GNU News (December-January)
- Dr. Roy Schestowitz
- 2014-01-21 10:28:00 UTC
- Modified: 2014-01-21 10:28:00 UTC
Summary: GNU, FSF, and Free software news from the past month or so
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Richard Stallman today met Mr Rahul Gandhi, Vice President of the Indian National Congress and shared his views on digital surveillance system, unique identification project, free software in education and governance in a meeting that went on for one hour. Mr Joseph Mathew, Secretary of SPACE also participated in the meeting. Mr Gandhi showed keen interest in Stallman's views on various issues relating to information technology.
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To commemorate the occasion of GNU completing 30 years and SPACE 10 years, the free software community in Thiruvananthapuram is also organising an exhibition on free software and free knowledge on Education Freedom Day, which falls on January 18 at the Museum. The exhibition will focus on free software and free hardware for education and privacy protection. Various free software projects like Fedora, WoMoz, and HackerSpace will be part of the exhibition.
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GnuCash is more than a simple checkbook register, although it can be used for that purpose. Its real power is in the features supporting small business use and managing multiple accounts. Its basic features are intuitive, but if you don't have a bookkeeping background, be prepared to spend some time with the user guide in order to fully appreciate its advanced capabilities.
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But the researchers, including Adi Shamir, a co-inventor of the widely-used RSA encryption algorithm, have shown how within one hour it was possible to extract a 4096-bit RSA private key used to decrypt email from a laptop running the OpenPGP-based mail encryption tool, GNU Privacy Guard.
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After earlier this month delivering LLVM Clang 3.3/3.4 benchmarks for the new compiler infrastructure out of Apple, today are results that directly compare the new LLVM Clang 3.4 performance against the stable GCC 4.8.2 compiler and GCC 4.9.0 development compiler under various C/C++ benchmarks.
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An Intel engineer has published a patch-set providing a new GCC compiler architecture target for Intel's upcoming Broadwell CPUs.
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Novena Project aims to create an entirely open source laptop, from the iron down to the bits, and a prototype already exists
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The Free Software Foundation (FSF) today awarded Respects Your Freedom (RYF) certification to Gluglug X60 laptops. The RYF certification mark means that the product meets the FSF's standards in regard to users' freedom, control over the product, and privacy. This is the first laptop to receive RYF certification from the FSF.
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FOSS is the last place to suspect “back doors” or traps.
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Computer scientists have devised an attack that reliably extracts secret cryptographic keys by capturing the high-pitched sounds coming from a computer while it displays an encrypted message.
The technique, outlined in a research paper published Wednesday, has already been shown to successfully recover a 4096-bit RSA key used to decrypt e-mails by GNU Privacy Guard, a popular open source implementation of the OpenPGP standard. Publication of the new attack was coordinated with the release of a GnuPG update rated as "important" that contains countermeasures for preventing the attack. But the scientists warned that a variety of other applications are also susceptible to the same acoustic cryptanalysis attack. In many cases, the sound leaking the keys can be captured by a standard smartphone positioned close to a targeted computer as it decrypts an e-mail known to the attackers.
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The Free Software Foundation today has come out for "the first time we've ever been able to encourage people to buy and use a laptop as-is." The Free Software Foundation now backs one laptop model as respecting the customer's freedoms, but are the hardware specs any good?
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GNU Binutils was updated this morning and some of the major changes for these binary tools updates include supporting several new processors.
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To read more about all of these and see the honorable mentions not listed here, make sure to head back to the full hive five feature.
Recent Techrights' Posts
- Microsoft OSI Uses Its Money to Hire PR Agencies That Spy and Spread Mindless Openwashing of GPL-Violating Microsoft Ploy
- `We're under attack. But the attackers smile at us and hire PR firms to spy, mislead etc.
- In Nigeria, Africa's (by Far) Largest Population, Microsoft Bing is the 0%
- To Microsoft, Africa is just "someplace" to get intensive, hard-working human 'resources' (tech labour) at 2 dollars 'apiece' as in per person per hour
- Microsoft Layoffs and Closures Now Reported in Africa
- Microsoft Uninstalls Nigeria as it closes African Development Centre (ADC) in Lagos
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- [Meme] Red Hat Diversity
- Red Hat: don't mention Haghighi
- Our Sister Site Turns 20 in Exactly One Month
- twentieth anniversary of the site
- Corporate Media Focuses on Who's Suing Red Hat, Not What It's Sued For
- The unfortunate thing is, anybody who has an opinion on this lawsuit will inevitably be framed as "pro-Trump" or "anti-Trump"
- Links 10/05/2024: Many More Microsoft Layoffs on the Way
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Thursday, May 09, 2024
- IRC logs for Thursday, May 09, 2024
- Gemini Links 10/05/2024: geminispace.info to Shut Down in 3 Weeks
- Links for the day
- Links 09/05/2024: Journalists in Detention, China Banning Songs or Anthems
- Links for the day
- Support for harassment and abuse victims
- Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
- Gemini Links 09/05/2024: Being Sick Enough and End of “World of Ends“
- Links for the day
- Links 09/05/2024: 'Hey Hi' (AI) Bubble Implodes Some More, Microsoft Layoffs So Widespread It's Hard to Keep Track
- Links for the day
- Speaking of Enshittification and Freedom, We've Still Not Begun Tackling the UEFI 'Secure' Boot Mess (Preventing GNU/Linux From Even Booting!)
- Microsoft continues to fly under the radar and commit competition crimes with impunity
- Microsoft Has Just Confirmed Mass Layoffs in Nigeria, It Now Adds Insult to Injury With Price Hikes for Locals
- It's not like Microsoft paid them good salaries
- Software Enshittification or Freedom? It's not a hard choice!
- Reprinted from Alexandre Oliva
- Links 09/05/2024: More Microsoft Layoffs on the Way
- Links for the day
- Amid Microsoft Layoffs in Nigeria GNU/Linux Climbs Above 6% Market Share (Not Including ChromeOS)
- Hundreds are being laid off by Microsoft in Nigeria, based on yesterday's reports
- [Meme] Blame the Robots or the 'Hey Hi' (AI), It Always Works in Today's Media
- Companies do not have financial troubles! They have "efficiencies"...
- News Reports Say Many More Microsoft Layoffs on the Way, Rumours Say Red Hat Also Imminently a Target
- Microsoft is slipping out of control
- Links 09/05/2024: Diplomacy Efforts With China, AstraZeneca Stops Experimenting With COVID-19 Vaccines
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, May 08, 2024
- IRC logs for Wednesday, May 08, 2024
- Gemini Links 09/05/2024: Registered Computer Professionals and TLS (The Long Slog)
- Links for the day
- Links 08/05/2024: Android Malware and "AI" Hype
- Links for the day
- [Meme] Technical Committee With People Who Are Not Technical
- the computing/computer industry being occupied by people who lack suitable background
- The Demise of Computer Science Education
- Education is essential for the future; without it, whole nations will perish
- [Video] Prisons for the Minds and for Tech Workers
- Today's video talks about what happens to workforces (across disciplines) in recent years
- [Meme] Struggling to Leave Its Nazi Past Behind
- digital arson
- Microsoft Declines to Talk About How Many People It Has Just Laid Off
- Hours ago in IGN: "Microsoft did not say how many staff will lose their jobs, but significant layoffs are inevitable. IGN has asked Bethesda for comment. Microsoft declined to expand further when contacted by IGN."
- Microsoft Windows in South America: From 99% to 87%
- the latest from statCounter
- It's Rather Obvious Why They Try to Silence Richard Stallman, Eben Moglen, and Daniel Pocock
- Some of them already sent physically menacing messages to Daniel Pocock
- IRC Network of Techrights Turns 3 (or 16 if We Count the Freenode Days)
- In a few months IRC turns 36
- Sedating Oneself (and Shareholders) With Fuzzy Buzzwords and Pointless Acquisitions
- IBM trying to buy time
- Clickfraud Spamnil Ran Out of Clickfraud Budget, Apparently
- sooner or later charlatans and frauds run out of steam
- Techrights Gets Under the Skin of Bad, Corrupt, Immoral People (That's a Good Thing)
- Journalism is the lifeblood of democracy and free societies
- Companies Do Not Shut Down Offices and Lay Off Staff en Masse (Morale and Reputation Issue) Unless They're in Deep Financial Trouble
- Microsoft has been faking its financial performance for years
- IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, May 07, 2024
- IRC logs for Tuesday, May 07, 2024
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- [Video] Leaving Microsoft Behind for the Sake of National Security
- Threats to "National Security" aren't some users with an Android phone but Microsoft at the root of things
- GNU/Linux and ChromeOS Now at 6% in France, According to statCounter
- numbers from statCounter