To the Colors
Welcome

Users of the colors.js color conversion library were surprised recently when their printers started to print "Liberty Liberty Liberty…" and then began spewing random characters in an infinite loop.
Dear Reader,
Users of the colors.js color conversion library were surprised recently when their printers started to print "Liberty Liberty Liberty…" and then began spewing random characters in an infinite loop. The weird appearance of the printed page made those users wonder if a vandal had broken into the source code, but the truth that began to emerge was much stranger.
It turns out that the developer of the colors.js and faker.js libraries sabotaged the code himself. Marak Squires had apparently become disillusioned with the way large companies were using his code without contributing or providing compensation. On November 2020, he wrote on the faker.js GitHub page, "Respectfully, I am no longer going to support Fortune 500s (and other smaller-sized companies) with my free work. There isn't much else to say….Take this as an opportunity to send me a six figure yearly contract or fork the project and have someone else work on it."
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
AerynOS Alpha Release Available
With a choice of several desktop environments, AerynOS 2025.08 is almost ready to be your next operating system.
-
AUR Repository Still Under DDoS Attack
Arch User Repository continues to be under a DDoS attack that has been going on for more than two weeks.
-
RingReaper Malware Poses Danger to Linux Systems
A new kind of malware exploits modern Linux kernels for I/O operations.
-
Happy Birthday, Linux
On August 25, Linux officially turns 34.
-
VirtualBox 7.2 Has Arrived
With early support for Linux kernel 6.17 and other new additions, VirtualBox 7.2 is a must-update for users.
-
Linux Mint 22.2 Beta Available for Testing
Some interesting new additions and improvements are coming to Linux Mint. Check out the Linux Mint 22.2 Beta to give it a test run.
-
Debian 13.0 Officially Released
After two years of development, the latest iteration of Debian is now available with plenty of under-the-hood improvements.
-
Upcoming Changes for MXLinux
MXLinux 25 has plenty in store to please all types of users.
-
A New Linux AI Assistant in Town
Newelle, a Linux AI assistant, works with different LLMs and includes document parsing and profiles.
-
Linux Kernel 6.16 Released with Minor Fixes
The latest Linux kernel doesn't really include any big-ticket features, just a lot of lines of code.