goes on
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Plunder at the Second-Largest Institution in Europe
cuts, neglect, health problems, even early deaths
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If Only Everything Was Rewritten in Rust, We'd Have No More Security Issues?
Nope.
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Using SLAPPs to Cover Up Sexual Abuse and Strangulation
The exact same legal team of the Serial Strangler from Microsoft and Garrett already has a history fighting against "metoo"
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slides
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