Re: Google's search algorithm changes
Google is effectively useless these days. Several years ago I switched my default search engine to DuckDuckGo, and that made searching a bit better for a while, but that started to go downhill as well; now I'm using Kagi, which is much better, but does charge a small fee for better searching. https://kagi.com/ Leslie On Sunday 26 May 2024 20:12:57 Akira Urushibata wrote: > I believe many subscribers to this list have noticed that Google > search has changed substantially in recent years. For instance, when > I try to search a publication from the 1800s I have to dig through a > long list of online merchants wishing to sell a preserved specimen > before I reach a public library offering a freely downloadable scan > in its digital archive. I don't think I am alone in this regard. > > BBC reports on how Google's recent algorithm changes have affected > internet traffic. Some sites are reporting drastic loss of traffic. > As a prime example of an adversely affected business, the article > discusses the case of House Fresh, a site that publishes results of > independently conducted tests of air purifiers: > > Google just updated its algorithm. The Internet will never be the same > https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240524-how-googles-new-algorithm-will- >shape-your-internet > > --- > > House Fresh describes on their official site what happened to them and > discusses possible causes. Some unusual behavior, such as Forbes the > financial magazine uploading articles discussing pet care, is reported: > > HouseFresh disappeared from Google Search results. Now what? > https://housefresh.com/how-google-decimated-housefresh/ > > > The following article discusses how the changes affect academics. It > says that Google search was once a reliable tool to find relevant > information, but not any more: > > Google Search really has gotten worse. It's not just you. | Mashable > https://mashable.com/article/google-search-low-quality-research > > Academics deserting from Google search, if true, is an ominous > development. As scholars distinguishing between truth and falsehood > is a crucial task and as educators they influence the behavior of > students. Another way to say this is that academics will no longer > perform the role of promoter. > > > > > > > > > ___ > libreplanet-discuss mailing list > libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org > https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss ___ libreplanet-discuss mailing list libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss
Re: Microsoft's revenue structure
On 2024-05-14 20:49:08 Marc Sunet wrote: > Which reminds me, how is it still legal for an OEM to ship a "default" > OS in a computer without giving the customer any choice, esp. with > BIOSes that now often don't let you boot a third-party OS unless you > enable the option explicitly (and those that they let you boot I think > need a secure boot key signed by Microsoft, lol)? Has this been an > avenue of research for the FSF or some other organization lately? > > Marc I've often wondered about this. I think that the FTC should be pursuing the issue. Leslie ___ libreplanet-discuss mailing list libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss
Re: The beast is live - Github Copilot
On 2022-06-27 17:50:46 Yuchen Pei wrote: > On Sun 2022-06-26 17:25:24 -0700, Marc Sunet wrote: > >> I feel that one difference between the values of free software and open > >> source is that the free software does not have a problem with taking > >> people's work and re-selling it, as long as the work being resold is > >> free. Whereas open source focus more on what authors get out of "open > >> source". > > > > And in this case it is SaaSS. Not only is it trained on the existing > > code in the repositories, it also seems to siphon code off your editor > > as you type: > > > > https://github.com/features/copilot/#faq-privacy > > Of course there are ways to make it not SaaSS or privacy invading, if > one is going to work on a free software version of copilot - all they > need to do is not replicate the antifeatures. > > >> GitHub Copilot relies on file content and additional data to > > > > work. It collects data both to provide the service and saves some of > > the data to perform further analysis and enable improvements. > > > >> Depending on your preferred telemetry settings, GitHub Copilot may > > > > also collect and retain the following, collectively referred to as > > “code snippets”: source code that you are editing, related files and > > other files open in the same IDE or editor, URLs of repositories and > > files paths. > > Best, > Yuchen My take on this is that software authors who value control of their code are well advised to move it to another repository. Leslie -- Operating System: Linux Distribution: openSUSE Leap 15.4 x86_64 Desktop Environment: Trinity ___ libreplanet-discuss mailing list libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss
Re: Wikipedia extolled as an aide for getting history correct
Indeed, the failure of Wikipedia to differentiate references to the kernel (Linux) and OSs that depend on it (GNU/Linux et al) is unfortunate. Many people, including those who actually use Linux-based systems, are wont to use 'Linux' as a short-hand for GNU/Linux*; and there are many who aren't aware of the distinction at all, which is where this shortcoming of the Wikipedia article is particularly unfortunate. Leslie *Me too. On 2022-06-16 16:46:42 Akira Urushibata wrote: > An article appeared in Washington Post's opinion section praising > Wikipedia's service to democracy by providing objective information > on the history of Russia and Ukraine and related issues. > > Russian President Vladimir has made claims that Ukraine is run by > Nazists and they need to be eradicated. He also believes that > Ukraine should not be independent from Moscow. Upon hearing such > statements many people in democratic societies headed to Wikipedia > to examine their veracity. Relevant articles saw a sharp increase > in page views. > > --- > > Wikipedia acts as a check on Putin's false view of history > https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/05/31/wikipedia-hitler-putin-la >vrov/ Perspective by Noam Cohen > > ... > > Since the Russian invasion, the English Wikipedia articles about the > historical figures and topics Putin invoked have been racking up > pop-star numbers. The article about Stepan Bandera, a far-right leader > of Ukrainian nationalists before and during World War II - whom Putin > sees as an evil force guiding Ukraine even today - has been viewed a > million times since the invasion. The one about the Ukrainian Soviet > Socialist Republic, an obscure entity within the Union of Soviet > Socialist Republics that Putin sees as having enabled Ukraine's > current separate political identity, has had more than a half-million > views since the invasion. Also with Bandera-type numbers is the > article about Kievan Rus' (just under a million views), the ancient > kingdom led by Vladimir the Great (225,000). > > ... > > --- > > A world with an impartial source of information is far healthier than > one in which only disparate narratives from two competing entities are > heard. > > However, my personal observation of Wikipedia makes me doubt whether > it deserves as much praise as Noam Cohen suggests. > > Occasionally I take a look at the Wikipedia article on the "Linux" > operating system. It is constantly edited. At times I have seen > efforts to eradicate or minimize the role of GNU. Here are the > first two paragraphs of the current version of the article: > >Linux is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based >on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on >September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged >in a Linux distribution. > >Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system >software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU >Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their >name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name "GNU/Linux" to >emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy. > > It is true that FSF uses the name "GNU/Linux" but the way it is > phrased gives people the impression that FSF is but an isolated voice > among computer specialists. This is a factual error. For example > there is "Debian GNU/Linux" developed by an organization independent > from FSF. Moreover in numerous technical documents I encounter the > term "GNU/Linux" used by people who are obviously not affiliated to > FSF, in contexts where it is necessary to distinguish between the > kernel and the operating system. Wikipedia, while putting emphasis on > the desires of FSF, fails to make clear that people have practical > reasons for saying "GNU/Linux." Failure to say that not everybody who > says "GNU/Linux" is prodded by FSF is a factual error. Failure to > mention that people need to distinguish the kernel from the OS is > yet another. > > Wikipedia may have helped thwart Russian President Putin's efforts to > rewrite history but it has been less successful in getting operating > system history straight. > > I know of other instances of questionable quality. Certain articles > on WW2 subjects exhibit stark differences in the Japanese page and the > English page. It is easy to imagine this happening where disputes > surround the subject matter. But I have also seen contradictions in > figures for which controversy is not known to exist. Japanese and > English Wikipedia pages on Japanese capital warships at times disagree > on the number of casualties at the time of sinking. For the Shinano, > the world's largest aircraft carrier at the time, the difference is > 644. > > Nowadays machine translation is widely available and Wikipedia encourages > its use. If people who edit Wikipedia articles don't always check >
Re: Is GitHub Copilot violates free software licenses?
On 2021-07-07 14:04:02 Jean Louis wrote: > * alimiracle [2021-07-07 21:35]: > > its doesn't give you the same code. > > That for sure. > > > its rearrangement codes and integrate them, and then gives you the > > result > > Yes, and that may be useful. > > > This thing make a lot of problems. > > Main problem is abuse of free software licenses. > > > - Makes programmers not creative > > I would not tell that too early. You know the libraries that exist in > every programming language? They are often used and re-used, for > example Python libraries, Node.js libraries, Haskell libraries, Go > libraries, there are so many. One could say that libraries make > programmers not creative as they are ready available. > > In fact, I like programming without using external libraries. But > often it is useless to like it that way, libraries are available and > trying to re-write something is reinventing the wheel, so I end up > using external libraries. > > Libraries are often so much bigger than programming snippets that the > free software license abusive AI tool we speak about will provide. > > Do libraries make programmers not creative? I don't think it is so > generally. But in relation to the library they definitely make > programmer not think about whatever library is providing. In that > context programmer will stop creating because library is already > there. > > With AI snippets is about similar. > > > Produces a generation of lazy programmers > > - Produces a generation of lazy programmers > > - Since the app collects codes and rearrange it .. > > This may be said also for libraries. It is not useful to go analysing > it like that. One could say that because GUI exists for specific > programing language, that such GUI makes programmers lazy. > > But programmers are lazy! > > https://html.duckduckgo.com/html/?q=programmers+are+lazu > > https://www.sarcasm.com/programmers-are-lazy/ > > http://threevirtues.com/ > > According to Larry Wall(1), the original author of the Perl programming > language, there are three great virtues of a programmer; Laziness, > Impatience and Hubris > > Laziness: The quality that makes you go to great effort to reduce > overall energy expenditure. It makes you write labor-saving > programs that other people will find useful and document what you > wrote so you don't have to answer so many questions about it. > > Impatience: The anger you feel when the computer is being > lazy. This makes you write programs that don't just react to your > needs, but actually anticipate them. Or at least pretend to. > > Hubris: The quality that makes you write (and maintain) programs > that other people won't want to say bad things about. > > > It means the app repeating other people's code mistakes. > > It can be, it is up to programmer to make it right. In the commercial programming environment, what you're calling laziness is a necessity of the drive by management to produce product as quickly as possible. (I spent thirty years in that environment.) Stealing code from one program for another, or gutting a program to create a different one is the normal way of life in that environment. Of course, those programs were all property of the company, so there was no issue of IP theft. The real drawback of using libraries is that one doesn't have time to look at how the services that a library provides work, how reliable and safe the library code is. In contrast, the snippets that this other service provides are likely small enough for the programmer to be able to analyze, and as a side-effect they further the programmer's knowledge of programming. Leslie -- ___ libreplanet-discuss mailing list libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss
Re: Blind user complaining on Adobe web site
On 2021-05-24 08:11:58 quil...@riseup.net wrote: > I doubt that a sight impairment issue can be solved by a window manager > or by graphics. What I think that a computer which is friendly to blind > users should do is get information (local or external) and interpret it > in braile or in sound. The input side is quite solved, as of nowadays. > > ___ > libreplanet-discuss mailing list > libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org > https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss At least on Unix-type systems, the basic input and display functions are both managed by the X Windows subsystem, or its up-and-coming replacement. Leslie -- ___ libreplanet-discuss mailing list libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss
Re: Web Application, how?
On 2021-05-20 06:37:35 Jean Louis wrote: > * Yasuaki Kudo [2021-05-20 05:33]: > > Hi, > > > > Thank you so much for your replies! I am so glad I asked! > > > > An idea came to us yesterday - to provide CompuServe/AOL-style BBS > > interface. > > > > I think maybe the world has gotten too far with GUI and it's time to > > consider judicious roll back to CUI > > Why not. Important is if it is functional and usable > > Console interfaces may be easier to understand for many people. Some GUI applications (notably, web browsers) impose large overheads in storage and CPU use, which are minimal in CUI applications. The extra overheads and complexity can lead to sluggish response. Also, in many cases CUI applications are easier to work with because the user is no continually having to switch from keyboard to mouse, which interrupts work flow. Leslie -- ___ libreplanet-discuss mailing list libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss
[OT] Blind people, advocates slam company claiming to make websites ADA compliant
An article about accessability, peripherally related to the Adobe discussion. https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/innovation/blind-people-advocates-slam-company-claiming-make-websites-ada-compliant-n1266720 ___ libreplanet-discuss mailing list libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss
Re: media.libreplanet.org non-requested confusing auto download issue
On 2021-05-05 09:08:52 Miroslav Rovis wrote: > To me, knowing what gets into my machine --and the > browser is the most used for intrusion, has the attack > surface ridiculously huge and hard to control-- is as > important as free software and hardware. Free software and > hardware must be safe, else my freedom can easily be > compromised and hence it's not freedom anymore. [*] A long time ago, the web browser on my Amiga computer (AWeb) allowed me to disable image loading, then selectively download individual images by clicking on them; it also allowed me to view the browser cache contents to see what was being downloaded. (One presumes that if the Amiga had survived, AWeb would also allow doing this for video.) AmigaOS also provided easy integration of scripting (using ARexx), and just about every application took advantage of that, so filtering was fairly easy. "Modern" web browsers have taken away these user-friendly features, or hidden them in undocumented interfaces like about:config so that end users are effectively unable to control their machines. Leslie -- ___ libreplanet-discuss mailing list libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss
Re: media.libreplanet.org non-requested confusing auto download issue [
On 2021-05-05 03:17:41 Jean Louis wrote: > The problem is that people working on those websites usually have > enough money and very good Internet and they assume that all of the > planet is the same, somehow funny when conference is planet related. This is a serious problem for anyone who doesn't live in a city, and the ISPs as well are oblivious to the issue. Take Google, whose Gigabit Internet initiative (though it has good intentions) boosts bandwidth in (so far selected) cities, while completely ignoring rural users. Every time there is a jump in bandwidth availability (in cities), webmasters and media developers immediately fill that bandwidth with junk. First we had email, then email with embedded HTML, then commercial (90% text) HTML, then HTML with JavaScript, then text replaced by video clips (software manual? Just watch our youtube videos!), and on and on. For people who don't live in a city, very such "advance" makes it take longer to read an article, shop online, or interact with health care or government. It's infuriating, and there seems to be no way to curb the trend. Leslie -- ___ libreplanet-discuss mailing list libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss
Re: Fwd: Re: Adobe Reader 10
On 2021-04-20 10:42:29 Jean Louis wrote: > * Greg Knittl [2021-03-21 22:27]: > > Hi Jean Louis, > > > > This is generic problem across at least 2 Ontario ministries. I have also > > encountered XFA forms for the Health Ministry Assistive Devices Program. > > I don't know exactly where to send the complaint. > > > > 1. start with https://www.ontario.ca/feedback/contact-us to find the > > right ministry to own the issue. maybe Ministry of Government and > > Consumer Services? > > > > 2. escalate up that ministry, and complete their complaints process if > > they are not responsive. > > I have sent letter and recommended that they make PDF by standard and > I gave reference to: https://pdfreaders.org/pdfreaders.en.html > > It is however interesting that they DO have non-discriminatory policy > and accessibility policy: > https://www.ontario.ca/page/accessible-customer-service-policy It's quite likely that some non-technical decision-maker(s) in the provincial government decided to use the particular flavour of PDF for some perceived benefit, not realizing that it is proprietary, and therefore not universally supported. Leslie -- ___ libreplanet-discuss mailing list libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss
Re: Who can continue RMS work?
Esperanto? :-) Leslie On 2021-04-14 10:25:16 sergio hernandez wrote: > I think that it's time to change the Universal language for another one. > It's only a thought. > > El mié, 14 de abr. de 2021 a la(s) 10:17, mrf (itis103t...@gmail.com) > > escribió: > > I made terrible grammatical mistake the title should "be Who can > > continue RMS work?" > > > > and this mistake is spreaded in this paragraphs forgive me I'm not > > english native. -- ___ libreplanet-discuss mailing list libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss
Re: The endless thread without benefit - Re: re. RMS
On 2021-04-05 11:45:46 Jean Louis wrote: > * Lori Nagel via libreplanet-discuss > [2021-04-05 19:32]: > >I think a lot of this discussion about RMS is because most people > >forget about freedom respecting software activism most of the time. > >They don't live eat sleep and breathe it 24/7. Every time a RMS news > >article comes out, or he is embroiled in some controversy, then people > >find the time and energy to gather on these lists and discuss him > >again. The only problem is, it doesn't necessarily lead to new and > >more effective freedom respecting software advocacy strategies. > > Exactly. Well, I didn't subscribe (recently) to this list to listen to debates about RMS' celebrity follies, so after I figured out what was going on, I've added an "Ignore Thread" button to my mail agent's toolbar (just for this list!) Leslie -- ___ libreplanet-discuss mailing list libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss
Re: Adobe Reader 10
On 2021-03-18 09:33:25 quiliro wrote: > Jean Louis writes: > > I would send to government a letter that software is proprietary and > > not a standard, and that government is thus favoring proprietary > > company "Adobe" that is not even Canadian company -- I would ask for > > reasons why they are favoring foreign company whereby they cannot > > guarantee safety of users' data, as software is not free. I would ask > > if they have hidden agenda with Adobe and how much Adobe is paying to > > government -- or is it just a capricious decision of governments' > > official who simply did not know nothing better. There are forms that > > work with free software, and if I remember well I was using Evince to > > complete such without problems. I would tell them that using > > proprietary software impacts my freedom, as it controls my data > > without my consent and without possibility to inspect how it works, as > > it is not free software. Then I would tell them to provide PDF by > > standard that may be edited by software on various operating systems, > > and by free software and not just by the one specific Adobe version. > > > > Write a letter now, maybe you save thousands other people of the same > > problem. > > > > Jean > > These are great suggestions. Jean is a very experienced and witty > person. I would do as he said with just one modification. I would make > the letter very friendly and respectful. I have found bureaucrats are > very powerful and that their decision can influence government-wide > policies. Big corporations know this and invite public officials to > play golf with world champions abroad, like happened here in Ecuador. > We cannot afford that, but we can certainly afford to be nice. Maybe > true appreciation of people's internal value will sometimes win over > money and comfort. > > Happy hacking! > > Quiliro > I would suggest as well that the most important part of the argument does not turn on the 'openness' of the software per se, but on the issue of excluding citizens' access to their government's resources. Many of the people who make software selection decisions are still unaware that there are more than just Windows and OS-X systems in the world. We need to help them become more aware of this. Leslie -- ___ libreplanet-discuss mailing list libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss
Re: Adobe Reader 10
On 2021-03-17 12:20:34 quiliro wrote: > You can also search the FSF free software directory at: > https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Category/Works-with-format/pdf > I am not sure if that is the best category. But I guess you can explore > and ask here, if you have any further trouble. Or maybe works with XFA (if such category exists)? Leslie -- ___ libreplanet-discuss mailing list libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss
Re: New animated video: Fight to Repair (alternative storylines)
Blindfold vs magnifying glass. Leslie On 2021-01-19 23:15:34 Paul D. Fernhout wrote: > |And also another PSA on proprietary vs. open/free standards. Not sure > |what a good visual would be for that -- maybe dirty vs. clean? > | -- ___ libreplanet-discuss mailing list libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss
