Hello! and Merry Christmas! I hope you had a special time.
We had a full week of Linux releases with Manjaro 21.2, EndeavourOS 21.5, Pardus 21.1, and Elementary OS 6.1 have been released this week.
Krita 5.0.0 has also been released this week.
Being the holiday season and all that, this week we got a lot of goodies from our favorite developers. We got new Linux distros to play with, including elementary OS 6.1, Nitrux 1.8, Manjaro Linux 21.2, Neptune 7.0, and siduction 2021.3, as well as new major software releases, including Krita 5.0, Darktable 3.8, and Enlightenment 0.25.
On top of that, more distros switched to the long-term supported Linux 5.15 LTS kernel series, and the Nitrux developers unveiled a brand-new Linux desktop shell called Maui Shell. You can enjoy these and much more in 9to5Linux’s Linux weekly roundup for December 26th, 2021, below!
To the surprise of absolutely nobody, this rc7 is fairly small.
The stats look pretty normal, with about three quarters being drivers (networking, input, sound, tee, hwmon, rdma..). Somewhat unusually, we have a PC keyboard controller (not USB - the old legacy kind) fix in here - one of the earliest supported hardware still hangs around, and still gets some probe-time changes for odd hardware.
The rest is mainly some kvm and networking fixes, and a few random stragglers elsewhere.
Obviously the holidays are a big reason it's all small, so it's not like this is a sign of us having found all bugs, and we'll keep at this for at least two more weeks.
Hope everybody had a good Xmas (or insert your preferred alternative holiday) and I'll wish you a happy new year in advance. Because I suspect the upcoming week will be even quieter since at least _some_ of this past week was "this is my last pull request before xmas".
Shortlog appended, please do give this a whirl.
Linus
Linux 5.16 hasn't yet pulled in any changes around x86 cluster-aware scheduling for avoiding the Intel Alder Lake performance drop introduced in 5.16 either by pulling in the new patches making it more configurable or outright disabling for Alder Lake on 5.16 or opting to the x86 cluster-aware scheduling defaulting to off entirely for 5.16. We'll see what makes it into this current stable cycle.
Another important step toward Apple M1 hardware being useful under Linux is in the process of being realized... Working WiFi. The initial "request for comments" patch series was sent out today enabling the Broadcom "BRCMFMAC" driver to work for the wireless LAN support on the M1 SoC as well as with the Apple T2 platforms.
Hector Martin of the Asahi Linux project for enabling Apple Silicon Arm support under Linux sent out the set of 34 RFC patches for supporting the Apple T2 and M1 platforms with this upstream Broadcom open-source network driver. These patches have been tested with the Broadcom FullMAC hardware used by the Apple T2/M1 platforms including the BCM4355C1, BCM4364B2/B3, BCM4377B3, BCM4378B1, and BCM4387C2.
In 2020, Apple began the Apple silicon transition, using self-designed, 64-bit ARM-based Apple M1 processors on new Mac computers. Maybe it’s the perfect time to move away from the proprietary world of Apple, and embrace the open source Linux scene.
Apple Numbers is a spreadsheet application which uses a free-form “canvas” approach that demotes tables to one of many different media types placed on a page. It’s a free download but not published under an open source license. And it’s not available for Linux.
What are the best free and open source alternative to Numbers?
PHP 8.0 added new modern features such us: Union Types,Named arguments, Match expressions, Just In Time Compilation and others
Today we are going to install PHP 8.0 on NetBSD 9.1.
In this video, we are looking at how to install Steam Link on Elementary OS 6.0. Enjoy!
In this tutorial guide, we are going to learn how to install MongoDB 5.0 on Ubuntu 20.04.
MongoDB is an open-source NoSQL database that provides high throughput for data-driven applications. Unlike relational databases such as MySQL, Oracle, and SQL servers which store data in tables according to a rigid schema, MongoDB stores data in documents with flexible schema.
The terminal is not everyone's strong suit, but Linux is more than just a boring command line. Here's how to change your password on a Linux desktop.
One of the most basic ways to help keep your Linux desktop secure from both physical and digital intruders is to change your account password if you have any reason to believe that it’s been compromised.
The exact process you need to follow to reset your Linux password, however, will differ based on the desktop environment that you use. In this article, we’ll show you how to change your user password on six of the most common Linux desktop environments.
Today we are looking at how to install MetaTrader 4 with the Traders Global Group Incorporated Broker on a Chromebook. Please follow the video/audio guide as a tutorial where we explain the process step by step and use the commands below.
If you have any questions, please contact us via a YouTube comment and we would be happy to assist you!
The Wine development release 7.0-rc3 is now available.
What's new in this release (see below for details): - Bug fixes only, we are in code freeze.
The source is available from the following locations:
https://dl.winehq.org/wine/source/7.0/wine-7.0-rc3.tar.xz http://mirrors.ibiblio.org/wine/source/7.0/wine-7.0-rc3.tar.xz
Binary packages for various distributions will be available from:
https://www.winehq.org/download
You will find documentation on https://www.winehq.org/documentation
You can also get the current source directly from the git repository. Check https://www.winehq.org/git for details.
Wine is available thanks to the work of many people. See the file AUTHORS in the distribution for the complete list.
While off the usual Friday release regiment due to the Christmas holidays, Wine 7.0-rc3 was released minutes ago as the newest test release for this open-source software enabling Windows games and applications to run on Linux.
Wine 7.0-rc3 comes with 22 known bug fixes compared to last week's rc2 release. Wine 7.0-rc3 includes fixes for Descent 3, GoToMeeting, DirectX 11 error issues, Submarine Titans, MotoGP 2, a big performance regression fix for The Sims 2, Gothic 3, and various other games and applications have enjoyed fixes.
The Maui Project has been developing a set of free and open source apps and tools for a convergent computing experience that allows you to use the same apps on a Linux phone that you’d use on a Linux desktop computer.
Now the team behind those Maui Apps is one step closer to offering a complete convergent desktop environment thanks to the introduction of Maui Shell, a new convergent desktop shell.
The NuTyX team is happy to announce the new version of NuTyX 21.10.12 and cards 2.4.142.
The xorg-server graphics server version 21.1.2, the Mesa 3D library in 21.3.2, Gtk4 4.4.0 and Qt 5.15.2.
The python interpreters are en 3.10.1 et 2.7.18.
The XFCE desktop environment is updated to version 4.16.0.
The MATE desktop environment is a 1.26.0 version .
The GNOME desktop environment is also updated to version 41.2
The KDE desktop environment is available in Plasma 5.23.4, Framework 5.89.0 and applications in 21.12.0.
Available browsers are: Firefox 95.0.2, Chromium 96.0.4664.45, Epiphany 41.3, etc
Many desktop applications have been updated as well like Telegram-desktop 3.3, Thunderbird 91.4.1, Scribus 1.5.7, Libreoffice 7.2.4.1, Gimp 2.10.30, etc.
Core NuTyX ships with Long Term Support (LTS) kernels: 4.9.294, 4.14.259, 4.19.222, 5.4.168 and 5.10.88 and the latest stable version 5.15.11 .
4MLinux 39.0 BETA is ready for testing. Basically, at this stage of development, 4MLinux BETA has the same features as 4MLinux STABLE, but it provides a huge number of updated packages.
Road map: December 2021 -> BETA March 2022 -> STABLE July 2022 -> OLD STABLE November 2022 -> EOL
The Raspbian operating system moves from older to newer Debian releases without changing repositories: it may happen that a system update (rarely) brakes the digital signage stack.
Debian contributors end up with a number of Debian installations on their workstations for various purposes; there are perhaps five or six on my laptop right now. In addition to this, I now have three copies of GNU Emacs, too.
This Perl module converts POD to thread, the markup language processed by DocKnot. It does the heavy lifting to process POD documents for conversion to HTML for my web site.
This is a minor bug fix release that cleans up a few issues found while working on DocKnot: avoid Perl warnings when trying to generate a navigation bar when there are no headings, always output \heading even when there's no title, and treat an undef title the same as no title. There are also some minor documentation fixes.
While there has been no shortage of FPGA-based recreations of classic processors, we always enjoy seeing a new approach. Last month [Some Assembly Required] took on the challenge to recreate a classic computer from the ground up and started with a 6502 implementation in Verilog. You can see in the second video below that he’s made good progress and there are apparently more videos to come.
The ROL instruction is the subject of the second video. We liked the approach of looking at what the instruction does and how many cycles it takes on different variants It is always good to make sure you know exactly what you are trying to accomplish before you get started.
We’ve seen a number of projects over the years that let you create custom enclosures using OpenSCAD, and for good reason. The parametric CAD tool is ideal for generating 3D models based on user-adjustable variables, and if you leverage its integrated Customizer, producing a bespoke box is as easy as moving some sliders around. The resulting files get sent off to the 3D printer, and you’re set. But what if you’re looking for a custom enclosure that’s not so…plastic?
In that case, AlClosure by [0xPIT] might be the answer. Rather than generating STL files intended for your 3D printer, the code is written to help you design an enclosure made from aluminum sheets. The top and bottom panels are intended to be cut from 1.5 mm – 2.5 mm sheets, while the sides are made from thicker 5 mm – 8 mm stock to accept a machined pocket that holds the front and rear inserts.
New Englanders concerned about the treatment of Julian Assange, the founder of the radical news site Wikileaks who is currently in custody in the UK awaiting extradition to the US under espionage charges, will gather as part of a “First Night Against the Wars” event at Boston’s Copley Square on the afternoon on December 31. The gathering will take place between 2 pm-3:30 pm.
“Or longer, if people want to stay,” event organizers said in a statement.
The organization behind the rally, Assange Defense Boston, is affiliated with The Courage Foundation, an international organisation that “supports those who risk life or liberty to make significant contributions to the historical record.” The foundation raises funds for the legal and public defense of people who fit this criteria who are facing prosecution or persecution.
“Julian Assange had a mini-stroke on October 27, the second day of the hearing about whether the UK would accept the US appeal of their decision not to extradite him,” Assange Defense Boston said in a statement on its website announcing the rally, and added that since then, the UK has announced that extradition proceedings will go forward.
“This decision and [his] stroke are just what we have been fearing,” the organization added. “The Assange defense team is appealing, of course, but even if they win, it will take more time during which he will remain in prison [and] in failing health. We call on the Biden administration to stop following in the footsteps of Donald Trump and drop this unfair prosecution.”
Can an artificial intelligence machine be an “inventor” for the purposes of the Patents Act 1990 (Cth) and Patents Regulations 1991 (Cth) from which a person may derive title to apply for a patent? This debate is being had throughout the world by reason of Dr Thaler’s application for a patent for an invention that he says was invented by the artificial intelligence he created and runs, called DABUS. At the time of this judgment, Dr Thaler had only had success in South Africa, and failed in the US, UK and before the European Patent Office.
Justice Beach was seized of this dispute in the following way in Australia. The Commissioner of Patents concluded that section 15(1) of the Patents Act and regulation 3.2(2)(aa) were inconsistent with an artificial intelligence machine being treated as an inventor, that this deficiency in the patent application was incapable of remedy, because Dr Thaler could not name himself as the inventor, and so the patent application had lapsed.
On 30 July 2021, the Federal Court of Australia ruled that a machine – that is, a mathematical equation that analysed and processed data – can be an inventor under Australian patent laws. A world-first decision, Thaler v Commissioner of Patents [2021] FCA 879 represents a sea change in how courts assess the requirements of a “patent inventor”, opening up the real possibility that other artificial intelligence (AI) systems may enjoy similar designations.
Below, an overview of the Thaler decision is provided, as well as an assessment of its implications if upheld on appeal. A comparison of this decision to other decisions on the issue around the world is then provided with a final word on the issues that are in play and things for the AI industry to consider.
Only a human can be listed as an inventor on European patent applications, an appeal board said, the latest decision in a global test case to recognize a computer as an inventor.
Stephen Thaler, a computer scientist from Missouri, built an AI “creativity machine” called DABUS, which Thaler says invented a food container and a light beacon. He was appealing decisions from the European Patent Office refusing patent applications that named DABUS as the inventor.
The European Patent Convention sets out the system for European patents. Under the EPC, a patent application must designate an inventor.
Oral proceedings via video are now the reality at the EPO and its Boards of Appeal. But patent attorney firms and companies, especially those based in Germany, are questioning the legal basis of compulsory oral hearings ۩aerogondo/ADOBE STOCK
Over 2021, referral G 1/21 has perhaps garnered the most interest among the entire European patent community. Now the EPO has finally – almost – concluded that while video conferencing is compatible under the European Patent Convention, in-person proceedings are preferable.
The EPO began conducting oral hearings in early 2020, in order to avoid a backlog of cases during the coronavirus pandemic. However, in March 2021, electronics firm Rohde & Schwarz referred the question “[can] oral proceedings under Article 116 EPC be replaced by a video conference without the parties’ consent?” to the Enlarged Board of Appeal.
In July, the EPO confirmed that compulsory video conferencing is admissible in appeal proceedings under the European Patent Convention “in a general emergency”. But critics observed that the order did not address whether the EPO can hold video proceedings without party consent if the current period does not constitute a general emergency; or whether first instance examination or opposition proceedings can be held via video without the consent of the parties.
October provided more clarity. The Enlarged Board of Appeal determined that compulsory video conferencing is compatible with Article 116 EPC. However, since T1807/15 is an appeal case, the EBA has jurisdiction only to decide on appeal cases before the EBA, rather than general EPO opposition proceedings. The decision also notes that the EBA desires to move back to majority in-person proceedings where possible.
In general, patent attorneys seem satisfied with the EBA’s contention that video conferencing is a legitimate format in which to hold proceedings. Many involved in the European patent market, and especially patent attorneys situated away from the EPO’s main hubs of The Hague or Munich, have reacted positively to this news. Some firms see the proliferation of video hearings as evening the playing field among patent firms distributed across Europe.
However, the BoA seems to be aligning itself with a consensus among international courts that video conferencing is not a default option. Furthermore, there remains concern over what G 1/21 means for first-instance EPO opposition proceedings. Despite its ostensible ‘final decision’, it’s unlikely we’ve seen the last of the discussion on video hearings at the EPO.
Token politics always have a big impact. The recent corona crisis and Brexit have proved this. The power of token politics was also what the member states of the European Patent Organisation and the then President of the European Patent Office Benoît Battistelli had in mind when they relocated the Boards of Appeal from the EPO headquarters in downtown Munich to Haar in 2017.
Moving the EPO court to the outskirts of Munich was meant to clearly and unmistakably signal to everyone the separation of the office and the court. It was also intended to appease many in the European patent community who felt strongly that Battistelli had interfered too much in the affairs of the Boards of Appeal. The EPO member states spent a lot of money on this move. And so far it has paid off. The EPO and the Boards of Appeal have sailed in much calmer waters in 2021 than they did five years ago.
Now, however, the current President of the EPO António Campinos and the President of the EPO Court Carl Josefsson are proposing that the Boards of Appeal move back to the city of Munich in 2025 and into, of all places, an EPO building. The reasons make sense: The renovation of the building at Pschorr-Höfen VII should be completed by then. As EPO employees are increasingly working from home, there is already vacant office space. In the opinion of the EPO management, this will only increase over the next few years.
An individual entrepreneur filed a trademark application (No. 2019700445) in Cyrillic for 'ÞÃâÃÂÃâ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂïÃâÞÃâÃÂ' (firewater) to individualise the goods in Class 33 (alcoholic drinks).
The patent office refused the application because in the opinion of the examiner the word 'firewater' is synonymous with a generic word 'vodka' and is descriptive while it may be confusing for other goods in Class 33. The patent office also noted that firewater in Cyrillic is a jocular word meaning vodka.
The applicant appealed the decision at the Chamber of Patent Disputes. He argued that the combination of words 'fiery water' is a phraseological unit, it is also an obsolete lexical unit, it does not identify a specific product but elicits associations with any alcoholic drink.
"For the sake of justice it should be noted that similar approach may be observed in the English language. Some sources identify firewater as moonshine, Cambridge dictionary defines it as whisky in the first place. In any case, it is largely understood as a strong alcoholic drink.
