Yet another absolutely insane week of Tech News has wrapped up.

From more Microsoft troubles with their “Intifada”… to the 4Chan & KiwiFarms lawsuit against the UK, it’s been one seriously nutty week.

Oh! And the GNOME Foundation lost yet another Executive Director! This one only lasted 4 months on the job! Crazy! All of the stories are linked below (and free for all to enjoy).

And, once again, it is amazing how many of these stories were almost completely ignored by Brand X Tech News outlets.

One story we did not see this week was the final ruling on the remedy for USA v. Google. The case that could determine wether Mozilla Corporation can continue to receive 80% of their income from Google.

That ruling was expected by yesterday… but, so far, all is quiet. I checked in with sources at both Google and Mozilla… and neither has heard a peep about it. Will we see the ruling from Judge Mehta this coming week? Who knows!

Stories This Week

• Video & Podcast: How Will Microsoft Solve Their Intifada Problem?

• Video & Podcast: What if the USA Owned 10% of Microsoft or Apple?

• Article: Ladybird Gains Google Sheets Support

• Article: Microsoft Adds Copilot AI to Excel

• Article: Omarchy 2.0 - The Arch-Based, Hyprland, Non-Woke Distro

• Video & Podcast: Omarchy 2.0 Released -- Arch + Hyprland + Non-Woke

• Article: Android to Require Developer ID Checks

• Video & Podcast: Video of "Worker Intifada" Occupying Microsoft President's Office

• Video & Podcast: Microsoft Fires "Intifada" Employees

• Article: 4Chan and Kiwi Farms File Lawsuit Against UK

• Video & Podcast: 4Chan and Kiwi Farms File Lawsuit Against UK

• Article: GNOME Foundation Executive Director Out After 4 Months

• Video & Podcast: GNOME Foundation Executive Director Out After 4 Months

• Article: Funny Programming Pictures Part LXX

Note: All articles, videos, & podcasts are free for all (subscribers and non-subscribers alike).

Note 2: Links for the stories are all to Substack. You can also find links to all other platforms — X, Rumble, Locals, YouTube, etc. — which The Lunduke Journal publishes to, at Lunduke.com.

As always, thank you to all of the subscribers to The Lunduke Journal. Thanks to you, we can remain 100% ad-free and Big Tech free. Couldn’t do it without your support.

-Lunduke

This is a quick reminder that subscriptions to The Lunduke Journal are 50% off for the entire month of August. Which ends… this weekend. August is almost over!

Monthly, Yearly, & Lifetime Subscriptions. All 50% off.

Because of subscribers (like you), The Lunduke Journal can stay:

• 100% ad-free and sponsor-free.

• 100% Big-Tech free.

• 100% Non-Woke.

• With every Article, Audio Podcast, and Video being 100% free for the world to enjoy and share.

You make this possible. Support from all of you is critical to keeping The Lunduke Journal doing what it does best.

Scroll down. Pick the subscription that works best for you. And feel good knowing you made truly independent Tech Journalism possible.

50% Off Yearly or Monthly Subscription:

Available via both Locals and Substack. (This includes full access the community Forum.)

That means $3 / Month. Or $27 / Year (which works out to $2.25 / Month).

Via Lunduke.Locals.com:

• $3 Monthly Subscription via Locals (Code: AUTOEXEC)

• $27 Yearly Subscription via Locals (Code: CONFIGSYS)

Via Lunduke.Substack.com:

• Monthly or Yearly via Substack (No Code Needed)

Note: You can also grab a Monthly subscription via X, YouTube, or Patreon. There’s no way to offer a discount on those platforms. But those are still great options!

The Famous Lifetime Subscription:

The "World Famous Lunduke Journal Lifetime Subscription" is exactly what it sounds like. Pay once and get full access to The Lunduke Journal. For life.

Now, through the end of August… you can snag one at a crazy discount. Normally these are $200… but you can grab one for $100. (You can also pay more if you’d like to donate a little extra.)

The Lifetime Subscription can be obtained via Locals, Substack, or using Bitcoin. All three options work great and are super easy (& all three include access to the community Forum). Scroll down and choose your option.

Note: The Lifetime Subscription only applies to Substack and Locals. Other platforms (such as X, Patreon, & YouTube) do not provide the functionality necessary to create Lifetime Subscriptions.

How to get a Lifetime Subscription via Locals:

1. Go to Lunduke.Locals.com/support.

2. Select "Give Once".

3. Enter "100" (or more) into the amount field.

4. After checking out, Lunduke will toss you an email once your account is set to full lifetime status. (This usually happens within a few hours.)

How to get a Lifetime Subscription via Substack:

1. Go to Lunduke.Substack.com/subscribe.

2. Select the “Lifetime Subscription” option.

3. After checking out, Lunduke will toss you an email once your account is set to full lifetime status. (This usually happens within a few hours.)

If you would also like full, Lifetime access to Lunduke.Locals.com (which is included):

1. Make a free account on Lunduke.Locals.com.

2. Email “bryan at lunduke.com” with the email address you use on both Substack and Locals (can be different email addresses).

3. Lunduke will toss you an email once your account is set to full lifetime status on Locals.

How to get a Lifetime Subscription with Bitcoin:

You can also obtain a Lifetime Subscription via Bitcoin.

• Make sure you have a Lunduke.Locals.com or Lunduke.Substack.com account (a free account, to either, works just fine).

• Send $100 worth of Bitcoin (or more) to the following address:

bc1qyjakve8fywm8pz2v99v57yhjj0vzr2vjze6fcq

• Email "bryan at lunduke.com" with the following information: What time you made the transaction, how much was sent (in Bitcoin), and the email address you use (or plan to use) on Locals.com or Substack.com (or both).

50% Off DRM-Free, MP4 Downloads:

Want to be able to download every show The Lunduke Journal releases (and watch them on whatever device you like)? As DRM free, MP4 files? Yeah. You can do that. For 50% off.

• All 2024 Lunduke Journal Episodes (226 total videos)

• All 2025 Lunduke Journal Episodes (Already over 200 videos, with more added almost daily.)

Note: This DRM-Free download option does not include access to the Forum. This option is strictly for downloading the episodes.

 

Choose the type of subscription that works best for you. Every subscription — big or small — goes directly towards keeping the lights on at The Lunduke Journal.

A huge thank you to all of the subscribers who have made this work possibly for so many years. You are truly the best nerds on planet Earth.

-Lunduke

As of today, the GNOME Foundation has lost yet another Executive Director — Steven Deobald, who lasted a short 4 months.

The previous executive director, Holly Million, lasted a grand total of 9 months in the role.

To say things have been chaotic within the GNOME Foundation, would be a wild understatement — with last year seeing GNOME elections overturned in secret meetings and massive cashflow issues.

The last 4 months, since the new Executive Director took the position, hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing. Here’s a quick timeline of just some of the strange activity since then.

• May 7: The GNOME Foundation hired Steven Deobald to be their new Executive Director.

• May: GNOME engages in bizarre, vulgar attacks on The Lunduke Journal.

• May 25: GNOME starts “Pride Month” early.

• June 24: GNOME Foundation published an FAQ attacking visually impaired users as "concern trolls", declaring "Free Palestine", and informing users that “Wayland is Gay”.

• June 24: GNOME Foundation goes on unhinged rant, declaring Lunduke a "fascist maggot" and "apartheid, ethnosupremacist, babykiller apologist clown", XLibre Dev an "actual Nazi, transphobe, 911 truther nut job".

• July: GNOME Foundation ran cover for a registered sex offender contributor.

• August 5: The GNOME Foundation pledged fealty to the United Nations.

And now today, August 29th, their new Executive Director is out. After only 4 months on the job. Did any of those events contribute to the departure? GNOME isn’t saying.

In fact, the statement from Allan Day, the new Acting GNOME Executive Director, is incredibly vague regarding the reason for the change.

“Steven Deobald has been in the post of GNOME Foundation Executive Director for the past four months, during which time he has made major contributions to both the Foundation and the wider GNOME project. Sadly, Steven will be leaving the Foundation this week. The Foundation Board is extremely grateful to Steven and wish him the very best for his future endeavors.”

According to the outgoing Executive Directors own statement — entitled “So short, and thanks for all the flinch”:

“As the board announced earlier today, I will be stepping down from the Executive Director role this week. It’s been an interesting four months.”

That reads to me like a firing (or a forced layoff due to lack of funds). But, unless someone speaks up, it’s unlikely we’ll know for sure.

The following was posted by Deobald (outgoing Executive) and Allan Day (new acting Executive) on the GNOME Foundation’s Matrix chat channel.

 

The statement, “I feel like I’ve been glued to an Emacs buffer for 3 straight days” suggests 3 days of discussions (or waiting) leading up to this change.

What will happen next for the GNOME Foundation?

With multiple years of absolute chaos — including financial troubles and an inability to have leadership last more than a few months (not to mention an obsession with attacking The Lunduke Journal) — it’s hard to imagine the next few months being anything other than a continuation of the insanity at GNOME.