09.06.21

^{Gemini version available ♊︎}

Links 6/9/2021: Finnix 123, antiX-21 Beta 2

Posted in News Roundup at 5:29 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

GNU/Linux
- Distributions
- Devices/Embedded
Free Software/Open Source
Leftovers

GNU/Linux
- Audiocasts/Shows
  - Late Night Linux – Episode 141
    
    Félim is trolled about the cloud, our first impressions of elementary OS, your feedback, and more.
  - RIP Sudo, Open Doas Is My New Best Friend – Invidious
    
    Like everyone else on Linux I’ve been using sudo but when I tried out doas on my gentoo install I really liked it so I thought why not try it out over on my main Arch install and I’ve really been liking it.
  - Is The Raspberry Pi A Desktop Replacement? – Invidious
    
    Recently, I went a little over three months without having a home computer. For the first two months, I just did without having a computer. The third month though, I tried to use a Raspberry Pi 4 as a desktop replacement. How was the experience? It was a mixture of good and bad.
  - Going Linux #412 · Listener Feedback
    
    Bill’s laptop is in computer hospital. Our listeners have suggestions, answers, and feedback on Office file formats, running Wine and Crossover, using AppImages, gaming on Linux and more.
- Kernel Space
  - Reminder: linux.conf.au 2022 Call for Sessions open + Extended [LWN.net]
    
    The linux.conf.au organizers have put out a second, extended call for proposals for the 2022 event, which will be held online starting January 14.
  - Linux 5.15 Further Tunes Its RISC-V Support – Phoronix
    
    The RISC-V architecture updates have landed in the Linux 5.15 kernel with more software features now being supported.
    
    RISC-V with Linux 5.15 supports new features like the Undefined Behavior Sanitizer (UBSan) now working on the architecture for detecting undefined behavior within the kernel. There is also now support for PC-relative instructions in KProbes, support for the hlt/nohlt kernel command-line options, and a lot of clean-ups.
  - Graphics Stack
    - NVIDIA 470 Driver Now Works With Wayland Composer Sway – itsfoss.net
      
      The implementation of Wayland by NVIDIA has been one of the greatest technological battles ever seen in Linux. The graphics processing giant did not give its arm to twist by maintaining its bet on EGLStreams as a buffer for Wayland, while the rest, including Intel and AMD, bet on the GBM standard.
      
      After many years of tug of war , Intel’s future return to the dedicated graphics market, the precipitous demise of Xorg, and above all the failure of EGLStreams itself forced NVIDIA to rectify to adopt GBM , further seeing the high odds that Wayland will be set by default in the next Ubuntu LTS.
- Applications
  - HP Linux Imaging and Printing (HPLIP) Drivers Now Support Linux Mint 20.2 and RHEL 8.4
    
    HPLIP 3.21.8 is here almost two months after version 3.21.6, which only added support for the Fedora 34, Ubuntu 21.04 (Hirsute Hippo), openSUSE Leap 15.3, and Debian GNU/Linux 10.9 “Buster” operating systems, and version 3.21.4, which added support for the HP Envy 6400 printer series, to add support for the Linux Mint 20.2 “Uma”, Manjaro Linux 21.0.7, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 distributions.
    
    On top of that, the HPLIP 3.21.8 release adds support for several new printers, including the HP Smart Tank 500 series, HP Smart Tank 530 series, HP Smart Tank Plus 570 series, HP Smart Tank 7600, HP Smart Tank 750, HP Smart Tank 790, HP Smart Tank Plus 710-720, HP Smart Tank Plus 7000, HP Smart Tank Plus 660-670, HP Smart Tank Plus 6000, as well as the HP DeskJet Ink Advantage Ultra 4800 All-in-One Printer series.
- Instructionals/Technical
  - Install Firefox Browser 92 In Ubuntu / LinuxMint / RockyLinux | Tips On UNIX
    
    This tutorial will be helpful for beginners to download and install Mozilla Firefox browser 92 in Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 18.04, Linux Mint 20.1, and RockyLinux.
    
    Mozilla Firefox is a free and open-source web browser developed by the Mozilla foundation and generally utilized by thousands and thousands of individuals in their daily actions.
  - Install HPLIP 3.21.8 In Ubuntu 20.04 / LinuxMint / RHEL | Tips On UNIX
    
    This tutorial will be helpful for beginners to install HPLIP 3.21.8 in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, RHEL 8.4, LinuxMint 20.2, and Manjaro 21.0.7.
    
    HPLIP – HP Linux Image and Printing, developed by HP for Printing, scanning, and faxing with HP inkjet and laser-based printers in Linux platforms.
    
    The latest version of HPLIP 3.21.8 contains new printer support and added support to the new Distro’s and the hplip installer is available for download from SourceForge.
  - Install Postgresql 13 on AWS Ec2 Amazon linux 2 – Linux Shout
    
    Developers of PostgreSQL call this platform “The world’s most advanced open-source database”. PostgreSQL is available for Linux including for other common operating systems such as macOS, Windows, and BSD. PostgreSQL implements the 2008 SQL standard very comprehensively. In addition to common data types, the database can also natively handle XML and version 9.2 with data in JSON format. Here we learn the steps to install PostgreSQL on Amazon Linux 2 running on AWS ec2 instance.
  - Blue/Green Deployment with Istio: Match Host Header and sourceLabels for Pod to Pod Communication | Lisenet.com :: Linux | Security | Networking
    
    We are using our Kubernetes homelab in this article. We will continue with the pii-demo application for blue/green that we had deployed some time ago with Istio mTLS.
    
    Basic familiarity with Istio is required.
    
    Blue/green deployment is an application release model that transfers user traffic from a previous version of a microservice to a new release, both of which are running in production, without downtime.
  - How to Install GitHub CLI on Linux [Ed: Do not download or use this. This is an "embrace, extend, extinguish"-type attack on Git, on Git projects, and pm Git users; Microsoft is already in the second "E" here]
- Desktop Environments/WMs
  - GNOME Desktop/GTK
    - Wrap-up: All about my Outreachy journey
      
      Hello everyone! It’s officially the end of my Outreachy internship. I can’t believe this is the last blog post I am writing on it. It seems like yesterday, when I received the selection mail and was about to begin my journey as an Outreachy intern with the GNOME organisation.
      
      [...]
      
      At the beginning of the internship, I was not familiar with writing blogs, which scared me. I thought that the internship will be very hectic with all these, and I will not manage the time properly. But the opportunity to document my internship in the form of blogs and everyone’s appreciation has motivated me to carry on with the writing and having people read them.
- Distributions
  - New Releases
    - antiX-21-beta2 iso files available. (Debian 11 based)
      
      We have 2 versions for experienced users to try. These iso files default to using SysVinit.
      
      antiX-21-b2-x64-full and antiX-21-b2-386-full are beta quality releases for experienced testers of antiX to test and provide feedback before final release.
      Do not use this as your main OS, though it *might* be possible to upgrade to final (no promises).
      
      * customized antiX 4.9.0-279 and 5.10.57 kernels on the 64 bit live iso. Please try both in your tests.
      * customized antiX 4.9.0-279-486-non-pae kernel on the 32 bit live iso. (pae versions available in the repos)
      * grub/UEFI live boot changes. Select live boot options (persistence, etc…) from the boot menu and sub menus rather than using the previous console menus. Please check localisation.
      * New installer partition selection area, including some lvm support if lvm volume exists.
      * no virtualbox-guest packages so best to test on real hardware – live, frugal or installed.
      * added mesa vulkan drivers
      * improved localisation of apps and live system
    - Finnix 123 released
      
      Today marks the release of Finnix 123, the LiveCD for system administrators. Expanding on Finnix 122 from six months ago, this release includes a number of fixes, new packages and new features.
    - Finnix 123 release notes
    - Finnix 123 Linux Distro for System Administrators Is Out Based on Debian Bullseye
      
      Finnix 123 is here almost seven months after Finnix 122 and brings a major change, namely the fact that the sysadmin-oriented distro is now based on the latest Debian GNU/Linux 11 “Bullseye” operating system series rather than tracking the Debian Testing repositories.
      
      While the distribution is still powered by the Linux 5.10 LTS kernel series, the Finnix 123 release adds several goodies for system administrators, such as the sshd and passwd kernel command-line options (e.g. sshd passwd=foo or sshd passwd=root:foo or passwd=finnix:bar), as well as a basic “command-not-found” handler that provides users with explicit instructions on how to install certain packages.
  - Screenshots/Screencasts
    - MX Linux 21 Beta 2 Run Through – Invidious
      
      In this video, we are looking at MX Linux 21 Beta 2.
    - MX Linux 21 Beta
      
      Today we are looking at MX Linux 21 Beta 2, the KDE edition. It comes with Linux Kernel 5.11, based on Debian 11, KDE 5.20, and uses about 800MB of ram when idling. Enjoy!
  - Debian Family
    - Web Hooks for the Janitor
      
      There are about 30,000 packages in sid, and it usually takes a couple of weeks for the janitor to cycle through all of them.
- Devices/Embedded
  - Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications
- Free, Libre, and Open Source Software
  - Study about the impact of open source software and hardware on technological independence, competitiveness and innovation in the EU economy
    
    Open Source is increasingly used in digital technologies. This required an in-depth analysis of its current role, position and potential for the European economy. Open Source Software (OSS) has become mainstream across all sectors of the software industry over the past decade. Conversely, the level of maturity of Open Source Hardware (OSH) currently appears far lower. However, the business ecosystem for OSH is developing fast. If OSH is to follow the same development as OSS, it could constitute a cornerstone of the future Internet of Things (IoT), the future of computing and the digital transformation of the European industry at the end of the digital decade.
    
    The objective of the study was to investigate and quantify the economic impact of OSS and OSH on the European economy. The study also identified strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges of open source in relevant ICT policies, such as cybersecurity, artificial intelligence (AI), digitising European industry, the connected car, high performance computing, big data, distributed ledger technologies, and more.
    
    Economic evidence of the footprint of open source in the EU has been collected. A list of policy options to maximize the benefit of open source supporting a competitive EU software and hardware industry, which in turn supports the twin environmental and digital transformation of the EU economy is also proposed.
  - SaaS/Back End/Databases
    - PostgreSQL: PostgreSQL Weekly News – September 5, 2021
      
      pg_dbms_job 1.1.0, an extension to create, manage and use Oracle-style DBMS_JOB scheduled jobs, released.
      
      dbForge Data Compare for PostgreSQL v3.4 released
      
      pgmoneta 0.5.0, a backup and restore system for PostgreSQL, released
      
      pgspider_ext, an extension to create a cluster engine for distributed data based on PostgreSQL foreign data wrappers, released.
      
      psycopg2 3.0.0 beta 1, a Python connector for PostgreSQL, released.
      
      postgresql-wheel, a Python package containing an entire compiled PostgreSQL server in a single pip installable file, released
    - dbForge Data Compare for PostgreSQL Enhanced with New Connectivity Opportunities
      
      Devart, one of the leading developers of database management software, ALM solutions, and data providers for the most popular database servers, announced an update of dbForge Data Compare for PostgreSQL, a GUI tool for data comparison and synchronization.
    - pgBadger v11.6 released
      
      pgBadger is a PostgreSQL performance analyzer, built for speed with fully detailed reports based on your PostgreSQL log files.
  - Programming/Development
    - Intel Compute-Runtime Prepares oneAPI Level Zero 1.2 Support
      
      Intel Compute Runtime 21.35.20826 is available today with initial support for oneAPI Level Zero v1.2.
      
      Today’s Intel Compute-Runtime update is their latest for this open-source stack supporting OpenCL 3.0 and Level Zero support going back to Broadwell~Skylake processors with integrated graphics. Notable in this update is adding release support for Level Zero v1.2 (though the documentation still notes Level Zero 1.1 pre-release support).
    - Notcurses 2.4 Released – Now Works On Windows & macOS For Terminal “Bling” – Phoronix
      
      Notcurses as an open-source library designed for complex and “blingful” text user interfaces and character graphics, now works not only on Linux but also Windows and macOS. Notcurses makes it easy for CLI-based programs to support a wide range of colors, multimedia, Unicode, and other features not normally associated with command-line applications.
    - Perl/Raku
      - My Favorite Warnings: once
        
        The Perl compiler wants to help us write clean code. One of the ways that it does this is to issue warnings when a global variable appears ony once: Name “main::Foo” used only once: possible typo at …
        
        The thing is, sometimes this is not an error. For example, we may want to refer to a global variable in another package, one that was not imported into our namespace.

Leftovers
- Defence/Aggression
  - Hunted by the men they jailed, Afghanistan’s women judges seek escape
    
    THE HAGUE, Sept 3 (Reuters) – Safe in Europe after escaping from Kabul, an Afghan woman judge describes how she was hunted by men she had once jailed, now freed by the Taliban fighters who took over the country.
    
    “Four or five Taliban members came and asked people in my house: ‘Where is this woman judge?’ These were people who I had put in jail,” she told Reuters in an interview from an undisclosed location, asking not to be identified.
    
    Afghanistan has around 250 women judges. A few were able to flee in recent weeks, but most were left behind and are still trying to get out, said international colleagues and activists who have formed networks working around the clock to help them escape.
  - As China woos the Taliban, Uyghurs in Afghanistan fear for their lives
- Monopolies
  - Patents
    - Forward Pharma Announces the Decision of the Technical Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office in the EP2801355 Appeal Hearing [Ed: This board is rigged and Forward Pharma wrongly assumes that European Patents are still legitimate as before]
      
      Forward Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:FWP) (“we,” “Forward” or the “Company”), today announced that the Technical Board of Appeal (the “TBA”) of the European Patent Office (the “EPO”) has dismissed Forward’s appeal of the previous decision of the EPO Opposition Division to revoke the EP2801355 patent (the “’355 patent”) following the oral hearing.
      
      The TBA made its decision after considering Forward’s appeal against the decision of the Opposition Division and third-party submissions from several opponents. The TBA will issue detailed reasons for the decision in written form in due course, and following receipt and review of these, Forward will announce future plans for the Company. Such plan may involve a petition for review at the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the EPO in an effort to overturn the unfavorable outcome, but the likelihood of a petition for review being successful is low. The denial of a petition for review would end the Opposition Proceeding in favor of the opponents. For all practical purposes, such denial or the absence of a petition for review would represent an unsuccessful outcome of the Opposition Proceeding, resulting in no royalties being due to the Company from Biogen based on Biogen’s future net sales outside the United States, as defined in the Settlement and License Agreement by and among Forward, subsidiaries of Biogen Inc. and certain other parties thereto.