Linux Luddites

not all change is progress


January 25, 2016

Episode #70


Direct download links: MP3 & Ogg

0:04:06 News
0:56:44 ReactOS
1:13:07 Feedback
1:28:58 QupZilla and Pale Moon

The bane of many of our lives, advertising is not only ubiquitous but seemly indispensable to the funding of the web. So we took some time in the news to reflect on several ad-related stories. And if advertising is disliked by many, the dominance of Windows on the desktop can evoke stronger reactions in some. So, what to make of a FOSS Windows-compatible OS? And, following your feedback, we wrapped up with a look at a couple of lesser-known cross-platform browsers.

0:04:06 News

Mozilla Persona login system to shut down end November

The former CEO of Mozilla is launching a web browser that blocks all ads by default
Google’s AMP Poised To Take The Lead From Facebook’s And Apple’s Walled Gardens
How we fought bad ads in 2015
Bot Fraud to Cost Advertisers $7 Billion in 2016
Kickstarter publishes inside story of how Europe’s most-funded project collapsed

snapcraft 1.0 is now available
AT&T Adopts Canonical’s Ubuntu in Push to Replace Proprietary Systems with Open-Source Tech
Chromixium is evolving, a Cub is born!

Ansible 2.0 Has Arrived
New Research Shows OpenStack Adoption Strong, But Complexities Remain
Docker’s Unikernel Purchase and the Changing Role of the OS
Unikernels are unfit for production

Garrett: Linux Foundation quietly drops community representation
Zemlin deflects with a dog-whistle

BBC Micro Bit mini-computer faces further delay
Robot Wars rebooted for BBC Two

Greater London Linux User Group meetup

0:56:44 ReactOS

Whether for work or play, there are times when even the most ardent Linux user may need to run Windows. ReactOS holds out the promise of being able to do so, whilst staying true to FOSS ideals. But will it ever be production ready?

1:13:07 Feedback

A huge thank you to all of our Monthly Supporters — we couldn’t do the show without your help.

A perennial complaint of many is that the Linux desktop never reaches the level of polish found elsewhere, and today’s feedback kicked off with Dr. Fred Cheese making exactly this point.

Chris and Florian picked up on one of Paddy’s predictions from last time out, and Mandy Miers wondered if one of Jesse’s (or was it Joe’s?) hadn’t come to pass already?

On the mobile front, Isaac Carter flagged up that Cortana can be easily uninstalled from the latest Cyanogen OS, and Floyd Wallace offered a tip for Linux desktop users who own Windows handsets.

Floyd also returned to our interview with Félim Whiteley, to reiterate one the key reasons why you might not want to trust a company like Google with your data.

1:28:58 QupZilla and Pale Moon

Concerned about Chrome’s dominance on the desktop, or Mozilla’s seeming ongoing attempts to consign Firefox to the dustbin of history? We thought it high time to check out two possible contenders for our web-consumption needs, and turned to see what QupZilla and Pale Moon have to offer.


15 comments

Comments are now closed.


The content of this website, and that of the podcasts produced by the website owners, is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.