Freedom is a path towards happiness

t is our special day today and at 4AM I gave my card. Despite people trying to blackmail and intimidate us this year, it has been a productive year and we see those terrorisation tactics as signals of weakness, of utter defeat.

Tomorrow it is Software Freedom Day 2026 [1, 2] and we have some plans for that. Freedom is not measured in money (which some conflate with safety or certainty), freedom is a more intricate concept. People who have freedom know and feel what it means.

Last night we visited the stadium and fed birds. It cost less than a pound but was very rewarding and without time constraints.

As I like to put it, why wait until retirement to do the things many people “wait until retirement” to do?

Way to start a special day

nother win for Enzo some hours ago, a perfect winning streak so far this season, and new talent found in the process. Quoting BBC: <>em>”Samba was prolific in City’s under-18 side last season and those impressive performances led to him being promoted to the first-team set-up by new manager Enzo Maresca this summer.” (Video of highlights)

Sunderland is next.

I woke up around midnight to try to publish a lot before we leave the home.

Good day, not great weather though

‘ve just returned from the park and stadium (which we went past twice ahead of Enzo’s first cup match for this club). They play music there and the staff outnumbers the spectators at these early hours.

Despite unpredictable weather we went to feed the flock of 70+ birds and it was fantastic. There were some sunny spells too and the ducks joined in.

Tonight we eat popcorn with cheese and tomorrow we have an exceptional schedule, including card exchange.

I am still eagerly awaiting the birthday of GNU. GNU/Linux is going mainstream this year.

Bots are chewing up way too much ‘traffic’, hoping to ‘monetise’ it at someone else’s expense

t has gotten gloomy again, so the hopes of going to the park are deflated again and this likely means lots of original articles, instead. Tomorrow we’ll exchange cards and celebrate with Jim Beam 14 years of happiness and teamwork. I said more about that in another site [1, 2], envisioning we’ll be too busy to write about the anniversary tomorrow.

Today I checked the progress in the blog in terms of visitorship, as it was not regularly updated in the past two decades because in 2006 I focused on non-personal sites.

It’s sad to see how much junk traffic comes from totally useless bots (not even search engines’ spiders). So much has changed, not just because of LLM slop. It seems like many people choose walled gardens such as social control media and many young people never heard of RSS feeds.

This predates the slop frenzy and it’ll make the population poorly informed, exposed to state-connected propaganda, and unfit to handle social life.

t has been over 5 years since its release and Vista 11 is pegged at measly 15.6% in the US, whereas GNU/Linux grows a lot.

In North America, GNU/Linux is exceptionally dominant (more so than other continents). I wonder why.

EFL Cup

think we might go to the park after all, as it’s sunny unlike what the forecast said. Tonight, next to the park, Manchester City plays its first cup match for this season and Enzo’s first with this club.

Next week marks 23 years since I started my Ph.D. program. That decision I made (to turn down a job offer from London) has aged well. This year is very rewarding and productive. I still have lots of time for sports.

Silent layoffs

here are LOTS of Microsoft layoffs right now. Insiders know it, but they cannot speak about it (too risky). Media does not report these. It’ll conveniently – in an arse-covering fashion – dismiss that as “rumours” and say, no WARN notices. But Microsoft bypasses the law. It says, “we’ll fire you unless you agree to this ‘voluntary exit’ agreement, then sign an NDA to keep quiet and outwardly happy about it.”

Same for PIPs and LITE.

IBM and Microsoft have TENS OF THOUSANDS of layoffs this year. Unlike Oracle, they hide these.

Below are articles from 2026: