I did a bit of digging last night.

Canonical can get some idea of usage, just not in the way people seem to think.

Mirror & telemetry data (aggregate, not per-user)
They can see things like:

IPs hitting mirrors
Package download volumes
Which releases are being pulled

Useful for trends and capacity planning, but it’s not tied to individuals or licences.

Optional telemetry (since 18.04)
There’s a one-off system report:

Hardware profile
Installed packages (high level)
Basic system config

You can opt out, and plenty do.

Ubuntu Pro (formerly Advantage)
This is the only place it gets closer to “counting”:

Machines are attached to a subscription
So yes, they can see numbers there

But that’s about support entitlement, not policing updates.

And this is another reason I don't trust news outlets!
A news story about Corridoor Beds had a reporter who said: "We've just come out of the worst winter on record for the #NHS." Umm? Did you forget COVID?

Everything is always "On record", and yet when I cast my mind back, I'm like "Well, you must have been in a different country? Especially when it comes to the weather, "Warmest on record!" Aye? I had my heating on all day!
#BBC News

As of March 2026, the #Labour government is significantly off track to meet its manifesto target of building 1.5 million new homes in England by the end of this Parliament (estimated August 2029). To hit 1.5 million homes over five years, the government needs to deliver an average of 300,000 homes per year (approximately 811 per day).

Total Delivered: Approximately 309,600 net additional homes were delivered between the start of the Parliament (9 July 2024) and 11 January 2026.

Shortfall to Date: By early November 2025, the government should have built roughly 396,000 homes to stay on track, representing a deficit of over 120,000 homes just in the first 16 months.

Daily Rate: The current delivery rate is roughly 564 homes per day, well below the required 811. GOV.UK
#politics

It's like the General Belgrano all over again.

𝘏𝘦𝘨𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘞𝘦𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘜𝘚 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘬 𝘢𝘯 𝘐𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 "𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴".

bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0e55g…

Hey, look, I'm a dumbass, what would I know? But I find it interesting that all the news outlets, and especially the BBC, are ramming it down our throats that while Donald Trump spoke for two hours, TWO HOURS! According to them, he said nothing of value? I even read a BBC fact-checker that debunked much of what he said about fuel prices, etc.

The thing is, I watched a lot of it LIVE, and I watched both sides of the Senate stand and applaud him and not just once either! So that tells this dumbass that a lot of what he said struck a chord with senators across the political spectrum and not just his party faithful.

We need to be careful what the press, TV and social media tell us. Remember, folks, they, too, have their own agenda, and we've seen numerous court cases where it turns out that maybe journalists and editors are not your guardians with your best interests at heart after all.

𝗜𝗳 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗜 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗠𝗣

Mr Speaker. The highest position in the land, before his majesty, the king, is Prime Minister. The holder of that position is entrusted by his majesty to not only serve the people but also to guide and ensure their well-being while shielding them from harm. The office of the Prime Minister carries significant responsibility and power. It is the Prime Minister's responsibility to ensure that the people are represented by honourable and competent individuals. The ultimate responsibility for prestigious appointments rests with the Prime Minister, who is accountable not only to this House but also to the British public. The buck stops here!

Mr Speaker, sadly, I call upon the House to censure the Prime Minister and call for a vote of "No Confidence" to be invoked.

That was jolly nice of Sweeney to take the bullet for Kier Starmer, wasn't it?

Ask yourself, who made the ultimate decision? I think it was the man that has "𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗰𝗸 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲!" on his desk.
politico.eu/article/top-starme…

How on earth can ANY of Epstein's victims gain justice? What, money? Is that the answer? Give people a few quid, and that's justice? Justice is tracking down everyone who participated in or facilitated his activities, and I mean everyone, even those who offered up their friends or other girls to him and his fellow pedos, because that, in my opinion, is the worst betrayal.

It was a mistake to let him die because now he will never suffer, unlike his victims.
bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5y5dq…

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝗜 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘀!
Customer sends me a requirement email and yet still phones "for a chat". Mulling over the request, he adds a monitor to his original request. I go ahead and order his stuff, including the monitor. This morning I opened his PO, and there's no monitor. I email him, and he rings:

𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿: "Ah, I wanted to try the monitor we have."
𝗠𝗲: "I know, you said that, but you also said you still needed a monitor."
𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿: "Yeah, I was thinking I might need another PC, so I would need a monitor."
𝗠𝗲: "You never mentioned a PC?"
𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿: "Yeah."
𝗠𝗲: "I've ordered it now."
𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿: "Hmm? OK."

𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗽!

Once or twice, I've told the story of a fairly well-known customer of ours, in which the Director, walking through the factory, stopped at one of the workers' machines and said, "You know about computers, don't you?" The worker responded, "Yeah, I build 'em on the weekend." The director promptly made him head of IT for a multi-million-pound company.

The other day, I mentioned a PA at another big customer was either pushed or jumped. She was the main point of contact for a group of about 15 companies, submitting support tickets to us and approving or resolving any requests for work requiring payment. This morning, there is an email in my inbox introducing the new point of contact and asking for our help and understanding as they take on this new (secondary to their own) role. This person works in the design department. 🤦‍♂️

I see there are still people struggling to understand the Fediverse (Mastodon to all those who don't know the real name).

Unlike 𝕏 or Facebook, where their algorithm spoon-feeds stories that align with your opinions or nudge you towards only those users who are likely to think and say the same as you, on the Fediverse, you are the master of your own destiny and, like real life, will have to find out for yourself if you want to interact or follow anyone here.

Of course, if you only want like-minded users, we have those too, but what a boring day that would be. 🙂

I take it I'm the only one in the UK who is annoyed and a little depressed that #Labour seems able to U-Turn on every announcement they have made since coming to power, and nobody says a word against them. If that had been the Tories, Social Media would have gone into meltdown by down screaming that they were not fit to govern, seeing as they can't see anything through.

A recent aggregated list identifies 13 major U-turns — including reversals on pubs business rates, inheritance tax for farmers, workers’ rights protection, welfare cut rollbacks, winter fuel payments, academy freedom limits and, most recently, making digital IDs optional rather than compulsory for workers.

bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3385z…

Just be careful what you believe! Remember how they misled us over weapons of mass destruction. There are lots of people who would love to see a regime change, not for the good of the Iranian people but for their own agenda. Some would like their throne back, some would like their oil back, some would like to break their friendship with China, and some would like to see the tension between Iran and their country ended.

Given that all the world's media is banned from Iran, it's impossible to verify anything coming out of there.

#JustSaying 🤷‍♂️

bbc.co.uk/news/live/cj691w2e84…

I am against ANY form of hunting tbh. Most of us do not need to hunt for food anymore, although I do understand there are still parts of the world where this is necessary. Having said that, I also feel that it's a shame to lose a tradition ingrained in British rural society.

Surely there's a way to train hounds to chase something else? A drone releasing a scent, maybe?
bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy95wx…