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Links 29/08/2023: Kdenlive 23.08.0 and UbuntuDDE 23.04



  • GNU/Linux

    • LinuxInsider When Betting on Linux Security, Look at the Big Picture
      Recently, an article crossed my path that made me smile. There’s not much in tech these days that does that, so I took a moment to savor this rare sensation.

      The piece by Jack Wallen on ZDNet pitched Linux as a refuge from the desktop OS security pitfalls of its competitors. I’ve held this viewpoint for a while. What impressed me about the article, though, is that the author bothered to make the sell to an audience of mostly non-Linux-using consumer tech readers.

    • Desktop/Laptop

      • ZDNetHere's another reason why Linux is way cooler than your operating system

        Let me paint a picture for you.

        I was running a virtual instance of another Linux operating system this morning with VirtualBox. Everything was going fine (as it usually does) until it wasn't. The virtual operating system prompted me for my user password (to run an admin task). When I started typing the admin password, things went a bit south.

        Essentially, what happened was VirtualBox locked up my desktop. It wasn't a full-blown lockup, as I could still move my mouse. I couldn't, however, click on anything or interact with the desktop in any way (besides moving the cursor).

        Sometimes, it's just a matter of waiting for whatever is happening in the background to finish and control will be handed back over. That did not happen. No matter how long I waited, the desktop remained unresponsive.

        I know what you're thinking. All I had to do was power down the machine, restart it, and get back to whatever it was I was doing.

        For any given MacOS or Windows user, that's the logical process when the desktop locks up. But this is Linux and with Linux…there is always a way.

    • Audiocasts/Shows

      • Late Night Linux – Episode 244

        We can’t believe Proton has been around for 5 years, a bad sign for the Linux desktop long-term, the dilemma of whether to support your software on outdated operating systems, a laughable plan from WordPress to host your website for 100 years, and Félim shoehorns in some KDE nonsense.

    • Kernel Space

      • OMG UbuntuLinux Kernel 6.5 Released, This is What’s New
        Linus Torvalds announced Linux 6.5’s arrival on the official Linux Kernel Mailing List (LKML) as he always does, where he says that “nothing particularly odd or scary happened this last week [of development], so there is no excuse to delay the 6.5 release”.

        Read on for a drop more detail about the many improvements, enhancements, and merriments the latest stable kernel release brings with it.

      • HowTo Geek Linux Kernel 6.5 Released, Will Be Used in Ubuntu 23.10
        The Linux kernel is at the core of all desktop and server Linux distributions, from Ubuntu to Fedora, and it also powers countless other operating systems and virtual machines. Linux kernel 6.5 is now available, with some great improvements for newer AMD and Intel processors. You can expect to see it in your favorite Linux distribution soon,

        Linux kernel 6.5 enables P-State on some AMD Ryzen processors, which should mean performance and power consumption is balanced across CPU cores. There's also improved load balancing for Intel's newer hybrid CPUs — the ones with dedicated Performance Cores and Efficiency Cores, like 13th Gen Core processors. Beyond the processor improvements, kernel 6.5 adds initial support for USB4 Version 2, improvements for RISC-V, and progress on kernel drivers for MIDI 2.0 and Wi-Fi 7.

      • DebugPointLinux Kernel 6.5 Released with WiFi 7, MIDI 2.0 Support

        Linus Torvalds released Linux Kernel 6.5, which is the latest mainline Kernel at the moment. You can try out to get the updated fixes and hardware support. After a smooth and quiet testing window, Linux Kernel 6.5 is now available to download.

        The key items of this release are the support for modern CPU and GPU lineups, WiFi 7 support and a whole lot of performance improvements.

        Let's briefly take a look at what's new.

    • Applications

      • Linux Links6 Best Free and Open Source Linux Terminal-Based Archive Managers

        The granddaddy of archive managers is the tar utility (together with the ar and cpio tools). Tar was created in the early days of Unix and remains an essential utility for any Linux system. The filename extension .tar is synonymous with file archives. Other types of archive formats include .iso (for optical storage mediums such as CDROM and DVD-ROMs), .shar, .cpio, and .ar.

        We make the following recommendations captured in a legendary LinuxLinks-style ratings chart. All the software featured is free and open source goodness.

      • TecMint10 Best Google Drive Clients for Linux in 2023

        One of the best cloud storage contenders to emerge is Google Drive – the popular cloud storage application that allows you to store data and access it from a Google account securely.

        Unfortunately, despite its popularity, Google Drive has yet to have an official client for Linux. If you are a Linux user, there is a good chance you are looking for a Google Drive client or alternative.

    • Instructionals/Technical

      • AddictiveTipsHow to clean leftover Flatpaks from Linux

        Flatpak applications are common on Linux. Users who install Flatpak apps from the Flathub app store leave data behind in their home directories. Data that stays there, even after a program is uninstalled from the system.

        This data can build up. If you want to keep your Linux system running in top shape, you need to clean it and maintain it occasionally. That’s where Flatsweep comes in. It’s a nice, easy-to-use program that can scan your Linux computer for residual Flatpak app data, and clean it for you.

        In this guide, we’ll show you how you can install Flatsweep, and how to use it to clean up the residual Flatpak data on your Linux desktop or laptop. To get started, ensure you have administrator access, so that you can install the Flatsweep program.

      • Own HowToHow to clean temporary files on Ubuntu

        Every system generates temporary files automatically once you open an application or do something on your computer. These files are required by the system so you can run your applications faster.

      • Fixing ‘Failed to Synchronize Databases’ Error in Arch Linux

        If you’re in a rush and want to fix this problem quickly, just run the below command: However, I recommend you read the entire article to understand the main reason for this issue and become an informed Linux user.

      • Linux HandbookInstalling a Private GitLab CE Server with PostgreSQL

        Here's a tutorial for setting up a private GitLab server with PostgreSQL database and a replica server for database failover.

      • Linux HandbookInstalling a Private GitLab CE Server with PostgreSQL

        GitLab is great for programming collaboration, but as I've found out, it's become very useful to me for writing. I use it to keep track of revisions and my work in general.

      • TecMintLFCS #5: How to Mount Local and Network (Samba & NFS) Filesystems in Linux

        The Linux Foundation launched the LFCS certification (Linux Foundation Certified Sysadmin), a brand new program whose purpose is to allow individuals from all corners of the globe to get certified in basic to intermediate system administration tasks for Linux systems, which includes supporting running systems and services, along with overall monitoring and analysis, plus smart decision-making when it comes to raising issues to upper support teams.

        The series will be titled Preparation for the LFCS (Linux Foundation Certified Sysadmin) Parts 1 through 33 and cover the following topics...

    • Games

    • Desktop Environments/WMs

      • K Desktop Environment/KDE SC/Qt

        • KdenliveKdenlive 23.08.0 released

          We’re excited to present the latest version of Kdenlive, packed with an array of fixes, enhancements, and optimizations. Some highlights include...

          Since this release focuses on resolving issues and enhancing stability most of the work was done under the hood but we managed to sneak in some nifty interface and usability improvements as well...

  • Distributions and Operating Systems

    • Giz ChinaGet Ready to Linux and Roll: Explore the Top Distributions of 2023

      In one of my previous articles, I’ve told you some of the basics when building a PC. Apart from all the techy and hardware stuff involved in the process, the software also plays a great role! After all the pieces are put together, you will need a “brain” to make them functional. Right now, the most conventional options are Windows and Linux. The former is popular for general users while the latter is more in the cycle of developers and enthusiasts. Windows needs a paid license while Linux is open-source and free. If you want to try an alternative over Windows, and want to dive into the world of Linux, we are here to present you some of the best Linux distros you can try in 2023.

      Linux is secure and flexible, and for that reason is gaining more attention these days. It’s also an excellent option for those who want to dive into the development field. Linux is the core behind everything in this world, while a Linux Distro is an operating system that relies on the Linux kernel. Due to the open-source nature of the OS, you will find multiple Linux distros offering distinct features and visuals. A few years ago, it would be hard for a inexperienced user to try to use Linux, but times have changed. Nowadays, there are many user-friendly Linux distros that don’t require you to be an expert to use them. Also, the compatibility with popular apps has improved over the past years. For those who aren’t available on Linux, you will also find neat alternatives.

    • MediumTop Lightweight Linux Distros 2023 | by Technology Moment | Aug, 2023 | Medium

      Dear reader, we hope you are doing well, but when it comes to choosing a Linux distribution, one size, as always and definitely does not fit all. The beauty of the Linux ecosystem lies in its diversity, offering a pack of options to cater to different user needs and preferences. When it comes to light-weight Linux distributions, there are many options available in 2023.

  • Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

    • Libre ArtsLibreArts Weekly recap — 28 August 2023

      Week highlights: new releases of Kdenlive, LSP plugins, Geonkick, Sigil; great new features in GIMP and Ardour; a new materials system is coming to FreeCAD, some rather depressing news about Olive.

      CmykStudent added Adobe Swatch Exchange palette importing, with support for RGB, CMYK, Grayscale, and LAB CIE palette colors.

      Martin Owens has been busy with various things related to text support in CMYK PDF exporting.

    • Terence EdenSome thoughts on Mastodon search

      The latest version of Mastodon includes search functionality. It's early days, but seems to work pretty well. Here are some of the interesting things I found when using it.

    • Software Is CrapEscape from System D, episode VIII: the Road Behind is Longer

      Amazingly, there are now at least two distributions which allow use of Dinit as the init system. One is Chimera, the other is Artix. These are both great distributions (but with different goals and likely appealing to different sets of users). A lot of the reviews of Artix on Distrowatch are mentioning Dinit in a really positive light, which is fantastic (Artix also allows the use of runit, OpenRC, and S6 as init system). Meanwhile, Wesley Moore has written about his experiences trying out Chimera Linux. He writes of Dinit specifically: [...]

    • Web Browsers/Web Servers

      • Mozilla

        • Bugzilla Celebrates 25 Years With Special Announcements

          Well, response to that post was actually pretty enthusiastic in itself. I heard from several people who wanted to donate money to the project to get it going again. Which then led to a new problem: we didn’t actually have a legal way to accept donations at the time. So after asking around a bit, and a few conference calls between myself, my own company’s lawyer, and a couple of Mozilla’s lawyers, it was decided that Bugzilla needed a legal entity to manage it, similar to how Thunderbird has been operating recently. And, that’s where the little bit of time that I’ve had to spend on Bugzilla has gone the last 6 months. And as you can understand, with the legal work going on in the background, there wasn’t much I could actually talk about until all of the pieces were actually in place.

        • LWNBugzilla Celebrates 25 Years With Special Announcements (Bugzilla blog)

          August 26 was the 25th anniversary of the release of the Bugzilla bug tracker as open-source software under the Mozilla Public License (MPL).

    • Education

      • Thomas KlausnerThings I learned at PerlKohaCon 2023

        Some aspects of KohaCon where "ported" to the Perl Conference part (e.g. free attendance as compared the usual fee of €100+ for PerlCon), while we introduced the Koha crowd to features like Lighting Talks. Generally it took some time (and two social events followed by more hanging-out-in-bars) for the two groups to mingle, but at the end of the event I had the feeling that the mixing / unification of the two communities started to happen.

        For me (professionally) this event was perfect, as we started to work with Koha a few years ago, and meeting the core devs and other community members makes working with (and on!) Koha much easier.

      • Rlang6 New books added to Big Book of R

        Welcome to another roundup of new additions to the Big Book of R collection of almost 400 books!

    • Programming/Development

      • Mohamed Ahmed: NVK YCbCr Support - GSoC 2023 Final Report

        This is the final report of the work I did as a Google Summer of Code 2023 contributor to NVK. My work revolved around the implementation of YCbCr format support, which came in form of enabling three Vulkan extensions. Mesa is the open-source, default graphics driver stack on Linux, with implementations for graphics hardware from most vendors.

      • Arthur Grillo: GSoC 2023 Final Report

        The GSoC journey is coming to a close. In just over 100 days, I gained more experience in open-source development than I could ever imagine in this period.

        Prior to GSoC, I was not used to regularly submit patches to the mailing lists. Now, I’ve sent many patches and revisions. I believe my interaction with the community will only grow. I learned so much about the tools and workflow of kernel development.

        After this experience, I’m more than certain that I want to make this a job, contributing to open-source is fun, so why not make this a living :)

      • Mike Blumenkrantz: Server Down

        gitlab is down, post low-effort blogs and touch grass until it returns

      • SyncpupTwo Erlang patterns I love

        Although there are probably a dozen patterns in Erlang that I love dearly, there are two that I consider my darlings.

        Now, these patterns are truly two sides of the same coin, but each do have their specific applications and aren’t used interchangeably.

        But first, some background.

      • Jake LazaroffBuilding a Live Coding Audio Playground

        My initial goal at RC was to build an Audio Units (AU) extension. AU is Apple’s audio plugin system, which works with apps like Logic and GarageBand. There are other plugin systems, 1 but I use Logic when recording audio for myself and for my band, so I wanted to try extending it.

      • [Old] Austin Z HenleyParticle playground

        My most recent useless programing project is a particle emitter engine with an interactive playground. It involves a nice combination of mathematics and creativity that results in a visual reward. I've lost quite a bit of time by unintentionally getting sucked into tinkering with this!

        It enables you to create animated patterns from thousands of particles using a few lines of code. It works by automatically producing new particles every few frames, and you just specify the initial properties and the update behavior in JavaScript. The engine does the rest!

      • Python

        • Linux HintPython IO Module

          In Python, the “IO” module is used to provide several functions and classes for handling and performing input/output operations on data.

        • Linux HintPandas Floor

          The “numpy.floor()” function is used along with the “df.apply()” method to determine the floor value of the Pandas DataFrame and Series object.

        • Linux HintPython File readable() Method

          The inbuilt “file.readable()” method is utilized in Python to determine whether the particular file is readable or not by retrieving the Boolean value.

        • Linux HintPandas Get_Dummies()

          In Python, the “pandas.get_dummies()” method of the “pandas” module is utilized to convert the categorical variables into dummy variables.

        • Linux HintPandas Standard Deviation

          The “DataFrame.std()” method of the “pandas” module is used to compute the standard deviation of the specified DataFrame over the requested axis.

        • Linux HintPython Math Isclose() Method

          In Python, the “math.isclose()” method of the “math” module is used to determine whether the input values are close to each other or not.

        • Linux HintPython chr() Function

          The inbuilt “chr()” function in Python is utilized to determine the character of the specified valid Unicode integers point.

        • Linux HintPandas Read Text File

          The “pandas.read_csv()”, “pandas.read_table()”, and “pandas.read_fwf()” methods are used to read a text file using Pandas in Python.

        • Linux HintPandas From JSON

          In this tutorial, we have discussed the JSON data files— how we can read them by using the read_json() function— and the syntax of the read_json() method.

        • Linux HintPandas Covariance

          In Python, the “DataFrame.cov()” method of the “Pandas” module computes/calculates the pairwise column covariance and excludes the NA/Null values.

        • Linux HintPython Hex() Function

          In Python, the “hex()” function is utilized for converting particular integer numbers to the hexadecimal number representation.

        • Linux HintPandas Change Column Type

          The “df.astype()”, “pd.to_numeric()”, “convert_dtypes()”, and “df.infer_objects()” methods are used to change the column type of Pandas DataFrame.

        • Linux HintPandas Print Column

          The “to_string()”, “Square Brackets”, “df.loc[ ]”, and “df.iloc[ ]” methods are used to print Pandas DataFrame columns in Python.

        • Linux HintPython File Write() Method

          The “file.write()” method in Python is utilized to write or insert the text to the specified files based on the file mode.

        • Linux HintPython File Tell() Method

          In Python, the “file.tell()” method is utilized to retrieve the present/current position of the file pointer or handle from the beginning of the file.

        • Linux HintPython Max() Function

          In Python, the “max()” function is utilized to retrieve the largest item in an iterable or between the input-specified variables.

        • Linux HintPandas insert() Column

          The “DataFrame.insert()” method is utilized to add/insert the column with a default value or a different value to Pandas DataFrame.

        • Linux HintPython Gets thread id

          The “threading.get_ident()” method, “threading.get_native_id()” method, and “Logging” module are used to get the thread id in Python.

        • Linux HintPython Math Pi

          In Python, we utilized the “math.pi” constant of the “math” module to print the value of “pi” and used it for various mathematical operations.

        • Linux HintPandas Convert Column to DateTime

          The “pd.to_datetime()”, “df.astype()”, and the “df.apply()” with “lambda” methods are used to convert columns to DateTime objects in Python.

        • Linux HintPandas Read JSON

          The “pandas.read_json()” method of the “pandas” module is used to read the JSON file or JSON string and retrieve Pandas DataFrame.



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