Extensible Blockchain for a New Digital Rights Management Standard

When I was younger and had a true passion for music as most kids do, I went out and bought the traditional Long Playing (LP) record, brought it home, tore off the shrink wrap, and mounted the LP on the platter of my hi-fi system, kicked up and enjoyed listening usually with a beer in hand. (Image credit: Wikipedia.org) Nobody was trying to steal music at the time.  There was really no way to copy an LP without expensive reel-to-reel stereo...

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Is it Okay to Disable SELinux or AppArmor?

I am flabbergasted at what some so-called, self-anointed 'Linux Experts' offer in the way of sound technical advice. Take Igor Ljubuncic (aka Dedoimedo) for example.  He seems to be a smart guy and many look to him for reviews of Linux Distributions.  But, I tend to disagree with him about as much as I agree. His latest story, Linux Mint vs. Ubuntu Security, spurred me to write this post and as it is more than a bit problematic...

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Linux on the Desktop: It's Not Me. It's You.

by Dietrich Schmitz Have you grown tired of Linux on the Desktop? Does 'familiarity breed contempt'? At times, I feel I have a 'relationship' and when it reaches the point of saturation, or, I don't see anything in the way of innovation going on, I feel the urge to say in parting, "Linux, It's not Me.  It's You." Yes.  You.  I'm flipping that famous line, "It's not you, it's me intentionally to make a point. What is my point? I...

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Google's End-to-End is Unacceptable

by Dietrich Schmitz Regular readers will know that I have taken issue with Google since last year on how they manage Gmail and Drive. For starters, should any governmental agency manage to break through Google's firewall (oops, the NSA did and pitched camp last year), they will have unfettered access to your meta data and direct access to your Gmail and Drive files. (Image right: Google's End-to-End Logo) Why?  Because they are stored...

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Linux and The Pitfalls of Tribalism

by Dietrich Schmitz Wow.  What a title for a story eh?   Well, sad to say, I've been thinking for a long time about this very topic and regret to report that Linux on the Desktop languishes and suffers at the hands of Tribalism to a large extent. You see, it's really human nature at its best.  Spawned from the nucleus of base Distros (Distrowatch top 20) comes another 'newborn' clone and immediately a tribe forms around...

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