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September 17, 2022

#DOSweek

Here is a list of things that are not working quite right with my FreeDOS install on the Lenovo ThinkPad T440p:

1) Sound beyond PC-Speaker emulation. The motherboard chipset probably supports all kinds of synthesis and digitized sound playback, but I'll need some kind of driver to access that and make it available as a virtual SoundBlaster or similar device for older DOS software to use.

2) The default mouse driver loaded by some of the FreeDOS boot options sort of works with the built-in trackpad, but seems to randomly generate button presses when in the FreeDOS edit program, which can lead to random cursor jumps, which is really frustrating. Also in Arachne, the default pointer was almost useless with the trackpad. Plugging in a USB mouse seemed to help quite a lot, or maybe loading the mouse driver manually after other stuff loaded was helping. I may need to experiment a bit more to get stable mouse behavior. (šŸ˜… I just realized that last sentence would make me sound like a animal neurologist or something like that 60+ years ago.)

3) Arachne is rather crashy. I may need better setup of extended memory or something. I could also try Dillo and see if it is better.

4) Installing software originally shipped for multiple floppies is a bit hit or miss. The simple installers, such as for the Borland Turbo dev tools, just create a directory for you then copy the files from the multiple disks. I can, and did, do that manually from downloads that have multiple disk .img/.ima files by using Linux to mount and copy them to a flat folder on an USB stick. But some apps have installers that manipulate the files, or generate files from your setup parameters, or modify you autoexec.bat and config.sys, etc. etc. I don't know if there is a way to have FreeDOS virtualize the insertion of floppy disk images (or file sets in folders) one by one so the installer can load them as it wants and then prompt for the next one. I'd really like to get PC/GEOS GeoWorks Pro installed, but the installer is doing some stuff I don't know whether I can manually reproduce.

5) It doesn't have a Forth on it yet!!! I can fix that real quick though. šŸ˜‰

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December 31, 2025
GNOME Dishonestly Uses LibXML2 Support as Fundraising Tactic

The GNOME Foundation is using claimed financial support of LibXML2 as a reason people should donate to GNOME. Only one problem: The LibXML2 dev was forced to abandon the project due to lack of support from GNOME.

More from The Lunduke Journal:
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00:11:28
December 30, 2025
Torvalds: Software Freedom Conservancy "is just pure trash"

Following his criticism of their lawsuit against Vizio, the Linux creator says the Software Freedom Conservancy "is trying to further an agenda", & "is a racket, plain and simple".

More from The Lunduke Journal:
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00:22:56
December 29, 2025
Rob Pike to AI: "Just fk you. Fk you all."

After receiving an Al generated email, the programming legend (known for his work on Go, Plan 9, UNIX, & UTF-8) says, "F**k you people. Raping the planet."

More from The Lunduke Journal:
https://lunduke.com/

00:20:36
November 22, 2023
The futility of Ad-Blockers

Ads are filling the entirety of the Web -- websites, podcasts, YouTube videos, etc. -- at an increasing rate. Prices for those ad placements are plummeting. Consumers are desperate to use ad-blockers to make the web palatable. Google (and others) are desperate to break and block ad-blockers. All of which results in... more ads and lower pay for creators.

It's a fascinatingly annoying cycle. And there's only one viable way out of it.

Looking for the Podcast RSS feed or other links? Check here:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4619051/lunduke-journal-link-central-tm

Give the gift of The Lunduke Journal:
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The futility of Ad-Blockers
November 21, 2023
openSUSE says "No Lunduke allowed!"

Those in power with openSUSE make it clear they will not allow me anywhere near anything related to the openSUSE project. Ever. For any reason.

Well, that settles that, then! Guess I won't be contributing to openSUSE! 🤣

Looking for the Podcast RSS feed or other links?
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4619051/lunduke-journal-link-central-tm

Give the gift of The Lunduke Journal:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4898317/give-the-gift-of-the-lunduke-journal

openSUSE says "No Lunduke allowed!"
September 13, 2023
"Andreas Kling creator of Serenity OS & Ladybird Web Browser" - Lunduke’s Big Tech Show - September 13th, 2023 - Ep 044

This episode is free for all to enjoy and share.

Be sure to subscribe here at Lunduke.Locals.com to get all shows & articles (including interviews with other amazing nerds).

"Andreas Kling creator of Serenity OS & Ladybird Web Browser" - Lunduke’s Big Tech Show - September 13th, 2023 - Ep 044

Hey y’all, long time no see. I was thinking about something yesterday that really kind of confused me.

The Librem 5 still exists, it still costs $800, and it still has specs from 10 years ago. What the heckity heck is up with that?

Like I understand that there’s more to experience than specs, but these things have got to cost so, so much less to manufacture at this point. What is Purism doing? They just released their first video in a year about a week ago, and it was to announce a thrilling new feature to the 5-ish year old device: a sound recorder. What???

I have been diving down the rabbit hole of dumb phones, and I thought the Librem 5 might be a happy medium in that it would introduce enough friction between me and the attention-sucking apps, but at $800??? And they’re still selling the promise of ā€œcontinuityā€ or whatever they call the ability to dock the phone and use it as a computer? I’m just confused.

Does anybody have any insight here? Am I missing something? Is ...

Stewart Cheifet Obituary December 28, 2025 - Goldsteins Funeral
https://obits.goldsteinsfuneral.com/stewart-cheifet

I created a goal on my Ko-Fi to buy an external hard drive to store computer magazines, so I don't have to rely on the Internet Archive and save space on my laptop. It's going to be cheaper than running a server (my previous idea). I need your help archiving this important part of PC history.

https://ko-fi.com/johnpaulw

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Top 5 Tech Stories of 2025 (According to Lunduke Journal's Viewers)
Gay software, Leftist Activists destroying computing, attacks on privacy, & more. Plus: Lunduke Journal had 14.9 Million views in December alone.

What follows are the top 5 most viewed Tech News stories, published byĀ The Lunduke Journal, during 2025.

Presented in descending order of views received, starting with the most viewed.

[Links are to Substack, but all stories are freely availableĀ on several platforms.]

  1. Installing Linux Software Just Got More... GayĀ [Nov 24, 2025]

  2. Linus Torvalds Tells Google Dev His ā€œGarbage Codeā€ Should ā€œGet Bentā€Ā [Aug 10, 2025]

  3. Leftist Activists Demand Removal of Ruby on Rails Founder, DHHĀ [Sep 26, 2025]

  4. Microsoft’s Goal: Replace ā€œEvery Line of Cā€ with Rust by 2030?Ā [Dec 26, 2025]

  5. Use Firefox? Mozilla Says it Can Use Your Data However it Wants.Ā [Feb 27, 2025]

And, just for the sake of posterity, here are the next most viewed stories, 5 through 10.

  1. Wikipedia Made $184 Million in 2025, Spent $3.4 Million on HostingĀ [Dec 5, 2025]

  2. Cloudflare Rewrote Their Core in Rust, Then Half of the Internet Went DownĀ [Nov 19]

  3. Ubuntu’s Rust GNU Utils Replacement 17x Slower & BuggyĀ [Sep 16]

  4. GNOME Foundation Discusses Refusing Funds from Framework ComputerĀ [Oct 17, 2025]

  5. Python Says Discriminatory DEI Policies More Important Than $1.5 Million DollarsĀ [Oct 28]

Of those 10 stories… 4 of them were not reported on byĀ anyĀ other major Tech News outlets. And 3 of the other stories were first reported byĀ The Lunduke JournalĀ (and then picked up by other journalists).

That’s… wild.

Worth Pondering

We know thatĀ The Lunduke JournalĀ getsĀ more social media traction and views than any other ā€œMainstreamā€ Tech Journalism outletsĀ (including the ones which claim to have ā€œmillionsā€ of followers).

While we don’t know the currentĀ exactĀ viewership numbers of the other major Tech Journalists out there, based on all available numbers it would appear that these are among the most viewed Tech News stories fromĀ anyĀ publisher.

Period.

Which means that this list of ā€œTop Tech News of 2025ā€ is about as close to definitive as we’re likely to get.

While we’re at it, for the sake of massive transparency, here are detailed statistics forĀ The Lunduke JournalĀ for last month. (Something the other big Tech News outlets would be terrified to reveal.)

Lunduke Journal Stats for December

Here’s someĀ Lunduke JournalĀ stats for December, 2025:

  • 14.9 MillionĀ views (or listens) during the last month (December).

  • 151,224 free subscribers (not including audio podcast feeds).

  • 2,196 new free subscribers on the primary platforms.

  • 342 shows, in total, in 2025.

  • $0.00 (zero) taken from any corporation.

December is, typically, the most quiet month for Tech Journalism. Fewer big stories. Lots of people on vacation. ā€œViewā€ numbers are, almost always, significantly lower than a typical month.

Despite that,Ā The Lunduke JournalĀ had a pretty stellar month in December of 2025. Second biggest month of the year (only slightly behind the previous month, which set multiple records), clocking in at just shy of 15 million ā€œviewsā€.

I’ll take it.

Ā 

Total Free Subscribers also saw pretty decent growth, considering it was December (ā€œthe quiet monthā€), of over 2,000 new subscribers. Now topping 150,000.

Ā 

A huge thank you, as always, to the amazing subscribers toĀ The Lunduke Journal.

None of this work would be possible without you.

-Lunduke

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December 28, 2025
Reminder: The $89 Lifetime Sub deal ends after New Years Eve

Woah!

The end of December is almost here!

That means the ā€œ$89 Lifetime Lunduke Journal Subscriptionā€ deal is about to end!

When the ball drops on New Years Eve, and the calendar clocks over to 2026, the Lifetime Subscription price goes back to normal.

So, you know, grab one before that darn ball drops! (Then check out all of the Lunduke Journal Subscriber Perks.)

Because that deal is re-DONK-u-lous.

-Lunduke

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December 21, 2025
Lunduke's Nerdy Q&A, Lifetime Sub for $89

Two quick tidbits on this glorious Sunday:

Reminder: $89 Lifetime Subscriptions

Lifetime Subscriptions to The Lunduke Journal are currently discounted to $89. For life. Which is… insane. That’s less than 1/3rd of the regular price.

Monthly and Yearly subscriptions are 50% off. Which is also pretty darned snazzy.

Submit Questions for Lunduke’s Nerdy Q&A!

On Tuesday I will be recording a long-overdue episode of ā€œLunduke’s Nerdy Q&Aā€.

Got questions you’d like asked in the show? No guarantees, but I’ll get to as many as I can!

Retro computing. Current computer news. Ridiculous hypotheticals. Any question is fair game... just make sure it’s good and nerdy.

To make it simple for me, there are two ways you can submit questions for this week’s Q&A:

  1. Add a comment to this thread on Forum.Lunduke.com.

  2. Reply to this thread over on X.

  3. Ok. I lied.Ā  There are three ways.Ā  You can also reply to this post, right here, on Locals.

Note: Only Lunduke Journal subscribers can access to Forum.Lunduke.com. All of the details on how to gain access are on the Lunduke Journal Subscriber Perks page.

-Lunduke

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