Bonum Certa Men Certa

Links 30/9/2021: Fairphone 4, PostgreSQL 14, MediaGoblin 0.12.0, and GNU Anastasis 0.2.0



  • GNU/Linux

    • Desktop/Laptop

      • 5 Best Linux Distros to Learn Linux

        Linux is one of the most powerful operating systems, powering numerous devices all across the globe. Linux is free and open-source that drives the foundation of major infrastructure, for example, the internet. It’s a powerful operating system that can bring the most out of your machine and productivity. For new users, however, getting into Linux can be daunting. There are numerous choices and technicalities. This “newness” factor can be overwhelming for many. In practice, Linux is not as difficult as it seems.

        This guide will explore some of the best Linux distros to consider if you’re willing to learn Linux.

        Let’s have a look at Windows. It comes with all the necessary binaries and libraries packed in one. Microsoft internally develops and distributes these parts. If you’re willing to use Windows, then you have to use the version Microsoft is offering.

        In the case of Linux, that’s not the case. Each component of Linux is available separately. Each of the components is developed by various organizations and communities. Most of these components are open-source and available free of cost.

        In theory, you could grab all the components you need, bake them together, and build your own Linux system. However, that’s quite a tedious task. This is where Linux distros come in. Any distro comes with all the necessary components and some additional components and tweaks.

    • Audiocasts/Shows

    • Kernel Space

      • Linux Achieves 5.1M IOPS Per-Core With AMD Zen 3 + Intel Optane - Phoronix

        Linux kernel developers have been working tirelessly to squeeze more performance out of IO_uring and the block / I/O code in general. IO_uring lead developer Jens Axboe who also serves as the Linux block subsystem's maintainer (among other roles and major contributions over the years) has used his system as a baseline for evaluating such kernel improvements. He's now moved to using AMD Zen 3 while sticking to Intel Optane storage and is seeing a mighty speed boost out of AMD's latest processors.

        Rather than talking in the 3.5~3.8M IOPS per-core range for evaluating kernel improvements, he is now at over 5 million IOPS per core by upgrading to AMD Zen 3 hardware.

      • Open-source Allwinner V3 ISP driver to enable blob-free camera support in mainline Linux - CNX Software

        Bootlin has just submitted the first patchset for the Allwinner V3 image signal processor (ISP) driver in mainline Linux which should pave the way for a completely open-source, blob-free camera support in Linux using V4L2.

        There are several blocks in an SoC for camera support including a camera input interface such as MIPI CSI 2 and an ISP to process the raw data into a usable image. Add to this the need to implement the code for sensors, and there’s quite a lot of work to get it all working.

        Allwinner SDK comes with several binary blobs, aka closed-source binary, but Bootlin is working on making those obsolete, having first worked on Allwinner A31, V3s/V3/S3, and A83T MIPI CSI-2 support for the camera interface driver in the V4L2 framework (and Rockchip PX30, RK1808, RK3128 and RK3288 processors), as well as implemented support for Omnivision OV8865 and OV5648 image sensors earlier this year.

      • Initial Allwinner V3 ISP support in mainline Linux - Bootlin's blog

        Several months ago, Bootlin announced ongoing work on MIPI CSI-2 support for the Allwinner A31/V3 and A83T platforms in mainline Linux, as well as support for the Omnivision OV8865 and OV5648 image sensors. This effort has been a success and while the sensor patches were already integrated in mainline Linux since, the MIPI CSI-2 controller patches are on their way towards inclusion.

      • Linux 5.16 To Feature More Extensible VirtIO GPU Driver With "Context Types" Addition - Phoronix

        Google's work on the VirtIO DRM kernel driver around the notion of "context types" and being able to initialize different types of contexts is set to be merged for Linux 5.16 in opening up more use-cases for this driver that is an important part of the open-source virtualization graphics stack for graphics.

        The existing VirtIO GPU driver is modeled around Virgl protocol usage for 3D within guest virtual machines but with this context init / context type work is around being able to accommodate additional protocols for GPU communication between the guest VM and the host.

      • Graphics Stack

    • Applications

      • 10 Best Screen Recorders for Linux in 2021

        Oftentimes we want to record something on our screen. Whether for making a presentation or a video tutorial. Nowadays screen recording is becoming common, people are making youtube videos regarding various tutorials, how-to guides, and streaming games in which screen recording plays an essential role.

        As the importance and need of having a screen recorder tool on your system are increasing day by day, having a good tool that provides all the features users need is also increasing. Hence, today in this article we’ll discuss the Top 10 Popular Screen Recorder tools on Linux systems to help you understand better which tool to select out of all.

      • Cockpit 254



        Cockpit is the modern Linux admin interface. We release regularly.

        Here are the release notes from Cockpit 254 and cockpit-machines 253:

      • MediaGoblin 0.12.0: Potions

        Happy Software Freedom Day! Today we're pleased to announce the release of MediaGoblin 0.12.0. See the release notes for full details and upgrading instructions.

        This release resolves two significant issues in the Celery backend media processing. The first was causing processed media to be marked as failed and the second was inhibiting useful error messages. We've also resolved installation issues caused by deprecated upstream code in the Werkzeug and jsonschema libraries.

      • Exim 4.95 MTA Comes with a Bunch of Improvements

        The latest version of the popular mail transfer agent, Exim 4.95, ships with TLS resumption support included in default builds.

        If you’re unfamiliar with Exim, it is one of the most used email server software, developed at the University of Cambridge. It is a free software under the GNU General Public License terms, which means that Exim is an open source mail transfer agent (MTA). It is among the best mail transfer agents in regard to its customization and configuration abilities.

        Exim runs primarily on Linux or Unix and is the default MTA on Debian, though Ubuntu and Red Hat Enterprise Linux use Postfix by default.

      • All the Methods To Run a Virtual Machine on Linux System

        Virtual machines are great if you’re trying to deploy a machine into your current operating system without doing any hard partitioning. No matter if you’re a Linux sysadmin or a developer, using a virtual machine is always fun and interesting. Now, you might question that the virtual machines make your original OS slower, and it’s kind of heavy to run on a regular basis. Yes, it’s always a bit heavy to execute virtual machines on the system. Nonetheless, using a virtual machine/Virtual machine on Linux can be a quick solution to test any program or run any application for a short time. Some power users also claim that using a Virtual machine actually increases the work efficiency as it allows you to test or run programs without restarting the entire system.

    • Instructionals/Technical

      • How to fix AH00557: httpd-prefork: apr_sockaddr_info_get() failed

        Last days i was confronted with issue above. i tried many solutions but it doesn’t really work , let me show you in this small tutorials how i have fixed it.

      • How to find the NVIDIA cuda version - nixCraft

        I need to find out the CUDA version installed on Linux. How do I know what version of CUDA I have?

        There are various ways and commands to check for the version of CUDA installed on Linux or Unix-like systems. Finding a version ensures that your application uses a specific feature or API. Hence, you need to get the CUDA version from the CLI.

      • How to Use ZSH Auto-suggestions

        ZSH is a popular Unix shell that extends the Bourne Again Shell. It comes packed with features and improvements over Bash. If you are a regular terminal user, having an exceptional terminal session will improve your workflow and help you enjoy using the terminal.

        This tutorial will teach you how to set up a ZSH shell and add features, such as command auto-suggestions.

      • How to Set Up Google Chromecast: A Step-By-Step Guide to Configuring Your Streamer

        The Google Chromecast, growing in popularity, is one of the more useful streaming devices available to users worldwide today. You can use this elaborate device to stream content, show off your home videos on a bigger screen, and share presentations.

        The device is simple enough, but it does take some work to get it set up and working correctly. This article will teach you how to start using your Google Chromecast and provide some helpful tips along the way.

      • How to Install Google Chrome on Debian and Kali Linux

        Debian and Debian-based Kali Linux come with Firefox as the default web browser. But this does not mean that you cannot install other web browsers in it.

        Google Chrome is hugely popular and you probably already use it on other systems. If you want to install Chrome on Debian, you can surely do so.

        You won’t find Google Chrome in the repositories of Debian because it is not open source software but you can download and install it from Chrome website.

      • How to Install Drupal with Apache and Let's Encrypt SSL on Debian 11

        Drupal is a free and open-source content management system based on the LAMP stack. Drupal has great standard features that allow you to create powerful websites and blogs. It comes with a lot of themes, plugins, and widgets that help you to create a website without any programming knowledge. It provides a lot of features such as multi-site support, multi-language support, comment system, RSS feed, user registration, and more.

        In this post, we will show you how to install Drupal CMS with Apache and Let's Encrypt SSL on Debian 11.

      • How to Install Cockpit on Rocky Linux 8

        Cockpit is a server management dashboard that provides real-time information on the state of your machine. In addition to CPU load, filesystem statistics, processes, and other data, it also gives access to the system. When you're not signed in to the control panel, Cockpit doesn't use any server resources. The Cockpit service only begins when you go to the control panel and use it.

        You can use Cockpit to manage your server and solve network problems. It also logs in with sudo, which allows you elevated privileges on the system - so there's no need for a separate group of users.

      • How to Create Linux OS Templates with KVM on Ubuntu 20.04 – VITUX

        KVM refers to the Kernel-based Virtual Machine which helps to run multiple Linux or window-based isolated guests along with their own OS and virtual dedicated hardware. To run KVM your system must be compatible with hardware virtualization extensions, such as AMD-V or Intel-VT.

        The VM template is a copy of the virtual machine including specific virtual machine configuration as well as guest OS. If you need to deploy multiple VM of the same instance then creating a virtual machine using a template comes in handy which plays a huge role in saving time as well as storage.

        This tutorial shows you how to create a VM template from the existing VM on KVM. In this article, the installation of KVM and creating Linux OS templates are done on Ubuntu 20.04 system. Before continuing to the process you are pre-requested to ready the system with KVM installed on it.

      • How to Configure the DHCP Server of VMware Workstation Pro 16

        VMware Workstation Pro 16 uses its own DHCP server to assign IP addresses to virtual machines. DHCP can be configured for the VMware Workstation Pro 16’s NAT and Host-only network interfaces.

        You can configure the IP subnet and assignable IP ranges for each of the NAT and Host-only network interfaces of VMware Workstation Pro 16. You can also configure the DHCP server to assign specific IP addresses to specific VMware Workstation Pro 16 virtual machines.

        In this article, I am going to show how to configure the DHCP server of VMware Workstation Pro 16’s NAT and Host-only network interfaces to change its IP subnet and the assignable IP ranges. I will also show you how to configure the DHCP server to assign specific IP addresses to specific VMware Workstation Pro 16 virtual machines. So, let’s get started.

      • How To View Apache Log Files on Linux - idroot

        In this tutorial, we will show you how to view Apache log files on Linux. For those of you who didn’t know, the Apache access log is one of several log files produced by an Apache HTTP server. This particular log file is responsible for recording data for all requests processed by the Apache server. Apache access log can be used to examine a detailed log of who has been to your website, track errors that are happening when users take some actions on your website.

        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 view Apache web server log files on Linux.

      • How I use Ansible and anacron for automation | Opensource.com

        Automation is the great IT and DevOps ideal, but in my experience, anything that's not immediately convenient may as well not exist at all. There have been many times when I've come up with a pretty good solution for some task, and I'll even script it, but I stop short of making it literally automated because the infrastructure for easy automation doesn't exist on the machine I'm working on.

      • How I monitor my web server with the ELK Stack | Enable Sysadmin

        In a previous article, I introduced Elasticsearch, Logstash, and Kibana (the ELK Stack) and the various components that make up this monitoring system. In this article, I'll look at how I use the ELK Stack to monitor my Nginx web server. This requires approximately 16GB of memory to operate.

      • Openstack RDO && KVM Hypervisor: Attempt to test Web Cockpit Console on Fedora 35 Beta Server (VENV)

        First Fedora 35 Beta Server deployed as L1 KVM Guest on F34 Bare metal Server . Nested virtualization enabled via virsh console on F34 Server. Complete KVM && Cockpit install performed on L1 F35 Server Guest per https://computingforgeeks.com/how-to-install-kvm-on-fedora/

        Second Debian 11 L2 KVM Guest has been deployed via Web Cockpit Console on F35 Beta Server L1 Guest with no issues.

        Debian 11 L2 Guest (UEFI mode installation) virtual drive has been intensionally configured with Debian Calamares Installer.

      • Better screen resolution with Hyper-V on RHEL 8

        Let's say you've just downloaded your free copy of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 8 and created a virtual machine (VM) using Microsoft's Hyper-V virtual environment in Windows. So far, so good. But now you find yourself presented with an old-school 1024x768 screen resolution.

      • Make YAML as easy as it looks | Opensource.com

        If you've ever tried writing YAML, you may have been initially pleased with how apparently easy it looks. At first glance, the YAML that's often used for configuration files, Ansible playbooks, and flat-file databases looks more or less as intuitive as a shopping list. However, there's a lot of nuance in YAML's structure, and it conceals a dangerous secret: YAML is actually a highly precise, structured, and surprisingly strict language. The good news is that you only need to understand two things to know how YAML works.

        The truth about YAML is that there are only two data structures in YAML: sequences and mappings. Those are two fancy names to represent what you'll discover are very familiar concepts. This article explains them both, and more importantly, how they work together to make YAML a powerful way to represent the data you care about.

    • Games

      • Kalypso Media forms new studio to work on Tropico 7, hiring developers now | GamingOnLinux

        It seems Tropico 7 is now a confirmed thing, with Kalypso Media emailing today an announcement about forming a brand new studio dedicated to the next game. Early days yet with work ongoing to prepare for Tropico 7, so don't expect any actual news on the game soon.

        Nine Worlds Studios is the name of the new team, named after "the nine worlds of Norse mythology - symbolising the team's ambition to create new worlds". This is the second studio that Kalypso Media has in the tech hub of Munich, Bavaria as they join Realmforge Studios who made Spacebase Startopia and the Dungeons series and Nine Worlds Studios are the fifth development studio within Kalypso Media.

      • Convention Plays Pokemon On Giant Color Game Boy Costume | Hackaday

        Standard cosplay is fun and all, but what is there for admirers to do but look you up and down and nitpick the details? Interactive cosplay, now that’s where it’s at. [Jaryd Giesen] knows this, and managed to pull together a working color Game Boy costume in a few days.

      • Beautiful puzzle game Bonfire Peaks is officially out now | GamingOnLinux

        Bonfire Peaks is a new release from Corey Martin and Draknek that's a puzzle game about moving things around, and then setting your belongings on fire.

        "Move onwards, move upwards, and leave nothing behind: in Bonfire Peaks, players must climb to the top of a mysterious island ruin, burning everything they own along the way. Featuring hours of masterfully designed puzzle content, a breathtakingly lovely voxel overworld, and not a single second of filler content."

      • Paradox celebrate 1 year of Crusader Kings III with stats, like Cannibalism being popular | GamingOnLinux

        . I'm eagerly awaiting getting back into it though as it is easily one of the best strategy games supported on Linux. Hopefully they won't rush out the Royal Court expansion like they seemed to have done for other games recently.

    • Distributions

      • Gentoo Family

        • How upstreams should learn to stop worrying and love uncompressed manpages

          Portage (Gentoo’s primary package manager) allows me to choose my own compression command using the variable PORTAGE_COMPRESS in make.conf(5). As it happens, right now, it defaults to bzip2.

          The vast majority of man pages on my system are therefore compressed with it. This is because most packages don’t bother compressing their man pages - they accept the consensus that it’s for distributions/a user preference. It’s handled by my package manager at the point of installation.

          But it doesn’t stop with choice of algorithm. What about compression levels? What if I choose to use say, pbzip2 instead (notably the same algorithm)?

          i.e. Even if an upstream correctly guesses the right tool I’ve been using to be consistent with my other man pages (and I love consistency), they may end up doing it wrong anyway.

      • IBM/Red Hat/Fedora

        • Runtime Analysis in the Red Hat DevSecOps framework

          September is "runtime analysis" month in Red Hat’s monthly Security series! Since March 2021, the Red Hat Security Ecosystem team has published monthly articles and videos on DevOps Security topics to help you learn how Red Hat can help you master the practice called DevSecOps.

          By explaining how to assemble Red Hat products and introducing our security ecosystem partners, we aim to aid in your journey to deploying a comprehensive DevSecOps solution.

        • IBM Meets With Analysts on Monday. Why You Might Want to Own the Stock Now.

          On Monday, IBM will hold a meeting with analysts, presumably to discuss the financial details of its coming spinoff of Kyndryl, the company’s 90,000-employee IT infrastructure business. You might want to be long the stock headed into the event.

        • Hack APAC: How will you define the new normal?

          A good hackathon is a showcase for what technology, innovation, and creativity can deliver. A great hackathon lets you apply your skills to problems and challenges that inspire you. That's why we thought our readers would want to know about Hack APAC: The new normal is yours—which challenges developers to address new scenarios emerging in a post-COVID world.

        • 3 fading and 3 future IT culture trends | The Enterprisers Project

          If there’s one takeaway IT professionals across all industries can learn from this pandemic, it’s that you need to be adaptable. Systems, processes, technologies, and internal dynamics must pivot as the business landscape reinvents itself and workplace culture trends shift.

          With a continuous push toward a WFH model, companies need to rethink how their infrastructure will promote collaboration, flexibility, and automation in a virtual or hybrid workplace.

          As a CIO, I know how crucial it is to adopt the right IT culture trends with the staying power to benefit your team long-term versus ones that will become obsolete in this post-COVID ecosystem. Here are some of the fading IT culture trends you’ll want to leave behind, as well as a few emerging, future-minded trends to take along with you.

        • 9 DevOps and DevSecOps best practices for the hybrid work era

          DevOps and digital transformation go hand in hand. DevOps culture and methodology prizes speed, experimentation, and collaboration, all happening on cross-functional teams. The processes and tools involved in DevOps can accelerate digital transformation work across the board.

          How does that translate to the new reality for many organizations of a hybrid work model, combining remote and office work? In the hybrid era, we’re all more reliant on digital tools and services, so DevOps is generally well suited to this work, some experts say.

          For instance, you can more easily hire people around the world when you lose the crutch of having a shared location. “A time difference is even beneficial for certain DevOps functions, such as testing and QA. Remote and hybrid DevOps teams offer unique benefits, including continuous development cycles, better throughput, rapid scale in team structures, and cost savings,” says Helmant Elhance, president, Excellerate.

        • Using Ansible with REST APIs | Opensource.com

          Ansible is a top open source project which, on the surface, looks to provide a simple way to standardize your existing automation and allow it to run in parallel across multiple hosts, and it does this very successfully. Yet, in reality, Ansible has the capabilities to extend what your existing automation does to incorporate other systems and really simplify tasks across all aspects of your daily routine.

          This capability starts with the collections and roles that are included with Ansible and all the third-party utilities distributed through Ansible Galaxy. You may have queried APIs with a web browser or curl, but one of the overlooked capabilities of Ansible is how well it can leverage APIs as part of any playbook. This is extremely useful because the number of REST APIs being built and deployed both internally and across the global internet is increasing exponentially. There's even a public-apis GitHub repo listing hundreds of free APIs across over a dozen categories just for a sense of scale.

    • Devices/Embedded

    • Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

      • Utkarsh Gupta: FOSS Activites in August 2021

        Here’s my (twenty-third) monthly but brief update about the activities I’ve done in the F/L/OSS world.

      • Personal Management System: A personal CRM and daily routine for busy minds

        PMS is distributed and released under the MIT license which allows commercial use, modification, distribution, and private use. However, it comes without a warranty, liability and copyright notice are a must.

      • The Open Source ecosystem for Drones - itsfoss.net

        One of the global players is the Chinese company DJI. The 14-year-old company has dominated the drone category thanks to an aggressive pricing strategy for its hardware. But with the addition of DJI to the blacklist US Department of Commerce’s, the initial situation changes fundamentally: This step not only prevents DJI from continuing to source US components, but also means that any company that wants to do business with DJI (even if it is only the use of the DJI SDK), now has to check whether these activities comply with US regulations. This becomes a legal risk for the affected company, as does the use of Huawei hardware, the Chinese company that has been on the same list since 2019 and is next to no use in the US.

        An open source ecosystem is now in the process of establishing itself as the industry standard in the battle for market share. Since its inception in 2011, PX4 has become the most widely used open source flight control system for autonomous aircraft. While Auterion is the leading contributor, it is used by an external community of more than 600 contributors, including leading drone and aerospace companies, as well as companies all of whom are committed to software and hardware advancement. According to Auterion, the PX4 has two major advantages over the previous software controls for drones

      • Events

        • First batch of videos from the LibreOffice Conference 2021

          Our online conference for 2021 took place last week, and we’ve already uploaded a bunch of videos from it! Check out the playlist, using the button in the top-right – or scroll down for links to individual videos (PeerTube also to come):

          Please confirm that you want to play a YouTube video. By accepting, you will be accessing content from YouTube, a service provided by an external third party.

        • Fedora Community Blog: Nest With Fedora 2021 recordings now available!

          I am happy to announce the recordings for Nest With Fedora are now up on the Fedora YouTube channel. You can search for the ones you want or watch the whole playlist! There are 56 videos to peruse full of Fedora information and friends! Nest with Fedora 2021 was another huge virtual event success for our community. The event garnered 900+ registrations with an 81% turnout (4% above industry standard). This is almost double our numbers from Nest in 2020. A huge welcome to all the newcomers. We are so glad you are part of the Fedora community!

      • SaaS/Back End/Databases

        • PostgreSQL 14 Released!

          The PostgreSQL Global Development Group today announced the release of PostgreSQL 14, the latest version of the world’s most advanced open source database.

          PostgreSQL 14 brings a variety of features that help developers and administrators deploy their data-backed applications. PostgreSQL continues to add innovations on complex data types, including more convenient access for JSON and support for noncontiguous ranges of data. This latest release adds to PostgreSQL's trend on improving high performance and distributed data workloads, with advances in connection concurrency, high-write workloads, query parallelism and logical replication.

          "This latest release of PostgreSQL advances our users' ability to manage data workloads at scale, enhances observability, and contains new features that help application developers," said Magnus Hagander, a PostgreSQL Core Team member. "PostgreSQL 14 is a testament to the dedication of the global PostgreSQL community in addressing feedback and continuing to deliver innovative database software that is deployed by organizations large and small."

          PostgreSQL, an innovative data management system known for its reliability and robustness, benefits from over 25 years of open source development from a global developer community and has become the preferred open source relational database for organizations of all sizes.

        • PostgreSQL 14 released

          Version 14 of the PostgreSQL relational database manager is out.

        • PostgreSQL 14.0 Released With More Performance Improvements

          PostgreSQL 14.0 is now officially available as the latest version of this widely-used, open-source SQL server.

          As with most major PostgreSQL releases, PostgreSQL 14 brings more performance improvements. In particular there are new optimizations around parallel queries, heavily-concurrent workloads, partitioned tables, logical replication, and vacuuming. PostgreSQL 14 also has B-tree index updates so they are managed more efficiently. PostgreSQL 14's libpq library also now allows for pipelining multiple queries to improve throughput over high latency connections.

        • PostgreSQL Global Temporary Tables extension v2.6 released

          pgtt is a PostgreSQL extension to create, manage and use Oracle-style Global Temporary Tables.

          The main interest of this extension is to reproduce Oracle behavior with GTT when you can not or don't want to rewrite the application code when migrating to PostgreSQL. In all other case best is to rewrite the code to use standard PostgreSQL temporary tables.

          This is a maintenance release to add support for upcomming PostgreSQL 1

      • CMS

        • People of WordPress: Yordan Soares

          WordPress is open source software, maintained by a global network of contributors. There are many examples of how WordPress has changed people’s lives for the better. In this monthly series, we share some of the amazing stories.

          To coincide with International Translation Day and the final day of the 2021 WordPress Translation celebration, we feature the story of a WordPresser who has made a major impact in the polyglots team.

      • FSF

        • GNU Projects

          • GNU Anastasis v0.2.0 released

            GNU Anastasis is a Free Software protocol and implementation that allows users to securely deposit core secrets with an open set of escrow providers and to recover these secrets if their original copies are lost.

            Currently, GNU Anastasis is released as Alpha-quality software. It is not yet production ready! You cannot rely on it to keep your secrets recoverable today! In particular, we need to still review the various country-specific questions used to create unique user identifiers at the beginning of the backup and recovery process. Community feedback on those inputs would be particularly welcome!

      • Programming/Development

        • Qt 6.2 for Android
        • Qt 6.2 LTS Released
        • Qt 6.2 LTS Released With Qt6 Now Aiming To Be Ready For Widespread Adoption - Phoronix

          Qt 6.2 LTS is out today as the first long-term support release in the Qt6 series and also with all of the major modules now ported over from Qt5 in aiming to make this a suitable point to transition from Qt 5.15 LTS.

        • Qt Design Studio 2.2 Released

          We are happy to announce the release of Qt Design Studio 2.2.

        • FreeAptitude - Playing with D-Bus and KDE applications (Part 1)

          Speaking about the several ways that a Linux system offers to users to create custom automation, there is a software technology that hides under the hoods of modern desktop environments,

        • prctl in C example Usage

          The prctl system call has been used in the C language to manipulate diverse characteristics of the calling function or process activities. The first parameter of the “prctl” system call defines what has to be done with the initialised values in header. All the other arguments or parameters would be used as per the first argument and its worth. Let’s take a deep glance at the “prctl” system call in C while we have been working on the Ubuntu 20.04 at the time of implementing this article.

        • Python

          • The basics of PyQt5

            PyQt5 is a python module for GUI desktop application development. It’s available for multiple platforms such as Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android. Python offers several modules that are, in fact, capable of GUI development, such as Tkinter, wxPython, PySide2, and more. However, PyQt5 utilizes more than 1000 classes; in fact, PyQt5 is a huge module! Moreover, PyQt5 includes a Qt Designer, a graphical user interface designer, which further facilitates GUI creation. It can be used to create anything from media players to web browsers. In this tutorial, we will learn the basics of the PyQt5 module.

        • Shell/Bash/Zsh/Ksh

          • Is Fish Shell Better Than ZSH?

            As Linux power users, we spend most of our computing time working in the terminal. When it comes to which shell to use, there are three main competitors: Bash, ZSH, and Fish. Bash is the grandfather, and it powers tons of Linux distributions as the default shell. If you have ever used a terminal session, chances are you have come across Bash.

            This complete article will break down the features of two close competitors: ZSH and Fish. By the end of this article, you should know what are the similarities and differences of these shells.

        • Rust

  • Leftovers

    • College Athletes Should Have Collective Bargaining Rights, NLRB Memo Says
    • A Novel Caught Between 2 Plagues

      Toward the end of his short life, the French photographer and writer Hervé Guibert was bereft: dying of a virus that had killed or was killing many of his closest friends and lovers, without access to the social and economic capital that might save his life, and exiled from his great love—fucking. He couldn’t even manage to kill himself properly: “I can’t rid myself of my self,” he remarked in his diaries. One wonders to which self he was referring: the materially decaying house of the body; the metaphysical subject position we might call “consciousness”; or perhaps the writerly legacy he was hastily securing with his final texts.

    • Hardware

    • Health/Nutrition

    • Integrity/Availability

      • Proprietary

        • The Human Costs of iPhones

          Yet, how many of us users ever ask what are the conditions under which these iPhones are produced?€  What are these conditions doing to China’s workers, who assemble such wonderful instruments?

          These are questions rarely asked in a world where the “free market” reigns.€  Actually, the free market is an ideological construct, where basic questions about the impact on workers or upon the environment are precluded by definition:€  the whole game is to focus concentration on consumption.€  In other words, as long as you have the money (or access to credit), you can get whatever your heart desires, and issues of size, style, color, texture, etc., prevail. But just don’t ask about the workers, or the environment.

        • Security

          • If you have any of these Android, iOS and Windows phones, you will lose your Internet connection from today - Market Research Telecast [Ed: An automated translation]

            How would you stay if we told you that your Android, iPhone or Windows mobile – if you still use one of the latter – is going to be unable to access the Internet from today? Well, that will happen to literally thousands of smartphones and devices without updating due to a change in the way the Network of Networks handles security.

          • Assess and Secure Your Linux Footprint – Now! - Infosecurity Magazine [Ed: Lack of understanding of fundamental differences between GNU, Linux, and other things. Very shallow.]
          • What is an SSL certificate? / SSL certificate: A Complete Insight

            With such increased online activities, the threat to crucial data you share has seen severe consequences, ranging from fraudulent financial transactions, online identity theft, etc. Moreover, with the heightened use of technology, cyber-attacks have also become more complex and challenging.

            No doubt, the data security awareness among internet users has grown multifold. If you are a website owner or a blogger, it becomes your prime responsibility to protect your user’s sensitive data and privacy from the evil intentions of cybercriminals.

            Here, SSL Certificate plays the most effective and crucial role in hardening the security of your website. So, let us first try to understand the very basics of SSL.

          • Syxsense Announces Powerful Automation, Including Patch Rollback, to its Comprehensive Linux Management Solution [Ed: Inflated claims and exaggerations in this marketing of proprietary software]

            The complexities of Linux patch remediation abound. Each Linux Distribution (Redhat, Debian, Ubuntu, Centos and more) uses slightly different commands, patches are released on unpredictable schedules, and deployment requires in-depth scripting knowledge. Syxsense simplifies large scale Linux server management, without requiring manual scripting. Syxsense users can receive full endpoint intelligence of OS, hardware, and software inventory details, and know if patches are missing or security standards are compromised. Syxsense Cortex, the company's powerful visual workflow designer, now includes prebuilt actions to control pre- and post-patching necessities such as reboots or rollbacks while ensuring smooth, uninterrupted patch remediation and software deployment.

          • Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt/Fear-mongering/Dramatisation

            • RansomEXX ransomware Linux encryptor may damage victims' files [Ed: So you should generally not get this thing installed on your system. This isn't about "Linux" but about something that can run on top of the GNU/Linux operating system.]

              ​Cybersecurity firm Profero has discovered that the RansomExx gang does not correctly lock Linux files during encryption, leading to potentially corrupted files.

              In a new report by Profero, Senior Incident Responder Brenton Morris says the RansomEXX decryptor was failing on various files encrypted by the threat actor's Linux Vmware ESXI encryptor for one the victims who paid the ransom.

          • Privacy/Surveillance

            • #PrivacyOfThePeople: Gig and app-based workers

              In the latest post in our #PrivacyOfThePeople series, we look at the impact of the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 on gig and app-based workers. We examine the minimal data rights provided to these workers by work agreements, how the Bill would affect these conditions, and how these issues can be remedied.

              [...]

              Gig workers Partner agreements in the gig-work industry significantly disadvantage workers. For example, delivery workers have complained of constant surveillance by platform apps, low net pay even after long working hours, unsafe working conditions due to the high velocity demands placed by platform apps, and a hostile working atmosphere that penalises workers for the most minor infractions. Platforms are also employing indirect methods such the ‘gamifcation’ of worker ratings by displaying a weekly scoreboard of top performers as way to increase intra-worker competitiveness and encourage them to stay online for longer periods (without compensating them for the same)

              A report on working conditions in Indian internet ventures by the Fairwork Project ranked Zomato, Swiggy, and Uber the lowest, scoring 1 out of 10 point scale based on pay, conditions, contracts, management, and representation. Ola did only marginally better with a score of 2. These issues are compounded by the categorization of such workers as independent contractors and not as employees (even though these companies look at themselves as ‘employers’).

              Such working conditions lead to platforms having significant control over the phones of gig workers. Zomato riders have said that logging off the app leads to “phone calls and messages from their team warning them” to log back in or risk losing their payment incentives. High levels of control over data are reflected in the partner agreements as well. For example, Dunzo’s delivery partner agreement states besides monitoring and sharing a worker’s geo-location data during the provision of services (which may be understandable), Dunzo, “may monitor, track and share your geo–location information obtained by the Platform and Delivery Partner Device... for safety, security, technical, marketing and commercial purposes”. The ambiguity here with respect to the period during which the data will be collected may lead to a situation where workers are surveilled during their ‘off-duty’ time. This can be seen in instances where delivery workers have complained of receiving ‘nudges’ and notifications during their off-duty time that urged them to be in the vicinity of a package pickoff point (thus effectively soliciting unpaid work from these workers). Similarly, Zomato’s delivery partner agreement states that Zomato can “store, process, access, and use delivery partner information for certain purposes” as Zomato may deem fit (subject to the applicable law). Given that the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 is yet to be passed, this clause gives Zomato effective control of riders’ data.

    • Defence/Aggression

      • The Failure of Intervention

        The essential question revolves around the principles that will bolster these policies. George F. Kennan, the noted American diplomat and foreign policy expert, suggested four such principles: proper distance, mutual respect, non-interference and, above all, the avoidance of war. Although his thoughts were mainly framed at the often-thorny relations between the Soviet Union and the U.S., we can adopt the practice of non-interference and the avoidance of war as basic principles, at a time where any false step can lead to a world confrontation of unpredictable but certainly dire consequences.

        In the book Peril, Bob Woodward and Robert Costa allege that General Mark A. Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called China’s top general, Li Zuocheng, to assure him that if the U.S. decided to attack China, he would warn him ahead of time.

      • In a California Desert, Sheriff’s Deputies Settle Schoolyard Disputes. Black Teens Bear the Brunt.

        Barron Gardner, a high school history teacher in Southern California’s Antelope Valley, stared down Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies during an online meeting in April, trying to keep his composure.

        Gardner, 41, had become a reluctant spokesperson for a growing movement, driven primarily by Black and Latino residents, to get LASD deputies off school campuses. His wife, a nurse, worried about the repercussions for their family. What if he lost his job? What if he became a target of discrimination or worse? After all, this valley at the western edge of the Mojave Desert, population roughly 500,000, has a long history of racial tension, including white supremacist attacks on Black community members.

      • Diary Entry: Handling the Truth of Cuba

        Sometimes it seems what Ellsberg tells us is lost in the celebrity of his giving some back to The Man.

        Of course, the other thing probably worth remembering — well, it’s right there in the title — Ellsberg planned nuclear wars — and, being so goddamned clever, was probably good at it, and, indeed, may well have been the archetypal Master of War that the Bard from Duluth, in his famous song, spat on his grave. Who knows, he doesn’t say, but maybe the Big E was influenced by the Big D.€  Our romantic hearts want it to be so; so there it is.€  We wanted Dylan to be our savior, but, when he wouldn’t be, some of us Lefties called him “a Jew.” He went from Jesus to “Judas” in one breath — talk about self-loathing Jews. He’s reborn now and beyond the fray — Hey! —

      • The Names You'll Never Know

        Within two weeks, a New York Times investigation would dismantle that official narrative. Seven days later, even the Pentagon admitted it. Instead of killing an ISIS suicide bomber, the United States had slaughtered 10 civilians: Zemari Ahmadi, a longtime worker for a U.S. aid group; three of his children, Zamir, 20, Faisal, 16, and Farzad, 10; Ahmadi’s cousin Naser, 30; three children of Ahmadi’s brother Romal, Arwin, 7, Benyamin, 6, and Hayat, 2; and two 3-year-old girls, Malika and Somaya.

        The names of the dead from the Kabul strike are as important as they are rare. So many civilians have been obliterated, incinerated, or — as in the August 29th attack — “shredded” in America’s forever wars. Who in the United States remembers them? Who here ever knew of them in the first place? Twenty years after 9/11, with the Afghan War declared over, combat in Iraq set to conclude, and President Joe Biden announcing the end of “an era of major military operations to remake other countries,” who will give their deaths another thought?

    • Environment

      • Wildlife/Nature

        • Over 20 Newly Extinct Species in US Offer ‘Sobering Reminder' of Humanity's Wreckage

          Twenty-three species should be declared extinct, U.S. officials said Wednesday—a fate that conservation advocates warn could await hundreds of other species barring immediate efforts to protect them.

          "If we do nothing to address climate change and the growing biodiversity crisis," tweeted the National Audubon Society, "today's announcement will pale in comparison to the future we face."

    • Finance

      • Opinion | Now Is the Time, Finally, for Congress to Stand Up for Working Families

        We live in an unprecedented moment as our country faces enormous crises including Covid-19, climate change, attacks on democracy, income and wealth inequality, and the multi-decade decline of the American middle class.

      • What is To Be Done About Work?

        In the midst of this national uproar about new job hazards and workplace rules, three authors—Jamie McCallum, Sarah Jaffe, and Eyal Press– have published important books that examine work and its discontents, in pre-pandemic form. The questions they raise and arguments they make about job satisfaction, inadequate compensation, long hours, and morally injurious employment are a good starting point for post-Covid campaigning for fundamental changes in how work is organized, directed, and externally regulated.

        In€ Worked Over: How Round-The-Clock Work is Killing the American Dream,€ (Basic Books), Middlebury College sociology professor Jamie McCallum takes aim at “over-work.” McCallum began writing about this problem as an attempt to reconcile an “intense personal work ethic” with his conviction that “we need a mass movement to win greater collective control over work time” and a return to labor’s historic fight for shorter hours. As he notes, there has been much ground lost since millions of workers finally won the 40-hour week and related over-time pay requirements, during the union upsurge of the 1930s.€  “From 1975 to 2016, the hours of all wage and salary workers increased by 13 percent, the equivalent to about five extra weeks of work per year.” Today, McCallum writes, “many Americans work close to forty-seven hours per week yet earn far less than they did decades ago. Among full-time workers, nearly 40 percent report working fifty hours per week or more, and about 18 percent say they work sixty hours or more.”

      • Opinion | Corporate Lobbyists Are Going to War Against the Build Back Better Plan

        Right now, corporations and the ultra-rich are spending millions to derail President Biden's Build Back Better plan. Behind the scenes, they're hard at work to keep our elected officials from helping our country recover from the pandemic.

      • “Hold the Line!”: Can Progressives Force Passage of $3.5T Package to Expand the Social Safety Net?

        Progressives in the House of Representatives say they will oppose the $1 trillion infrastructure bill, after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she would seek a vote on the measure separately from the Build Back Better Act, the $3.5 trillion bill that expands the social safety net and combats the climate crisis. Conservative Democratic Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin, who receive major donations from financial institutions, fossil fuel companies and other industries, continue to oppose the $3.5 trillion package. While the $1 trillion infrastructure bill is “kind of a half-measure,” the Build Back Better Act “really could be best described as the Democratic platform,” says David Dayen, executive editor of The American Prospect.

      • UN Experts Denounce 'Truly Shocking' Magnitude of Inequality Revealed by Pandemic

        "States must act together, in solidarity, to fairly distribute vaccines and help each other combat the impacts of Covid-19."—Michelle Bachelet, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights

      • 'It's Sickening': Sinema Draws Progressive Ire for Obstructing Biden Agenda

        Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is not the only corporate-backed Democrat standing in the way of the party's potentially historic and broadly popular budget reconciliation package.

        But the Arizona senator's refusal to explain her specific objections to the proposal and offer alternatives has sparked growing anger among progressive lawmakers, who say that Sinema is—in the words of Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.)—"holding up the will of the entire Democratic Party."

      • Opinion | If Sinema Won't Stand With Arizona Democrats, We Will Vote Her Out

        By an overwhelming 81% vote, the Arizona Democratic Party (ADP) passed a resolution on September 25th pledging a vote of NO CONFIDENCE in Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema if she fails to vote to reform the filibuster or doesn't support President Biden's "Build Back Better" reconciliation bill.

    • AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

      • How $25 Vouchers Can Help Save Our Democracy

        An assault on democracy is advancing at the state level, as bills making voting harder are considered in 18 state legislatures. These bills are brazen and extreme, but this interstate campaign isn’t new—it’s the latest attempt in a decades-long effort to make our democracy less accessible to regular people.

    • Civil Rights/Policing

      • Protest Song Of The Week: ‘In Your Path’ By War On Women

        The post was originally published at Ongoing History of Protest Music.Back on November 20, 2019, Chilean feminist collective Las Tesis first performed ‘Un Violador en TuCamino (A Rapist in Your Path).” to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence AgainstWomen.The song was directed at police and government agents, who sexually tortured women inChile. It became a viral international anthem and was performed during countless rallies worldwide.American hardcore band War On Women later covered the song under the title “In Your Path,”which appeared on their exceptional 2020 album (one of the best protest albums of 2020).“Wonderful Hell” was released just before the United States presidential election. Considering the U.S. Supreme Court has two alleged rapists and both presidential candidates were alleged rapists, the lyrical reference to “thejudges and the president” carry an additional resonance in the version recorded by War On Women.The band also recently released a video that juxtaposes images from both the U.S. and the 2019 Chileanuprising against inequality. (War on Women frontwoman Shawna Potter also discusses the lyrics and tune on her excellent podcast But Her Lyrics…”Watch or listen to “In Your Path” By War On Women:

    • Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

    • Monopolies

      • Opinion | The Utterly Baseless Case for Recusal of Biden Antitrust Nominee, Jonathan Kanter

        In recent weeks, Big Tech's allies, including the Wall Street Journal€ editorial page, have insisted that President Biden's nominee for Associate Attorney General for Antitrust at the Department of Justice ("DOJ"), Jonathan Kanter, should be recused from overseeing the department's case against Google and its investigations of other tech titans. The weakness of the case for Kanter's recusal reveals just how determined these companies are to defend the status quo.

      • The SHOP SAFE Act Is A Terrible Bill That Will Eliminate Online Marketplaces

        We've already posted Mike's post about the problems with the SHOP SAFE Act that is getting marked up today, as well as Cathy's lamenting the lack of Congressional concern for what they're damaging, but Prof. Eric Goldman wrote such a thorough and complete breakdown of the problems with the bill that we decided that was worth posting too.

      • Copyrights

        • Genshin Impact Developer Goes With Extremely Fan-Friendly Fan-Art For Commercial Sale Policy

          The manner in which content producers generally, and video game publishers specifically, handle art and content created by their biggest fans varies wildly. There's the Nintendo's of the world, where strict control over all things IP is favored over allowing fans to do much of anything with its properties. Other gaming companies at least allow fans to do some things with their properties, such as making let's play videos and that sort of thing. Still other gaming companies like Square have managed to let fans do some large and amazing projects with its IP.



Recent Techrights' Posts

Amid Online Reports of XBox Sales Collapsing, Mass Layoffs in More Teams, and Windows Making Things Worse (Admission of Losses, Rumours About XBox Canceled as a Hardware Unit)...
Windows has loads of issues, also as a gaming platform
 
Consent & Debian's illegitimate constitution
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
The Time Our Server Host Died in a Car Accident
If Debian has internal problems, then they need to be illuminated and then tackled, at the very least in order to ensure we do not end up with "Deadian"
China's New 'IT' Rules Are a Massive Headache for Microsoft
On the issue of China we're neutral except when it comes to human rights issues
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, March 27, 2024
IRC logs for Wednesday, March 27, 2024
WeMakeFedora.org: harassment decision, victory for volunteers and Fedora Foundations
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 27/03/2024: Terrorism Grows in Africa, Unemployment in Finland Rose Sharply in a Year, Chinese Aggression Escalates
Links for the day
Links 27/03/2024: Ericsson and Tencent Layoffs
Links for the day
Links 27/03/2024: BBC Resorts to CG Cruft, Akamai Blocking Blunders in Piracy Shield
Links for the day
Android Approaches 90% of the Operating Systems Market in Chad (Windows Down From 99.5% 15 Years Ago to Just 2.5% Right Now)
Windows is down to about 2% on the Web-connected client side as measured by statCounter
Sainsbury's: Let Them Eat Yoghurts (and Microsoft Downtimes When They Need Proper Food)
a social control media 'scandal' this week
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, March 26, 2024
IRC logs for Tuesday, March 26, 2024
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
Windows/Client at Microsoft Falling Sharply (Well Over 10% Decline Every Quarter), So For His Next Trick the Ponzi in Chief Merges Units, Spices Everything Up With "AI"
Hiding the steep decline of Windows/Client at Microsoft?
Free technology in housing and construction
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
We Need Open Standards With Free Software Implementations, Not "Interoperability" Alone
Sadly we're confronting misguided managers and a bunch of clowns trying to herd us all - sometimes without consent - into "clown computing"
Microsoft's Collapse in the Web Server Space Continued This Month
Microsoft is the "2%", just like Windows in some countries
Links 26/03/2024: Inflation Problems, Strikes in Finland
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/03/2024: Losing Children, Carbon Tax Discussed
Links for the day
Mark Shuttleworth resigns from Debian: volunteer suicide and Albania questions unanswered, mass resignations continue
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 26/03/2024: 6,000 Layoffs at Dell, Microsoft “XBox is in Real Trouble as a Hardware Manufacturer”
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/03/2024: Microsofters Still Trying to 'Extend' Gemini Protocol
Links for the day
Look What IBM's Red Hat is Turning CentOS Into
For 17 years our site ran on CentOS. Thankfully we're done with that...
The Julian Paul Assange Verdict: The High Court Has Granted Assange Leave to Appeal Extradition to the United States, Decision Adjourned to May 20th Pending Assurances
The decision is out
The Microsoft and Apple Antitrust Issues Have Some But Not Many Commonalities
gist of the comparison to Microsoft
ZDNet, Sponsored by Microsoft for Paid-for Propaganda (in 'Article' Clothing), Has Added Pop-Up or Overlay to All Pages, Saying "813 Partners Will Store and Access Information on Your Device"
Avoiding ZDNet may become imperative given what it has turned into
Julian Assange Verdict 3 Hours Away
Their decision is due to be published at 1030 GMT
People Who Cover Suicide Aren't Suicidal
Assange didn't just "deteriorate". This deterioration was involuntary and very much imposed upon him.
Overworking Kills
The body usually (but not always) knows best
Former Red Hat Chief (CEO), Who Decided to Leave the Company Earlier This Month, Talks About "Cloud Company Red Hat" to CNBC
shows a lack of foresight and dependence on buzzwords
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 25, 2024
IRC logs for Monday, March 25, 2024
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
Discord Does Not Make Money, It's Spying on People and Selling Data/Control (38% is Allegedly Controlled by the Communist Party of China)
a considerable share exists
In At Least Two Nations Windows is Now Measured at 2% "Market Share" (Microsoft Really Does Not Want People to Notice That)
Ignore the mindless "AI"-washing
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) Still Has Hundreds of Thousands of Simultaneously-Online Unique Users
The scale of IRC