February 2025 - wlug - list.wlug.org.nz

procfs -- Too Much Info
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 04 Feb '25

04 Feb '25

What used to be a single proc(5) man page, documenting the contents of the /proc file system, has now been broken out into over a hundred separate pages. You can find them with man -s5 -k proc | grep ^proc

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Popular Linux orgs Freedesktop and Alpine Linux are scrambling for new web hosting
by Peter Reutemann 04 Feb '25

04 Feb '25

'In what is becoming a sadly regular occurrence, two popular free software projects, X.org/Freedesktop.org and Alpine Linux, need to rally some of their millions of users so that they can continue operating. Both services have largely depended on free server resources provided by Equinix (formerly Packet.net) and its Metal division for the past few years. Equinix announced recently that it was sunsetting its bare-metal sales and services, or renting out physically distinct single computers rather than virtualized and shared hardware. As reported by the Phronix blog, both free software organizations have until the end of April to find and fund new hosting, with some fairly demanding bandwidth and development needs. An issue ticket on Freedesktop.org's GitLab repository provides the story and the nitty-gritty needs of that project. Both the X.org foundation (home of the 40-year-old window system) and Freedesktop.org (a shared base of specifications and technology for free software desktops, including Wayland and many more) used Equinix's donated space. Equinix Metal "were very kind and generous with us and even if it's a shame we have to move out on a short notice, all things come to an end," writes Benjamin Tissoires, admin for the project, on the issue page. Tissoires lays out the project's needs—more than 400GB of database storage and close to 100TB of storage data—and a wishlist for new hosting.' -- source: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/02/popular-linux-orgs-freedesktop-and-… Cheers, Peter

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Mozilla Adapts 'Fakespot' Into an AI-Detecting Firefox Add-on
by Peter Reutemann 03 Feb '25

03 Feb '25

'OMG Ubuntu reports: Want to find out if the text you're reading online was written by an real human or spat out by a large language model trying to sound like one? Mozilla's Fakespot Deepfake Detector Firefox add-on may help give you an indication. Similar to online AI detector tools, the add-on can analyse text (of 32 words or more) to identify patterns, traits, and tells common in AI generated or manipulated text. It uses Mozilla's proprietary ApolloDFT engine and a set of open-source detection models. But unlike some tools, Mozilla's Fakespot Deepfake Detector browser extension is free to use, does not require a signup, nor an app download. "After installing the extension, it is simple to highlight any text online and request an instant analysis. Our Detector will tell you right away if the words are likely to be written by a human or if they show AI patterns," Mozilla says. Fakespot, acquired by Mozilla in 2023, is best known for its fake product review detection tool which grades user-submitted reviews left on online shopping sites. Mozilla is now expanding the use of Fakespot's AI tech to cover other kinds of online content. At present, Mozilla's Fakespot Deepfake Detector only works with highlighted text on websites but the company says it image and video analysis is planned for the future. The Fakespot web site will also analyze the reviews on any product-listing pages if you paste in its URL.' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/02/02/2156241 Cheers, Peter

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Facebook Flagging Linux Discussions as “Cybersecurity Threats”
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 03 Feb '25

03 Feb '25

Facebook is blocking posts and users that mention Linux, according to this report <https://www.tomshardware.com/software/linux/facebook-flags-linux-topics-as-…>. Distrowatch seems to have been the first to notice this, saying that many of its readers have reported trouble with Facebook. But the trouble is not confined to them. And when the site tried to report the issue, its complaint was firmly rejected, and the writer’s account was also locked. And yes, if you were wondering, doesn’t Facebook itself rely heavily on Linux? It does indeed: Facebook's overzealous ban on some Linux topics in the name of Community Standards and its protection of its users from threats come with a large ladle full of irony. "Facebook runs much of its infrastructure on Linux," DistroWatch points out, "and often posts job ads looking for Linux developers." My most charitable interpretation of this is some kind of over-reliance on automated AI-based procedures has got a bit out of hand ...

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