“Why I prefer rST to Markdown”
This is my second book written with Sphinx, after the new Learn TLA+. Sphinx uses a peculiar markup called reStructured Text (rST), which has a steeper learning curve than markdown. I only switched to...
View ArticlePlay Store could soon handle updates for sideloaded applications
Android 14 introduced the ability for application stores to claim ownership over application updates, to ensure other installation sources won’t accidentally update applications they shouldn’t. What...
View ArticleTechnology history: where Unix came from
Today, every Unix-like system can trace their ancestry back to the original Unix. That includes Linux, which uses the GNU tools – and the GNU tools are based on the Unix tools. Linux in 2024 is...
View ArticleOverride xdg-open behavior with xdg-override
Most application on GNU/Linux by convention delegate to xdg-open when they need to open a file or a URL. This ensures consistent behavior between applications and desktop environments: URLs are always...
View ArticleServo enables parallel table layout
Another month, another chunk of progress for the Servo rendering engine. The biggest addition is enabling table rendering to be spread across CPU cores. Parallel table layout is now enabled, spreading...
View ArticleExploring O3 optimization for Ubuntu
Following our recent work 5 with Ubuntu 24.04 LTS where we enabled frame pointers by default to improve debugging and profiling, we’re continuing our performance engineering efforts by evaluating the...
View ArticleLimine: a modern, advanced, portable, multiprotocol bootloader and boot manager
Limine is an advanced, portable, multiprotocol bootloader that supports Linux, multiboot1 and 2, the native Limine boot protocol, and more. […] Limine is lightweight, elegant, fast, and the reference...
View ArticleChrome warns uBlock Origin may soon be disabled
As uBlock Origin lead developer and maintainer Raymond Hill explained on Friday, this is the result of Google deprecating support for the Manifest v2 (MV2) extensions platform in favor of Manifest v3...
View ArticleFreeBSD as a daily driver
Not too long ago I linked to a blog post by long-time OSNews reader (and silver Patreon) and friend of mine Morgan, about how to set up OpenBSD as a workstation operating system – and in fact, I...
View Article50 years ago, CP/M started the microcomputer revolution
CP/M is turning 50 this year. The ancient Control Program for Microcomputers, or CP/M for short, has been enjoying a modest renaissance in recent years. By 21st century standards, it’s unimaginably...
View ArticleEvery Microsoft employee is now being judged on their security work
After a number of very bug security incidents involving Microsoft’s software, the company promised it would take steps to put security at the top of its list of priorities. Today we got another...
View ArticleUS judge rules Google is a monopoly, search deals with Apple and Mozilla in...
That sure is a big news drop for a random Tuesday. A federal judge ruled that Google violated US antitrust law by maintaining a monopoly in the search and advertising markets. “After having carefully...
View ArticleWordStar for DOS 7.0 archive
As you all know, I continue to use WordStar for DOS 7.0 as my word-processing program. It was last updated in December 1992, and the company that made it has been defunct for decades; the program is...
View ArticleDeveloping a cryptographically secure bootloader for RISC-V in Rust
It seems to be bootloader season, because we’ve got another one – this time, a research project with very limited application for most people. SentinelBoot is a cryptographically secure bootloader...
View ArticleChrome will let you shop with “AI”
When you’re shopping online, you’ll likely find yourself jumping between multiple tabs to read reviews and research prices. It can be cumbersome doing all that back and forth tab switching, and online...
View ArticlemacOS Sequia will nag you every week if you have screenshot apps and screen...
With macOS Sequoia this fall, using apps that need access to screen recording permissions will become a little bit more tedious. Apple is rolling out a change that will require you to give explicit...
View ArticlemacOS Sequoia makes it harder to override Gatekeeper security
Speaking of an operating system for toddlers: Apple is eliminating the option to Control-click to open Mac software that is not correctly signed or notarized in macOS Sequoia. To install apps that...
View ArticleApple memory holed its broken promise for an OCSP opt-out
When you launch an app, macOS connects to Apple’s OCSP service to check whether the app’s Developer ID code signing certificate has been revoked by Apple. In November 2020, Apple’s OCSP service...
View ArticleCOSMIC alpha released
After two year of development, System76 has released the very first alpha of COSMIC, their new Rust-based desktop environment for Linux. This is an alpha release, so they make it clear there’s going...
View ArticleRedox gets HTTP server, wget, UEFI improvements, and much more
In line with the release of the COSMIC alpha, parts of which are also available for Redox, we’ve got another monthly update for the Rust-based operating system. First, in what in hindsight seems like...
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