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Links 26/05/2022: KStars 3.5.9 and Chrome 103 Beta



  • GNU/Linux

    • Desktop/Laptop

    • Audiocasts/Shows

    • Kernel Space

      • Finding the secret ingredient at Embedded and Kernel Recipes

        The City of Lights is shinning brightly again to welcome the community for a full week of engaging talks. After a two-year hiatus, the Embedded Recipes and Kernel Recipes conferences are back offering the latest embedded open source and Linux kernel developments!

        [...]

        Both conferences will be held in person at the Biermans-Lapôtre Foundation, part of the Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris. While both events are now sold out, all the presentations will be live-streamed throughout the week. Stay tuned for links to view the stream!

    • Applications

      • LiliputingPlex HTPC turns your TV-connected PC into a media center (again) - Liliputing

        Plex has actually been releasing test builds of its HTPC app for a little over a year, but the software now appears to be out of beta. The new Plex HTPC app is also now available for Linux (previous builds had been Mac and Windows only), and the Plex desktop app (which doesn’t have a TV-sized interface) is also now available for Linux. Right now the Linux apps are only available as Snap packages, but Plex is also working on Flatpak builds which should allow them to be installed on more GNU/Linux distributions.

    • Instructionals/Technical

      • New Blog Config

        As promised, on this post I’m going to explain how I’ve configured this blog using hugo, asciidoctor and the papermod theme, how I publish it using nginx, how I’ve integrated the remark42 comment system and how I’ve automated its publication using gitea and json2file-go.

      • Linux Made SimpleHow to install RGP Paper Maker on a Chromebook

        Today we are looking at how to install RGP Paper Maker 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.

      • I failed to run nvidia-settings under my fresh kubuntu 20.04 installation
      • Make Use OfUnderstanding Capabilities in Linux System Programming

        Capabilities allow the evaluation of some important system privileges in a separate thread different from the current process. This way, you don't need to run a program as root for it to access certain parts of the system.

        As a solution arising from needs, section 25 of POSIX.1e is about this issue. The development of the privileges defined in that section and more has been completed with the release of Linux kernel version 2.6.26. Here's everything you need to know about capabilities in the Linux kernel.

      • Make Use OfLinux Signal Generation and Handling Explained

        The signaling mechanism in the Linux kernel allows running applications to asynchronously notify the system when a new event occurs. Because of its nature, this signaling mechanism is generally known as software interrupts. Just like hardware interrupts, signals interrupt an application's normal flow, and it's unpredictable when an application will receive a signal.

        Let's dive deep into the signaling mechanism in Linux and understand what goes on behind the scenes.

      • How To Actually Change DNS Servers on Debian Bullseye

        I wanted to enable OpenNIC name servers to be able to find sites on their different top level domains. So I searched for how to do it.

        Oh my... Let's just say I didn't actually find what I was looking for. At all.

        The two guides I found both proposed the same solution: install resolvconf and add your preferred name servers to /etc/resolvconf/resolv.conf.d/head

        First of all: what? If there is already a system installed that determines the DNS servers used, then why should another system be needed?

    • Games

    • Desktop Environments/WMs

      • K Desktop Environment/KDE SC/Qt

        • KStars v3.5.9 Released

          KStars v3.5.9 is released on 2022.05.26 for MacOS, Linux, and Windows. It's a bi-monthly bugfix release with a couple of exciting features.

        • KDE does Google Summer of Code 2022

          Google Summer of Code (GSoC) is a global, online program focused on bringing new contributors into open source software development. Like every year, KDE applies and aims to integrate more and more developers. This year, KDE's participation in GSoC kicks off with nine fascinating projects.

          [...]

          Suhaas Joshi will work on permission management for Flatpak and Snap applications in Discover. This will allow you to change the permissions granted to an application (e.g. file system, network, and so on) and also make it easier to review them. It is the continuation of his work during the Season of KDE where he implemented the display of Flatpak applications permissions on Discover.

          This year we have two projects to improve digiKam. The first one is from Quoc Hung Tran who will work on a new plugin to process Optical Character Recognition (OCR). This will allow to extract text from images and store the output inside the EXIF data or within a separate file. The plugin will also be used to organize scanned text images with contents.

  • Distributions and Operating Systems

    • BSD

      • TechTargetIXsystems aims for the enterprise with latest OS updates

        IXsystems made major updates to the software for both its NAS and scale-out, hyper-converged operating system, aiming to position itself with other mainstream enterprise storage vendors.

        The vendor upgraded TrueNAS Core and Enterprise editions to version 13.0 with a performance improvement claim of up to 20% and a reduction in system restart and failover times. TrueNAS Scale, the hyper-converged infrastructure version of the software released in October 2021, received its first update, which allows for more complex deployments. The updates for TrueNAS Core, Enterprise and Scale are available at no cost.

        [...]

        The last major update, 12.0, saw the merging of FreeNAS and TrueNAS into a single storage OS and a name change to Core, the community or free version, and Enterprise, the highly available, paid version.

        Version 13.0 brings the operating system, FreeBSD, from 12.0 to 13.0 and enhances performance up to 20%, which includes an improvement to scheduling threads, according to Morgan Littlewood, senior vice president of product management and business development at IXsystems.

        By updating OpenZFS, an open source file system, to 2.1, the vendor reduced startup and failover times for high-availability systems by more than 80%, Littlewood said.

    • Fedora Family / IBM

      • ZDNetCentOS Linux lives on in the new AlmaLinux 9 | ZDNet

        If you knew your way around Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) not so long ago, but you didn't want to pay Red Hat's support fees, you'd run CentOS Linux, an RHEL clone. Then Red Hat decided in 2020 that they'd no longer release CentOS Linux as a standalone distribution. Instead, CentOS Stream would work as a beta for RHEL.

      • Business WireAlmaLinux 9, Popular CentOS Alternative, Available Now | Business Wire

        AlmaLinux OS Foundation, the nonprofit that stewards the community owned and governed open source CentOS replacement AlmaLinux, today announced AlmaLinux 9, is now available for immediate download. The newest version of the popular CentOS alternative features functionality to make it easier to automate and deploy at scale, networking enhancements for cloud and edge and is more secure and faster by design via higher grade encryption and SELinux speed improvements. Based on Kernel 5.14, AlmaLinux 9 is the first release of AlmaLinux that stems from CentOS Stream through RHEL. AlmaLinux are proud contributors to CentOS Stream.

      • Red HatWhat’s new in Ansible Automation Platform 2.2 | Red Hat Developer

        Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is a Red Hat offering based on Ansible that allows you to configure your systems via code, and version 2.2 is now generally available. Whether you want to install a framework, deploy an application, or tweak some network settings, Ansible Automation Platform is the easiest way to get the job done.

      • Red Hat Open Sources StackRox Kubernetes Security Platform

        Red Hat has announced the availability of Red Hat Advanced Cluster Security for Kubernetes as an open source project: StackRox. The StackRox project aims to help simplify DevSecOps by integrating security capabilities within the development and deployment lifecycle, effectively shifting application security “to the left” in software creation.

    • Debian Family

      • NeowinLinux Mint Debian Edition 5 upgrades are now possible with the graphical Upgrade Tool

        The Linux Mint team has announced the stable version of the new Upgrade Tool which allows users of Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE) 4 to upgrade to LMDE 5 more simply. While this is currently only available for LMDE, the Linux Mint team is working to allow upgrades from Linux Mint 20.3 to 21.0 after that version has been released.

    • Devices/Embedded

      • Simplifying Arm deployments with SMARC Computer-on-Module

        congatec has announced its SMARC Computer-on-Modules based on NXP i.MX8 M Plus processor technology has achieved SystemReady IR certification within the Arm driven Cassini project. The project strives to overcome the barriers of Arm deployments by delivering a comprehensive and secure ecosystem of standards while providing a cloud-native software experience similar to an app store with easy download, install and run routines with just a few clicks. By employing software that enables hardware diversity and delivers powerful security APIs and certification, OEMs benefit from lowered development effort and time to market as they can now port and deploy their applications to the whole Cassini certified Arm ecosystem. Hardware with Cassini SystemReady IR certified bootloader is validated to run unmodified ISO images of Ubuntu, Fedora, openSUSE and Debian operating systems, making native software installation a simple executable task. Together with the company's OS build services and build environment expertise on the basis of the Yocto project, OEMs not only gain instant entry but also efficient customisation services for applications based on its SMARC module conga-SMX8-Plus with NXP i.MX 8M Plus processor.

    • Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications

  • Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

    • The Register UKBefore the web there was a hypertext service. Gopher's back ● The Register

      Gopher is a point-and-click internet protocol that predates Tim Berners-Lee's WorldWideWeb. Although the web has almost totally replaced it, Gopherspace still exists. The snag is that, just as modern web browsers are removing FTP support, they long ago got rid of Gopher support.

      But all is not lost. Firefox users can re-enable it with a choice of extensions, including Overbite and Underbite. Chrome users could try Burrow. Rather than full gopher browsers, these direct Gopher links through public Gopher-to-Web proxies.

      Saying that, though, there is even a modern dedicated Gopher browser. It's called Gophie, and as it's a Java app, it runs on all the main platforms. Also worth a look is Castor, a modern Rust-based client for Gopher, Gemini and Finger.

    • Open source in the UK: Why it must continue to rise€  - TechNative

      Organisations across the world have woken up to the value of open source software

      They recognise that non-proprietary forms of code can be both cost-effective and efficient. Interestingly, Red Hat’s recent report highlighted that 82% of IT decision makers are more likely to choose a vendor that contributes to the open source community. 

    • About The Standards Question In The OpenUK Survey [Ed: Now that the board of OSI has been 'stacked' by OpenUK, as explained by an insider a month ago. OSI became a marketing and cash register of private corporations, looking for openwashing and outsourcing ventures.]

      There is a question about “standards” in the OpenUK survey this time around. Why is it there?

      The UK is an important contributor to global standards. Many international standards were initiated in the UK, and UK experts are significant contributors in many standards developing organizations (SDOs). But how strong is the connection to Open Source?

      Despite statements implying a connection, standards are essentially orthogonal to Open Source and treating them as inherently related leads to serious misunderstandings. For example, the word “open” itself is understood differently in each. In standards parlance, an “open standard” is one whose development was open to all without discrimination, while to Open Source contributors, “open” means the deliverable may be freely enjoyed by all (used, studied, improved, shared, monetised).

    • Update on Niepce

      Here we go, when I started that project in 2006, I had plenty of ideas. I still have, but everything else is in the way, including me.

      Since there have been some amazing apps, like RawTherapee, Darktable, and possibly some other I miss, apps fullfilling some of the uses I envisioned for Niepce back then. Not to mention a few other apps that did just disappear ; that's life, it's hard to find maintainers or keep being motivated.

    • Web Browsers

      • Chromium

        • GoogleChrome 103 Beta: Early Navigation Hints, a Host of Completed Origin Trials, and More

          Unless otherwise noted, changes described below apply to the newest Chrome beta channel release for Android, Chrome OS, Linux, macOS, and Windows. Learn more about the features listed here through the provided links or from the list on ChromeStatus.com. Chrome 103 is beta as of May 26, 2022. You can download the latest on Google.com for desktop or on Google Play Store on Android.

    • Content Management Systems (CMS)

      • Hubert Figuière: New Again

        Old is new again. Apparently my blog was broken following a PHP upgrade on the server. tl;dr PHP 8 broke things and code had to be changed. I don't do PHP so I had to guess (I can read it, patch it, but it's a lot of tries).

        Anyway I decided to bite the bullet and use a generator. I use Hugo in other places, but I decided to try Zola. I the past I have used Jekyll but ended up having a bad experience with the Ruby install.

    • GNU Projects

      • Space Telecoms

        A real-time GNU Radio decoder has been used to receive and store telemetry almost every day over the course of 10 months.

    • Programming/Development

      • Eclipse Foundation and the Adoptium Working Group Launch the Adoptium Marketplace -- ADTmag

        The Eclipse Foundation and the Adoptium Working Group today announced a new marketplace for Java SE TCK-certified and AQAvit quality-tested binaries. The Adoptium Marketplace, now officially open for business, was created to provide working group members with what Eclipse Foundation executive director Mike Milinkovich describes as “a vendor-neutral home where they can promote Java SE runtimes that meet specific quality assurance criteria.”

      • Rust

        • Concluding the events of last November [Ed: Rust is collapsing from within and is still issuing face-saving PR, just as people who resigned warned would happen...]

          With the moderators' resignation in November, we (Josh Gould and Khionu Sybiern) had the mantle of the Moderation Team offered to us, and we caught up to speed on what lead up to this conflict. Their resignation became a catalyst, and we commited with the rest of the project leadership to do our best to solve the issues present and going forward.

  • Leftovers

    • David RevoyGeekfaeries 2022

      I'll do signing sessions all the week-end, a talk about my FLOSS tools in the 'Pôle Hacking' room, and a Krita live painting tribute to Terry Pratchett with Pouhiou in the 'Mind Palace' room. I can't wait!

    • Knights of the Crystallion, by Bill Williams

      A game released in 1990 for the Amiga, which managed to persistently haunt some non-trivial volume of my brain across all the subsequent decades. Today I dug it out again and finally completed it. To complete the exorcism, I will now tell you about it.

    • Science

      • gerikson: Re: Arguments against the metric system

        Societies before the current capitalist orders have measured. Measurement is central to everything from construction, to trade, to medicine… Every society benefits from accurate, reproducible measurements. Even in the future non-capitalist utopia, we still need measurements to ensure clean water, medicine, and the daily allowance of <strike>gruel</strike> nutricious energy slurry.

        [...]

        uld. SI is not normative in that way.

        During history, coherent systems based on the meter have included [cgs] (centimetre-gramme-second), [MTS] (metre-tonne-second), and the ultimate victor, MKS-A (meter-kilogram-second-Ampere).

        Of course people adopt measurements that are “closest” to what they want to measure. We use *centi*meters for stuff like boxes, *milli*meters for small stuff, *deci*liters for food-related volumes, *hecto*liters for wine production, *hect*ares for land area, *kilo*meters for distance. So in each case, the meter is subdivided or extended into terms that fit the measurement domain.

      • Radio’s Ramp-Up With Hybrid Radio May Happen Faster Than You Think.

        (First in a series) It’s been 15 years since BMW became the first automaker to offer factory-installed HD Radio as an option across all its models. Today there are 85 million cars on the road with HD receivers. In November 2020, Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz S-Class became the first auto brand to implement Xperi’s DTS AutoStage. But the auto industry ramp-up for hybrid radio, on a global scale, will occur far faster than the adoption did for HD Radio.

      • Drones Can Automatically Track Targets in The Forest

        Austrian researchers have built an AI-powered drone that can follow moving things through thick forest. So much for retreating to the woods and surviving off the land if the robots ever attack.

      • For computer science in classrooms, the earlier the better | UCI News | UCI

        Legislators packed into the School of Education’s Digital Learning Lab listened intently to Miranda Parker, a postdoctoral scholar who will become a San Diego State University assistant professor of computer science in the fall. After she described UCI-developed software that allows young learners to create and learn scientific concepts, the first question she received from a taxpayer protector is predictable.

        “How much does it cost?”

        “It’s free,” Parker answered, “and we’re also working to make professional development materials available free online as well.”

        You could almost hear a “Wie bitte?” drop, because the 14-member delegation that came to the Digital Learning Lab for fact-finding mission on May 4 did not hail from Washington, D.C., or Sacramento, but from Munich, Germany.

    • Linux Foundation

      • Linux Foundation's Site/BlogYour Path to More Knowledge and Opportunities [Ed: LF increasingly transitions into a diploma mill scam-like corporation, disguised as non-profit to support 'Linux' (it helps spread FUD against it)]

        I confess I am a lifelong learner – addicted to learning about new things and gaining new skills. So, when I started at The Linux Foundation, I was excited to see the depth and breadth of the training we offer (and employees have access to the catalog, so you should work here). It is truly impressive. And it makes sense. After all, the LF mission is to create the greatest shared technology investment in history by enabling open source collaboration across companies, developers, and users. Training is a necessary part of that.

    • Security

      • Bleeping ComputerBPFDoor malware uses Solaris vulnerability to get root privileges [Ed: Microsoft-connected sites obsess over privilege escalation while CISA discloses dozens of actively-exploited holes in Microsoft stuff in less than 2 days; nice deflection?]

        New research into the inner workings of the stealthy BPFdoor malware for Linux and Solaris reveals that the threat actor behind it leveraged an old vulnerability to achieve persistence on targeted systems.

      • Bleeping ComputerCISA adds 41 vulnerabilities to list of bugs used in cyberattacks [Ed: So many of these are in fact Microsoft! Watch how Microsoft-connected sites are spinning this!]
      • CSONew Linux-based ransomware targets VMware servers [Ed: This does nothing to explain how the ransomware gets there in the first place. The net impact is, proprietary software is affected. Also, the vast majority of ransomware is Windows, not Linux, but media helps manipulate perceptions.]

        Researchers at Trend Micro have discovered some new Linux-based ransomware that's being used to attack VMware ESXi servers, a bare-metal hypervisor for creating and running several virtual machines (VMs) that share the same hard drive storage. Called Cheerscrypt, the bad app is following in the footsteps of other ransomware programs—such as LockBit, Hive and RansomEXX—that have found ESXi an efficient way to infect many computers at once with malicious payloads.

      • Google Cloud to Offer Security-Vetted Open Source Software [Ed: Google's priority is not real security but remote access by US authorities and their partners, so for the media to play along with the narrative Google disseminates PR money]
      • Privacy/Surveillance

        • TiVo aims to bridge CTV and linear for marketers [Ed: TiVo as surveillance capitalism company]
        • New York TimesThe Era of Borderless Data Is Ending

          Every time we send an email, tap an Instagram ad or swipe our credit cards, we create a piece of digital data.

          The information pings around the world at the speed of a click, becoming a kind of borderless currency that underpins the digital economy. Largely unregulated, the flow of bits and bytes helped fuel the rise of transnational megacompanies like Google and Amazon and reshaped global communications, commerce, entertainment and media.

    • Defence/Aggression

    • Finance

      • The Register UKFoxconn factory fiasco could leave Wisconsinites on the hook for $300m

        For five years, Foxconn promised and spectacularly failed to build a much-hyped sprawling factory near Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin. Now, the area's leaders may be saddled with $300 million in bond repayments that the Taiwanese iPhone maker had promised to repay.

        According to the Wall Street Journal, Foxconn agreed to pay $36 million annually across a 20-year term to pay for the surrounding infrastructure supporting the now-abandoned 3,000-acre site. Those payments are scheduled to start next tax year, and local leaders told the newspaper they're counting on Foxconn's cash to maintain the site while they try to attract another occupant.

      • The Register UKNvidia stock falls as China lockdown, Russia hit outlook ● The Register

        Nvidia exceeded market expectations and on Wednesday reported record first-quarter fiscal 2023 revenue of $8.29 billion, an increase of 46 percent from a year ago and eight percent from the previous quarter.

        Nonetheless the GPU goliath's stock slipped by more than nine percent in after-hours trading amid remarks by CFO Colette Kress regarding the business's financial outlook, and plans to slow hiring and limit expenses. Nvidia stock subsequently recovered a little, and was trading down about seven percent at time of publication.

        Kress said non-GAAP operating expenses in the three months to May 1 increased 35 percent from a year ago to $1.6 billion, and were "driven by employee growth, compensation-related costs and engineering development costs."

    • Civil Rights/Policing

      • Acknowledging the Impact of Social Injustice

        We pause to pay respects to the families and communities who have suffered the immeasurable loss of loved ones, as 10 people in Buffalo, New York lost their lives to yet another act of senseless gun violence and racism over the weekend. Together we stand with the Buffalo community, as well as the communities and families impacted by recent shootings, including those at an Orange County, California church and a Houston, Texas flea market. We acknowledge the impact of these acts on our community here in Bellevue, Washington, and we stand with our students and families who identify as Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC).

    • Monopolies



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