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Links 8/12/2021: Linux 5.15.7 Out, Linux Mint 20.3 is Near



  • GNU/Linux

    • Desktop/Laptop

      • What a great laptop needs – Adventures in Linux and KDE [Ed: Smells like a 'plug'...]

        I love the Framework laptop. It’s just what the market needs, and I eagerly look forward to buying one some day! If you haven’t heard about it yet, seriously, check it out.

        Unfortunately it has a few drawbacks that prevent it from being the ideal laptop: its inappropriate screen DPI, keyboard without dedicated text navigation keys, poor speakers, and hot power-hungry Intel CPU. Since these components are replaceable, it’s possible that in the future better versions will become available. However that hasn’t happened yet, so alas, it is not the holy grail laptop.

      • IGEL releases support for VMware Workspace ONE Intelligent Hub for Linux

        IGEL has announced support for VMware Workspace ONE Intelligent Hub for Linux, simplifying device management from a single view for greater visibility and compliance.

        The provider of the next-gen edge OS for cloud workspaces says this will facilitate communication between IGEL OS-powered devices and the Workspace ONE Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) console.

    • Server

      • Blog: Kubernetes 1.23: Dual-stack IPv4/IPv6 Networking Reaches GA [Ed: When Microsoft controls the Kubernetes blog to shill NSA back-doored stuff like Windows]

        "When will Kubernetes have IPv6?" This question has been asked with increasing frequency ever since alpha support for IPv6 was first added in k8s v1.9. While Kubernetes has supported IPv6-only clusters since v1.18, migration from IPv4 to IPv6 was not yet possible at that point. At long last, dual-stack IPv4/IPv6 networking has reached general availability (GA) in Kubernetes v1.23.

    • Audiocasts/Shows

    • Kernel Space

      • Linux 5.15.7
        I'm announcing the release of the 5.15.7 kernel.
        
        

        All users of the 5.15 kernel series must upgrade.

        The updated 5.15.y git tree can be found at: git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-stable.git linux-5.15.y and can be browsed at the normal kernel.org git web browser: https://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-s...

        thanks,

        greg k-h
      • Linux 5.10.84
      • Linux 5.4.164
      • Linux 4.19.220
      • Linux 4.14.257
      • Linux 4.9.292
      • Linux 4.4.294
      • Intel Posts Linux Patches Enabling AMX Use Within KVM Guests - Phoronix

        One of many exciting features/changes with upcoming Intel Xeon Scalable "Sapphire Rapids" processors is the introduction of Advanced Matrix Extensions (AMX). While initial AMX support is premiering with Linux 5.16 due out in stable form as the start of the new year, it currently doesn't allow for KVM virtualized guests to make use of the new capabilities.

        Sent out on Tuesday were the set of patches providing the Linux kernel with KVM support for AMX. Due to the eXtended Feature Disable "XFD" handling and new interface where AMX support actually needs to be requested by the user-space software / application before use and other changes compared to just checking on the presence of a CPU feature bit, enabling AMX support for Kernel-based Virtual Machine guests is more involved than say AVX and other prior features.

      • Google Posts Open Profile For DICE Linux Driver, Forwards Firmware Secrets To User-Space - Phoronix

        Google is looking to upstream their Linux kernel driver for Open Profile for DICE, a secret derivation protocol used currently by some Android devices.

        The proposed "DICE" driver is for exposing these "secrets" to user-space that were generated by the firmware/bootloader of the Android devices. While this passing of secrets from firmware to user-space may raise some security concerns and worries, the intended use-case of this Open Profile for DICE is around trusted computing with attestation and sealing as part of a verified boot system.

      • Intel updates mysterious ‘software-defined silicon’ code ● The Register

        Intel has updated the code it says allows the implementation of “software-defined silicon” (SDSi).

        Chipzilla dropped some code for SDSi into the Linux Kernel in September 2021, describing it as tech that allows users to activate dormant features in silicon. The code outlined a process for enabling new features by verifying cryptographically signed licences.

        A new post to the Linux Kernel Mailing List from David E. Box, a Linux dev who works at Intel, explains version two of Intel’s SDSi code.

        Box explained the update offers “changes to the current intel_pmt driver to give it broader support for Intel defined PCIe VSEC and DVSEC features. It moves the implementation from MFD to the auxiliary bus and creates a generic framework for enumerating the extended capabilities. It also adds support for a new VSEC, Software Defined Silicon (SDSi).”

        VSEC stands for “Vendor-Specific Extended Capability,” in case you are wondering. And this PCI-SIGN Engineering Change Notice (PDF) from 2015 states it “allows PCI Express component vendors to use the Extended Capability mechanism to expose vendor-specific registers.”

      • How WireGuard made it into Linux ● The Register

        Maybe someday – maybe – Zero Trust will solve many of our network security problems. But for now, if you want to make sure you don't have an eavesdropper on your network, you need a Virtual Private Network (VPN).

        There's only one little problem with commercial VPNs: many of them are untrustworthy. So, what can you do? Well, run your own of course is the open-source answer. And, today, your VPN of choice is Linux's built-in VPN: WireGuard.

        Why WireGuard rather than OpenVPN or IKEv2? Because it's simpler to implement while maintaining security and delivering faster speeds. And, when it comes to VPNs, it's all about balancing speed and security.

        So, if WireGuard is all that, why did it take so long to make it into the Linux kernel? After all, its creator, Jason Donenfeld, first came up with the ideas behind WireGuard in 2015.

        Because even when you have a great idea and implement it well, it doesn't mean that things move quickly in Linux development circles. No, not even when Linus Torvalds himself declared "Can I just once again state my love for it."

    • Instructionals/Technical

      • What is Kubectl Rollout Restart?

        Kubernetes is a free and open-source platform for managing, scaling, and deploying containerized applications. If you have worked with Kubernetes before, you know how valuable it is for container management. You will also be aware that containers don’t always perform as expected. If a mistake occurs, you’ll need a quick and simple solution.

        Pods in Kubernetes should typically run until a new deployment replaces them. As a result, “restarting” a single Pod is not possible. When one of the containers fails, instead of restarting it, replace it. The small change in terminology better aligns with Kubernetes Pods’ stateless operating architecture. To eliminate old containers and begin fresh new instances, start a rollout. One can also manually remove Pods from a ReplicaSet or scale the replica count. For modern Kubernetes releases, rollouts are the preferred method, but other ways can be more suited to specific cases. This guide will show different ways to restart Kubernetes pods.

        To run the instructions in Kubernetes, you will need to install Ubuntu 20.04 on your Linux operating system. To run Kubernetes on Linux, you must also install the Minikube cluster on your workstation. Minikube creates a smooth experience by allowing you to test commands and programs systematically. As a result, it offers the best learning experience for Kubernetes beginners. The minikube cluster must be started initially. Then, in Ubuntu 20.04, go to the command line terminal you just installed. By using the Ctrl+Alt+T shortcut key or putting “Terminal” into the Ubuntu 20.04 system’s search box, you can do so.

      • What is Kubectl Proxy?

        user outside of a Kubernetes cluster can utilize the Kubernetes API server proxy to connect to cluster IPs that would otherwise be unavailable. This, for example, enables access to a service that is only available within the cluster’s network. Between the user and the in-cluster endpoint, the apiserver works as a proxy and a bastion.

        We installed Ubuntu 20.04 on our Linux operating system to run the instructions in Kubernetes. You can follow it. You must additionally install the Minikube cluster on your computer to run Kubernetes on Linux. Minikube makes testing commands and programs easy by allowing you to do so in a methodical manner. As a result, it provides the finest Kubernetes learning experience for newcomers. Initially, the minikube cluster must be started. Then, in Ubuntu 20.04, go to the newly installed command line terminal. You can do so by pressing the Ctrl+Alt+T shortcut key or typing “Terminal” into the Ubuntu 20.04 system’s search box. Either of the aforementioned techniques will start the terminal. The minikube will be started after that. Type “minikube start” into the terminal to start the minikube. The Kubernetes cluster will be launched after a virtual machine capable of operating a single node cluster has been built. It’s also compatible with the kubectl environment. This will be used to communicate with the cluster at first.

      • Create an EC2 instance on AWS using Terraform

        In this article, we will see how to create an EC2 Instance using Terraform. Before proceeding, I assume that you are familiar with the basics of Terraform and AWS EC2 Instance. If you want to learn to create an EC2 instance from the AWS console then click here.

      • Postgres Update Rows

        PostgreSQL allows you to insert, update or delete values in a column or row through built-in keywords of “INSERT”, “UPDATE”, and “DELETE”. These keywords make it less complicated, time-efficient, and scalable for users to modify their table rows or columns. In this article, we will be talking about how you can update your rows in a table using the “UPDATE” keyword in PostgreSQL. You will learn different implementations of how to update rows in a table and making it more understandable. To update rows, you need to use the “UPDATE” keyword in your statement. The use of the “UPDATE” command is to modify any changes in your table.

      • Vim Regular Expressions

        Regular expressions (or regexps for short) are tools that are used to alter text and data. They are not available as a stand-alone product but rather as part of a software or utility. UNIX grep, a program that searches files for lines that fit a pattern, is the most well-known example. Regexps can be thought of as a sophisticated pattern language. Regexps are extremely handy and can drastically minimize the amount of time it takes to complete tedious text editing tasks.

        Regular expressions appear to be fast gaining favor among VIM users as they learn about the incredible programming capability that they can bring. VIM’s syntax differs slightly from Perl’s, but it’s close enough. As a result, VIM users can benefit from Perl regular expression examples. In this article, we will discuss the most commonly used regular expressions in vim with examples. Let’s get started.

      • Postgres Insert Into Table Examples

        In PostgreSQL, you have created a table with various columns in it. Now, you need to insert data into those columns. There raises the question, how will you do that? Well, it’s not that difficult. If you follow this guide, most of your questions regarding inserting the data into the table will be answered adequately. This article will guide you on inserting values in a table by demonstrating several examples in PostgreSQL. The purpose of the “INSERT INTO” statement is to add a new row with the values of your database table. You can add single or multiple rows, as well using the “INSERT INTO” statement.

      • Execute Bash in a Pod with Kubectl?

        This article demonstrates how to get a shell into a running container using kubectl exec. This article should be done on a cluster with a minimum of two nodes that do not control plane hosts. You can use minikube to construct a cluster if you don’t currently have one.

        To run the instruction in Kubernetes, you will need Ubuntu 20.04 deployed on your Linux operating system. To run Kubernetes on Linux, you’ll also need to install the Minikube cluster on your PC. Minikube makes it simple to test commands and programmers by allowing you to do it systematically. As a result, it gives novices the best Kubernetes learning experience possible. The minikube cluster should be started first. Go to the newly installed command prompt terminal in Ubuntu 20.04. By using the Ctrl+Alt+T shortcut key or putting “Terminal” into the Ubuntu 20.04 system’s search box, you could do so. Either of the preceding ways will fully initiate the minikube on the terminal shell. The minikube will be started after that.

      • Vanilla Vim is fun | Opensource.com

        When you start Vim with the --clean option, it shows up in "vanilla" mode. No plugins, no configuration, just back to the roots. I have collected a ton of configuration statements over the years, some of them dating from MS-DOS or Windows 3.1. Here is the deal: I will start from scratch to find a good starting-point configuration with just the plugins available in Fedora 35. Will I survive a week of coding? I'll find out!

        Here are the rules: Minimum possible configuration statements and only plugins which ship with Fedora 35+. By the way, if you are not a Fedora user, continue reading. You can always install these plugins from your OS package manager manually or using a Vim plugin manager.

        Before I start, there's the elephant in the room: Vim or Neovim (fork of Vim) question. Well, this is up to you. Everything that is in this article should work for both. However, I only tested with Vim. All the skills will come in handy when you log on to a server where only vi is available. It can be either an old UNIX system, a Linux server with minimum software installed for better security, an interactive shell in a container, or an embedded system where space is precious.

    • Desktop Environments/WMs

      • K Desktop Environment/KDE SC/Qt

        • Krita 4 splash screen

          This easter egg is not part (yet) of Krita 5, will not be part of the release of 5.0 coming soon and that's good: you don't want to miss the new splash screen from Tyson Tan with the larger size in Krita 5. It's splendid!

          But for sure I'll try to propose an illustration for later Krita 5.1 or 5.2 release, one that could be ready before December 2022.

          Feel free to also contribute to make ones (it's not just a privilege I had), you just need to propose your artwork made with Krita, with an aspect ratio for this format, about the season, and with a permissive license (eg. CC-By 4.0). Don't forger to post-it on https://krita-artists.org/ , so the community and developers can see it.

    • Distributions

      • 6 Ways elementary OS Is Perfect for Digital Minimalists

        If you're looking for an operating system stripped of all the excess fluff, elementary OS might be the perfect Linux distro for you.

        There are a particular set of values that guide the elementary OS project. To elementary, a complicated design is a poor design. Anything deemed excessive is to be stripped away.

        Many people are now embracing digital minimalism, and elementary OS may just be a little-known match made in heaven. If you are a digital minimalist, is elementary OS the ideal operating system to place at the center of your digital life? Here are a few reasons why the answer may be "yes!"

      • EasyOS: Why ISO was retired

        Some time ago I stopped releasing EasyOS as an ISO file, from then onward as a drive image file only. This has been contentious, and I receive emails from people lamenting the demise of the ISO. So, I should post some thoughts why I made this decision. Not an exhaustive rationale, just some thoughts while I think of them right now...

        The ISO9660 file format is very old, going right back to 1988, and has since then had enhancements bolted on, see the Wikipedia ISO9660 page. In addition, there is the "hybrid ISO", enabling booting from a USB-stick, and on top of that enhancements to enable booting from either or both legacy-BIOS and UEFI firmware computers, see here. What all of the above means is that ISO files are a "dogs breakfast", a hodge podge of changes bolted on over the years. A Linux distribution provided on a drive image file, in comparison, is very simple. And, very simple to setup to boot on either or both legacy-BIOS and UEFI computers. Given that optical drives are rapidly receeding into history, and these days we boot from either a USB-stick or install direct to a hard drive partition, what are the differences in doing that, ISO versus image file?

      • Post-3.1.13 tweaks

        EasyOS 3.1.13 was released very early this morning...

      • New Releases

        • Zorin OS 16 Lite is a Classy Distro for Low-End PCs
          Released December 8, Zorin OS 16 Lite is a slimmed down version of the full (GNOME Shell based) Zorin OS 16 release. It’s still based on Ubuntu 20.04.3 LTS and Linux Kernel 5.11 but comes with a user experience crafted from Xfce 4.16 and companion utilities.

          And at first glance it’s hard to tell them apart; this semi-skimmed spin looks similar to its full-fat family member. Both use a traditional desktop layout, both come with a bright default theme, colourful icon set, and high-quality wallpapers.

      • IBM/Red Hat/Fedora

        • 3 tips for an inclusive hybrid workplace

          The world of work has shifted. While some organizations have opted for their employees to return onsite, many others have switched to a hybrid work model that combines both in-office and remote workers.

          As organizations continue to refine what their hybrid work model should look like, it is important to consider some practices that have strengthened employee productivity and satisfaction. Here are three examples.

        • 10 tech predictions for 2022

          As we embark on a new year, how can what we’ve learned help us in 2022? If the past two years have proved anything, it is the importance of rapid adaptability in the face of uncertainty. In 2021, CIOs focused on operational agility more than ever before. To prepare for the unexpected and adapt to whatever 2022 holds, companies must further accelerate their digital transformation initiatives and prioritize specific technology trends. To keep navigating this level of change, CIOs know they need to start by focusing on talent retention and relationships.

          “The labor challenges we faced in 2021 aren’t about to ease up, so the key to building the best team is retaining your talent," says Rich Theil, CEO, The Noble Foundry. "You have to make the environment one they love to work in. Develop better ways of working, introduce more fun, and be a lot more intentional about relationships and you’ll thrive in the new year.”

        • Red Hat Enterprise Linux: The best of 2021

          Red Hat Enterprise Linux continued to grow and mature in 2021, with the release of version 8.5 pushing Red Hat's flagship Linux distro forward. Keep reading for the highlights of Red Hat Developer's best and most popular RHEL content.

        • Modernize and migrate to Kubernetes with open source tools | Red Hat Developer

          The following video presents a few of the problems you might encounter during this transition, based on a fictional company named Globex Corporation. We use this invented case study to show how to modernize and migrate an n-tier monolithic retail application to Kubernetes, and feature free and open source tools offered by the Konveyor community.

        • Fedora Magazine: Use LVM to system-upgrade a Fedora Linux server with minimal downtime

          Has your Fedora Linux server been End of Life for months because you can’t seem to schedule the hours of downtime required to upgrade it? There are ways to shorten that downtime to just the few minutes required for a reboot. You can do this utilizing LVM and VM technologies, all provided by Fedora.

          Most users find it simple to upgrade from one Fedora Linux release to the next with the standard process. However, special cases can be handled using existing Fedora VM and LVM capabilities. This article shows one way to upgrade a Fedora Linux server using DNF while using Logical Volume Management (LVM) to keep a bootable backup in case of problems. How to run the upgrade concurrently in a virtual machine to minimize downtime will also be demonstrated. This example upgrades a Fedora Linux 33 virtual machine host to Fedora Linux 35.

          The process shown here is admittedly more complex than the exceptionally easy standard upgrade process. Thus, you should have a strong grasp of how LVM and virtual machines work before attempting. Without proper skill and care, you could lose data and/or be forced to reinstall your system! If you don’t have essential Fedora Linux administration skills, it is highly recommended you stick to the supported upgrade methods only.

        • 10 lessons learned about automating container deployment tasks on Linux | Enable Sysadmin

          At AnsibleFest 2021, we presented a talk about container task automation on Linux, where we learned a lot more than we expected about automation specifically and presenting generally. To share our knowledge, we've summarized our top 10 takeaways from this project, including things about containers, new Ansible tools, and preparing our presentation—including some technical lessons learned while building the demo.

      • Debian Family

        • The Sad State Of Web Browser Support Currently Within Debian

          When it comes to the state of packaged web browsers for Debian GNU/Linux, unfortunately it leaves a lot to be desired at the moment and for those wanting to be secure and up-to-date it can mean resorting to proprietary or un-packaged browser builds.

          A Phoronix reader wishing to remain anonymous wrote in around the unfortunate state of packaged web browser support for Debian. Below is his synopsis on the state of web browsers packaged in Debian as a word of caution to users with regards to outstanding security updates.

      • Canonical/Ubuntu Family

        • Linux Mint 20.3 beta being tested, is its release imminent?
          At the end of November, Clem Lefebvre, head of the Linux Mint project said that the team was working fully on the Linux Mint 20.3 beta as it wants it out as soon as possible for a Linux Mint 20.3 release around Christmas. According to the Linux Mint Community website, it looks like the beta ISOs are currently being tested which suggests they’ll be released in the next few days.

    • Devices/Embedded

    • Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

      • Productivity Software/LibreOffice/Calligra

        • LibreOffice Base Guide 7.2 has been released

          The LibreOffice Documentation Team releases the Base Guide 7.2, based on refactored content from the Base Guide 6.4, with the 7.2 branding and text layout. It covers LibreOffice’s database component.

          The team decided to just fast-forward the release number, given the very little developments for Base since LibreOffice 6.4. The team intended to complete the Guide set for LibreOffice 7.2 and get ready to update contents of the set for the forthcoming LibreOffice 7.3 release.

          The LibreOffice Base Guide is a community effort that include valuable collaboration from Robert Großkopf, Pulkit Krishna, Dan Lewis, Drew Jensen (In Memoriam), Peter Schofield, Jost Lange, Steve Schwettman, Jean-Pierre Ledure, Jochen Schiffers, Martin Fox, Alain Romedenne, Jenna Sargent, Hazel Russman, Andrew Pitonyak and Randolph Gamo.

      • Programming/Development

        • The 32 Best IDEs/Text Editors for C++ | Terminal Root

          Not everyone has the same tastes and when it comes to development C++ the form and environment can vary from person to person.

          Many are not satisfied with the development environment they use or plan to test others to see if things run better.

          Based on that I decided to build the biggest list of Text Editors and IDEs for C++ where many of these alternatives will also work for other programming languages, mainly for Linguagem C.

        • What's new with Qt Design Studio 2.3

          Qt Design Studio 2.3 will be released this year.

          Qt Design Studio is a UI design and development tool that enables designers and developers to rapidly prototype and develop complex UIs. The next version Qt Design Studio 2.3 will be released this year and you can already check out the beta version of Qt Design Studio 2.3 using the online installer. In this blog post, we want to show some of the new features introduced in Qt Design Studio 2.3.

        • 3D Arrays C++

          The importance of arrays in C++ can be realized because it is one of the most commonly used data structures for storing large bulks of data of similar types. We all know that it is very easy to deal with 1D arrays, and it is relatively difficult to manipulate with the 2D arrays. However, this complexity level keeps on increasing as we move towards the higher dimensional or n-dimensional arrays. In the higher dimensional arrays, the 3D or three-dimensional arrays are the most commonly used ones since it gets extremely complex to implement the arrays that have more than three dimensions. Therefore, we have designed this guide to teach you the usage of the 3D arrays in C++ in Ubuntu 20.04.

        • is_null function in PHP

          The null value is used in PHP to indicate that no specific value is assigned to the variable. The null value does not define that the value is empty, and the value of the variable will be null if the null value is assigned to it. PHP has many built-in functions for testing data. The is_null() function is one of them that is used to check whether the variable contains the null value or not. The different ways of using the is_null() function in PHP are provided in this tutorial.

        • Set Session Timeout in PHP

          The inactivity of a registered user is checked by the session timeout. When a user login into a website then a session creates for that user and the session is destroyed when the user logout or closes the browser. The session timeout is used to set the time limit for the inactivity of the user. Suppose, if the session timeout limit is set to 60 seconds and the user is inactive for 60 seconds then the session of that user will be expired and the user will require to log in again to access the site. The way to set or update the session timeout in PHP has shown in this tutorial.

        • Godot Engine - Release candidate: Godot 3.4.1 RC 2

          Godot 3.4 was released a month ago, and it went fairly smoothly! Many thanks to all the contributors who worked on it, including all testers who tried beta and RC releases to ensure that the 3.4-stable branch would be an easy and worthwhile upgrade path for all users.

          No software release is perfect though, so there will always be some things to iron out, which is why we usually provide maintenance releases for stable branches, focusing on bugfixing and preserving compatibility (see our release policy). A number of fixes have been queued already in the 3.4 branch for Godot 3.4.1, so here's a new release candidate to validate them.

        • Perl/Raku

          • Lazy fishy | Playing Perl 6␛b6xA Raku

            AoC day 6 is asking us to simulate a swarm of fish that happily reproduces every 6 days after getting mature at 8 days. My first attempt was to keep track of every single fish. For the requested 80 days, that is no problem at all. Calculating the swarm size after 256 days consumes several GB of RAM and takes halve an hour. According to Larry, laziness is a programmers virtue. All fish of the same age behave the same way. Instead of herding all the cats — I mean fish — we only need to keep track of 8 age-groups.

          • Day 8 – Practice… on Advent of Code – Raku Advent Calendar

            The head elf Fooby Nimblecalmy was trying to to read an interesting article on Ramsey Theory, but was having a hard time because the latest addition in Santa’s IT Operations Buzz Bargoosey was steaming like a kettle.

            Anyway, Fooby was determined to go through the article, so decided to deliberately ignore Buzz.

        • Rust

          • Rusty Linux kernel draws closer with new patch ● The Register [Ed: Microsoft Tim keeps pushing Rust for Linux; says a lot who stands to benefit from the move (clue: the company that owns and controls and occasionally manipulates GitHub)]

            The new patch will "add support for Rust as a second language to the Linux kernel," alongside the current C language. The previous patch was in July this year.

            Notable in this latest patch is use of the stable release of the Rust compiler, though the project still requires some compiler features that are unstable.

            "We will keep upgrading until we do not rely on any unstable features," wrote project lead Miguel Ojeda.

        • Java

          • Java in a Container World

            The redhat talk I gave at UK Systems '21 was entitled "Java in a Container World: What we've done and where we're going".

  • Leftovers

    • Walmart lets orders to PO Boxes go through, then sends them to FedEx, which can’t put anything in a PO Box. – BaronHK's Rants

      Recently, I made an online order at Walmart.

      I normally don’t buy anything online if I can avoid it, and I have started to steer away from “self”-checkouts as well. (We’re having a crisis of unemployment, and they want you to do free labor for the store while your groceries go up every week. No thank you!)

      However, the Walmart store doesn’t have everything, and I didn’t want my package stolen (major problem in my neighborhood), and so I had them send it to my PO Box.

    • Hardware

      • Modern Features In Classic Radio | Hackaday

        As consumer electronics companies chase profits on tighter and tighter margins, it seems like quality is continually harder to find for most average consumer-grade products. Luckily, we don’t have to hunt through product reviews to find well-built merchandise since we have the benefit of survivorship bias to help us identify quality products from the past that have already withstood the test of time. [Tom] has forever been fond of this particular Sony TV/radio combo from the ’70s so he finally found one and set about modernizing it in a few key ways.

      • Four Band Digital HF SDR Transceiver Offers High Performance For Only $60 | Hackaday

        Amateur radio is a hobby that is often thought of as being exclusive to those with a healthy expendable income. In recent years however, the tides have turned. Cheap microcontrollers and signal generators have helped turned things around, and the $60 USD QDX from QRP Labs goes even further by sending the performance/price ratio through the roof. You can see more details in the video below the break.

        The QDX is the creation of [Hans Summers] who is well known for producing affordable high performance amateur radio kits that are focused on low power transmission, called “QRP” in ham radio parlance. What is it? It’s a pocket sized four band (80, 40, 30, 20 Meters) software defined radio (SDR) that is designed to be used with some of the most popular digital radio modes: FT8 and JS8Call, as well as any other FSK based mode such as RTTY. It’s also been tested to work well (and within spec) on 60 Meters.

    • Integrity/Availability

    • Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

      • Access Now to Telegram: protect the rights of 500 million people - Access Now

        Access Now and a coalition of civil society organizations are sounding the alarm over safety and security issues plaguing popular messaging app, Telegram. Through an open letter directed to Pavel Durov, CEO and Co-Founder, the coalition lays out in black and white what the growing tech company can do to ensure the rights of over 500 million people who use the platform — many of whom are human rights activists, bloggers, and journalists — are prioritized.

        “Telegram is the go-to platform for changemakers,” said Anastasiya Zhyrmont, Regional Outreach Coordinator (Eastern Europe and Central Asia) at Access Now. “And with that monopoly, comes the responsibility to ensure human rights are central to the platform’s policies. And we’ve let the company know how to achieve this moving forward.”



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Windows TCO?
Plagiarism: Axel Beckert (ETH Zurich) & Debian Developer list hacking
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 18/03/2024: Putin Cements Power
Links for the day
Flashback 2003: Debian has always had a toxic culture
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
[Meme] You Know You're Winning the Argument When...
EPO management starts cursing at everybody (which is what's happening)
Catspaw With Attitude
The posts "they" complain about merely point out the facts about this harassment and doxing
'Clown Computing' Businesses Are Waning and the Same Will Happen to 'G.A.I.' Businesses (the 'Hey Hi' Fame)
decrease in "HEY HI" (AI) hype
Free Software Needs Watchdogs, Too
Gentle lapdogs prevent self-regulation and transparency
Matthias Kirschner, FSFE analogous to identity fraud
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 18/03/2024: LLM Inference and Can We Survive Technology?
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 17, 2024
IRC logs for Sunday, March 17, 2024
Links 17/03/2024: Microsoft Windows Shoves Ads Into Third-Party Software, More Countries Explore TikTok Ban
Links for the day
Molly Russell suicide & Debian Frans Pop, Lucy Wayland, social media deaths
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Our Plans for Spring
Later this year we turn 18 and a few months from now our IRC community turns 16
Open Invention Network (OIN) Fails to Explain If Linux is Safe From Microsoft's Software Patent Royalties (Charges)
Keith Bergelt has not replied to queries on this very important matter
RedHat.com, Brought to You by Microsoft Staff
This is totally normal, right?
USPTO Corruption: People Who Don't Use Microsoft Will Be Penalised ~$400 for Each Patent Filing
Not joking!
The Hobbyists of Mozilla, Where the CEO is a Bigger Liability Than All Liabilities Combined
the hobbyist in chief earns much more than colleagues, to say the least; the number quadrupled in a matter of years
Jim Zemlin Says Linux Foundation Should Combat Fraud Together With the Gates Foundation. Maybe They Should Start With Jim's Wife.
There's a class action lawsuit for securities fraud
Not About Linux at All!
nobody bothers with the site anymore; it's marketing, and now even Linux
Links 17/03/2024: Abuses Against Human Rights, Tesla Settlement (and Crash)
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, March 16, 2024
IRC logs for Saturday, March 16, 2024
Under Taliban, GNU/Linux Share Nearly Doubled in Afghanistan, Windows Sank From About 90% to 68.5%
Suffice to say, we're not meaning to imply Taliban is "good"
Debian aggression: woman asked about her profession
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 17/03/2024: Winter Can't Hurt Us Anymore and Playstation Plus
Links for the day