from:"Andrew R."

Here's what you need:

1. You need to disable UEFI whitelisting or enable legacy mode. I don't
know much about this step, and I suspect others here are in the same
position, as this is only specific to recent UEFI computers.

2. GRUB is best installed in the Master Boot Record.

3. If you want to remove Trisquel and revert to Windows-only, you will
need to boot from your Windows 8.1 disc to restore the MBR, or manually
restore it if you kept a copy. If you don't have a Windows 8.1 disc,
well, there is nothing you can do.

 Making a mess in boot loader is pretty serious issue and I hope you 
 Trisquel guys will address this issue.

GNU/Linux distros like Debian, Ubuntu, Trisquel etc. all install GRUB in
the MBR, same as Windows. If you can't restore your MBR to use the
Windows bootloader, this is in fact a Microsoft issue, not a Trisquel
issue.

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] How to fix MBR problem caused by Trisquel Installation?

On 25/10/13 11:14, masikwha wrote:
 After the removing Trisquel my windows MBR is emotionally damaged. 
 Possible changes in MBR made by Trisquel installation,or possible 
 remains of  Grub in MBR has led my windows unstable, not to leave out
 frequently disconnected WiFi after the removal of Trisquel.

There is no relation. The code in the MBR is responsible for booting an
OS or a second level bootloader, nothing else. If your WiFi is
frequently disconnecting it is purely coincidental.

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] Removing Trisquel in windows problem

On 25/10/13 11:38, masikwha wrote:
Putting aside all, so what is the solution? How to fix my MBR?

Installation of an OS will override the MBR, unless you tell it
otherwise. AFAIK the Trisquel installation asks you if you want to
install GRUB. You will need to override GRUB with the Windows 8.1 MBR if
you don't want to use GRUB.

Apparently you can create a Windows repair disc, which can be used to
recreate the Windows MBR. For example, I found this:

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/2855-system-repair-disc-create-windows-8-a.html

I should also add that at least I won't be able to help you past here,
as support for proprietary software is contrary to the goals of the free
software movement.

It's unfortunate that using a free distro caused you an inconvenience,
but I hope that doesn't turn you away from using free software.

Part of the reason I tried Trisquel was because of Stallman and his
principle, which I recently happened to watch on a video. I decided
to remove Trisquel because WiFi was disconnected frequently(and now
on windows as well after the Trisquel removal) and I didn't have time
to look around for add ons and proprietary free softwares to go with
your GNULinux.

Unfortunately the state of WiFi for GNU/Linux isn't so good. Some
drivers aren't so good, e.g. I previously used the (free) driver for an
Intel WiFi chip which frequently disconnected. However, the ThinkPenguin
USB WiFi adapters are a good example of WiFi hardware that is fully
compatible with free software and works well in GNU/Linux. Apparently it
also works in Windows. You should check it out:

https://www.thinkpenguin.com/gnu-linux/penguin-wireless-n-usb-adapter-gnu-linux-tpe-n150usb

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] Removing Trisquel in windows problem

On 25/10/13 11:38, masikwha wrote:
 Going back to Stallman, his principle, having the freedom to use 
 software, applies just as much to Not using a software. If you add 
 something to my MBR and it causes problems, you should provide with a
 way to clean it up otherwise your foundation and your work would look
 and sound hippocratic, don't you think so?

No, not really. Unfortunately it is the design of the MBR that it
generally needs to load a second-stage bootloader stored elsewhere, i.e.
in another partition. An inconvenience or poor design doesn't make
GNU/Linux any less free.

In fact, it is Windows to blame here, as the Windows first stage
bootloader is non-free and so nobody except for Microsoft can help you
reinstall it.

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] MPL 1.1 Incompatibility

2013-10-17 Thread Andrew R.

On 18/10/13 13:03, oralfloss wrote:
 https://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html#MPL
 
 According to this page, MPL 1.1 is not GPL compatible because it has 
 some complex restrictions. This also makes it non-FSF approved,

No it doesn't?

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] File system encryption in Trisquel?

2013-10-16 Thread Andrew R.

On 16/10/13 19:59, b112327 wrote:
 Hello,
 
 in the current Ubuntu there is an option during the installation time
 to encrypt the filesystem on the harddrive. When you turn on the
 computer, after the BIOS loading, user have to enter his password to
 decrypt the file system and let the OS to boot. If the password is
 wrong then the OS won't load.
 
 I really liked this option in Ubuntu and I miss it very much in 
 Trisquel. Are there any ways to being this functionality into 
 Trisquel?

Full disk encryption is offered on the non-graphical installation. If
you boot into the distro I don't think it is offered. I'm not really too
familiar with the installers though.

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] D-Link firmware backdoor

2013-10-14 Thread Andrew R.

On 15/10/13 05:38, krofnica996 wrote:
 http://it.slashdot.org/story/13/10/14/0120221/d-link-router-backdoor-vulnerability-allows-full-access-to-settings

 http://www.devttys0.com/2013/10/reverse-engineering-a-d-link-backdoor/
 
 And yet many say that FSF is too paranoid about free firmware.

That's bad news, but barely surprising. Last year I realised that my own
router hadn't been patched for at least five years, which was definitely
cause for concern. I decided to try and secure as much traffic as
possible, so I decided use SSH for transferring files on the local
network. People I know thought I was being paranoid, but hopefully not
anymore. :-)

I just recently discovered my router can run OpenWRT, so I might give
that a go.

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] How to get non-techies to start hosting their own servers

2013-10-09 Thread Andrew R.

On 10/10/13 13:16, Michael Mehrazar wrote:
 My first question, which is probably extremely very basic, is what 
 material is needed for a small, personal Internet server that should 
 ideally only be used by myself. I assume a personal computer running 
 server software (GLAMP, GNU/Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP). But what
 do each of these individual services do?

Okay, so the Apache web server serves up content over HTTP. It supports
modules and it also serves up files by default. It's the thing that
listens for requests (e.g. I want https://trisquel.info;) and provides
a response.

PHP, Python, Ruby, Java etc. provide runtime environments that interpret
code (or, for Java, interpret bytecodes). So, for example, Trisquel.info
uses Drupal which is PHP software. PHP is typically run as an Apache
module and can output content to Apache on-the-fly. It is useful for
forums, search engines, blogs, sites that require logins, etc.

MySQL is a database server. PHP has a library which lets programmers
talk to the MySQL server. The MySQL server reads these requests (SQL
queries) for data and returns a result.

Installing these shouldn't really be too difficult. You can look this up
on your favourite search engine, just search for something like
installing apache php mysql on ubuntu 12.04 (Trisquel 6.0 is based on
Ubuntu 12.04) and you'll find step-by-step instructions.

 And does the server need to be a specialized piece of hardware or is
  a basic laptop enough? (Again, assuming the server is meant for only
  one person)

I ran a Minecraft (I know, proprietary) server years back on a laptop
for a few friends, and didn't have any issues. Some laptops are prone to
overheating, which is probably the biggest issue. Also, home connections
aren't terribly fast in most countries. So it really depends on what
you're doing with it.

You could also consider getting an unmanaged VPS, keeping in mind the
security implications (someone else could have physical access to it)
and that you will basically be forced to learn to use the CLI. I'm
currently using a VPS for approximately $50/yr.

 Do you also need a domain name? Is it possible just to use your IP 
 address provided by your ISP? What about DNS? Is there anything else 
 that is required? I am very hazy with all of this, and any resources 
 that could clarify would be much appreciated.

If you have a static IP, you don't need a DNS. You can use the IP
directly, or you can manually edit your /etc/hosts file to essentially
create your own domain (but it only works on the computer which you
edited the /etc/hosts file).

You also have to take your own home networking into consideration.
Currently most home networks use NAT as a result of IPv4 address
depletion. In this case you will have to setup port forwarding on your
router or buy a block of IPv4 addresses from your ISP. Some ISPs only do
this for businesses, and they are getting tight on IPv4 addresses, so
the first option is more common.

Unfortunately most ISPs give out dynamic IP addresses, which means your
IP will change. It is possible to get a dynamic IP address (DDNS) so
that you can just use the DNS instead of your IP. But DDNS providers
normally provide incentives to pay, so that's potentially another cost.

Finally, if you want to avoid all of this you could consider getting a VPS.

One day IPv6 will be used, and so a lot of this extra setup hopefully
won't be necessary.

 Finally, which services should I experiment with first? Web, Blogs, 
 Email, XMPP,  Owncloud or SparkleShare, MediaGoblin, GNU 
 Social/StatusNet, Diaspora, and Pump.io servers are a few of the 
 programs I would be happy to run myself. But when I have looked at 
 the documentation, it is way over my head. Is there a particular 
 service that is easiest to start with?

One of the first services I set up was an email server. Depending on the
setup you're looking for, that can turn out to be quite difficult, at
least for someone who hasn't done it before.

I haven't tried any of those other services you mentioned, but in my
experience PHP-based projects tend to make the setup very easy. I've
installed phpBB before and it is very beginner-friendly to administrate.

 Obviously, the long term solution is something like the FreedomBox, 
 which will enable all non-technical people to easily have a full 
 software stack of servers. But in the meantime, could you help a 
 newbie start in the right direction? Thanks!

Have fun! :-)

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] How to get non-techies to start hosting their own servers

2013-10-09 Thread Andrew R.

On 10/10/13 13:57, I wrote:
 It is possible to get a dynamic IP address (DDNS)

Oops, I meant to say dynamic DNS here.

Amdrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] How to date girls using free software :P

2013-10-08 Thread Andrew R.

On 08/10/13 16:01, oralfloss wrote:
 To make an analogy, Facebook is a tolled bridge on an river that 
 flows downstream for an infinite amount of miles. Anyone can build 
 their own bridge on this river, or use already set up non-tolled 
 bridges. By tolling the people who cross the Facebook bridge, is 
 Facebook really oppressing the entire river and both sides of it?
 No. They are just making it convenient for users who are in that
 area, but for a cost.

But to continue that analogy, many of your friends can only be reached
across that single tolled bridge on the internet. They probably know
that it's the only bridge, but they don't know anything else (or care).
Some people say that the bridge toll operator is nice, and would never
unfairly block someone from crossing it. Of course I think that's
bullshit. Facebook can stop you from crossing that bridge whenever they
feel like it.

Whereas other more decentralised, federated protocols like email and
XMPP make users more reachable by other bridges. If one bridge is cut
off, another bridge can always be used. Or maybe there is a ferry you
can catch.

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] How to date girls using free software :P

2013-10-07 Thread Andrew R.

On 08/10/13 09:54, oralfloss wrote:
 That's what a privacy policy is for. I am free to use their services
  given those conditions, just as all other services have certain 
 conditions. There have been many people asking about why extensive 
 swearing isn't allowed on Trisquel, and there are always reasons 
 given. Is it right to say removing extensive swearing on Trisquel is 
 an attack on my freedom? By your standards it is, and that is where I
 do not agree. Ergo, I don't believe Facebook takes away freedom.

The difference between Facebook and the Trisquel forum/list is that
Facebook is a global, centralised method of communications, which mixes
private, group and public communication into one service. That's dangerous.

Trisquel, on the other hand, is a public list which, if users are using
the list, enables users to communicate off-list and out of its control.
Because it's built using free software we can easily replace the list.
Archives are also available for download. It's completely different to
Facebook.

I do think that centralisation does threaten the freedom of
communication on the internet.

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] [OT] Free JavaScript scripts site?

2013-10-07 Thread Andrew R.

On 08/10/13 11:29, gramex wrote:
 I am looking for a website that has freely-licensed JavaScript 
 examples. I don't mean a site that merely runs free JavaScript, I 
 mean one which has code examples to integrate into my own site.

I use https://developer.mozilla.org a lot, which has code snippets
licensed under the X11 (MIT) license or under CC0:
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Project:MDN/About#Copyrights_and_licenses

There is also http://userscripts.org, which I believe has free
GreaseMonkey scripts (GreaseMonkey is mostly the same as normal
JavaScript programming).

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] CD ripper with best GUI

2013-10-05 Thread Andrew R.

On 06/10/13 09:01, oralfloss wrote:
 I noticed there are a lot of CD rippers in the repos. I have tried 2,
 namely Rhythmbox and Ripperx, but neither of them have a good GUI or
 barely any customizaitons. Does anyone have a recommendation for a CD
 ripper, preferably one that rips to FLAC?

I personally use VLC. It supports FLAC. Just use the Convert/Save option
under the Media menu, and follow the GUI from there.

You might need to create a new profile to save files using FLAC.

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] Frontier Search

2013-10-03 Thread Andrew R.

On 03/10/13 15:26, oralfloss wrote:
 Here's my results:
 trisquel@thinkpad:~$ host thisisnotadomain.org
 thisisnotadomain.org has address 198.105.241.114
 thisisnotadomain.org has address 198.105.251.114
 Host thisisnotadomain.org not found: 3(NXDOMAIN)
 
 Now I'm a bit scared.
 
 An example of something I'll type in is test.con/ on accident, 
 which will bring me to a redirect. Luckily, I have both NoScript and 
 RequestPolicy enabled, so it never actually reaches he website it is 
 looking for. I have attached a picture of this example.

Your ISP appears to be doing DNS poisoning. This is similar to what I
see when I type that command.

Probably the only thing you can do is complain to your ISP. It will most
likely fall on deaf ears, but it's better than nothing. Alternatively,
if you use Tor then you shouldn't get DNS poisoning, as Tor exit relays
automatically detect and block DNS poisoning.

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] Frontier Search

2013-10-03 Thread Andrew R.

On 03/10/13 12:38, Armworm wrote:
 I have this problem as well. Andrew R.'s command does not provide an 
 address. It outputs Host thisisnotadomain.org not found: 
 3(NXDOMAIN).

I'm not sure what's causing the problem on your end. Are you using a
proxy? Have you tried using Safe Mode in Abrowser? Can you provide more
information about what you are typing in, e.g. same as what oralfloss did?

You can find Safe Mode instructions here:
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Safe_Mode

That's about all I can really think of that the moment.

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] Frontier Search

2013-10-02 Thread Andrew R.

On 03/10/13 11:11, oralfloss wrote:
 Starting today, my computer has been redirrecting me to frontier 
 searches every time I type in a bad URL.

That's not a lot of information, but it sounds like your ISP *could* be
doing DNS poisoning. If you type in a terminal:

$ host thisisnotadomain.org

does it provide an address?

If not, can you provide more information, e.g. give us a step-by-step
description of exactly what you're typing in the address bar?

-- 
Andrew Roffey   http://andrew.roffey.org   GPG: 0x9657B073
Bitmessage (experimental): BM-GtVcuPape7tWt98JcL434KR1kMNXYGHx

Re: [Trisquel-users] Running Gnu Privacy Guard (GPG) in Trisquel

2013-10-01 Thread Andrew R.

On 02/10/13 07:04, lddimov wrote:
 I can't figure out how to encrypt files in Trisquel using the Gnu 
 Privacy Guard (GPG). In Window$ you right-click on any file and chose
 Encrypt. That option is not available in Trisquel. It is sad that
 there is a good help website for the Win users, but an outdated 
 fairly useless for the GNU users... Does anyone know how to encrypt 
 files without having to do it in the terminal?

There are a few GUIs you can use on Trisquel. For example, I think the
seahorse package is quite popular, although I haven't used it myself.

If you're encrypting emails I recommend using Enigmail with Thunderbird,
or just using Evolution (OpenPGP support is built in by default).

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] Seeking for a backup tool

2013-09-27 Thread Andrew R.

On 27/09/13 23:56, mYself wrote:
 To be short, I am searching for an application with a user interface,
 that supports updating/refreshing readily available partition image
 clones, so that I does not need to create a full drive backup
 every-time I make a backup. I already used Clonezilla to backup two
 internal notebook hard drives with success, but AFAIK it does not
 support this feature. Any suggetions?

I've used and recommend Unison. It has a CLI and a GUI (Unison-gtk), it
uses rsync in the background, and it's easy to use. You can also
painlessly use SSH for synchronising files over the network.

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] Gnome-Panel fails to load on startup sometimes

2013-09-26 Thread Andrew R.

On 22/09/13 23:36, gaming4jc2 wrote:
 This sounds like a bug, but I no longer use Gnome3 myself. I was 
 wondering if anyone else experienced this problem before or knew how 
 to get a proper debug log without too much work? That way I can have 
 the bug filed.

Here is an existing bug report:
https://trisquel.info/en/issues/7703

It seems to be caused by a segmentation fault.

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] Unsafe ISO-file signatures

2013-09-16 Thread Andrew R .

 It more and more appears to me like security is not og high priority 
 in the distribution. I see a lot of bugreports regarding privacy and 
 security.

Privacy and security are a priority for Trisquel. However, lack of
development resources can make this difficult. Some package helpers
(e.g. Abrowser) need updating when new packages are released.

I plan on working on the Abrowser package helper in two weeks time when
I get a week off. Yes, you can hold that against me if I don't end up
doing it. ;-)

I think the increase of privacy/security bug reports might also relate
to the recent NSA disclosures a little bit.

Extra developer resources wouldn't go astray. If you can help at all,
please do.

PS. I'm not a Trisquel developer, or represent Trisquel in any way.

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] Unsafe ISO-file signatures

2013-09-15 Thread Andrew R .

On 15/09/13 20:10, Liberty wrote:
 Hello friends,
 
 Why does Trisquel use the notorious unsafe MD5 for verification of 
 downloaded ISO-files?
 
 http://cdimage.trisquel.info/trisquel-images/md5sum.txt

Yes, this isn't ideal. IMHO GnuPG signatures would be best, maybe
alongside SHA-2 for people who don't use GnuPG.

You could file a bug report:
https://trisquel.info/en/project/issues

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] Fundraising campaign: Privacy Friendly Mail (TLS/OpenGPG/etc) Software

2013-09-15 Thread Andrew R .

On 16/09/13 10:10, Fernando Negro wrote:
 That is, unfortunately, another thing that only adds to my 
 suspicion... Because, the WikiLeaks project, that must be the 
 alternative media organization that I have ever seen be most 
 promoted by the corporate media [...]

The corporate media rides on what's popular, and typically the reason is
for money. Greed rules the world (I'm not sure if that's a conspiracy or
an accepted fact).

 [...] is, in fact, a CIA project, that has already been denounced by
  a credible author, that I've repeatedly mentioned in this thread - 
 the former KGB agent, who gives speeches in the European Parliament,
  Daniel Estulin.

Who is Julian Assange then? Were the cypherpunks a CIA front as well?

 WikiLeaks is all about: spreading the idea of insecurity on the 
 Internet (by allowing classified information to be easily spread), 
 that will justify more control (/censorship) over it (pay attention 
 to the laws that will be passed, in the near future, because of 
 this);

There are many excuses for limiting our freedom. 9/11 was one of them.
WikiLeaks is another. That's not necessarily a reason to believe there
is a conspiracy involved.

 the Collateral Murder video leak [...] doesn't change people's 
 opinion concerning the Invasion of Iraq.

Very doubtful. At least my own opinion of the war in Iraq was
strengthened by the release of the WikiLeaks cables.

 After all, if it does stand up to its intentions - of building a 
 truly secure network for private communications - it seems like a 
 good idea, doesn't it? And, my problem with it, is not even the 
 concept, in itself, but the possibility that this particular 
 implementation of it may not be as secure as it promises - and that, 
 therefore, its use may constitute a trap.

I agree that there is cause for concern.

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] How many people are working on Trisquel? Which libre Linux distro has the most developers?

2013-09-12 Thread Andrew R .

On 12/09/13 14:52, pedrosilva wrote:
 DEBIAN IS OPEN-SOURCE MOVEMENT. They never really cared about 
 freedom. If they did they would have been a free distro since day 
 one.

I don't think it's wise to speak for an entire distribution. Debian as a
whole focuses on freedom, but not enough, and some policies are lacking.
Individual Debian Developers might care about freedom. For example,
former Debian Project Leader Stefano Z. worked on collaborating with the
FSF during his term.

Debian was created before open source existed. Interestingly, the
former DPL who helped write the Debian Free Software Guidelines (DFSG)
then used that to form the Open Source definition. The DFSG and Open
Source definition are mostly compatible with the GNU free software
definition.

 And while I'm at it let me take this opportunity to say something to 
 the users here in the forum who happily use and recommend nonfree 
 distros like Debian, Mint, etc: SHAME ON YOU!

Although I won't say it so strongly, I agree that we should only be
encouraging free distros.

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] How many people are working on Trisquel? Which libre Linux distro has the most developers?

2013-09-12 Thread Andrew R .

On 12/09/13 13:14, 438963 wrote:
 How many people are working on Trisquel? 10? 20? Can you please give
  a number?

Depends what you count as working on. Patches? Working on
documentation? Writing code? Maintaining the server? Also, things are a
little quiet at the moment, although I'm sure they will get busier next
year when the next Ubuntu LTS is released.

At the moment it seems like most of the development is done by Ruben,
the project leader.

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] Sticking To It

2013-09-11 Thread Andrew R .

First of all, welcome, and good on you for helping program free software.

 My question is, how have you kept yourselves on the right track this 
 entire time, and is there any way that I can easily convince my 
 friends to atleast try to not use Micro$oft Windows and proprietary 
 software?

Hmm, if I wish I knew the answer to that question as well.

At the moment I've been familiarising myself with the ways Windows
attacks its users privacy and freedom, as that's probably the main
reason I switched to GNU/Linux. But not everyone shares that reason.

Another good example which users can probably relate to more is the
compatibility breakage between Microsoft Office formats. At the moment I
believe there are three different MSO formats in wide use: the 2003
proprietary formats, the 2007/2010 OOXML transitional formats and the
2013/365 new OOXML formats. The 2007/2010 formats are slightly
incompatible as well. Why does Microsoft do this? It's all about keeping
users to the latest version, whether they like it or not. Interestingly,
every Windows and Office release comes with more restrictions (both
legal and technical), and this strategy compels users to follow them.

The ODF, on the other hand, does not see that sort of breakage. And
since the software that reads them is free (Apache OpenOffice,
LibreOffice, Calligra Suite, Gnumeric/AbiWord, ...) any threat of
restrictions will likely lead to a software fork, keeping users free.
But most of these programs are (L)GPL anyway, so legal restrictions
can't really be added.

 It may spy on me, but there are millions of people out there, and 
 what do they want with me?

As you probably already know, nothing to hide is a myth. You might be
interested in this:

http://www.privacy.org.au/Resources/PAS-STH.html

Looks like nearly 1% of the American population had something to hide,
many who probably didn't do harm to anyone except themselves:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/US_incarceration_rate_timeline.gif

And this just leaked out not long ago:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/02/nsa-dea-at-t-call-records-access

Maybe people you know don't have anything to hide, but that's still no
reason to give up on privacy. Maybe understanding the relationship
between surveillance and censorship is important. Think of things like
money, food, online communications, transport, room access. If they know
who's using/doing it, they can arbitrarily stop that person from doing
it. Surveillance can become power. Maybe people you know don't have
anything to hide, but they want to be free to live their life without
someone having that sort of power over them.

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] Antwort: Where is the JDK stored?

2013-09-10 Thread Andrew R .

On 10/09/13 15:39, holger.beetz wrote:
 I guess that Neatbeans might require a proprietary JDK from Sun / 
 Oracle. You should consult their installation requirements.

Yes, I believe it is. I was rather disappointed when I tried installing
and running NetBeans in Trisquel and Debian only to find it didn't work.

I searched the web and eventually found a bug report (I can't find it
now) which said NetBeans won't currently work on OpenJDK because of a
bug in OpenJDK.

Eclipse works though (if that is able to fulfil your IDE requirements).

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] Problems with Abrowser Update

2013-09-10 Thread Andrew R .

On 10/09/13 14:57, oralfloss wrote:
 I'm not using Abroswer plugins to search, nor do I plan on doing so.

Plugins != search plugins. A search plugin is just an XML file with the
search engine URL and other information required to display the search
engine in the search bar.

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] Problems with Abrowser Update

2013-09-10 Thread Andrew R .

On 11/09/13 11:00, oralfloss wrote:
 That is completely off topic. I am not using either, nor did I ever 
 need to before. The URL bar should act as a search if I use 
 URL.keyword, and it has before, without plugins or search plugins. 
 The problem I am having is that the update is forcing the search 
 plugin, and I do not know how to change it or even want to use it. I 
 just want the URL.keyboard to work like it did before this update
 and many other updates.

Sorry, maybe I was thinking of something else.

You might want to try asking at MozillaZine instead:
http://forums.mozillazine.org

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] Tor isn't safe from NSA

2013-09-09 Thread Andrew R .

On 10/09/13 12:57, ewlabonte wrote:
 However, the new version of Tor, 2.4, uses elliptical curve 
 Diffie-Hellman ciphers, which are probably beyond the NSA's reach. 
 
 Just update your tor software.

Tor 2.4 is still in development (I think it is RC status at the moment)
and only ~10% of Tor relays are apparently running 2.4. Which means that
even if you use it, you will probably still be primarily using weak
soon-legacy keys.

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] The NSA can tap into Android systems

On 08/09/13 15:57, Chris wrote:
 What phone do you use? Does it run Replicant?
 
 I'd be curious as to how that works. Where is the code for that? Is 
 it in the modem firmware or part of the OS firmware?

It's not Replicant, or even a smartphone. It's an ancient Nokia phone,
actually.

I'm not really sure if the SIM card is handled by the firmware or OS.
Any mobile phone experts here? :-)

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] Trisquel/GNU/Linux Blog

Sorry, been busy with assignments/exams. I've setup a basic Planet
instance if anyone's interested:

http://planet-trisquel.org/

It's rather quiet at the moment. Anyone else got Trisquel-focused blog
feeds?

In the next week I'll prod quidam on IRC and see if he might consider
setting up the official Planet.

Also, whilst being very careful about not censoring anybody, I am
asking that any contributors will follow the Trisquel Community Guidelines:

https://trisquel.info/en/wiki/trisquel-community-guidelines

But I am sure this won't be a problem anyway... :-)

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] The NSA can tap into Android systems

On 08/09/13 20:01, erikthorsen wrote:
 ...The SIM card? Since when was any of that on the SIM card.. To my 
 recollection phones starting using their internal memory around ten 
 years ago. So unless you have a Nokia 1610... ..In which case, I 
 salute you, that was a great phone for bludgeoning people.. =x
 
 Obiously anything that goes through the carrier is automatically up 
 for grabs.

Is all of the SIM card supposed to go through the carrier?

 
 Lots of carriers offer contact backup, usually through SyncML or
 some other simple sync protocol. Although as far as I know, no phone
 these days uses the SIM card to store contacts.

It's a Nokia 1208 which was apparently released in 2007. I recall
switching the SIM card into another phone one time and the contacts were
immediately available on it. When my sister got her new phone her
contacts were definitely available straight away as well. I'll have to
try it again sometime.

Also some interesting stuff on the subject at Wikipedia (but I don't
think it really answers any of these questions):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subscriber_identity_module

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] The NSA can tap into Android systems

On 08/09/13 20:10, erikthorsen wrote:
 So essentially.. If I mighty paraphrase here. No real point in 
 running Replicant, you're screwed by default regardless, might as 
 well enjoy all them cool games and stuff on them cool app stores.

Well for a while I was thinking that it might be possible to power down
the modem part of the mobile phone to prevent that sort of tracking.
Like computers, mobile phones (or at least some) do that for other types
of hardware, such as Wi-Fi, when not in use.

I asked at the Replicant forums, and this is not something that
Replicant can do at the moment. So basically yes, if you carry a mobile
phone with the battery in then you're probably screwed.

So I'll just keep carrying around my phone with the battery out, as it
is easy to take out and put back in. Not sure if that's the case for
smartphones. Maybe this will be my last mobile phone then.

Amdrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] The NSA can tap into Android systems

On 09/09/13 00:57, Fernando Negro wrote:
 (Responding to both andrew's and Chris' comments above...)
 
 The phone companies can access people's mobile phones, even when
 they are (apparently) turned off, and turn on the microphone in it,
 at least (and, therefore, turn them into listening devices). (Besides
  the fact that every mobile phone is a tracking device, as everyone 
 already knows.)
 
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0G1fNjK9SXg

Indeed. I think that must be related to this news story from 2006:
http://news.cnet.com/2100-1029-6140191.html

Evidence of this has been around for at least a decade.

 I know of at least one modern-day smartphone (that is considered one 
 of the best around, and that uses Android), that lets you (easily) 
 take off the battery, like with an old-day mobile phone: 
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBIEkbjs8Ms

Interesting, thanks for the link. Maybe when my dumbphone dies I'll
consider getting one of those, keeping in mind the camera problem. I
guess I could always cover up the cameras with a sticker, but that might
make me look paranoid. :-)

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] The NSA can tap into Android systems

2013-09-07 Thread Andrew R .

On 08/09/13 12:30, Fernando Negro wrote:
 The *NSA can tap into Android systems(!)* (and also other,
 non-Linux, mobile devices).
 
 There's an initial report here: 
 http://rt.com/news/nsa-smart-phones-spying-563/
 
 And, I'll probably post some more links about the Android part (that 
 most interests me) once I find some more information about this.
 
 In the meantime, everyone else feel free to add more information 
 about this...

Also, firmware is a major problem. For example, this appears to be the
problem here:

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/04/verizon-rigmaiden-aircard/all/

Contact lists, SMS traffic etc. isn't really surprising. To my
knowledge, anything on the SIM card is up for grabs on most mobile phones.

I was rather intrigued when my father told me he did a complete SIM
backup of my brick/dumbphone across the internet, without my knowledge
(my parents have the password, since they set it up) and while my phone
was off. Apparently the backup feature was advertised as being useful
for backing up contacts etc. I'm guessing my provider must somehow get a
copy of it when I turn on my phone and store it.

It wasn't really too worrying for me, because I take the battery out of
it when I'm not using it (and I only turn it on 1-2 times per week to
check for messages).

-- 
Andrew Roffey http://andrew.roffey.org
GPG fingerprint   F9E6 E6C4 0080 85F4 0E30 B0D9 7F7B DC7F 9657 B073

Re: [Trisquel-users] Fundraising campaign: Privacy Friendly Mail (TLS/OpenGPG/etc) Software

2013-09-07 Thread Andrew R .

On 08/09/13 03:11, Fernando Negro wrote:
 Am I the only one who thinks someone might be reading the 
 conversations held in MSN Messenger?
 
 http://omnitechsupporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/MSN-Messenger-300x243.jpg

No, they are surely spying on MSN conversations. MSN has now been
replaced by Skype, which is even worse (which undocumented
anti-features, like the one linked below). But I doubt it has anything
to do with the logo.

http://www.h-online.com/security/news/item/Skype-with-care-Microsoft-is-reading-everything-you-write-1862870.html

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] Would I get banned if I use Tor Browser to log in to Trisquel forums?

2013-09-05 Thread Andrew R .

On 05/09/13 17:12, 438963 wrote:
 Some online forums ban Tor IP addresses. Apparently some people use 
 Tor to send spam or do other malicious activities.

No. I use Tor and I haven't been banned yet. :-)

However, a few days ago Rubén added a new spam countermeasure which has
automatically blacklisted some Tor IPs. Not all though. There are two
ways around it:

1. Use New Identity to get a new exit node that hopefully won't be
blacklisted.

2. Rubén set it so that if you are using the latest Tor browser
user-agent then it will ignore the blacklist.

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] VirtualBox

2013-09-04 Thread Andrew R .

On 04/09/13 23:23, brianyroush wrote:
 man, this hasn't to do with your version of kernel. A solution may 
 be
 
 sudo aptitude install linux-headers-`uname -r`-generic sudo 
 dpkg-reconfigure virtualbox-dkms

I have headers and dkms installed with my 3.10 kernel (from jxself's
repo) and I still get errors. The solution isn't so simple, unfortunately.

I also have 3.2 installed, which has always worked for me.

Also, if you have any fixes, it would be great if you could keep this
bug report updated: https://trisquel.info/en/issues/8166

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] ThinkPenguin now accepting Bitcoins with BitPay

2013-09-01 Thread Andrew R .

On 01/09/13 14:26, Chris wrote:
 https://www.thinkpenguin.com/gnu-linux/thinkpenguin-now-accepting-bitcoins-bitpay
 
 :) I finally got around to setting up a blog and posting the bitcoin 
 press release. The bitcoin checkout option is now enabled.
 
 Comment away...
 
 * Although hopefully you won't be too harsh. First press release 
 we've done.

Hopefully this doesn't seem too harsh... :-)

This isn't really too exciting for me, at least, because BitPay requires
users to give their name, removing one incentive to use Bitcoin in the
first place (the opportunity for privacy, although Bitcoin isn't private
by default).

I understand that, like EFF, ThinkPenguin is probably concerned about
financial regulations.

I'll probably just use the other pay options in the future.

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] ThinkPenguin now accepting Bitcoins with BitPay

2013-09-01 Thread Andrew R .

On 01/09/13 18:04, Chris wrote:
 The reason a business would utilize it is to automate the conversion
  of bitcoins to a hard and/or more stable currency

Yes, I forgot about that.

I should also note that some services I've used that accept Bitcoins
make the BTC price slightly higher than the average trade rate to deal
with this. I'm okay with paying slightly extra (e.g. a dollar or two)
for, say, a $50 service.

 I don't think there is any additional privacy advantage to the 
 customer unless we spat out a different address for each customer.
 We might do that at a later date too.

Unless the customer purchases the Bitcoins pseudonymously to start off
with and then uses Tor to send those coins for payment, or purchases the
Bitcoins not-so-anonymously and sets up different addresses, sending the
Bitcoins using Tor to those addresses in a way that makes it seem like
they are sending it to someone else.

In other words, using Bitcoin pseudonymously without connecting your
address to your identity is impractical, and so I would agree that
Bitcoin doesn't add any privacy advantages by default.

 Until today though we have only accepted bitcoins directly when 
 customers have requested it. Bitpay makes the process of purchasing 
 with bitcoins much easier in that the process is automated and users
  can simply check out like they would had they been using a credit 
 card or paypal.

I see, that makes sense. Also interesting that you accept Bitcoins
directly in special cases. :-)

Also, just to clarify, I don't object to the addition of BitPay. It is
nice to see more ways of paying. But I probably won't use it myself.

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] Nonfree Javascript

2013-08-31 Thread Andrew R .

On 31/08/13 16:53, tobias wrote:
 The Free Software Foundation recently started a campaign for free 
 javascript [1].
 
 Unfortunately to many webpages still use nonfree javascript. One of 
 them is SoundCloud.com.

Maybe we should create a wiki page on the Trisquel wiki (or maybe even
on LibrePlanet) explaining some easy tricks to use various sites
without JavaScript? For example:

I don't recommend using Facebook, but it's possible to use
https://m.facebook.com without JavaScript enabled. (I have mentioned
this in another post in the past.)

Twitter users can use Twitter without JavaScript by using this link:
https://mobile.twitter.com/signup/disablejs.

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] Playing video freezes my netbook!

On 30/08/13 13:11, icarolongo wrote:
 Since GNOME 3.8 the Fallback Mode (GNOME Panel like GNOME 2) was 
 removed, now only works with GNOME Shell and 3D acceleration.

Fallback mode *is* still maintained AFAIK. It was announced last year
that it would be ended, then someone stepped up and became the new
maintainer[1]. It's now been renamed to GNOME Flashback[2]. But, as I've
said many times in the past, and I'm sure others will agree with me, I'm
not really impressed with the state of GNOME Fallback mode, or at least
the version packaged in this version of Trisquel.

GNOME 3.8 Shell works with llvmpipe (I can confirm this), so 3D
acceleration isn't /necessary/. Although in a VM it seems to struggle a
little.

1: http://jonathancarter.org/2013/02/05/gnome-panel-is-alive/
2: https://wiki.gnome.org/GnomeFlashback

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] Ubuntu 13.10 the second step to spy its users ?

On 30/08/13 21:01, erikthorsen wrote:
 But that's not different from essentially every other cloud service 
 people like using. =p

That doesn't make it okay. Because almost every other OS people are
using doesn't respect their freedom, and that doesn't make it okay.

We live in an era of Big Data, where it's apparently okay to subject
people to ridiculous levels of surveillance, like these:

https://www.propublica.org/article/everything-we-know-about-what-data-brokers-know-about-you

Even if Ubuntu One had a good privacy policy (I haven't read it, so I
don't know if it's any good) they will, most likely, keep that
information indefinitely. Forever is a long time, a lot can happen in a
decade. For example, do we know if Ubuntu will be sold in the next ten
years? And will those people respect Ubuntu users' privacy?

I think building a database of people that use Ubuntu is especially bad.
Since it seems like most users will do whatever is default, that
database will probably be pretty reasonably accurate.

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] VirtualBox Being Removed From Trisquel

On 30/08/13 20:08, erikthorsen wrote:
 Firstly, Oracle (while admittedly being a big douchy at times) has 
 nothing to do with OpenWatcom, other than using it as a compiler for 
 the VirtualBox BIOS, so this is already nonsense.

If VirtualBox won't fully compile without non-free (or controversially
licensed) software than this is certainly an issue. Compilers are large
and complex, so it's not easy to workaround either.

Trisquel, by the way, is supposed to be self-hosting, i.e. every package
should be able to be built from scratch, as the developers wrote it,
with entirely free software.

 Apologize for not being able to work up any worry about this. Still 
 much better than, you know, the bios in your actual hardware.

I wonder why Watcom didn't release their software under an existing
software license?

Maybe we should get specific. The license in question requires that,
say, if a person or company compiles something using that compiler and
deploys it they will have to publish the source code. I doubt they care
about individual programmers. But, according to the FSF at least,
companies deserve software freedom as well. There was discussion of the
license in 2006 on the Debian bug tracker, so the license itself has
been around for a while. One Debian developer had concerns about the
patent license as well. You can read about it here:

http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=376431

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] Ubuntu 13.10 the second step to spy its users ?

On 31/08/13 05:10, erikthorsen wrote:
 That's your opinion on cloud services, and it's entirely irrelevant 
 seeing as all I said was it's perfectly ok to include service setup 
 in the installer.

I disagree. IMHO the service setup only be used when a person wants to
use it, not on installation. I'm not convinced that Ubuntu One or other
cloud-connector services should be encouraged. Seems like Canonical is
riding the wave of what's popular.

 And again, why do you even care? Not many people here use straight 
 Ubuntu, based on this thread I would assume you don't either, and 
 nobody forces anyone to sign up for Ubuntu One or any other cloud 
 service for that matter.

Okay, so maybe this topic should be deleted then? Not sure why you
voiced your opinion then either.

 There's nothing especially bad about building databases about any 
 particular group of people. Nothing bad at all when they willingly 
 opt in to it.

The screenshot asks the user to create an account or login later. It
doesn't say whether the account is required or not for Ubuntu to work.
That's a very sneaky opt-in.

On building databases:
http://www.privacy.org.au/Resources/PAS-STH.html

It is also not necessary for building a cloud service. Firefox Sync is a
good example of what's possible with PKI (although it unfortunately
requires registration).

-- 
Andrew Roffey http://andrew.roffey.org
GPG fingerprint   F9E6 E6C4 0080 85F4 0E30 B0D9 7F7B DC7F 9657 B073

Re: [Trisquel-users] Best free forum software - phpBB, Simple Machines, or MyBB?

On 31/08/13 10:32, knowledgepaths.com wrote:
 Has anyone used these, and if so, do you have any thoughts or 
 suggestions, pro or con? My past experience was with vBulletin, but a
 commercial product seems like it would defeat the purpose of free 
 software promotion. :) Thanks.

You mean proprietary software, as free software can be commercialised. :-)

I've used phpBB before and it was easy enough to configure and use.
phpBB3 has a very good security record compared to the others.

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] Trisquel/GNU/Linux PLANET

2013-08-29 Thread Andrew R .

On 30/08/13 00:19, Fabian Rodriguez wrote:
 On 2013-08-27 20:43, Andrew R. wrote:
 Just for reference, Trisquel does have an official Planet, but it
  looks a little bit empty. :-(
 
 https://trisquel.info/en/planet
 
 Why don't we contribute to this (already visible, available)
 resource instead?
 
 Does anyone know how to request an addition to it?
 
 F.

You might be able to get Ruben's attention on the IRC channel.

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] VirtualBox Being Removed From Trisquel

2013-08-29 Thread Andrew R .

On 30/08/13 05:40, erikthorsen wrote:
 Right.. Yes, I see. It's got a silly, completely unenforcable clause 
 in there. Heh. Suppose my immediate vaguely childish reaction is akin
 to who gives a shit.. The code is still out there. You can grab it,
 stare at it and modify it.
 
 Then again, the FSF always sees things entirely in black and white, 
 so guess it's hardly surprising only the OSI gave this one a 
 go-ahead.

Oracle is known to enforce copyrights, especially where a commercial
entity is involved.

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] Problems with Abrowser Update

2013-08-28 Thread Andrew R .

On 29/08/13 13:19, oralfloss wrote:
 So recently I updated Abrowser (I haven't had internet in a month) 
 and I noticed that when I use the URL bar to search, I get a 
 DuckDuckGo search using https://duckduckgo.com/?t=trisquelq=. The 
 problem is I don't want the trisquel to be included, and I want the 
 HTML version which is what I set the URL bar to do.

The Abrowser search plugins are in
/usr/lib/abrowser-addons/searchplugins. Just copy/paste an existing one
and change it to meet your needs (as a superuser).

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] Web Registrar?

2013-08-28 Thread Andrew R .

On 29/08/13 13:16, gnufreeme wrote:
 Do you the members of this forum have any suggestions as to which
 web registrar I should use for obtaining a new domain?
 
 I must confess that I have not even looked into this issue before and
 I have no idea what roadblocks there might be in this area.

Choose an accredited registrar. I hear that some non-accredited
registrars can sometimes do some dodgy stuff, like not let you change
all your domain records or automatically registering your domain in
their name.

InterNIC has a list of accredited registrars:
http://www.internic.net/regist.html

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] Can sudo be removed?

2013-08-28 Thread Andrew R .

 An (angry) ex-NSA White Hat asked this question on another forum. It 
 sounded like an interesting question.

Yes, sudo can be removed

# apt-get remove sudo

You can use su instead of sudo. Just set the root password (before
removing sudo) by doing

sudo passwd root

Note that I haven't tried removing sudo, so I can't verify that it won't
break anything.

The claims look like FUD to me, by the way.

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] Trisquel/GNU/Linux Blog

2013-08-27 Thread Andrew R .

 I'm in the process of setting up an *unofficial* Trisquel Planet now 
 on my VPS. To avoid any confusion, I'll be noting that it is indeed 
 unofficial at the top of the page.

Also, all Trisquel users are welcome to send me a link to their feed, so
I can add it. Email me at firstname at roffey dot org (replace
firstname with my firstname).

Just for reference, Trisquel does have an official Planet, but it looks
a little bit empty. :-(

https://trisquel.info/en/planet

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] Switching Email Providers

2013-08-27 Thread Andrew R .

On 28/08/13 11:57, dev.deckardcain wrote:
 Hello everyone;
 
 I am currently in the midst of converting my programming group over 
 to Trisquel GNU/Linux, and would also like to switch all of my other 
 services / products over to a GNU Friendly alternative. By that I 
 mean, something that respects my freedoms.

There are a few suggestions in this thread:
https://trisquel.info/en/forum/lavabit-shut-down-due-us-government

Also, the FSF has some webmail suggestions if you don't want to host on
your own:
https://www.fsf.org/resources/webmail-systems

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] GNU-Linux on Wikipedia

On 25/08/13 15:48, adel.afzal wrote:
 Wikipedia seems to under-credit GNU, and over-credit Linux.
 
 Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system... (Linux page, 
 Wikipedia)
 
 ...no stable release of GNU yet exists as of May 2013. Non-GNU 
 kernels, most famously the Linux kernel, can also be used with GNU. 
 (GNU page, Wikipedia
 
 
 And searches for GNU-Linux on Wikipedia redirect to Linux.
 
 Why do people do this?  The information for correcting this is in 
 those very articles.

See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU/Linux_naming_controversy

Isn't it ironic that Wikipedia says that no stable release of GNU
exists, and then insists Linux is an OS? It makes no sense.

I've read through the the Talk pages, and basically the Wikipedia
argument is that the terminology Linux is in wide use, therefore is
correct. On the Trisquel page, I've noticed editors change Linux to
GNU/Linux, only for other Wikipedians reverting it with GNU troll as
the comment... which is a rather hostile statement. A  reference to
the Linux terminology consensus in the comment would more polite.

Of course, I'm not talking about all Wikipedians, perhaps only a few.
But the editors that advocate using Linux as terminology are the ones
that have a higher permission level, so there hardly seems to be a point
in arguing. Maybe we should just keep using our terminology and hope
that one day the situation changes.

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] GNU-Linux on Wikipedia

On 26/08/13 07:08, Chris wrote:
 Is there a defined way to deal with this issue? Can somebody make the
 change with a link to that defined way? It's hard to argue 'troll'
 when your linking to wikipedia's own rules and procedures for dealing
 with this. And what if we started a discussion page and all pitched
 in?

Well there is already this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:GNU/Linux_naming_controversy

Discussions from the talk page have been archived ten times already, so
it's obviously a popular discussion topic.

Interestingly, distributions such as Trisquel aren't allowed to be
called GNU/Linux in their articles because of the consensus that
Linux is the correct term. Previously, the Trisquel page said
something like:

Trisquel GNU/Linux is a computer operating system based on the Ubuntu
Linux distribution, with all of the nonfree components removed.

but then even that got changed to Trisquel is a computer [OS] ...
(even though Trisquel GNU/Linux is the correct title shown on the
Trisquel website).

Also, to anyone editing the Trisquel page, I should probably mention
there's no point in starting an edit war on the main Trisquel article,
or it will end up getting temporarily locked. Let's keep this on the
talk pages.

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] I am waiting the day when Hurd kernel will be default kernel in Trisquel

On 26/08/13 07:53, gnuser wrote:
 The FSF did not gave up on HURD just because it's too hard but
 because the Linux kernel, distributed under the GNU GPL, was there to
 fill the gap. Notice, for instance, that that the GNU project never
 started a window system because the X window system, distributed
 under a free software license, was there to fill the gap.
 
 Wrong. They started working on Hurd as a microkernel because it was 
 better than a monolithic kernel, and they couldn't get it done even 
 though they started it in the 80s. Linus was able to make Linux 
 faster because he did it monolithic and also because he just did the 
 basic system, then other people started adding things. While it is 
 true that they gave up on Hurd because they already had Linux 
 available, the real point here is that Hurd is HARD AS HELL TO PUT
 TO WORK! They stopped it because it was too hard, they couldn't get
 it done. Debian team has done a wonderful job with adding it to
 their system, and I believe one day we will have GNU/Hurd up and
 running.

Well, it's not entirely stopped. The Hurd project is still active:
https://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/index.html

But you have to understand that, pre-Linux, GNU developers were hacking
their software on the proprietary Unix system. RMS always said that the
only justification for using Unix was that they were actively producing
a free replacement for it. Once a free replacement for the kernel was
completed, they migrated to it.

The reason why the FSF isn't paying developers to work on the Hurd
anymore is because there are other high priority projects[1] and more
important projects to work on. We have free distros like Trisquel
GNU/Linux which are free, and there are currently a lot of reasons why
people aren't switching. Proprietary firmware is one of them. But I
don't think the potential long-term benefits offered by the Hurd are so
urgent.

It would be nice if the Hurd became more stable (it is becoming more
stable every year, apparently), but not necessary IMHO.

1: https://www.fsf.org/campaigns/priority-projects/

Re: [Trisquel-users] Re : Trisquel free, but based on Ubutu ??

On 26/08/13 09:05, gnuser wrote:
 not your birthday baby, so no cake. And stop making poop everywhere! 
 [...] As for what you wrote, you have problems reading english 
 apparently[...] Now, that is just BAD BAD BAD for privacy and 
 security!

Please refrain from making inflammatory, trollish statements like these.
You can make a statement without doing this.

[I would have contacted you in private, but I didn't think your Lavabit
email address would work.]

Andrew.

Re: [Trisquel-users] 6.0.1 Ready For Testing