The Breakfast Club (Not a flaw)

Windows 10 is primarily spyware.  Chrome never pretended to be anything but.  Once virtuous Ubuntu is now as bad as any ‘commercial’ software (not the way things were supposed to devolve) with incomprehensible interfaces, swaths of proprietary code, and intrusive default monitoring.

This disqualifies a whole lot of derivatives including my favorite, Mint with Mate, that use the Ubuntu code base.

I’ve always liked the standard GNOME2 interface and think it’s highly similar, other than positioning, to your Windows Classic Desktop which has been basically the same in business IT since ’95.  If you learn it, and don’t screw it up by personalizing too much, the learning curve is not that steep.

The Gnome people didn’t think that was good enough and screwed it to the point of unusability.

So KDE right?

Sure, if you want to be wacky and customize your machine to look like IOSX or Windows 8.1 however why are you wasting that time?  But getting any kind of usable Desktop is a chore unless you favor the ‘why do you need more than a spreadsheet and a word processor peon’ approach to IT.  Besides you can just grab any program you like from the k library and install it.  Yup, point and click.  Free.

So my favored interface is now Mate which is a GNOME2 variant done by some South American programmers who liked GNOME2 a lot and thought that the Gnome people were certifiable idiots.  It works like I would expect.

Which brings us to distributions.

Almost everything is based on Debian.  There are 2 code bases, the development track and the stable track.  The stable track can stay stable for a really long time because the rules about what is acceptable are very strict.  While this is attractive on paper, in practice it means that many pieces of hardware either don’t function at all or only partially.

So your video and network cards don’t work very well, get new ones!  Easy on a desktop, not so much on your lap.

The development track is developmental.  The truth is that it deosn’t change very much either.  The rules are not as strict, but there are still rules.  What makes it look like things are changing all the time is that each piece of software is on its own schedule.

You should be able to safely install and operate either track directly from the source, what then adds value to a distribution?

They break some rules.  Most times they will install proprietary drivers for maximum performance.  Sometimes these are entirely written by the manufacturers, others simply comply with the published standards.  In neither case is the code usually public which breaks a rule.  Many times they will add their own code for features they think have been poorly implemented and hardly anyone can resist screwing with the wallpaper, icons, and taskbar.  Almost all add programs technically still in development.

I insist on 3 things from my environment- hardware control including drives and network, environment control of the look and feel, and software control of all the programs on my system.  It should operate off a menu.  I’ve gotten fairly good results with these distributions that are available in Mate.

Fedora is a non-Debian that has been separate since the late 90’s.

Sabayon is a Gentoo base.  Gentoo and Arch have the reputation of being the most difficult distributions to install, Saboyon, provided it supports your hardware, goes in like a champ.

Mageia is a non-commercial spin-off of Mandriva.

openSUSE gets a mention as another independent code base, but they don’t have a Mate interface.

Windows 10 – Spyware Disguised as an Operating System

by Gaius Publius, Hullabaloo

8/31/2015 07:30:00 AM

(I)t didn’t take long to discover that Windows 10 is not only worse than Windows 8, it is worse in a worse way. It’s one thing to install an application that spies on you. It’s another when that spyware application you just installed is the operating system, and controls the whole machine.

Is Windows 10 Worth Installing?

The answer is No, if you’re asking me. In fact, it’s worth never installing. I’d avoid it until the final minute you’re forced to change, and even then, you should hesitate to upgrade. Reason? Under its default settings, Windows 10 is widely reported to be spyware, an operating system that watches you work, even offline, and reports back to Microsoft anything it feels like reporting. If you approve the licensing agreement – and how can you use any software without clicking “I Agree”? – you’re giving Microsoft permission to collect any data they can get (based on your settings) and share it in any way they want.

Windows 10 is the ultimate privacy violator – an operating system that wants to watch everything you do and send back whatever it finds or figures out about you.

Microsoft slips user-tracking tools into Windows 7, 8 amidst Windows 10 privacy storm

by Brad Chacos, PCWorld

Aug 31, 2015 12:59 PM

No, the company’s not walking back its privacy-encroaching features. Instead, Microsoft’s quietly rolling out updates that bake new tracking tools into Windows 7 and Windows 8.

Yes, really.

The story behind the story: Privacy concerns have marred an otherwise sterling launch for Windows 10, which is already installed on 75 million PCs. Rolling out this Windows 7 and 8 updates amidst the controversy smacks of insensitivity-and it’s just plain poor timing, to boot.

Ghacks discovered four recent KB updates for Windows 7 and 8, all designed to send Microsoft regular reports on your machine’s activities.

KB3068708 – “This update introduces the Diagnostics and Telemetry tracking service to existing devices. By applying this service, you can add benefits from the latest version of Windows to systems that have not yet upgraded. The update also supports applications that are subscribed to Visual Studio Application Insights.” This update replaced KB3022345.

KB3075249 – “This update adds telemetry points to the User Account Control (UAC) feature to collect information on elevations that come from low integrity levels.”

KB3080149 – “This package updates the Diagnostics and Telemetry tracking service to existing devices. This service provides benefits from the latest version of Windows to systems that have not yet upgraded. The update also supports applications that are subscribed to Visual Studio Application Insights.”

The latter two updates are flagged as Optional, but KB3068708 holds Recommended status, which means it would be downloaded and installed if you have Windows Updates set to automatic. It’s only functional in PCs that participate in Microsoft’s Customer Experience Improvement Program, which already sends Microsoft information on how you use your computer.

…

If you don’t want these new tracking tools on your PC, the best thing to do seems to be simply uninstalling the offending updates, then blocking them from being reinstalled.

To do so, head to Control Panel > Programs > Uninstall or change a program. Here, click View installed updates in the left-hand navigation pane. In the search box in the upper-right corner, search for the KB3068708, KB3022345, KB3075249, and KB3080149 updates by name. If they’re installed, they’ll pop right up. If you find one, right-click on it and select Uninstall to wipe it from your system.

To block the updates from being downloaded again, dive back into the Control Panel and head to System and Security > Windows Update > Check for updates. The system will look for updates, then say you have a certain number of updates available, separated by status (Optional, Recommended, Critical). Simply click the recommended updates link, find the KB3068708 and KB3022345 updates, then right-click them and select Hide update. Boom! Done.

Now dive into the optional updates and hide KB3075249 and KB3080149 as well.

Microsoft Retrofitting Windows 7, 8.1 With Windows 10’s Privacy-Invading ‘Features’

by Karl Bode, Tech Dirt

Wed, Sep 2nd 2015

Microsoft now seems intent on retro-fitting its older operating systems (specifically Windows 7 and Windows 8.1) with many of the annoying, chatty aspects of Windows 10. GHacks has noticed that four updates to the older operating systems, described as an “update for customer experience and diagnostic telemetry,” connect to vortex-win.data.microsoft.com and settings-win.data.microsoft.com. These addresses are hard-coded to bypass the hosts file, and ferry all manner of personal information back to Microsoft.

…

(I)t’s annoying that Microsoft continues to insist on expanding this kind of OS behavior, without making opting out simple and comprehensive. And it certainly doesn’t exactly deflate arguments by folks like Richard Stallman, who consistently argue that Windows is effectively malware. More than anything though, it’s a continued advertisement for Linux and operating systems that the end user actually has some degree of control over.

Science Oriented Video

Science and Technology News and Blogs

• How y’all doin’?, by Tom Sullivan, Hullabaloo
• Russian artifact is estimated to be 11,000 years old, say scientists – 6,000 yrs older than Stonehenge, by David Ferguson, Raw Story
• Carbon dating suggests ‘world’s oldest’ Koran could be older than the Prophet Muhammad, by Travis Gettys, Raw Story
• The Really Big One, By Kathryn Schulz, The New Yorker
• Thomas Edison Was Right About Solar Power, by Thom Hartmann, Truthout
• Wikipedia Editors Uncover Extortion Scam And Extensive Cybercrime Syndicate, by Lauren C. Williams, Think Progress
• New Species of Human Ancestor, Homo Naledi, Is Found in a South African Cave, By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD, The New York Times
• Homo naledi: New species of ancient human discovered, claim scientists, by Ian Sample, The Guardian
• ‘Archaeology on steroids’: huge ritual arena discovered near Stonehenge, by Ian Sample, The Guardian
• Could Physics’ Reigning Model Finally Be Dethroned?, by Tia Ghose, Live Science
• Hackers Can Trick Driverless Cars With A Handheld Laser, By Dave Gershgorn, Popular Science

The law that entropy always increases holds, I think, the supreme position among the laws of Nature. If someone points out to you that your pet theory of the universe is in disagreement with Maxwell’s equations – then so much the worse for Maxwell’s equations. If it is found to be contradicted by observation – well, these experimentalists do bungle things sometimes. But if your theory is found to be against the second law of thermodynamics I can give you no hope; there is nothing for it but to collapse in deepest humiliation.

–Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington, The Nature of the Physical World (1927)

Obligatories, News and Blogs below.

Obligatories

Welcome to The Breakfast Club! We’re a disorganized group of rebel lefties who hang out and chat if and when we’re not too hungover we’ve been bailed out we’re not too exhausted from last night’s (CENSORED) the caffeine kicks in. Join us every weekday morning at 9am (ET) and weekend morning at 10:30am (ET) to talk about current news and our boring lives and to make fun of LaEscapee! If we are ever running late, it’s PhilJD’s fault.

I would never make fun of LaEscapee or blame PhilJD.  And I am highly organized.

This Day in History

News

• Afghans See American General as Crucial to Country’s Defense, By ROD NORDLAND and MUJIB MASHAL, The New York Times
• Microsoft case: DoJ says it can demand every email from any US-based provider, by Sam Thielman, The Guardian
• Decision in Microsoft case could set dangerous global precedent, experts say, by Sam Thielman, The Guardian
• US companies plead guilty to conspiring to export misbranded halal products, Associated Press
• Canada’s tar sands heartland can’t deny climate change, says Alberta minister, Reuters
• Baltimore city board approves $6.4m settlement in death of Freddie Gray, by Jon Swaine, The Guardian
• National Geographic abandons nonprofit status after Murdoch deal, by Mahita Gajanan, The Guardian
• UK Labour party’s leadership vote closes with Jeremy Corbyn favourite, AFP
• Justice Department Sets Sights on Wall Street Executives, By MATT APUZZO and BEN PROTESS, The New York Times
• Federal Reserve needs to worry about inequality, not inflation, by Joseph Stiglitz, The Guardian

Blogs

• Uruguay Withdraws From TISA, Strikes A Symbolic Blow Against The Trade Deal Ratchet, by Glyn Moody, Tech Dirt
• City Of Boston Left License Plate Data Unprotected And Unencrypted, by Tim Cushing, Tech Dirt
• Why Are Fannie and Freddie Raising Their Foreclosure Timeline?, by David Dayen, Naked Capitalism
• Washington Supreme Court expels charter schools from state public school system, by Steve Rosenfeld, Alternet
• Dead man running: Anatomy of Rick Perry’s disastrous, all-but-over campaign, by Simon Maloy, Salon
• Victorian-lifestyle hipsters unleash “Masterpiece Theater”-level trolling on tech-tethered readers, by Mary Elizabeth Williams, Salon
• David Brooks is totally clueless: Deconstructing his latest theory about Bernie Sanders & Donald Trump, by Conor Lynch, Salon
• Plutocrats have captured it all: How Sheldon Adelson shows the need for campaign finance reform, by Elias Isquith, Salon
• GOP xenophobia makes literally no sense: Why accepting Syrian refugees isn’t just a moral imperative – it’s good for America too, by David Dayen, Salon
• Transcribing James Clapper, by emptywheel