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Links 3/8/2013: Calligra Suite 2.7, New Benghazi Leaks





GNOME bluefish

Contents





GNU/Linux



  • Server



  • Audiocasts/Shows



  • Applications



  • Desktop Environments/WMs



    • K Desktop Environment/KDE SC/Qt

      • Microsoft Office alternative Calligra Suite 2.7 released
        There are many free and open source alternatives of Microsoft Office including LibreOffice and Calligra Suite. The Calligra team has announced the release of version 2.7 of the Calligra Suite, Calligra active and the Calligra Office Engine.


      • New KDE Media Center Inches Closer
        A new media center for KDE 5 / Plasma 2 has been in the works for a while and today Sinny Kumari posted some tangible details. With the release of a new beta, users can try it out too. Of course, it has that "smartphone" look, but it still works as a desktop application. Plasma Media Center 1.1 Beta introduces several cool new features besides a ton of bug fixes.


      • Now Open for Donations
        We've been asked many times how to contribute to Kubuntu financially so we are now open for donations. Your donations will help finance project expenses such as hardware, travel and cloud computing.


      • In Conversation with Andreas Raninger
        I'm living in Sweden.I'm currently working as a IT-Technician in a company called IT-Hantverkarna. Painting in my free time.


      • Calligra and Krita Release 2.7
        Maria Far today announced the release of Krita 2.7 with "a lot of cool new features, bug fixes and improvements. Soon to come to a Linux distribution near you." The transform tool was rewritten and said to be "hugely improved." A new line smoothing ink function was highlighted, as well as "greyscale masks and selections."


      • Call for Recordings: American(US) English.
        Hey everyone! As we, the Artikulate team, are targeting to release Artikulate this fall, we would like to invite more and more contributors to come help us with the project (which is aimed at helping users with their language learning/pronunciation skills). :-)


      • KDAB at Qt Contributor Summit
        The program of the Qt Contributor Summit was mostly determined by who was attending and what the important topics at the time were. KDAB attended the summit with strength, and participated in many relevant discussions.


      • AudioCD. Week 6.


      • Okteta ported to Qt5/KF5


      • Project Neon 5 daily builds, Ubiquity Wireless Setup
        Project Neon is a fantastic resource for KDE developers giving daily builds for KDE software. It's maintained by the lovely Kubuntu community on the lovely Launchpad infrastructure. KDE developers can install the various bits they need to develop their part of KDE without having to worry about compiling everything themselves. It installs everything into /opt so it doesn't touch your normal software installation.




    • GNOME Desktop/GTK

      • GUADEC 2013, Day 1
        GUADEC 2013, GNOME's annual European Conference, kicked off today in a warm and sunny Brno (Czech Republic). This is the main GNOME event of the year, and there are hundreds of contributors here for 8 days of talks and working events.


      • New Wikis for Ubuntu GNOME!
        Ali Linx (almost Linux ;)) from Lubuntu is the new Head of QA in Ubuntu GNOME (UG) and he is asking for your help to test 13.10 release. Furthermore the cool guys from UG community have some new wikis!






  • Distributions

    • What was your first Linux distro?
      Foss Force has the results of a poll of their readers that asked about their first Linux distro. Wow. Talk about taking me back a long, long time! I haven't thought about how I got started with Linux for ages.


    • Parted Magic 2013.08.01 Features More Than 100 Application Updates
      Parted Magic, an operating system that employs core programs of GParted and Parted to handle partitioning tasks with ease, while featuring other useful software, is now at version 2013.08.01.

      Parted Magic 2013.08.01 integrates a large number of updates, but the developers also chose to fix some old problems and add some new features.


    • And Your First Linux Distro Was…
      Back on June 23, when we asked you to name the first Linux distro you ever used, we pretty much knew that the choice “Other” would take the day.

      That’s because we wanted to be completely neutral, so the ten choices we offered besides “Other” were just the top ten distros from the Distrowatch “Page Hit Ranking,” which meant that those who started their Linux life with something other than Debian or SUSE in the pre-Ubuntu era were not represented.


    • Zorin OS 7 "Lite" Review: Beautiful and functional LXDE operating system
      Zorin has a history of creating pretty refined Ubuntu spins specifically targeted to newcomers. Their recent release Zorin OS 7 is based on Ubuntu 13.04 and it has 6 months of support. I earlier reviewed the Zorin OS 7 Core (with GNOME desktop) and found it to be very good in terms of functionality, stability and aesthetics. Zorin, as a tradition, first releases the core or GNOME distro and follows it up with "Lite" and "Educational Lite", two lightweight Zorin OS variants with LXDE desktop. Both are actually Lubuntu 13.04 spins. I, myself, am a big fan of LXDE desktop as it is possibly the most efficient of all fully featured DEs. However, LXDE requires the users to have a little bit of expertise in Linux; simple things such as autologin, adding programs to start up, setting up compositing manager, etc. are easier in other desktop environments (DEs) like XFCE, KDE & GNOME. However, of late, I saw LXDE control center in PCLinuxOS and ROSA which actually makes these things easier for the users.


    • New Releases



    • Gentoo Family

      • Sabayon is So Pretty and Fast
        I’ve been seriously slacking on the Sabayon stuff, but been hanging with the community on the Official Sabayon Facebook page and watched a thread on a background image erupt into a mountain. It really is amazing at how a small change to a GUI send people running for their pitchforks and torches. I’ve been guilty of this in the past myself and probably will be in the future too. The GUI is very important to us and it’s drastic unchangeable changes really ticks a guy off. Gnome and KDE both felt the feedback when they revamped their GUIs. I abandoned Gnome cause of the gnome shell. Some love the gnome-shell and brag it up and down. Gnome maybe pays them to do it….




    • Red Hat Family

      • This month (July) in Red Hat KDE
        After a couple of really hot days I'm back with a short overview of what kept us[1] busy while working on KDE in Red Hat this month.


      • Fedora

        • Fedora 17 "Beefy Miracle" Is Officially Dead
          The Fedora 17 operating system, otherwise known under the name of Beefy Miracle, is now officially dead.

          It's not uncommon for the developers to stop supporting various operating systems and now the time has come for Fedora 17 (Beefy Miracle), an OS launched a little over a year ago, on May 29, 2012.






    • Debian Family





  • Devices/Embedded

    • Quadruped Linux robot feels its way over obstacles
      The Italian Institute of Technology gave its first public demonstration of a Linux-based quadruped robot for navigating rough terrain. Meanwhile, a new version of the Hydraulic Quadruped (Hyq) robot is under development that can “feel” and step over obstacles using a step reflex algorithm, letting the robot navigate more easily in low-visibility environments.

      Linux-based robots come in all shapes and sizes, from Biorob’s ankle-high Cheetah-cub Robot to the knee-high models that can be built from the Lego Mindstorms EV3 robot kit to NASA’s full-scale humanoid Robonaut 2. In the heavyweight class, we’ve seen Micromagic Systems’ 2.8-meter, 1800-Kilogram Mantis Hexapod Walking Machine. Now, the Department of Advanced Robotics at the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (Italian Institute of Technology, or IIT), has developed another heavyweight contender in the Hydrolic Quadruped (Hyq) robot.


    • Top 10 BeagleBoard Projects
      Since BeagleBoard was born five years ago, the four open-source BeagleBoard.org platforms (BeagleBoard, BeagleBoard-xM, BeagleBone, and, most recently, BeagleBone Black) have made a deep impact on the open-source world. They have enabled fun and functional projects, including superhero costumes, robots, and home automation gadgets.


    • MinnowBoard: First open-source PC with x86 processor
      The PC, called the MinnowBoard, is basically a motherboard with no casing around it. It was codeveloped by Intel and CircuitCo Electronics, a company that specializes in open-source motherboards, and went on sale this month for US$199 from a handful of retailers.


    • Tiny rugged mini-PC runs Linux on dual-core 1.6GHz Atom
      Aaeon announced the availability of a rugged, Linux-compatible embedded controller computer that measures only 4.9 x 3.0 x 0.73 inches. The AEC-6401 Compact Embedded Controller runs on a dual-core, 1.6GHz Intel Atom N2600 processor, offers an SSD bay, provides gigabit Ethernet, USB, HDMI and serial connectivity, and supports -20 to 40€°C fanless operation.


    • Phones



      • Android



        • Zeebox Serves as Tonto to Second-Screen Lone Rangers
          Zeebox pitches itself as a "TV sidekick" that helps you discover new shows and learn more about shows you're already familiar with. I found the experience similar to that obtained in a Twitter session with a Twitter hashtag, where you follow based on hashtag as the show plays out. One difference with Zeebox is that it has a built-in schedule -- you can see upcoming shows without leaving the app.


        • Samsung at work on dual-screen 'Galaxy Folder' -- report
          The Folder is a flip phone that comes with a dual-sided touch screen, according to a manual discovered on Samsung's site.


        • Android-Ubuntu Edge Superphone: What's Canonical's End Game?
          Is the Ubuntu Edge, the Linux-powered "superphone" that Canonical hopes to develop through a crowdsourced funding campaign, a dying prospect? Maybe. But that doesn't mean the project hasn't already succeeded in significantly advancing Canonical's goals in the smartphone and mobile-device market. Here's why.


        • Cheaper Moto X in the works says Motorola CEO, will it be Moto X Mini?
          According to the current industry trend, smartphone makers are releasing a cheaper, ‘Mini’ version of their flagship devices. We had HTC One Mini and Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini, now Motorola is said to be making a cheaper version of the Moto X that was released yesterday, will it be the Moto X Mini?


        • Say hello to PiCast, the open source solution to Chromecast using a Raspberry Pi
          There is a lot to love about the Chromecast. It lets you stream your browser, your desktop, and a number of apps directly to your TV with little more than a $35 dongle that plugs into HDMI on your TV. However, lately, a few problems have arisen. For one, it’s really difficult to find one unless you’re willing to wait weeks for the next stock to come in. Additionally, the root method that was discovered over at XDA has since been patched. So Google isn’t letting everyone play fast and loose with their new dongle. It’s still a great device, but it’s not perfect and now there is an alternative called PiCast.


        • Moto X on AT&T and Verizon will have locked boot loader
          If you were planning to get a wooden phone, whole boot loader you can unlock without using an axe, you are going to get very very disappointed.


        • Nvidia Shield: shipped, praised, critiqued, dissected
          Nvidia began shipping its Nvidia Shield handheld gaming console, which runs Android 4.2.1 on a 1.9GHz Tegra 4 SoC, for $300. Early reviews praised the device on just about every level except for its weight and price, and the lack of decent Tegra-optimized Android games, while an iFixit teardown found an internal design unlike anything it had ever seen.


        • Android's seven best new security features and one lingering security problem
          Android 4.3 added significant new security features, and Google has also added two other new security features to older versions of Android. Now, if only the carriers and OEMs would patch the Bluebox security hole every Android user would be happier.


        • Facebook Brings Home’s Lockscreen Replacement To Their Main Android App — A Bad Sign For Home?
          Four months after the launch of Facebook Home, which aimed to turn every Android phone into the long-rumored Facebook Phone, the company is starting to bring certain Home features into their primary app with an update today. In other words, bits and pieces of Home are coming to the main app… without requiring anyone to actually download Home.


        • Black Hat: Android Master Key Vulnerability Makes Us Safer
          Today at the Black Hat Security conference, Forristal delivered a talk that detailed precisely what the Android master key vulnerability is all about. As Forristal explained, Google's Android had multiple vulnerabilities in how the operating system verifies JAR/ZIP/APK files, which run on Android devices.


        • The new Moto X is 'always listening' - and so is the NSA!
          New phone, new spy-software






    • Sub-notebooks/Tablets







Free Software/Open Source



Leftovers



Recent Techrights' Posts

Hopefully Slopwatch is Dying
Some of the offending sites we used to keep abreast of descended into a lull
 
Links 06/12/2025: Science, Hardware, and Slop Fatigue
Links for the day
Contact Your National Representatives (Delegates) at the EPO, Here Are All the E-mail Addresses
We'll say more about this next week
Links 06/12/2025: Panic in the Slop (Chatbots) Industry and Perplexity Sued by New York Times for Plagiarising Articles Under Guise of "AI"
Links for the day
European Patent Office Issues: Points to Raise or Factoids to Share With Delegates of the EPO's Administrative Council
use their native language/tongue
European Readers, Get Ready to Contact Your National Representatives (Delegates) in the EPO's Administrative Council
Perfect timing might be Sunday or Monday
Why We'll Continue Our IBM/Red Hat Focus in 2026
There will be many more departures not only later this month but also next month
Links 06/12/2025: Slop's "Jeopardy Phenomenon" and RAM Shortage
Links for the day
Gemini Links 06/12/2025: Memories, "Sweetness and Burn", and Hope
Links for the day
Every Site That Uses Clownflare Had Worse Downtime/Uptime Record Than Ours
And the same goes for Azure and AWS
Software Freedom Conservancy (SFC) Does Not Work for Freedom, It Works to Secure the Massive Salary of Its President And Executive Director
We must be very effective then
Why (and When) I Become an 'Activist' Against Corruption and Abuse
The dictatorship bans criticism of the dictatorship. That's when there's a deadlock.
EPO Call for Action: Get Ready to Contact Your National Delegates, We Need to Remind Them That They Represent People
Today or tomorrow we'll publish contact details for national representatives in nearly 50 European nations
Links 05/12/2025: More Restrictions on Social Control Media and Slop, "Hype Can Turn to Backlash"
Links for the day
Like With Red Hat and Other IBM Acquisitions, the RAs (Layoffs) Seem to Already Extend to HashiCorp
Of course it is possible that HashiCorp staff just got PIP'ed or saw the writings on the wall and left [...] IBM is just a dying giant
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, December 05, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, December 05, 2025
Massachusetts Institute of Theft (MIT) Nowadays in the Business of Selling SPAM to Prop Up Fashionable Pyramid Schemes
There is nothing benign about it, more so when they misuse the MIT brand to lend credibility to elaborate schemes or scams
Many IBM Departures Today (Last Friday)
Way to go, IBM leadership
The Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation Has More Reasons Than Cocainegate to Vote for Real Change in the European Patent Office
This is about democracy and accountability in Europe
Gemini Links 05/12/2025: Need for Simpler Systems, Molecular Dynamics, and More
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Not Much Today, Same as in Recent Weeks
Google News got 'conned' (maybe willingly) by one operator of several (at least 3) slopfarms that trash "Linux"
On IBM: "More Layoffs in Minnesota Are Coming" (Unverified Hearsay, for Now)
IBM is having loads of layoffs before the holidays
Links 05/12/2025: Openwashing by Microsoft's 'Open Source' Initiative, Unauthorised War Without Boundaries/Borders Waged by US
Links for the day
Finnish Politician Aura Salla Says Finland Must Dump Microsoft, Citing Security and Control Reasons, Not Costs
She says Finland should quit using Microsoft
Does This Pass the NDA "Sniff Test" at IBM?
In many companies, those who suck up to management get ahead
Links 05/12/2025: Slop Harming Democracy/Elections, More Bans Around the World on Kids' Use of Social Control Media
Links for the day
IBM Has No Layoffs, According to IBM, and According to the Media Parroting IBM
Another day of parrots (losers) who call themselves "journalists"
IBM Will Make You Unemployed On Christmas Eve
lists of people to cull
Within Weeks, Clownflare Has Collapsed Again, Time to Dump Clownflare
It's run by amateurs who, even if you maintain your site perfectly well, will render it inaccessible without prior notice
Cars Getting Worse and More Lethal
Who will be held accountable?
To "Take Back Control" Start With Actions Against 'Tech' (Mass Surveillance, Mass Censorship, Mass Control) Monopolies
collusion, price-fixing, a "cartel" of sorts
Beyond the Hype: Almost Nobody Uses Chatbots, Not Even 1% of Activity Online
3 years ago when Scam Altman (Microsoft) acted as if Google (search) was doomed a lot of the press got paid to pretend this was true
Rumour That Another IBM Round of Mass Layoffs (RAs) in Preparation Before the Current One is Even Completed
IBM still has strong brand recognition (because of its age and past might), but that won't last forever
Techrights Publication Pace to Increase Next Year
one is encouraged to stay indoors
Upgrading the Site
Debugging might be needed, so feedback helps
Why Microsoft is Panicking
Keep advocating (or "marketing") GNU/Linux to Vista 10 (or Vista 7) users... there are still over a billion of them "out there".
Web Developers in the US Can Already Disregard Mozilla, Firefox, and Firefox Users
"Last month, Firefox turned 21"
The Fate of "Blockchains" and "Metaverse" as a Sign of Things to Come for Slop ("AI")
Doesn't that tell us a lot about the modus operandi of these companies?
A Year After the Owner of X (Twitter) Performed Several Nazi Salutes on Stage the Germany-Based and Microsoft-Funded 'FSFE' Decides to Exit X (Twitter)
Will the real Free Software Foundation (FSF) follow suit?
EPO: What Comes Next
European media seems to have been sedated by soft bribes from cocaine addicts
Slopwatch: The Volume of Slop Has Certainly Gone Down a Lot Lately, Slop Image Providers Abandoned/Changed
It's a big improvement compared to past months
Thousands Laid Off at IBM, "Last Day" Yesterday
IBM is a dying company. This is a problem for Red Hat.
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, December 04, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, December 04, 2025
Gemini Links 05/12/2025: Espressif ESP32-C5 UEXT Module, Pixelfed, and the Web Getting Much Worse
Links for the day
Links 04/12/2025: "People Hooked on [Slop] Far Are More Likely to Experience Mental Distress", Monopolies in Europe, and "Blogging Makes Me Feel Like A Worse Writer"
Links for the day
Dr. Andy Farnell: Can we regain control (of technology)?
"Technology as spiralling mass hysteria has the unsettling potential to draw even rational sceptics like myself into disaffection"
Links 04/12/2025: "Hey Hi" Implosion and Half of Europeans See Cheeto Trump as Enemy of Europe
Links for the day
Communication Needs Open Standards and Open Data
Standards are imperative
The "Hey Hi" House of Cards
The "Hey Hi" bubble is living on borrowed time (days or weeks) and it can implode any time now
Supporting the Free Software Foundation (FSF) Also Supports GNU Development
The FSF is mostly raising money to pay salaries
IBM's "AK Sez" Campaign
In today's media, to be characterised as important and smart one needn't be important and smart
Microsoft's Vista 11 Not Gaining, Just Plateauing or Even Going Down (Over Time)
"Desktop Windows version Market Share Worldwide"
Bubbles Popping, "Hey Hi" (AI) a Passing Fad
"Microsoft slides amid report it's cutting software sales quotas tied to AI"
At The Register MS, "Exclusive Webinar" Means Sponsored Video Ad Disguised as an Article
Why would one choose to watch these?
IBM Forces Staff to Sign an NDA If They Want Severance Package, in Effect Bribing Them or Denying Them Money They're Entitled to If They 'Disparage' IBM
We wrote about the legality or illegality of this in relation to Microsoft two years ago
IBM and Red Hat Not Done With 2025 Layoffs ("RAs") Yet
IBM isn't quite done laying off people this year, with only 3 weeks till Christmas
Gemini Links 04/12/2025: Christmas Looms, Devuan, and Programming
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, December 03, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, December 03, 2025