On the 25th of August 1991, Linus Torvalds sent out his first message about a free operating system he was developing. For him it was “just a hobby” and “won’t be big and professional”, but it turned out to be way more than that. Now after 30 years, Linux is everywhere. Here are nine things that you may not know about Linux.
August 25, 2021 marked thirty years of Linus Torvalds’ now-famous announcement on the comp.os.minix news group, where he shared plans to work on a free operating system for 386(486) AT clones as a “hobby.”
Nobody, least of all Torvalds, would have imagined that three decades later, his hobby OS would not just outgrow his personal computer, but go on to become the backbone of much of the modern IT world.
Rob Gibbon, Product Manager at Canonical, the makers of Ubuntu, has seen an explosion in the adoption of Linux over the years.
In preparation for the support within their Vulkan driver, the Intel-led effort for preparing mesh shader support within Mesa's NIR and SPIR-V code has now been merged.
The Mesa NIR/SPIR-V changes for supporting mesh shaders as outlined via the SPV_NV_mesh_shader extension have been merged with the exception of multi-view support not being ready yet. The SPV_NV_mesh_shader extension is about exposing GLSL GL_NV_mesh_shader support in turn with support for the new task and mesh shader types.
At this point, adding new SKUs to the Radeon RX 6000/6000M series wouldn’t make much sense. This series already features multiple SKUs aimed at gaming and workstations in both desktop and laptop form. However, as reported by Phoronix, 17 new PCI IDs were found on the AMD GPU Linux driver. Out of these 17 entries, 5 are Sienna Cichlid (Navi 21) GPUs, another 5 are Navy Flounder (Navi 22) GPUs, and the last 7 are Dimgrey Cavefish (Navi 23) GPUs. That is quite a lot, considering the Radeon RX 6000/6000M series already features so many SKUs.
Here should hopefully be a great indication about AMD's Linux efforts moving forward with one of their recent and exciting hires at the company.
As noted across various Phoronix articles over the past year, AMD has been ramping up their Linux staff given their market successes on both client and server. This has been much desired considering nearly a decade ago they let go many of their Linux developers and closed their Operating System Research Center. AMD's Linux support for recent CPU (and GPU) launches has been good, but Intel continues to serve as the "gold standard" of Linux support when it comes to generally providing punctual pre-launch support for new hardware, generally ensuring their new hardware features are supported under Linux, making sure their forthcoming microarchitectures are well supported by the prominent open-source compilers ahead of time, etc. Intel's large open-source engineering pool has allowed this generally very good pre-launch hardware support. In addition, that large talent pool has led Intel to contributing significantly to various non-Intel-specific improvements to the Linux kernel and other areas.
The concept of sources.list is not just a thing of the Kali Linux operating system domain. It is applicable in all Linux operating system distributions. Therefore, when you want to install any application on your Kali Linux operating system, you first have to consider the viability of this file. Also, when you need to upgrade an existing application Kali Linux, this file becomes a key factor.
In short, all Linux operating system activities related to application installation, upgrade, and system update all reference the sources.list file. In this case, it tells your Kali Linux operating system where to find system updates, application downloads, and application upgrades.
MySQL is the world’s most ranking and popular open-source database. This is because the DB has very great and powerful features. However, this does not affect its simplicity for use.
The database is generally free and widely used. In this article, we will highly concentrate on how to start up, restart, check status, and stop the MySQL server. We will also look at the basic installation steps of a MySQL database server on our Linux PC, plus some basic commands you need to get started with the MySQL client.
Kali is a Debian-derived Linux distribution that is designed for digital forensics and penetration testing. The penetration testing platforms contain a large array of tools and utilities used by the white-hat community. The OS is funded and maintained by Offensive Security.
Backup is always something you under-appreciate until you need it. Therefore, since I lost a lot of my mails due to non-existing backups in the past, I tried to keep proper backups around the last decade. At least this allowed me to keep all my Kate related development mails intact since 2001 or so, not that bad ;=)
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After you did initialize the repositories like above, you will have on your NAS and/or server some borg directory in the home of the matching user.
You can create a new backup archive of e.g. your home (excluding the .cache directory you might not want) via:
borg create --compression zstd --progress --stats \ -e "/home/your-user/.cache" \ "thecooluser@server-name-here:borg::name-of-backup-archive" \ "/home/your-user"
On the NAS you will need an additional “–remote-path /usr/local/bin/borg” like for the init command.
Sometimes it's really obvious that I'm new too Linux and today is one of those times, I only recently realized that Sudoedit exists, this command is incredibly useful and I should have been using for ages.
Using a tool to monitor device status and conditions is not new stuff to learn. The only limitation of the conventional PC monitoring tools is, they only monitor what is on the policy, whereas the New Relic Infrastructure monitors the deep down structures, log analysis, and parameters. It measures dynamic host data, live data for both hardware-level and software level parameters. It can notify you before any components are gone broke. You can monitor every layer of your application and optimize performance. Deploying the Relic infrastructure agent is easy and straightforward for any Linux, Mac, and Windows.
FFmpeg is an opensource, powerful audio and video converter. Using FFmpeg, we can encode, decode, transcode, mux, demux, record, resize, stream, filter, and play almost all type of media files. Not only that, we can also grab live audio/video stream as well. FFmpeg ships with a lots of filters to perform different tasks. One of the lesser known, yet useful filter is zoompan. Using zoompan filter, we can easily zoom in and zoom out videos in Linux. Let me show you how to do that using an example command.
Make sure you have installed FFmpeg on your Linux machine. We have documented the steps to install FFmpeg on popular Linux operating systems in the following link.
In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Steam on Debian 11. For those of you who didn’t know, Steam is a popular application for Linux, Windows, and macOS to play PC games. It provides you with options to buy and install games, play multiplayer titles, and stay in touch with other gamers via social networking on its platform.
This article assumes you have at least basic knowledge of Linux, know how to use the shell, and most importantly, you host your site on your own VPS. The installation is quite simple and assumes you are running in the root account, if not you may need to add ‘sudo‘ to the commands to get root privileges. I will show you through the step-by-step installation of Steam on a Debian 11 (Bullseye).
Docker Engine can be installed easily on Amazon Linux 2 running on AWS Ec2 Instance using Yum package manager. If you don’t know how? Then here are the steps to follow.
Well, being a command-line operating system running on expensive cloud computing services, we need some virtualize platform with lightweight. And what would be better than Docker? There are lots of benefits of using applications virtualized via containers. It improves security and easier management of the software on the server: If an application is hacked, the attacker can only manipulate the container – not the other virtualized applications on the system.
Furthermore, due to hundreds of pre-built Docker images, it is easy to install any OS or app instantly. In addition, adjustments to a container operating system can be implemented without affecting other applications on the server – this also makes development easier. The container format also makes it easier for applications to move between servers, as they each have the right software environment.
In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Tor Browser on Debian 11. For those of you who didn’t know, the Tor browser is open-source, free software that enables anonymous communication when using online services such as web surfing. For most of us are familiar with this browser, Tor is an option for many users, who wish to use the web as an anonymous person. It provides security to people by hiding their details and conceal their IP address, browsing history. Using the Tor browser, users can access the clear and deep net.
This article assumes you have at least basic knowledge of Linux, know how to use the shell, and most importantly, you host your site on your own VPS. The installation is quite simple and assumes you are running in the root account, if not you may need to add ‘sudo‘ to the commands to get root privileges. I will show you through the step-by-step installation of Tor Browser on a Debian 11 (Bullseye).
Any program that is running in the system is called a process.
When we start an operating system, be it Windows or Linux, some programs are started by default.
In a Linux environment, each process is assigned a process ID or PID, used for many purposes, such as killing a process.
A process can be running in the foreground, or it could be running in the background.
Time for some FOSS gaming
Did you know that on Linux, you can already run x86 32 bits software on an ARM 32bits architecture WITHOUT using a Virtual Machine solution such as QEmu? You can do that at very little performance penalty by using [Box86], a piece of software which takes care of translating x86 32 bits instructions in real-time into something that can be understood by an ARM 32 bits processor. It will also take care of interfacing with the right system libraries accordingly so that an x86 binary made for Linux will run seamlessly on an ARM board running Linux. This made it possible to run tons of applications or even (older) games on boards like the Raspberry Pi. This is the work of a single man, PtitSeb, whom I know well since we were both heavily invested in the Open Pandora community (10 years ago now!). Box86 was initially a piece of software that was ideal for running even more games on the Swiss army knife that the Open Pandora is, and now you can use it on every cheap ARM SoC out there.
It has been almost a year since the last release of ScummVM. We have made a truly tremendous number of changes, which you can read about in the NEWS.md file. We need your help to test this version!
This week, we have added a host of improvements to Kalendar that should make using it on a touchscreen a significantly nice experience. To demonstrate, we are going to show Kalendar running on the Pinephone!
Tok has seen a handful of improvements this week, one being that file messages now show a thumbnail if available.
But since the reference images functionalities are well connected with another tools & functionalitites , it seems to cause some bugs too . I have resolved all the bugs which my mentors suggested after the testing but there might be some usability improvements still. I would like to thank all my mentors in Krita.
The long-awaited GNOME 41 is out! It contains many new exciting features compared to the previous GNOME 40. We have seen GNOME’s improvements since the first article covered GNOME 3.38 to the latest release, GNOME 41. The rapid technological improvements and advancements are critical articulations to the newer releases that we shall expect in the future.
GNOME 41 beta, which showcases the new numbering system, is already out awaiting the stable release in September. This beta release will give you a taste of what you will expect when the official version is released.
Like the GNOME 40 release, the GNOME 41 already out does not contain many desktop layouts rejigs. However, many other improvements have been made, and we shall cover them in this article.
Zorin OS is an Ubuntu-based distro that aims at making life easier for starting Linux users. It features an elegant user interface and packs many well-known productivity apps. This makes it a great choice for new users as well as those who want a Linux distro that just works.
The developers recently released Zorin OS 16, the latest stable version of this distro. It comes with some exciting new features alongside many performance improvements.
Back in January, we got our first glimpse at the M1 running desktop Linux thanks to the team at Corellium. While that was a great achievement, it did have a lot of drawbacks, such as no access to the internal storage and no GPU driver.
Now, Asahi Linux has just reached a major milestone in terms of getting the M1 usable as a desktop Linux computer: A working GNOME desktop. Unlike the previous achievement by Correllium, this breakthrough utilises a new GPU driver and double-buffering.
In the initrd (initramfs) of EasyOS, there are statically-linked utilities, linked with musl to obtain small size. I had compiled these for x86_64 and aarch64 at different times and using different methods, but have decided to pull them all together. They are now all compiled in OpenEmbedded.
This blog supports posting in different categories, for example "oe", "easy" and "light". In theory, a post can be to more than one category, but I have never tested that. The OpenEmbedded "oe" project is intertwined with EasyOS "easy", so I often post OpenEmbedded news to the "easy" category. But that is a problem if you go to the "oe" URL, you won't see those posts...
Thanks to all who've made Debconf 21 such a good place to be.
On Saturday 28 August 2021, the annual Debian Developers and Contributors Conference came to a close.
DebConf21 has been held online for the second time, due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) disease pandemic.
All of the sessions have been streamed, with a variety of ways of participating: via IRC messaging, online collaborative text documents, and video conferencing meeting rooms.
With 740 registered attendees from more than 15 different countries and a total of over 70 event talks, discussion sessions, Birds of a Feather (BoF) gatherings and other activities, DebConf21 was a large success.
This is my sixth month of working for LTS. I was assigned 12 hrs and worked all of them.
Delta Chat is yet another internet messaging app, but is does things in a way that is much more freedom-friendly.
With Facebook finally changing how WhatsApp works so that they can profit off of the users, many people are choosing to switch to other internet messaging apps like Telegram or Signal. But all of them require your phone number to create an account. This can be a violation of your privacy since your phone number can be associated with your real identity.
A new app called Delta Chat seeks to solve that problem. Starting its service in early 2019, it is one of the newest messenger services operated by Merlinux limited in Freiburg, Germany.
This is a continuation to Email Encryption Made Easy with a hope to be more straightforward and useful. Here we will learn how to encrypt Gmail, the mail service used by millions today, in our computer with Thunderbird mail client. The purpose of encryption is security so that your mails can only be read by your recipients and vice versa by disabling other parties, including Google company, ability to read them.
This article is a rewrite to the Made Easy because of three reasons, first because BitMessage Mail service is discontinued, second because Gmail is used by nearly all people in the world (that means you and me), and third because Thunderbird now has its own encryption system without Enigmail anymore. This tutorial uses Thunderbird version 78 and security-wise you should please update your version first before continuing. We strongly recommend you to not practice this alone but do with at least one friend of yours using the same Thunderbird so you can completely practice sending as well as receiving encrypted emails.
Crunchy Data is pleased to announce the release of the PostgreSQL set_user Extension module version 2.0.1.
This release contains one security fix and one other bug fix. It is highly recommended to update to this version of set_user as soon as possible.
Razer is said to be working on an updated installer after it was discovered you can gain admin privileges on Windows by plugging in one of the gaming gear maker's mice or keyboards.
In fact, inserting any USB device that declares itself a Razer mouse or keyboard will lead to an exploitable situation.
As documented late last week by a Twitter user called j0nh4t, if you plug into a Windows 10 or 11 machine a device identified as a Razer mouse or keyboard, Microsoft's OS will automatically download and run Razer's installer for the manufacturer's Synapse software, which can be used to configure the peripheral.
Microsoft Windows flaunts itself upon the screens of IKEA as the not-at-all creepy setup screens pose an unanswerable question – can we use your location?
The problem, as any visitor to the retail giant will attest, is actually knowing where one is in the temple of flatpacked furniture. We've certainly spent many an hour toiling around the Croydon branch in search of an exit and instead come away with several sacks of tea lights that remain unopened to this day.
So if we're not too sure of our in-store location, we're also not sure what Microsoft plans to do with the information. "It looks like you're about to have a relationship-ending row. Would you like some help with that?" is just the sort of perky advice we could do without.
The patent community has expected the appointment of Bérénice Thom for weeks. The 41-year-old began her career at Preu Bohlig and moved to the North Rhine-Westphalia judiciary in 2011. She became a judge at Düsseldorf Regional Court’s patent chambers in 2013.
The unitary patent will be a brand-new type of patent, which will have 'unitary effect' throughout the participating European states.
The EP 1 854 518 protects a game operating device. It combines ergonomic aspects with sensor technology, including a camera and accelerometer. The Wii Remote, the main controller for Nintendo’s Wii console, features the technology. The Japanese company launched the product in 2006.
Bigben Interactive, the subsidiary of a French manufacturer of video games and gaming accessories (now Nacon), marketed a controller that was compatible with the Wii console. Nintendo claimed this infringed its patent and filed a lawsuit at Mannheim Regional Court in June 2010.
Managing IP picks four trends from a recent UKIPO report and asks lawyers why patent applications have dipped by 34% in 20 years
