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Links 14/10/2022: KDE Plasma 5.24.7 and Godot 4.0 Beta 3



  • GNU/Linux

    • Desktop/Laptop

      • The Register UKOh yes, the year of the Linux desktop will come ● The Register

        It has become a running joke. "20xx will be the year of the Linux desktop." The punchline is, of course, it will never happen. But the real jape is that there will soon be a year of the Linux desktop. It's just not going to happen the way Linux fanboi have believed it will.

        The Linux desktop dream has been that companies and people will realize that the Linux desktop is simply better than Windows. Part of the hope is true. The Linux desktop is better than Windows.

        Really. For starters, the Linux desktop is far more secure than Windows. I mean, sure, Linux has security problems. What doesn't? But Microsoft has a monthly security mea culpa day: Patch Tuesday.

    • Server

      • CircleCI Embraces Containers to Simplify CI/CD Deployments - Container Journal

        CircleCI this week relased a container edition of its self-hosted runner software that will make it simpler for DevOps teams to deploy the on-premises edition of its namesake continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) platform.

        Aakar Shroff, vice president of product management for CircleCI, says the self-hosted container runner is designed to eliminate a lot of the toil and friction a DevOps team would otherwise encounter when deploying a CI/CD platform in an on-premises IT environment.

    • Audiocasts/Shows

    • Graphics Stack

      • Linux LinksEssential System Tools: GreenWithEnvy – NVIDIA graphics card utility

         GreenWithEnvy (GWE) is a graphical system tool for NVIDIA graphics cards. This utility provides information about the card present in a system together with the ability to control its fans and overclock the GPU and memory.

        GWE is free and open source software.

    • Benchmarks

      • Ubuntu and Linux Keep Outperforming Windows 11 on AMD Ryzen 9 7950X - WinBuzzer

        Back in September, I reported on a Phoronix test showing Linux Ubuntu 22.04 is outperforming Windows 11 when running the Ryzen 7 5800X3D. Well, it doesn’t seem things are any better for the new Windows 11 2022 Update compared to Ubuntu and Linux when running AMD’s Ryzen 9 7950X.

        This test was once again conducted by Phoronix and shows Windows 11 2022 Update lag behind open source distros across several metrics.

        “All of these tests were done on the same system featuring the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X running at its stock speeds (the clock difference on the system table just comes down to reporting differences between OS interfaces), the ASUS ROG CROSSHAIR X670E HERO motherboard with the latest 0703 BIOS, 2 x 16GB DDR5-6000 EXPO memory, Radeon RX 6800 XT graphics, and a 1TB Sabrent Rocket 4.0 Plus NVMe SSD.”

        It seems on next-gen hardware from AMD, Windows 11 is losing its performance edge compared to Linux 6.0 kernel and Ubuntu 21.10. It is worth noting the test was done without 3D V-cache enabled. Admittedly, the results are closer to last month’s test but still cause for concern for Microsoft.

    • Applications

    • Instructionals/Technical

      • ID RootHow To Install Graylog on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS - idroot

        In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Graylog on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. For those of you who didn’t know, Graylog is a free and open-source log monitoring application that can capture, store, and analyze gigabytes of machine data in real time. It is designed for modern log analytics that allows users to quickly and easily find meaning in data and take action faster.

        This article assumes you have at least basic knowledge of Linux, know how to use the shell, and most importantly, you host your site on your own VPS. The installation is quite simple and assumes you are running in the root account, if not you may need to add ‘sudo‘ to the commands to get root privileges. I will show you the step-by-step installation of Graylog log management software on Ubuntu 22.04 (Jammy Jellyfish). You can follow the same instructions for Ubuntu 22.04 and any other Debian-based distribution like Linux Mint, Elementary OS, Pop!_OS, and more as well.

      • OSTechNixRestrict Access To Linux Servers With TCP Wrappers - OSTechNix

        In this guide, we are going to learn what is TCP Wrappers, what is it used for, how to install TCP Wrappers in Linux, and how to restrict access to Linux servers using TCP Wrappers.

      • How Wine works 101

        Wine is a compatibility layer capable of running Windows applications on several POSIX-compliant operating systems, such as Linux, macOS, & BSD (https://www.winehq.org).

        If you have been using Linux for some time now, chances are you’ve used Wine at some point. Maybe to run that one very important Windows program that doesn’t have a Linux version or maybe to play World of Warcraft or some other game. Fun fact, Valve’s Steam Deck uses a Wine-based solution to run games (called Proton).

        In the last year I’ve spent quite some time working on a debugger capable of debugging both the Wine layer and the Windows application running with it. It was very interesting to learn about the Wine internals – I’ve used Wine many times before, but never knew how it worked. If you ever wondered how it’s possible to take a Windows executable and just run it on Linux without any modifications – welcome to this article!

      • Seven Sins of Numerical Linear Algebra – Nick Higham

        In numerical linear algebra we are concerned with solving linear algebra problems accurately and efficiently and understanding the sensitivity of the problems to perturbations. We describe seven sins, whereby accuracy or efficiency is lost or misleading information about sensitivity is obtained.

      • Make Use OfHow to Use Log2Ram on Linux to Save Wear and Tear on Your Disks

        Continuous logging and read/write operations can harm your storage disks. Install Log2Ram on your Linux desktop to improve the lifespan of your disks.

        Almost everything your Linux machine does is written to disk as part of a log file. Even when you're away from the keyboard or sleeping, dozens of logs are constantly updated, ready for you to search through and diagnose problems or optimize processes.

        This constant writing can have an impact on the lifespan of your storage medium, and cause it to wear out sooner than it otherwise would. Save your disks and your wallet by using the Log2Ram app to minimize disk writing!

      • Make Tech Easier3 Quick and Easy Ways to Open Any File as Root in Ubuntu - Make Tech Easier

        The root user is one of the most important aspects of a Linux distro. It allows you to access and modify any part of your system with ease. For example, it is simple to open and edit any file in Ubuntu if you are using root, but using root commands needs a bit of prep work. This tutorial shows some of the ways to easily open any file as root from inside your Ubuntu desktop.

      • Essential DNF Commands For Linux With Examples | Itsubuntu.com

        Linux operating systems like RedHat Linux use DNF or Dandified Yum as a package manager. It is used in RPM-based Linux systems and it is a successor of the Yum package manager.

      • Linux NightlyHow to Make a User's Password Expire - Linux Nightly

        An expired password in Linux will force the user to change their password the next time they log in. In this tutorial, you will learn how to force a user’s password to expire, set an expiration date on for a user’s password, and check the expiration date.

      • Linux NightlyHow to Install VirtualBox Guest Additions on Ubuntu 22.04 - Linux Nightly

        VirtualBox Guest Additions will help you get the most out of your Ubuntu virtual machine. It gives you automatic resolution scaling, a shared clipboard between the host and VM, and drag and drop ability. The step by step instructions below will explain how to install VirtualBox Guest Additions on Ubuntu Linux.

        Step 1. First, we’ll enable the multiverse repository (in case it isn’t already), then use the system’s package manager to refresh package repositories and install the VirtualBox Guest Additions packages. Execute the following commands in terminal.

      • HowTo ForgeHow to Install Apache Guacamole as Docker Container on Ubuntu

        Apache Guacamole is free, open source clientless remote desktop application that allows you to access remote Desktop and Server machines...

      • H2S MediaHow to install Kitty Terminal on Ubuntu 22.04 or 20.04 - Linux Shout

        Learn the steps to install the Kitty Terminal emulator on Ubuntu 22.04 Jammy JellyFish or 20.04 Focal fossa to have a lightweight app to run commands.

        Ubuntu is a popular Linux distro that comes with a default Terminal application from GNOME. However, we don’t have to limit ourselves to it only. There are many other feature-rich Terminals such as Tabby and Terminators whereas for those who are looking for lightweight Terminals that can utilize the GPU power then Kitty and Alacritty-like emulator apps can be used.

        In this tutorial, we will talk about Kitty Terminal developed in Python and C programming languages. It is a highly configurable Terminal app in the open-source category, the source code is available on GitHub.

        Well, Kitty Terminal is not some fancy app with lots of inbuilt features instead it has been developed to keep one thing in mind i.e performance and low consumption of system resources. However, a user can customize it with the help of its configuration such as Fonts, window size, background, and foreground color, and more…

      • VituxHow to List Installed Packages on Ubuntu 22.04 - VITUX

        It is often important to know how many packages are installed on your computer. You may not know it, but there are many packages installed on your computer.

      • Linux Shell TipsHow to Install RPM Fusion Repository in RHEL-Based Systems

        This article guide walks RHEL-based users through the installation and configuration of RPM Fusion on their Linux distributions. It also discusses the need for RPM Fusion and why its installation and usage are sometimes necessary.

        RPM Fusion is a software repository database that offers users in the RHEL-based community never-ending access to free and non-free software for download and use. Software and packages availed in repositories like RPM Fusion are not available in the official repositories of these Linux distributions.

      • HowTo ForgeHow to Install Discourse with Docker on Ubuntu 22.04

        Discourse is a free and open-source discussion platform built for the next decade of the Internet.

      • How to install PostgreSQL on RedHat Linux 8|Fedora 36 – NextGenTips

        In this article, we are going to learn how to install and get PostgreSQL 15 up and running on a RedHat Linux 8 and Fedora 36 server. PostgreSQL is a powerful, open-source object-relational database system that uses and extends the SQL language combined with many features that safely store and scale the most complicated data workloads.

      • How to install and Configure PostgreSQL 15 on Debian 11. – NextGenTips

        In this article, we are going to learn how to install and get PostgreSQL 15 up and running on a Debian 11 server. PostgreSQL is a powerful, open-source object-relational database system that uses and extends the SQL language combined with many features that safely store and scale the most complicated data workloads.

    • Games

      • Godot EngineGodot Engine - Dev snapshot: Godot 4.0 beta 3

        We released Godot 4.0 beta 1 one month ago! That was a big milestone on our journey to finalize our next major release – be sure to check out that blog post if you haven't yet, for an overview of some of the main highlight of Godot 4.0.

        But the "1" in beta 1 means that it's only the first step of the journey, and like for the alpha phase, we're going to release new beta snapshots roughly every other week.

        We're now at beta 3, making good progress on fixing the issues that testers are reporting. In the past two weeks since beta 2, we had over 250 PRs merged, many of which fixed bugs reported by beta testers.

      • Boiling SteamTrifox: A Colorful Class-Based Looter-Shooter 3D platformer: Review on Linux - Boiling Steam

        Now here is a style that has been traditionally underrepresented in the PC gaming world, but prolific in consoles: 3D platformers. I don’t doubt that with the Steam Deck and its clones, some console trends make way into Steam, and more and more titles like this one appear.

    • Desktop Environments/WMs

      • K Desktop Environment/KDE SC/Qt

        • KDE Plasma 5.24.7, Bugfix Release for October

          Today KDE releases a bugfix update to KDE Plasma 5, versioned 5.24.7.

          Plasma 5.24 was released in February 2022 with many feature refinements and new modules to complete the desktop experience.

          This release adds three months' worth of new translations and fixes from KDE's contributors. The bugfixes are typically small but important and include...

        • 9to5LinuxKDE Plasma 5.24.7 LTS Improves Support for Flatpak Apps, Plasma Wayland, and More

          KDE Plasma 5.24.7 LTS is here a little over three months after the KDE Plasma 5.24.6 LTS point release to improve support for Flatpak apps by showing the “Uninstall or Manage Add-ons” menu item in their context menus in the Kickoff applications menu, making Global Edit Mode toolbar’s enter/exit animation nicer and smoother, and improving the Plasma Wayland session to no longer crash when dragging items from Kickoff that aren’t on the Favorites page.

  • Distributions and Operating Systems

    • Its FOSSFirst Look at LURE! Bringing AUR to All Linux Distros

      AUR (Arch User Repository) is a community-driven repository for Arch-based Linux distributions.

      Long story short: it helps install packages not available in the official repositories and lets you get the latest releases.

      I found it helpful with my experience on Manjaro Linux.

      Technically, AUR builds a package from the source and then utilizes the package manager (pacman) to install it.

    • Sculpt OS release 22.10

      The just released version 22.10 of the Sculpt operating system bears the fruit of our year-long effort to apply the rigidity of Genode's architecture to the management of PCI configuration and device interrupts. This sweeping change left no single device driver unturned. If we did our job right, you should not notice any visible difference from the previous Sculpt version.

      However, you should definitely feel a difference when using the new version. We put several performance optimizations in place - from accelerated system startup, over increased network thoughput, to improved user-interface responsiveness. Moreover, we put much emphasis on stressing Sculpt's USB hotplug support, which includes the dynamic assignment and revocation of USB devices to and from virtual machines.

      With respect to available software, Sculpt users can enjoy an updated Chromium engine - via the Falkon or Morph web browsers - and an updated audio driver based on OpenBSD 7.1.

      Sculpt OS 22.10 is available as ready-to-use system image at the Sculpt download page along with updated documentation.

    • SUSE/OpenSUSE

      • Plasma, Frameworks, Kernel, LLVM update in Tumbleweed - openSUSE News

        This week had one large and a few smaller openSUSE Tumbleweed snapshots.

        The rolling release was coasting along with some smaller snapshots earlier in the week and the latest snapshot updated an enormous amount of packages.

        Among the packages to update in snapshot 20221012 were Frameworks 5.99.0 and Plasma 5.26. With Plasma, there were a lot of new changes. You can resize the widgets like clock and calendar in your panel, the notifier and the KDE Connect monitor and volume control. An All Applications section easily allows navigation using an alphabetized index. For smart TV enthusiasts, two new applications landed in Plasma Big Screen; Aura is a browser specially designed for big screen TVs and Plank Player is a simple and easy-to-use media player allowing videos to be played from a storage device. Frameworks fixed the size and positioning restoration on multi-monitor setups with KConfig. Frameworks fixed a bug that clears the PasswordField with Ctrl+Shift+U and updated the desktop theme. User Interface Framework Kirigami improved DefaultListItemBackground code. An update of ImageMagick 7.1.0.49 fixed a confusing color space with linear-RGB. The ModemManager 1.18.12 release fixed a few very critical issue that happens when using a glib2 newer or equal to version 2.73.2. The package also added new pkgconfig modules build requirements. Poor contrast on various menu items with certain themes on Linux systems were fixed with the Mozilla Firefox 105.0.3 update. The browser fixed several additional Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures in the newer release. One of those was CVE-2022-40961, which caused a stack-buffer overflow when initializing graphics. An update of pipewire 0.3.59 fixed a case where a node could pause while still adding to the graph, which could cause potential crashes. The audio and video package has more options to control the buffer size thanks to an Advanced Linux Sound Architecture plugin. Added support for tabbed windows was made with the windows manager icewm 3.0.1 update. Many other packages were updated in the snapshot including ffmpeg-4 4.4.3, git 2.38.0, harfbuzz 5.3.0 and iproute2 6.0, which introduced Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet support.

      • openSUSE Tumbleweed – Review of the weeks 2022/40 & 41

        Already two weeks passed again since the last ‘weekly’ review. Of course, you are eagerly awaiting to be informed furthermore what happened during this time finally. A total of 8 snapshots have been released (0930, 1001, 1003, 1004, 1006, 1008, 1012, and 1013).

    • Fedora Family / IBM

      • Red Hat OfficialOpenShift virtualization: Not as scary as it seems

        As you may already know, Red Hat has announced that it will be ending support of Red Hat Virtualization (RHV) in 2026. This move gives customers about four years to migrate their RHV workloads to another solution in a market that’s experiencing some major changes. In this article, we discuss one alternative to legacy virtualization: OpenShift Virtualization, a feature offered within Red Hat OpenShift.

        One of the primary purposes of RHV, as with any traditional hypervisor like Xen, VMware or a KVM-based solution, has been to increase utilization of physical hardware by running multiple virtual machines (VMs) per physical compute node. This is a task that all of these products do very well, and with add-ins like Software-Defined Networking (SDN), traditional hypervisors seem almost as robust as the services provided by modern cloud platforms.

    • Canonical/Ubuntu Family

      • TechRadarUbuntu users angered by 'advert' in command line | TechRadar

        Canonical, the maker of popular Linux distribution Ubuntu, has come under fire over an attempt to spread the word about a new promotion.

        As TechRadar Pro reported last week, Canonical is now offering free access to the enterprise-focused version of Ubuntu for up to five workstations. In an effort to advertise the scheme, the company is distributing a message via the command line to any user that updates the OS.

        However, a section of the Ubuntu user base has not taken kindly to the move, which has been interpreted as an inappropriate intrusion by some.

      • UbuntuThe long ARM of KDE | Ubuntu

        With over 100 applications available in the Snap Store, KDE is by far the biggest publisher of snaps around. What unifies this impressive portfolio is the fact that all of these snaps are made for the x86 platform. Not anymore. Now, don’t panic! The x86 snaps are not going anywhere. But ARM-supported KDE snaps are on the way, and this article will tell you a bit more about this endeavor.

        [...]

        Here, the KDE team has adopted a rather interesting hybrid approach to making their snaps work on ARM. One option to build snaps for a target architecture is to do that locally. Not an issue with Intel-based hardware. With ARM devices, this is trickier, because quite often, it is not easy to source (for both logistical and practical reasons) ARM devices that are powerful enough to support a fast build pipeline. An alternative solution is to use the snap remote build capability, which allows any snap developer to send remote build jobs to Launchpad via the snapcraft command line, and build applications for six target platforms.

      • UbuntuHyperparameter tuning for ML models | Ubuntu

        To create a machine learning model, you need to design and optimise the model’s architecture. This involves performing hyperparameter tuning, to enable developers to maximise the performance of their work. How do hyperparameters differ from model parameters?

      • UbuntuIntroducing a VSCode extension for Vanilla CSS Framework [Ed: Instead of promoting Free software Canonical is shilling Microsoft's proprietary software that lets Microsoft spy on users]
    • Devices/Embedded

      • Geeky GadgetsJuno Tablet a $429 Linux tablet - Geeky Gadgets

        If you are in the market for a Linux tablet you might be interested in the new piece of hardware created by Juno Computers. In the form of the aptly name Juno Tablet, now available to purchase priced at $429.

        Equipped with a 10.1 inch display and offering users a resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels, the tablet features an IPS touchscreen LCD display and is available with three different storage options, providing either 256GB, 512GB or 1TB of on-board storage.

        The Linux tablet is also equipped with an array of useful connections in the form of a single USB 3.1 Type-C (with charging and video out support), 1 x USB 3.0 Type-A, mini HDMI, a microSD card reader and a handy 3.5mm headphone jack.

    • Open Hardware/Modding

      • ArduinoUse your phone as an IoT device in the Arduino Cloud

        Getting started with a new device management platform is a drag. You have to get familiar with the terminology and the environment. You have to create new devices, dashboards, widgets, and read a lot of documentation and that’s usually very time consuming, even if the platform is very easy to use.

        Furthermore, it is even more tedious if the platform is targeted to manage physical devices. You need to have some devices close at hand, you need to learn how to code your hello world or getting started examples and subsequent programming. Even if the platform is very intuitive, this is something that usually pulls users back.

        At the end of the day, what users want to have is a straightforward way to evaluate what they can achieve with the platform, the performance, the look and feel and the global interaction experience.

    • Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications

  • Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

    • Meet Christopher – Collabora Software Engineering Intern

      Collabora recruits interns to work over the summer alongside our team, and to build experience to help them assess whether they want to pursue a career in Software Engineering, but how does that work out? Let’s hear from Christopher...

    • Web Browsers/Web Servers

      • Daniel StenbergRewriting curl in three days | daniel.haxx.se

        To celebrate the hubris-infested comment from a few years ago, I created this book cover mock up.

      • Daniel StenbergThere is a tab in my cookie | daniel.haxx.se

        An HTTP cookie, is just a name + value pair sent from the server to the client. That pair is stored and is sent back to the server in subsequent requests when conditions match.

        Cookies were first invented and used in the 1990s. Sources seem to agree that the first browser to support them, was Netscape 0.9beta released in September 1994. Internet Explorer added support in October 1995.

        After many years and several failed specification attempts, they were eventually documented in RFC 6265 in 2011. They have been debated, criticized and misunderstood since virtually forever. Mostly because of the abuse/tracking they (used to?) allow in browsers. Less so because of how they actually work over the wire.

    • SaaS/Back End/Databases

      • TechTargetPostgreSQL 15 advances open source relational database

        The open source PostgreSQL 15 relational database became generally available on Thursday, with a series of enhancements designed to accelerate performance and data management.

        PostgreSQL is an open source database development effort with multiple vendors providing support and services, including EDB, Percona, Aiven, Instaclustr, and cloud providers AWS, Google and Microsoft. The new release is the first major update this year and follows the PostgreSQL 14 release that debuted in September 2021.

        Users of the PostgreSQL 15 update get a number of improvements, including new compression capabilities that help with data storage and backup, data sorting enhancement for faster lookups, and new logging and SQL capabilities.

    • Productivity Software/LibreOffice/Calligra

    • Content Management Systems (CMS)

      • The Month in WordPress - September 2022 - WordPress News

        September was an exciting month with the return of many in-person WordCamps, WordPress Translation Day, and preparations for WordPress 6.1. Contributors across teams continue to work hard to ensure that the last major release of the year is the best it can be for everyone. Let’s catch up on all things WordPress.

    • GNU Projects

      • Simon JosefssonOn language bindings & Relaunching Guile-GnuTLS

        The Guile bindings for GnuTLS has been part of GnuTLS since spring 2007 when Ludovic Courtès contributed it after some initial discussion. I have been looking into getting back to do GnuTLS coding, and during a recent GnuTLS meeting one topic was Guile bindings. It seemed like a fairly self-contained project to pick up on. It is interesting to re-read the old thread when this work was included: some of the concerns brought up there now have track record to be evaluated on. My opinion that the cost of introducing a new project per language binding today is smaller than the cost of maintaining language bindings as part of the core project. I believe the cost/benefit ratio has changed during the past 15 years: introducing a new project used to come with a significant cost but this is no longer the case, as tooling and processes for packaging have improved. I have had similar experience with Java, C# and Emacs Lisp bindings for GNU Libidn as well, where maintaining them centralized slow down the pace of updates. Andreas Metzler pointed to a similar conclusion reached by Russ Allbery.

    • Programming/Development

      • Jacob Kaplan MossRole Title Terminology

        In my writing about hiring and management, I often talk about role titles – terms like “manager”, “director”, “executive”, and so forth. I’ve found that many readers find the precise definitions of these terms confusing. Often companies give lofty-sounding titles as a sort of non-financial compensation, so you’ll often see things like a “VP” title meaning wildly different things and different companies. I’m generally all for descriptivism in language, but there are some very real differences between different types of roles, and having clear terms helps us communicate about them.

        So here’s a glossary of the terms I use when I’m talking about job titles. I think this mostly matches a rough consensus among people who think about organization structure, but if something here’s controversial drop me a line and let me know.

      • Take a Break You Idiot

        After long bouts of work—months and months uninterrupted—I become a slug person; small hurdles spike my anxiety, my anger flares at the slightest confrontation, I notice fewer jokes, fewer attempts on my part to make people laugh. My memory goes to all hell too and I can’t seem to concentrate on prolonged amounts of anything. Books fall off my radar, I stop listening to music. My phone is in my hand at all times, scrolly-anxiety-inducing apps become impossible to avoid.

        I know the cure: work less! Take a break! Stop doing things and do even fewer things than you think you ought to! Take a week! Take two! Stop all forms of work, go exercise and write, go learn how to do something entirely else. But each time I forget my own advice until I’m at this point, where I am now: basically useless.

      • Know your carrying capacity

        I like to think of the collection of things that someone can reasonably maintain as their "carrying capacity", to borrow the ecology term. If you take on more than your carrying capacity, something has to die (aka fall into disrepair). With modern software being so garbage, I think one big reason is that there are too many software professionals out there who don't know their carrying capacity.

      • TDD and 'Discipline'

        There is, of course. a relatively benign notion of “discipline”, connoting something like a rich and deep subject which does require practice to become expert. And surely, TDD in all its implications is something that will benefit from as much practice as we can give it. I have practiced it for years, and when working on something where I know how to apply it, I practice it daily. I wouldn’t do that because someone told me to do it. I pretty much won’t do anything because someone tells me to do it. I do things because I want to, and because I enjoy them. I try never to tell others what to do, and I try never to be in situations where someone else can tell me what to do.

      • Using a Framework will harm the maintenance of your software

        In this article I'm putting together my quotes, thoughts and notes on the idea that Frameworks harm the maintainability of the software you build in that framework.

      • Self Hosting Git Repositories with Stagit | Jon Eskin's Website

        An alternative to using forges like Github to host your source repositories is to host them yourself. This commonly involves running git as a daemon on a server and deploying a web interface such as gitea, gitlab, cgit, or sourcehut. These projects essentially serve web applications that interface with git repositories on your server.

        However, if you’re not hosting large, established projects with frequent contributors, these options are probably overkill. Another option I came across recently is stagit. Unlike the aforementioned projects, stagit does not serve dynamic web content; it’s a static site generator that traverses git repositories using libgit2.

        Stagit is easier to setup and maintain and comparitively light on resource usage. Since it’s only creating static pages, it also approach limits your server’s attack surface.

        On the other hand, it doesn’t provide features such as a web-based PR interface or an issue tracker. You can always ask patches over email or through git send-email, and there are plenty of tools for issue trackers or mailing lists if some of your projects warrant them.

        I set up Stagit on the VPS that I host this blog from; you can see it’s output by navigating to the Git link in the nav header on this page. It was a very smooth process and I’m happy with the result, so I thought I’d write up a quick post about the project.

      • What is TDD (Test Driven Development)?

        Test-driven development (TDD) is an iterative methodology that entails the conversion of each component of the application into a test case before it is built and then testing and tracking the component repeatedly. This article explains the test-driven development process and discusses its benefits and limitations.

      • PHP version 8.0.25RC1 and 8.1.12RC1 - Remi's RPM repository - Blog

        Release Candidate versions are available in testing repository for Fedora and Enterprise Linux (RHEL / CentOS / Alma / Rocky and other clones) to allow more people to test them. They are available as Software Collections, for a parallel installation, perfect solution for such tests, and also as base packages.

      • Qt

        • Volker KrauseKDE Frameworks 6 Windows CI and Branching Plan [Ed: Utter, total waste of time; over the past 15 years, several times, KDE wasted time on Windows in vain]

          During Akademy last week important next steps for proceeding with the migration to KDE Frameworks 6 have been discussed. Meanwhile we also got closer to full platform parity with the rollout of the Qt 6 Windows CI.

      • Rust

        • CollaboraKernel 6.0: Start of a new series and dawn of Rust

          Rust for Linux support did not land in 6.0, but it has already been merged for the 6.1 kernel version. This adds the initial infrastructure to support Rust as a language in the kernel and has been in development since 2020 headed by Miguel Ojeda with funding from Google and ISRG (Internet Security Research Group). Western digital, for instance, is already working on an NVMe driver written in Rust.

        • The Register UKLinux kernel 6.1 will contain fixes, features. Useful Rust modules? Not yet

          The merge window for contributions to Linux 6.1 is still open and incoming features include Wi-Fi security fixes and hardware tests.

          Five new vulnerabilities in Linux's Wi-Fi handling have been identified and will be fixed in the forthcoming kernel 6.1. For completists, they are CVE-2022-41674 (kernels up to 5.19), CVE-2022-42719 (5.2 to 5.19), CVE-2022-42720 and CVE-2022-42721 (both 5.1 to 5.19), and CVE-2022-42722 (5.8 to 5.19).

          Now that these are public, the fixes will doubtless be backported to the older kernels in use in the various enterprise distros.

          Another useful new patch will display the processor and core number, and which socket it's in, when there is a segfault error in a program. As the patch's notes say, this isn't a perfect diagnostic, as it's possible that the fault program might have been rescheduled onto another core between the fault occurring and the message appearing, but it could help troubleshooting flakey CPU cores.

        • Gunnar WolfGunnar Wolf: Learning some Rust with Lars!

          A couple of weeks ago, I read a blog post by former Debian Developer Lars Wirzenius offering a free basic (6hr) course on the Rust language to interested free software and open source software programmers.

          I know Lars offers training courses in programming, and besides knowing him for ~20 years and being proud to consider us to be friends, have worked with him in a couple of projects (i.e. he is upstream for vmdb2, which I maintain in Debian and use for generating the Raspberry Pi Debian images) — He is a talented programmer, and a fun guy to be around.

  • Leftovers

    • Hardware

      • CNX SoftwareJasper Lake Mini-ITX motherboard comes with 6 SATA 3.0 connectors, 2 M.2 NVMe sockets

        Topcon “N5105/N6005 NAS board” is a mini-ITX motherboard powered by an Intel Celeron N5105 or N6005 Jasper Lake processor, equipped with six SATA 3.0 ports, two M.2 NVMe sockets, and four Intel i226-V 2.5GbE controllers.

        The board also comes with two SO-DIMM DDR4 slots for up to 64GB RAM, HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort video outputs, and several USB 3.0/2.0 interfaces. As its name implies, it is designed for network access storage (NAS), but I could also see it used as a networked video recorder (NVR), a network appliance, or a multi-purpose machine.

    • Linux Foundation

    • Security

      • IT WireiTWire - Optus says govt agrees affected users do not need new passports

        Optus customers, whose passport numbers were exposed in the catastrophic breach suffered by the telco, do not need to get the documents replaced, Optus says in a statement to the Singapore Stock Exchange.

        The telco, the second biggest in Australia, said on Friday it was issuing this advice after discussions with the Federal Government.

        "As a result of discussions with the Australian Government, Optus is now communicating to customers whose passport number was exposed in the cyberattack that they will not need to replace their passports," the statement said.

      • LWNSecurity updates for Friday

        Security updates have been issued by Debian (chromium), Fedora (dbus, dhcp, expat, kernel, thunderbird, vim, and weechat), Mageia (libofx, lighttpd, mediawiki, and python), Oracle (.NET 6.0 and .NET Core 3.1), Slackware (python3), SUSE (chromium, kernel, libosip2, python-Babel, and python-waitress), and Ubuntu (gThumb, heimdal, linux-aws, linux-gcp-4.15, linux-aws-hwe, linux-gcp, linux-oracle-5.4, linux-raspi, linux-raspi-5.4, postgresql-9.5, and xmlsec1).

      • USCERTCISA Releases RedEye: Red Team Campaign Visualization and Reporting Tool | CISA

        CISA has released RedEye, an interactive open-source analytic tool to visualize and report Red Team command and control activities. RedEye allows an operator to quickly assess complex data, evaluate mitigation strategies, and enable effective decision making.

      • Port Swigger‘We don’t teach developers how to write secure software’ – Linux Foundation’s David A Wheeler on reversing the CVE surge | The Daily Swig

        Addressing a decades-old deficiency in coding curriculums could have a profound effect on the security of the software supply chain, a leading expert on the subject tells The Daily Swig.

      • Bruce SchneierRegulating DAOs - Schneier on Security

        In August, the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the cryptocurrency platform Tornado Cash, a virtual currency “mixer” designed to make it harder to trace cryptocurrency transactions—and a worldwide favorite money-laundering platform. Americans are now forbidden from using it. According to the US government, Tornado Cash was sanctioned because it allegedly laundered over $7 billion in cryptocurrency, $455 million of which was stolen by a North Korean state-sponsored hacking group.

        Tornado Cash is not a traditional company run by human beings, but instead a series of “smart contracts”: self-executing code that exists only as software. Critics argue that prohibiting Americans from using Tornado Cash is a restraint of free speech, pointing to court rulings in the 1990s that established that computer language is a form of language, and that software programs are a form of speech. They also suggest that the Treasury Department has the authority to sanction only humans and not software.

    • Transparency/Investigative Reporting

      • Internet Freedom FoundationDigital Transparency: A Right to Information Report for September 2022

        For the month of September 2022, IFF has filed 09 Right to Information (“RTI”) applications, 02 first appeals and appeared in 02 second appeals hearings before the Central Information Commission. In significant responses, Chief Electoral Officers of several states and union territories have stated that linking Aadhaar with Voter ID is purely optional and no names can be deleted from the electoral roll due to failure of non-furnishing of Aadhaar numbers.

        [...]

        The RTI Act was enacted to promote transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority by ensuring that citizens have access to information under the control of public authorities. Facilitating such access is necessary to ensure that democratic processes are not subverted by public authorities acting under private interests. Where transparency is not upheld as a value of public decision-making, citizens are at a disadvantage when it comes to keeping a check on abuse of power by the public authorities.

        As we have discovered previously through responses received on our Right to Information applications, several times various government processes and programs continue with little or no transparency. This happens despite the mandate in the RTI Act, 2005 to publish and disclose information to citizens proactively.

        The RTI Act is thus one of the most important tools at the disposal of the public to engage with, and demand transparency and accountability from, the Government. We use the Act to extract information about various ongoing policies and projects that the Government launches.

    • AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

      • DaemonFC (Ryan Farmer)My Illinois mid-term election ballot was “challenged” and I refused to “vote” using one of those fake provisional ballots that they throw in the trash later.

        My Illinois mid-term election ballot was “challenged” and I refused to “vote” using one of those fake provisional ballots that they throw in the trash later.

        The County Clerk’s office of Lake County, Illinois tried to “challenge” my ballot.

        I was pretty furious last night when I read this on their Web site and may have let loose with some expletives. We Americans already have almost no control over the government, and now they’re trying to steal my right to vote too!

        I spent half an hour trying to fix it this morning, before I spoke to the Clerk herself, Robin M. O’Connor, and cleared the challenge with a sworn statement that I really am who I say I am.

        [...]

        I’ve had it happen twice, in two different states, and I’m only 38. It’s troubling that this happens so frequently.

        But, before this turns into much more of a meandering mess wondering who these folks target and why, let me just say with 100% sincerity….

        Don’t ever let them give you a Provisional Ballot and then walk out thinking you’ve voted, because you probably haven’t!

        I promised them that I would be keeping an eye on the status of my ballot and “I’ll be back if it doesn’t update correctly.”.

    • Civil Rights/Policing

      • AccessNowStop the persecution: Iranian authorities must immediately release technologists and digital rights defenders - Access Now

        We, the undersigned human rights organizations, strongly condemn the Iranian authorities’ ruthless persecution, harassment, and arrest of technologists and digital rights defenders amid the deadly crackdown on nationwide protests, and demand their immediate and unconditional release.

        In an attempt to crush the popular uprising and further restrict internet activity and information flows, Iranian authorities are escalating their violent crackdown on people across Iran, and are now targeting internet experts and technologists. To date, Iranian authorities have arrested alarming numbers of tech engineers and network administrators who have been vocal on digital rights in Iran. Those detained have criticized internet restrictions, shown support to protests, or have been advocating for digital rights. We are concerned over the growing pressure on this community, including technology journalists and bloggers, and the suppression of their criticisms against authorities. Any attempts to investigate or bring transparency to issues of digital repression or protests are being brutally stamped out. The world cannot allow the Islamic Republic of Iran to normalize this kind of persecution. The government must release these detainees at once.

        Well-known technologists, digital rights defenders, and internet access experts have been targeted for arrest by the authorities since the beginning of the protests following the death in police custody of 22 year-old Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa (Jhina) Amini.

        [...]

        The government of Iran must immediately release detained technologists and all those arbitrarily arrested for exercising their human rights and put an end to this violent protest repression — both online and offline. The Iranian authorities must be independently and criminally investigated for committing —with full impunity—serious crimes under international law and other grave violations of human rights.

      • Dowry, Racism, Railways - Experiences in the community

        The above is a statement shared in a book recommended for CTET (Central Teacher’s Eligibility Test that became mandatory to be taken as the RTE (Right To Education) Act came in.). The statement says “People from cold places are white, beautiful, well-built, healthy and wise. And people from hot places are black, irritable and of violent nature.”

        Now while I can agree with one part of the statement that people residing in colder regions are more fair than others but there are loads of other factors that determine fairness or skin color/skin pigmentation. After a bit of search came to know that this and similar articulation have been made in an idea/work called ‘Environmental Determinism‘. Now if you look at that page, you would realize this was what colonialism is and was all about. The idea that the white man had god-given right to rule over others. Similarly, if you are fair, you can lord over others. Seems simplistic, but yet it has a powerful hold on many people in India. Forget the common man, this thinking is and was applicable to some of our better-known Freedom fighters. Pune’s own Bal Gangadhar Tilak – The Artic Home to the Vedas. It sort of talks about Aryans and how they invaded India and became settled here. I haven’t read or have access to the book so have to rely on third-party sources. The reason I’m sharing all this is that the right-wing has been doing this myth-making for sometime now and unless and until you put a light on it, it will continue to perpetuate 😦 . For those who have read this blog, do know that India is and has been in casteism from ever. They even took the fair comment and applied it to all Brahmins. According to them, all Brahmins are fair and hence have god-given right to lord over others. What is called the Eton boy’s network serves the same in this casteism. The only solution is those idea under limelight and investigate. To take the above, how does one prove that all fair people are wise and peaceful while all people black and brown are violent. If that is so, how does one count for Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Junior, Nelson Mandela, Michael Jackson the list is probably endless. And not to forget that when Mahatma Gandhiji did his nonviolent movements either in India or in South Africa, both black and brown people in millions took part. Similar examples of Martin Luther King Jr. I know and read of so many non-violent civl movements that took place in the U.S. For e.g. Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott. So just based on these examples, one can conclude that at least the part about the fair having exclusive rights to being fair and noble is not correct.

    • Monopolies

      • ICYMI: Experts Discuss Latin American Perspectives on Competition and Regulatory Policy at CCIA Conference in Colombia - Disruptive Competition Project

        Antitrust luminaries from throughout the Americas gathered to discuss current challenges for competition and regulatory policy in Latin America and whether digitization of the economy calls for new antitrust rules. Following the recent Presidential elections, Colombia’s new administration is yet to name the head of the country’s Superintendence of Industry and Commerce (SIC), which provided an opportunity to review recent developments and challenges ahead in competition and regulatory policy for Colombia and Latin America. The Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), together with the Colombian Association of Competition Law (ACDC), Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and its Center for Competition Law Studies (CEDEC), & the Colombian Research Initiative on Digital Competition and E-commerce (INCODI), co-hosted a conference in Bogota, Colombia addressing issues related to Competition and Regulatory Policy in a Changing Economy. Focusing on regional competition and regulatory issues, the conference brought together global experts to also discuss international convergence and divergence in the digital context.

        Perspectives on Competition and Regulatory Policy in Latin America

        Discussing the experience of Latin American authorities, SIC’s Chief Advisor John Marcos Torres outlined the agency’s recent enforcement actions and noted the importance of a multidisciplinary approach among policy areas for the future. Alexandre Cordeiro Macedo, President of Brazil’s Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE), noted that competition agencies are facing public pressure to deal with issues that are outside their remit. “Labor rights, sustainability, and fiscal issues should not be mixed with competition.”

  • Gemini* and Gopher

    • Personal

      • Reflections on Burnout

        I have not been able to work on projects recently.

        It's not just that I haven't found something that excited me, but I have been struggling to stay on one idea for more than a day, learning new things is exhausting and frustrating, working on old things feels redundant and annoying, and my imposter syndrome is constantly telling me I'll never be able to make something that I'm proud of.

        I've been pushing myself too hard for too long, and a series of academic and professional failures have left me less sure of what I want to do in the future. It's hard to admit that I have burnout at only 20, but looking back, I've been pushing myself to make things on the internet for 7 years straight. I've worked 10-hour days on top of schoolwork, put my heart and soul into projects that generated 0 return, and over time continued to overpromise both towards myself and to others.

      • Love Switch

        I hate everyone, but I love people.

        [...]

        On Sunday, a friend casually asked me "Spoony, is there anyone you don't love?"

        My brain stuttered. I took a noticeably long pause before I answered. I had to process the question, internally answer it, fight the urge to obfuscate the truth, translate my answer into words, and filter the words so they'd fit the mask I was wearing.

        "Yes. Only a couple, because they hurt me. But I love everyone else on the whole planet."

        This was the first time I've been able to admit publicly that I've been hurt and that I feel something other than "perfect" because of it. Better yet, it was the first time I said publicly that I didn't love someone. And guess what? It was nothing. Nothing happened. I didn't die, the world didn't end, and my friend didn't suddenly tell me to get out of his car and to never speak to him again. I logically know these things are not likely outcomes, but I can't tell the right side of my brain that. She will not have it. It was a big deal to me. Well, everything is a big deal to me. But this was a *big* big deal. So big, in fact, that when I went to sleep that night my brain was finally able to process something I've been stuck with for 10+ years.

      • SpellBinding: XDEHITB Wordo: NEWTS
      • Morning Moon Photo (Fairbanks, AK, US)

        It often possible to see the moon during the daytime, but usually we don't notice it because (1) we aren't watching for it, (2) we don't know what direction to look, and (3) the moon doesn't stand out as much in the sky during the day as it does at night (lower contrast).

    • Technical

      • Internet/Gemini

        • A year on Gemini

          It has been about a year that I'm been on Gemini. I feel this is a good time to share my experience with the community. A, or two post about my search engine is coming soon. So I won't be talking about that here. But general Gemini and Internet stuff.

          [...]

          I learned about Gemini from MentalOutlaw's Gemini video[1]. Saying it's a minimalist protocol with strong privacy and no tracking what so ever. I though the idea is cool. But why would someone use something that practically no one is using? I put the idea into the attic of my mind. Until a week or two later. I was too boarded and decided to look into Gemini.

      • Programming

        • Substitute Expressions

          Regexes are much better at matching than they are at replacing, and I needed a similar DSL that could expand on regex to enable more powerful substitutions in a larger DSL I'm writing that will make use of it.

        • Lispy Chess Piece NotationLispy Chess Piece Notation

          The Lispy Chess Piece Notation is a language that describes how chess pieces move.

        • Re: What is a "unit test?"

          I believe that tests are the wrong term. The best way of using tests is not to test that the software does what it should do, but to make sure that it continues to do what it's supposed to do while being changed. When adding new features we need to make sure that old features does not break.


* Gemini (Primer) links can be opened using Gemini software. It's like the World Wide Web but a lot lighter.



Recent Techrights' Posts

Open letter to the ACM regarding Codes of Conduct impersonating the Code of Ethics
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
With 9 Mentions of Azure In Its Latest Blog Post, Canonical is Again Promoting Microsoft and Intel Vendor Lock-in, Surveillance, Back Doors, Considerable Power Waste, and Defects That Cannot be Fixed
Microsoft did not even have to buy Canonical (for Canonical to act like it happened)
Links 28/03/2024: GAFAM Replacing Full-Time Workers With Interns Now
Links for the day
Consent & Debian's illegitimate constitution
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
The Time Our Server Host Died in a Car Accident
If Debian has internal problems, then they need to be illuminated and then tackled, at the very least in order to ensure we do not end up with "Deadian"
China's New 'IT' Rules Are a Massive Headache for Microsoft
On the issue of China we're neutral except when it comes to human rights issues
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, March 27, 2024
IRC logs for Wednesday, March 27, 2024
WeMakeFedora.org: harassment decision, victory for volunteers and Fedora Foundations
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 27/03/2024: Terrorism Grows in Africa, Unemployment in Finland Rose Sharply in a Year, Chinese Aggression Escalates
Links for the day
Links 27/03/2024: Ericsson and Tencent Layoffs
Links for the day
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Windows has loads of issues, also as a gaming platform
Links 27/03/2024: BBC Resorts to CG Cruft, Akamai Blocking Blunders in Piracy Shield
Links for the day
Android Approaches 90% of the Operating Systems Market in Chad (Windows Down From 99.5% 15 Years Ago to Just 2.5% Right Now)
Windows is down to about 2% on the Web-connected client side as measured by statCounter
Sainsbury's: Let Them Eat Yoghurts (and Microsoft Downtimes When They Need Proper Food)
a social control media 'scandal' this week
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, March 26, 2024
IRC logs for Tuesday, March 26, 2024
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
Windows/Client at Microsoft Falling Sharply (Well Over 10% Decline Every Quarter), So For His Next Trick the Ponzi in Chief Merges Units, Spices Everything Up With "AI"
Hiding the steep decline of Windows/Client at Microsoft?
Free technology in housing and construction
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
We Need Open Standards With Free Software Implementations, Not "Interoperability" Alone
Sadly we're confronting misguided managers and a bunch of clowns trying to herd us all - sometimes without consent - into "clown computing"
Microsoft's Collapse in the Web Server Space Continued This Month
Microsoft is the "2%", just like Windows in some countries
Links 26/03/2024: Inflation Problems, Strikes in Finland
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/03/2024: Losing Children, Carbon Tax Discussed
Links for the day
Mark Shuttleworth resigns from Debian: volunteer suicide and Albania questions unanswered, mass resignations continue
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 26/03/2024: 6,000 Layoffs at Dell, Microsoft “XBox is in Real Trouble as a Hardware Manufacturer”
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/03/2024: Microsofters Still Trying to 'Extend' Gemini Protocol
Links for the day
Look What IBM's Red Hat is Turning CentOS Into
For 17 years our site ran on CentOS. Thankfully we're done with that...
The Julian Paul Assange Verdict: The High Court Has Granted Assange Leave to Appeal Extradition to the United States, Decision Adjourned to May 20th Pending Assurances
The decision is out
The Microsoft and Apple Antitrust Issues Have Some But Not Many Commonalities
gist of the comparison to Microsoft
ZDNet, Sponsored by Microsoft for Paid-for Propaganda (in 'Article' Clothing), Has Added Pop-Up or Overlay to All Pages, Saying "813 Partners Will Store and Access Information on Your Device"
Avoiding ZDNet may become imperative given what it has turned into
Julian Assange Verdict 3 Hours Away
Their decision is due to be published at 1030 GMT
People Who Cover Suicide Aren't Suicidal
Assange didn't just "deteriorate". This deterioration was involuntary and very much imposed upon him.
Overworking Kills
The body usually (but not always) knows best
Former Red Hat Chief (CEO), Who Decided to Leave the Company Earlier This Month, Talks About "Cloud Company Red Hat" to CNBC
shows a lack of foresight and dependence on buzzwords
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 25, 2024
IRC logs for Monday, March 25, 2024
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
Discord Does Not Make Money, It's Spying on People and Selling Data/Control (38% is Allegedly Controlled by the Communist Party of China)
a considerable share exists
In At Least Two Nations Windows is Now Measured at 2% "Market Share" (Microsoft Really Does Not Want People to Notice That)
Ignore the mindless "AI"-washing
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) Still Has Hundreds of Thousands of Simultaneously-Online Unique Users
The scale of IRC