To be usable by the less savvy, the Linux desktop lacks stability. Not software stability, but organizational and human stability.

I want maintainers to have a stable income. I want apps to last a decade, instead of having to chase the next rewrite of an abandoned project.

The Linux desktop is a beautiful accident that only exists because people devote part of their lives to it, for better or worse. We ought to support it financially, as a public service.

#linux #publicGood

WPTZ: Federal data website outage raises concerns among advocates. “A federal website that informs the public about what information agencies are collecting and allows for public comment went down last weekend, and it has only been partially restored. The outage has raised concerns among advocates who already were troubled by the disappearance of data sets from government websites after […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/08/24/wptz-federal-data-website-outage-raises-concerns-among-advocates/

Tubefilter: Markiplier is paying expert researchers to figure out if AI can be Real Good for humanity. “Like most people, Markiplier got his first inkling of the generative ‘AI’ gold rush with OpenAI‘s DALL-E. The concept of AI had been around for decades–Turing, after all, created his famous test back in 1950, and digital-native Millennials will remember growing up with chatbots like […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/08/22/tubefilter-markiplier-is-paying-expert-researchers-to-figure-out-if-ai-can-be-real-good-for-humanity/

In case you missed the news, PBS cutting it's budget 21% due to funding cuts. If you're not already, you can join/donate for $5/month and, bonus, you get to watch all of their great stuff.

#PBS #PublicGood

https://freebeacon.com/latest-news/pbs-slashes-budget-by-over-20-percent-after-trump-cuts-federal-funding-report/

Penn State: New website shows how opioid settlement funds are helping Pennsylvanians. “Researchers at Penn State previously aided the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in determining how to allocate the funds. Now, the team — along with colleagues at Temple University and the University of Pittsburgh — has published a new website that provides detailed, county-level information about how the […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/08/12/penn-state-new-website-shows-how-opioid-settlement-funds-are-helping-pennsylvanians/

I learned so much from these two posts on government spending and taxation, especially that spending comes first, and the idea that the money has to be collected first is a fallacy.

https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/08/09/why-it-matters-that-government-spending-comes-before-tax/ (with elaboration in a post on 8/10/25) by @RichardJMurphy
and
https://www.scottsantens.com/how-money-is-born-out-of-public-spending-and-dies-by-taxes-mmt/ (and all his posts on UBI) by @scottsantens
#UBI #MonetaryPolicy #Money #PublicGood

Radio New Zealand: ‘Quite stressful’: Kiwis stung by wrongful Facebook and Instagram bans. “Some Facebook and Instagram users in New Zealand have reported their accounts being banned arbitrarily, and a tech expert says the uptick in wrongful suspensions is ‘worrying’.”

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/08/09/quite-stressful-kiwis-stung-by-wrongful-facebook-and-instagram-bans-radio-new-zealand/