This sale has ended. The regular subscription prices -- which are already a pretty fantastic deal -- have returned to normal.
Without The Lunduke Journal, many Tech stories would never be told. And you make that possible.
All the details: https://lunduke.locals.com/post/6331686/the-great-lunduke-journal-november-fundraiser
Microsoft is adding Artificial Intelligence to Notepad and Paint. Because they hate you.
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:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4898317/give-the-gift-of-the-lunduke-journal
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
Each time I moved over the last decade, I got rid of more and more old computer stuff (e.g., a TRS-80 CoCo 2, a wire-wrapped 8088 board, a wire-wrapped 6809 board, Borland C++ 3.1 with all the manuals, Turbo Pascal 6.0 with Turbo Vision, DR-DOS 5.0, Codewright 4.0). It was only being kept because of nostalgia and that nostalgia lessened with each move. The nostalgia returned after discovering various retro-computer YouTubers as my health declined. Only several small items are left, such as this Windows NT 4.0 CD. I’ve been thinking of spinning it up in a virtual machine the past couple of years. If I do, perhaps I should make a video.
Want to support the work of The Lunduke Journal?
Want to help make truly independent Tech Journalism possible?
Now's your chance. Through this weekend (Nov 8th - Nov 10th), we're running "The Great Lunduke Journal November Fundraiser" to make everything we do here possible.
There's a bunch of different ways you can contribute -- Donations, BitCoin, and yes... even the coveted "Lunduke Journal Lifetime Subscription" is making a temporary return.
All the details are below!
Most publications (podcasts, articles, or videos) keep their lights on through paid advertising.
Companies pay a publication's bills and, in exchange, their podcasts are filled with advertisements (sometimes with more advertisements than actual show) -- their articles littered with animated ads and pop-over videos -- and, even more importantly, the creators refrain from ever criticizing the advertisers. After all, you don't bite the hand that feeds you.
In other words: Those podcasters, YouTubers, and Tech Journalists are held hostage by their corporate overlords. Forced to do the bidding of Big Tech while providing an annoying, ad-filled experience for their audiences. It really, really sucks.
At The Lunduke Journal, things are different.
The end result is a publication which speaks the truth (no matter how much it annoys Big Tech), and is not littered with a pile of advertisements.
In order to keep all of this possible, The Lunduke Journal is reliant entirely on the generosity of nerds like you.
If you appreciate the coverage from The Lunduke Journal (keep scrolling for a list of shows from the last month alone) consider pitching in to help us continue this work. We can't do it without you.
There are several ways you can contribute to The Lunduke Journal. Big and small. Monthly, Yearly, and even Lifetime Subscriptions. One time donations. Whatever makes the most sense for you.
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.
We had retired the "Lifetime Subscription"... but so many people have been asking for it, we're bringing it "out of the vault" just for this weekend. New Lifetime Subscriptions are available, for $200, from now until Sunday, November 10th. Then this option goes "back into the vault".
Here's how to grab one of these coveted bad boys for yourself:
Go to Lunduke.Locals.com/support.
Select "Give Once".
Enter "200" into the amount field.
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.)
You can also obtain a Lifetime Subscription via Bitcoin.
Make sure you have a Lunduke.Locals.com account (a free account works just fine).
Send $200 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.
Here's a handy-dandy QR code you can scan that also has a Bitcoin Wallet Address for The Lunduke Journal:
You can also grab a standard subscription (Monthly or Yearly) at Lunduke.Locals.com/Support.
Every subscription -- big or small -- goes directly towards keeping The Lunduke Journal free from all Big Tech influence and is greatly appreciated.
Looking to donate to The Lunduke Journal but not looking for anything in return?
You are awesome. Here are a few options.
Donate Via Fountain.fm
The Lunduke Journal Pocast is available on Fountain.fm, which allows donations via crypto.
Donate Via BitCoin
If you're looking for a way to support The Lunduke Journal with Crypto -- this is a great option.
bc1qyjakve8fywm8pz2v99v57yhjj0vzr2vjze6fcq
Here's a handy-dandy QR code you can scan that also has a Bitcoin Wallet Address for The Lunduke Journal:
To give you an idea of what you're making possible, here is a simple list of the shows and articles published by The Lunduke Journal during the last month (October) alone.
It's... a lot.
The Shows
The Articles
Crazy, right? Some of these news stories you won't find covered anywhere else. If it weren't for The Lunduke Journal... so many stories simply would never be told.
A huge thank you to each and every supporter of The Lunduke Journal -- both new subscribers... and those of you who have been with us since the beginning. Absolutely could not do it without you.
Ok, first off: I totally forgot to publish a "week in review" article last week. Woops. My bad. So this article covers the last two weeks.
Second: Over the last 14 days, apparently there's been 16 shows. Hot dang.
And the news has been all over the map! The big story, obviously, was the "Linux v. Russia" craziness. The really wild part of that story is that it's still ramping up. The next month is going to see some wild stories relating to open source software and sanctions compliance.
Oh! Oh! And the Internet Archive stuff! Insane!
But, you know what my absolute favorite news story was for the last two weeks? The one about RISC OS having WiFi and a modern web browser now. That story just made me happy. It's nice to know that, even when various software companies and organizations are losing their darned minds... there's still bright spots of nerdy joy out there.
The Shows
The Articles
Previous Few Months
Reminder: Check out Lunduke.com for all the handy URLS. Podcast RSS feeds, contact info, direct links to some of the big shows and articles and a bunch of other goodies. And be sure to subscribe to The Lunduke Journal to help support the work... and make sure you don't miss out on anything.
On Monday, October 28th, Apple released the macOS 15.1 update. And, with that update, Apple has ratcheted up their war on "sideloading" by completely disabling the ability to run unsigned macOS software.
And signing software, of course, requires an Apple Developer Connection subscription. Which, for most people, is a costly thing.
Just a little over one month ago (September of 2024), the initial release of macOS 15.0 brought with it a new round of restrictions on running non-signed (also called "non-notarized") applications. With 15.0, users could still run non-signed software... but they needed to jump through a few extra hoops by openning the System Settings and manually enabling each application they wanted to run.
This change made running unsigned software on macOS a bit more annoying -- additional steps to do something that used to be a simple "double click on the darned icon" process. Annoying, to be sure. But, luckily, all software could still be run.
That all changed -- less than 45 days later -- as Apple released the 15.1 update to macOS, which included the removal of the "Click around in System Settings" option to allow unsigned apps to run.
Now, in 15.1, when you attempt to run a non-notarized piece of Mac software, you will be greeted by a simple error message: "The application 'Finder' does not have permission to open '(null)'."
No option to run the software whatsoever. Effectively banning all non-signed software (such as those developed by a hobbyist).
This isn't exactly a surprising move by Apple. Over the last few years, all of the Big Tech operating system companies (Microsoft, Apple, and Google) have pushed -- with increasing intensity -- to lock down what software users are allowed to run on their computers.
Increasingly restrictive "application signing" systems, and the removal of "features" which allowed non-signed applications to run, have been a stated goal of all three corporations.
All in the name of a war on, what Big Tech has termed, "Sideloading".
What is "Sideloading", you ask?
"Sideloading" is most simply defined as "The act of installing software on a real computer." And Apple, Google, & Microsoft are determined to stop people from doing that.
These companies haven't exactly been quiet about their goal to stop people from installing software on their computers (outside of approved, heavily restrictive mechanisms). Back in 2021, Apple published a whitepaper entitled "Building a Trusted Ecosystem for Millions of Apps - A threat analysis of sideloading".
That's right. Apple considers you having the freedom to install whatever software you want on the computer you own -- something every real computer (including those made by Apple) have done since the dawn of Personal Computing -- to be a "threat".
With macOS 15.1, Apple is taking significant steps to neutralize that "threat".
No software freedom for you.
As of now -- with macOS 15.1 -- there remains one final way to work around these draconian and artificial restrictions.
To do so requires the complete disabling of "Gatekeeper", the system which verifies downloads and restricts the running of non-signed applications.
This can be done via a fairly simple terminal command run as root:
sudo spctl --master-disable
However, it should be noted that with Apple's ever increasing requirements of application "notarization" -- and increasing reliance on the Mac App Store for software distribution (which ties into Gatekeeper) -- the full disabling of "Gatekeeper" seems likely to cause issues going forward with "Apple approved" methods of installing software.
Likewise, at Apple's current rate of attacks against "sideloading", the ability to turn off Gatekeeper may not be long for this world at all.
While the news, today, is focused on Apple (their fight against the most basic freedoms of computing -- the ability to run software)... both Microsoft and Google have made it clear that they are all in on the war against sideloading.
Case in point: Google is migrating Android software away from "APK" application packages... to the far more restrictive "AAB" application bundles. Microsoft, likewise, is pushing for a reliance on their online store.
So users of Android, ChromeOS, & Windows shouldn't laugh. You're next.
Users of a variety of open source, alternative operating systems (such as Linux, BSDs, and many others), however, can laugh all they want.
