The phantom fifth freedom

Not for the first time, I’ve seen the suggestion in the echo chamber that Mono packages should be moved from Debian into the non-free repository, which is not formally part of Debian. The reason, as it so often is, is patents – specifically this time, the searing risk posed to Debian and its users that […]

Amazon Black Friday sales: a clusterfuck.

This is a reproduction of a message I sent to Amazon.co.uk tonight, after their Black Friday sales system went to hell on me, and I found their response to the problem less than enlightening. I’m reproducing the message here, as a warning to all. On a related note, links to my Amazon wishlist are gone. […]

Mono mythbusting, September 2010 edition

There are corners of the Internest where foolish people congregate, and invent stories. These foolish stories are then read as gospel by trusting people, and reposted, until the original made-up source is concealed from view. As an attempt to stem this flow of disinformation, here are some commonly held – but incorrect – beliefs about […]

Taking a back seat

I’m making a few changes to my online interactions. Chicken Little Remix will no longer be updated. There will be no 10.04 from me. I will no longer be visiting certain websites, under any circumstances, courtesy of 127.0.0.1 entries in /etc/hosts. This includes sites such as Ubuntu Forums, some blogs, and some “news” sites. I […]

Flash Wins! Hoo-freaking-ray! Adobe are so awesome!

For those who aren’t clinically dead, you may have heard of the “BBC”. The BBC are the state-ish-funded TV network in the UK, and the country’s biggest broadcaster, alongside three other major “terrestrial” broadcasters who make their content widely available without payment – ITV, Channel 4, and Five. These broadcasters also make some or all […]

Vive la différence

There seems to be a remarkable number of ways for people to define “Free Software” to themselves. Richard Stallman has four freedoms. Debian has ten guidelines. The OSI has ten guidelines too (but they’re different). These are all fairly detailed, and to someone who doesn’t understand the idea, take a while to explain. There are […]

Un Poème Pour les Petites Poules Perdues

The “Mono War” is unproductive. For some, I’m sure this comes as a startling realization, and for others, it’s stating the obvious. However, the point needs to be reiterated – the “Mono War” as-is serves no practical purpose. From my diamond-encrusted Microsoft-supplied throne, here is what I see when I survey the “War”: Immovable, entrenched, […]

A controversy-free post about Chinchillas

It appears that pretty much every post I’ve made to my blog in the past year has been about Mono, or related topics, and caused enormous offense, anguish, and controversy. I have therefore decided to balance it with a completely controversy-free, risk-free post. A nice, safe topic. So, ladies & gents, allow me to introduce […]

Banshee by default – outlook looks hazy

So. Banshee as a default media player for Karmic, replacing Rhythmbox. You’ve read the analysis on the Internest, you’ve read ill-informed tripe from pretend-journalists, and you’re running in fear of a switch to a “worse” player. Well, it’s time to lay down a little dose of reality for all you naysayers. Firstly, Ubuntu’s feature freeze […]

Eek!

I mean, really. Some of them have big beards, or have trained Velociraptors!