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The Mac Mini M4 Has Arrived

I have added the Mac Mini M4 to my home lab. I did some “dad math” and rearranged some costs such that it has a zero “family budget” impact. Woohoo!

I’ve never ever bought a base model Apple anything. It’s just that his computer is quite the deal now that it starts with 16gig ram. The 256gig drive will be the biggest pain point. But I have a Thunderbolt 4.0 external nvme coming. And there ARE ways to upgrade the internal drive now.

Use case - running local AI models.

On the base model? Yes.

I thought long and hard about the M4 Pro which could be a significant upgrade including thunderbolt 5 and more cpu and gpu cores. But if I was really building an AI powerhouse, I’d need to have a lot more ram, and that moves this out of the “home budget”. And NVIDIA owns the “serious AI machine” market and you’d want at least two of those high end gpu’s. So…I’ll use cloud services for the truly high end stuff for now. And I don’t even know if I’ll even be doing such. Plus, by the time I’m working in that arena, I’m doing so for my job and THEY will supply me the hardware. Or more likely, they will pay the cloud costs.

What I am fairly certain to see, just based on specs, is a doubling of performance running models that take advantage of Apple’s NPU (neural processing unit). And the cpu/gpu of the M4 should give me 3x the performance of the ollama models I’m running on my AMD Ryzen 7 5800H with Radeon Graphics 3.20 GHz windows box. 2 to 3x the performance is a nice upgrade.

I plan to run it headless and remote in from my laptop like I do with the Windows box. As such, I won’t need any desktop apps like Office, Outlook, Teams, VS Code etc. I have all of those running on my laptop.

The Mac mini will be “always on” unlike my laptop. So it’s a better server for that alone. And if I do out grow it, I didn’t spend THAT much on it ($600) and could sell it and get $400 any time in the next two years. So I’m risking $200ish and have no problem getting that value in my desired use case in the near term.

Now I have only to wait for Christmas, as $70 of the cost is my wife’s Christmas gift to me :)

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3 Anti-White Discrimination Lawsuits Pending Against IBM & Red Hat

One year after the explosive IBM & Red Hat leaks, we look at each lawsuit... and the people involved in the racist practices at the Big Tech, Linux Giant.

The IBM / Red Hat Leaks: What we've learned so far:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/5515346/the-ibm-red-hat-leaks-what-weve-learned-so-far

00:28:58
December 12, 2024
The End of Physical Media is Here (and That Sucks)

Blu-Ray is dead - everyone from Sony to LG is ceasing production -- with no physical media alternative to take its place.

For buying movies we went from VHS to DVD to Blu-Ray. For music we went from vinyl to cassette tapes to CD. For computer data storage we've had a million options for buying software on physical media (from various floppies to CDs and Blu-Ray discs).

Now we have... nothing.

00:10:25
December 11, 2024
Linux Foundation Drops Linux Spending to Historic Lows in 2024

Plus: Skyrocketing revenue, and no mention of "Diversity" or "Climate Change". Which, for The Linux Foundation, is quite weird.

The article:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/6453427/linux-foundation-drops-linux-spending-to-historic-lows-in-2024

00:27:26
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:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4898317/give-the-gift-of-the-lunduke-journal

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
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If you look carefully at the picture in this news article, you can see that this bakery is still using a C64. My faith in humanity has been temporarily restored. https://www.wishtv.com/news/brownsburgs-hilligoss-bakery-marks-sweet-milestone/

13 hours ago

The Cloud is Just Someone Else’s Computer - And Knowledge - And Labor

Oh “the cloud” that modern evil designed by “Big Tech” to deprive you of freedom, ownership and privacy. Why, you can save MILLIONS by just developing your own database completely from scratch and running on hardware you purchase, install, power, maintain and keep updated and secure over time.

And we have NextCloud and other open source software that you can host YOURSELF freeing you from tyranny.

All true. All of the above is absolutely true.

It’s just not the WHOLE truth.

I was reminded, yet again, that “the cloud” is not MERELY someone else’s computer, it’s someone else having the knowledge, skills and labor to do a HECK OF A LOT for me. And this, from someone who’s made a living in IT, specifically data, for 40 years. I know a LOT.

I just have never had “sys admin” as a job title. It was FRUSTRATING trying to get my home lab services available to friends and family over the internet in a ...

December 13, 2024
Lunduke's Quest - December 13, 2024
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December 11, 2024
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Linux Foundation Drops Linux Spending to Historic Lows in 2024
Plus: Skyrocketing revenue, and no mention of "Diversity" or "Climate Change".

The Linux Foundation, earlier today, released their 2024 Annual Report.  And, hoo boy, is it a doozy.

The short-short version: Massive increase in revenue (now close to $300 Million Dollars), with spending on Linux continuing to drop to historically low numbers.

And, in a dramatic departure from previous years, almost zero discussion of politically charged topics (such as Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Climate Change).

Let's start with the numbers.

 

Skyrocketing Revenue

 

First and foremost, it's worth pointing out that -- as of this year -- revenue for The Linux Foundation is closing in on 1/3rd of a Billion Dollars annually.

 

While The Linux Foundation may technically be a "non profit", those numbers would make many "for profit" corporations blush.  Massive, steady income growth.

Where does the largest bulk of that revenue come from?  Corporate "membership" dues, naturally.  To the tune of over $125 Million USD.

 

With the highest paying corporate members being the likes of Meta, Microsoft, Oracle, Samsun, Red Hat (IBM), Huawei, and the like.

 

 

These corporations pay a premium to have a seat on The Linux Foundation Board of Directors.  Which, it should be pointed out, consists of over 70% GPL violators.

 

 

Spending on Linux

 

One of the peculiar facts about The Linux Foundation is how surprisingly little of their income they spend on... Linux.

And, perhaps even more peculiar still, is the fact that the percentage of their revenue spent on Linux appears to decrease every year.

In 2021, The Linux Foundation spent roughly 3.4% of their revenue on their namesake project.  As of 2024... that number appears to be down to 2.3%.

 

 

And this isn't simply a matter of overall percentages going down (while revenue rises).  Spending on the Linux Kernel is down, year on year, in terms of actual US Dollars as well.

 

 

In fact, the amount currently spent on "Corporate Operations" for The Linux Foundation... is roughly 3 times that of what is spent on the Linux kernel.

As time goes on -- and spending numbers become finalized -- we are gaining an increasingly clear picture of the spending priorities of The Linux Foundation.

 

No Diversity in 2024?

 

In the previous annual report (2023), "Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion" were a critical component.

In the 2023 report:

  • "Diversity" was mentioned 34 times
  • "Inclusion" 17 times.
  • With the general "DEI" topic -- including "LGBTQ" issues -- being a critical component throughout the report.  Page after page of DEI.

This year, in the 2024 report, the words "Diversity", "Equity", and "Inclusion" are never used.  Not once.

Well.  Once.  Barely.  On the second to the last page, in a footnote, you find the following statement: "75% of [travel] funding went to diverse community members."  That, right there is the sum total of discussion around "diversity".

In fact, the "LGBT" acronym is also never used in the most recent report (another significant change from previous years).

This appears to mark a dramatic shift, away from "DEI", for The Linux Foundation.  At least in terms of messaging.

 

No Climate Change, Either?

 

The 2024 Linux Foundation annual report also contains absolutely no reference to "Climate Change".

"Wait, why would the Linux Foundation be talking about Climate Change," you ask?

Well.  Last year, in 2023, the annual report was filled to the brim with Climate Change -- with 37 distinct references and over 10 pages focused on the topic.

That focus appears to no longer be a priority for The Linux Foundation.

 

The Right to Fork

 

One of the most prominent new topics of the 2024 report was "the right to fork".  Something previous annual reports stayed clear of almost entirely.

 

“The right to fork open source code is at the core of open source licensing. All open source licenses grant the right to fork their code, that is to start a new development effort using an existing code as its base. Thus, code forking represents the single greatest tool available for guaranteeing sustainability in open source software.

 

In addition to bolstering program sustainability, code forking directly affects the governance of open source initiatives. Forking, and even the mere possibility of forking code, affects the governance and sustainability of open source initiatives on three distinct levels: software, community, and ecosystem.”

 

This is particularly interesting, given the stated intention for Russia to hard-fork Linux over the recent ban of Russian programmers from being official kernel maintainers.

 

Other Oddities

 

A few other facts which are worth noting from the 2024 Annual Report:

  • Neither the Executive Director, nor the Board Chair -- in their several pages long opening messages -- mentions the Linux Kernel.  Nor desktop, server, or mobile Linux.  Strange, right?
  • The 2024 Annual Report is only 45 pages long.  Compared to the 2023 report, which clocks in at 160 pages.
  • There is absolutely no mention of the mass banning of Russian developers during 2024.
  • Nor of the various other developers banned from the Linux Kernel this year.

What does all of this mean?  Will the decreasing spending on Linux continue into 2025?  Will the decreased emphasis on messaging around "DEI" issues translate to real-world changes?  Will the "right to fork" emphasis continue if Russia follows through with their proposed Linux kernel fork?

Lots of questions.  Lots and lots of them.

Read full Article
December 10, 2024
The Lunduke Journal Free Show & Article Archive

The Massive Free Lunduke Journal Archive

Looking for a particular video or article?  Below you will find a sampling of Lunduke Journal content, all of which is free for the world to enjoy (subscribers and non-subscribers alike).  

The following list is nowhere near complete -- and is being added to constantly.  If you're looking for a searchable, sortable index of every article and show, you'll want to go to The Lunduke Journal Content Archive at Lunduke.Locals.com/content (which is an added benefit for Lunduke Journal subscribers).

 

Lunduke Journal Articles

(You won't find these many of these stories covered anywhere else.)

Lunduke Journal Computer History Articles

Other Very Nerdy Articles

Lunduke Journal Regular Shows

"Linux Sucks" Shows (in order)

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