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Links 18/9/2021: LibreOffice 8.0 Plans and Microsoftcosm Uses WSL to Badmouth 'Linux'



  • GNU/Linux

    • Audiocasts/Shows

    • Kernel Space

      • #TGIQF – The quiz about the 30th Linux birthday

        The first version of the Linux open source operating system appeared 30 years ago. The former nerd system has turned into a versatile software substructure that now exists in a wide variety of application areas and hundreds of distributions that now run on billions of devices every day. Starting with conventional computers and servers, it has spread over the decades via Android to smartphones, smartwatches, on-board computers in cars and even industrial and rocket technology.

        The 22-year-old software developer Linus Torvalds, who was significantly involved in the creation of the first Linux version, is also the inventor of Git, the free version management software. More than a million commits were received in the Linux versions by August 2020 – over ten every hour and the trend is rising.

      • Linux 5.14.6
        I'm announcing the release of the 5.14.6 kernel.
        
        

        All users of the 5.14 kernel series must upgrade.

        The updated 5.14.y git tree can be found at: git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-stable.git linux-5.14.y and can be browsed at the normal kernel.org git web browser: https://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-s...

        thanks,

        greg k-h
      • Linux 5.13.19
      • Linux 5.10.67
      • Linux turns 30: Success factors then and now [Ed: Automated translation]

        Congratulations on your 30th Linux! You saw the light of day on Friday thirty years ago, after Linus Torvalds had previously announced that you would appear on August 25th. You have retained some rough edges from your early days to this day. Don’t worry if someone holds them against you: critics often fail to realize that some of them are the reason for your triumph. On the anniversary, it is therefore a good idea to take a closer look at some of your characteristic properties.

      • DRM Driver Posted For AI Processing Unit - Initially Focused On Mediatek SoCs - Phoronix

        BayLibre developer Alexandre Bailon has posted a "request for comments" of a new open-source Direct Rendering Manager (DRM) driver for AI Processing Unit (APU) functionality. Initially the driver is catering to Mediatek SoCs with an AI co-processor but this DRM "APU" driver could be adapted to other hardware too.

        Alexandre Bailon sums up this DRM AI Processing Unit driver as "a DRM driver that implements communication between the CPU and an APU. This uses VirtIO buffer to exchange messages. For the data, we allocate a GEM object and map it using IOMMU to make it available to the APU. The driver is relatively generic, and should work with any SoC implementing hardware accelerator for AI if they use support remoteproc and VirtIO."

      • Apple M1 USB Type-C Linux Support Code Sent Out For Testing - Phoronix

        he latest patches sent out for review/testing on the long mission for enabling Apple M1 support on Linux is the USB Type-C connectivity.

        Sven Peter has sent out the initial USB Type-C enablement work for the Apple ACE1/2 chips used by Apple M1 systems. In turn this Apple design is based on the TI TPS6598x IP but various differences. The Linux kernel support is being added onto the existing TIPD driver.

      • Graphics Stack

        • AMD + Valve Focusing On P-State / CPPC Driver With Schedutil For Better Linux Efficiency - Phoronix

          As reported at the start of August, AMD and Valve have been working on Linux CPU performance/frequency scaling improvements with the Steam Deck being one of the leading motivators. As speculated at that time, their work would likely revolve around use of ACPI CPPC found with Zen 2 CPUs and newer. Published last week was that AMD P-State driver for Linux systems indeed now leveraging CPPC information. AMD formally presented this new driver yesterday at XDC2021.

    • Applications

      • Top 20 Open-source solutions for Photographers

        In today world, editing photos is a critical component in the overall photography process, and it was taken a new level of importance.

        As demand continues to rise and the market is filled with plenty of capable options, we will suggest top 20 apps to enhance your photography workflow.

        We take many free high-quality photo editors without having to pay for an expensive program to edit your image like a pro.

      • EasyEffects (Formerly PulseEffects) – Apply Audio Effects to PipeWire Apps

        The popular audio manipulation tool, PulseEffects, finally adds supports for PipeWire sound server by re-naming to EasyEffects.

        EasyEffects is a GTK4 app designed for only PipeWire sound server. For PulseAudio, default sound service in current Ubuntu releases, PulseEffects is still available.

        The UI looks almost same as before, and it may apply effects including Auto gain, Bass enhancer, Bass loudness, Compressor, Convolver, Crossfeed, Crystalizer, De-esser, Echo Canceller, Equalizer, Exciter, Expander, Filter, Gate, Limiter, Loudness, Maximizer, Multiband compressor, Multiband gate, Noise reduction, Pitch, Reverberation, Stereo tools.

      • Mike Gabriel: X2Go, Remmina and X2GoKdrive



        In this blog post, I will cover a few related but also different topics around X2Go - the GNU/Linux based remote computing framework.

        Introduction and Catch Up

        For those, who haven't come across X2Go, so far... With X2Go [0] you can log into remote GNU/Linux machines graphically and launch headless desktop environments, seamless/published applications or access an already running desktop session (on a local Xserver or running as a headless X2Go desktop session) via X2Go's session shadowing / mirroring feature.

        Graphical backend: NXv3

        For several years, there was only one graphical backend available in X2Go, the NXv3 software. In NXv3, you have a headless or nested (it can do both) Xserver that has some remote magic built-in and is able to transfer the Xserver's graphical data to a remote client (NX proxy). Over the wire, the NX protocol allows for data compression (JPEG, PNG, etc.) and combines it with bitmap caching, so that the overall result is a fast and responsive desktop experience even on low latency and low bandwidth connections. This especially applies to X desktop environments that use many native X protocol operations for drawing windows and widget onto the screen. The more bitmaps involved (e.g. in applications with client-side rendering of window controls and such), the worse the quality of a session experience.

        The current main maintainer of NVv3 (aka nx-libs [1]) is Ulrich Sibiller. Uli has my and the X2Go community's full appreciation, admiration and gratitude for all the work he does on nx-libs, constantly improving NXv3 without breaking compatibility with legacy use cases (yes, FreeNX is still alive, by the way).

      • The 8 Best Wireless Penetration Testing Tools for Linux

        Wi-Fi penetration tools aid cybersecurity analysis by delving deeper into the details of the security framework. Before hackers use these tools to infiltrate your system, it is a wise decision to examine your network for any such vulnerabilities.

        For this purpose, many organizations are beginning to use Wi-Fi penetration testing tools to uncover the vulnerabilities on their wireless networks. Read on to know some of the potent and popular Wi-Fi penetration tools.

    • Instructionals/Technical

      • How to Install VirtualBox on Debian 11 (Bullseye)

        As we all know that VirtualBox is a free virtualization tool which allows us to install and run multiple virtual machines of different distributions at the same time. VirtualBox is generally used at desktop level where geeks used to create test environment inside the virtual machines.

        Recently Debian 11 (bullseye) is released with latest updates and improved features. In this post, we will cover how to install VirtualBox and its extension pack on Debian 11 system.

      • How To Install Opera Browser on Debian 11 - idroot

        In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Opera Browser on Debian 11. For those of you who didn’t know, Opera is one of the most popular cross-platform web browsers in the world. Opera offers many useful features such as free VPN, AdBlocker, integrated messengers, and private mode help you browse securely and smoothly. Share files instantly between your desktop and mobile browsers and experience web 3.0 with a free crypto wallet.

        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 through the step-by-step installation of Opera Web Browser on a Debian 11 (Bullseye).

      • Get your Own URL Shortening Service With YOURLS and Raspberry PI

        Online URL shortening are services able to transform a long, hard to manage url into a shorter one, usually composed by a domain ana a short casual string (the most famous being Bitly, Adfly and Shortest). With YOURLS and Raspberry PI you can create your own, private shortening service

        In this tutorial, I’m going to show you how to install and configure YOURLS with a Raspberry PI computer board and publish it. Please note that this can’t be performed with a Raspberry PI Pico as it is a microncotroller and not a Linux computer.

        YOURLS stands for Your Own URL Shortener. It is an open source software, running on a LAMP server and using a small set of PHP scripts that allow you to run your own URL shortening service.

      • How to play Orcs Must Die! 2 on linux

        Create your own, self hosted url shortener service with YOURLS and Raspberry PI. Step-by-step guide to have it working in a very few time

      • Configure External RAID on Ubuntu/Centos/RedHat - Unixcop

        RAID: Stands For Redundant Array Of Independent Disks (Hardware Raid) or Redundant Array Of Inexpensive Disks (Software Raid) and that is technology that keeps data redundant to avoid data loss if any disk falls or is corrupted .

      • Don’t like Visual Studio Code? Try these 5 Alternatives Apps - itsfoss.net [Ed: Some of the 'alternatives' are also Microsoft and also proprietary software. Rather awful list...]

        When it comes to programming, we are going to need a plain text editor that allows us to easily modify files or take notes. One of the most complete and professional tools is Visual Studio Code. Although this Microsoft program is not indicated for users with little experience, so, if it is our case, surely we want to know what the best alternatives are.

        Anyone can download Virtual Studio Code, since it is completely free, but without a doubt, it has been designed to be used by programmers. In this field we find many other good options for professional work, especially if we are interested in knowing anything about a program developed by Microsoft.

      • How to Access BBSes in Linux Using Telnet

        In the '80s and early '90s, the most popular way to get online in the US was through Bulletin Board Systems or BBSes.

        While they're nowhere near as numerous as they were during their mid-90s heyday, there are still hobbyists operating these systems scattered around the world. And you can access them from Linux, without a dial-up modem.

      • How to solve the undefined variable/index/offset PHP error - Anto ./ Online

        This guide will you how to solve the notice undefined variable, index, or offset error that you are experiencing in PHP. This error is easy to spot in the warning and error message logs. Consequently, you will typically see a descriptive error message like this...

      • Missing Standard Apps on elementary OS and Guide To Install Them

        elementary OS is a fast replacement to Windows or macOS. It comes with basic apps you need without ones you don't. Because of that, several standard apps like LibreOffice not included by default. This article presents you the apps and guide to install them to help you every time you have new elementary OS. We hope this would be useful to you!

      • How to install Deltarune Chapter 2 on a Chromebook

        Today we are looking at how to install Deltarune Chapter 2 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.

      • How to Install Spotify on Ubuntu 20.04 Linux

        Spotify is an on-demand music company that gives us access to listen to millions of songs and podcasts for a monthly fee. It has been a revolution in music consumption on the Internet. The right music or podcast is always at your fingertip You can access it on your phone, your computer, your tablet, and more.

        Some of the most prominent features of Spotify are Equalizer, Listening history, Spotify Connect, Search, Listen offline and you can also listen offline. You can visit the official site to learn more about the features. Spotify is available for Android, iOS, and Windows. A great sign that Linux is also being taken into account. There is a Spotify client for the Linux family and mainly for Ubuntu 20.04 which is perhaps one of the most popular distributions.

      • How to Completely Uninstall Google Chrome From Ubuntu

        So, you managed to install Google Chrome on Ubuntu. It is the most popular web browser in the world, after all.

        But perhaps you dislike Google products for the heavy tracking and data mining they employ on its users. You decided to opt for other web browsers on Ubuntu, perhaps a non-Chromium browser.

        Now that you are no longer using it, it would be wise to remove Google Chrome from Ubuntu.

      • How to uninstall applications in GNU / Linux - itsfoss.net

        Either because the latest program we installed does not convince us, or because we are determined to ‘lighten up’ our equipment, it is important to know how we can uninstall software (or rather, using the correct terminology, ‘packages’) from our Linux system .

        However, one thing we should know about Linux is that there is not just one way to uninstall (or install, since we are) packages , but multiple. In the first place, it will differ according to the distribution we are using, and secondly according to how we prefer to carry out this task using graphical tools or the command line terminal.

      • How To Install Apache Airflow on Ubuntu 20.04 - idroot

        In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Apache Airflow on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. For those of you who didn’t know, Airflow is one of the most popular workflow management solutions, it authors, schedules, and monitors workflows. Airflow is written in Python, and workflows are created via Python scripts. Airflow is designed under the principle of “configuration as code”.

        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 the Apache Airflow workflows management tool on Ubuntu 20.04 (Focal Fossa). You can follow the same instructions for Ubuntu 18.04, 16.04, and any other Debian-based distribution like Linux Mint.

      • How to Install Cockpit on AlmaLinux 8 or Rocky Linux 8

        The Cockpit is an open-source web-based server management tool that allows administrators to manage and monitor their Linux server systems remotely. It provides a nice Dashboard to administer your Linux servers from a web browser.

        With Cockpit, you can check the system performance, the load, start/stop services, disk space, CPU & memory usage, running process, and more. One notable feature of Cockpit is that you can access the terminal from the dashboard and install various packages over the remote server.

      • Perfect Server Automated ISPConfig 3 Installation on Debian 10 and Ubuntu 20.04

        This tutorial will take you through installing your own ISPConfig 3 single server setup using the ISPConfig auto-installer. This installer follows the old Perfect Server guides but is more modular and easy to follow. If you want to set up a multiserver setup with dedicated servers for each service instead, see the Perfect Multiserver guide. This guide works for both Debian 10 and Ubuntu 20.04. We will use the hostname server1.example.com. Replace it where necessary.

      • Auto Logout Inactive Users After A Period Of Time In Linux - OSTechNix

        This brief tutorial explains three different ways to auto logout inactive users after a particular period of time in Linux and Unix-like systems.

        Picture this scenario. You are managing a shared server that is regularly being accessed by many users from all systems in the network.

        There are chances that some user may forget to logout his session and left the session open. Leaving an user session open is dangerous and some users may misuse it intentionally.

      • 13 Top Command In Linux (Monitor Linux Server Processes) | LinuxTeck

        In this article, we will learn how to monitor running processes on Linux. The Linux OS offers several commands that can be used to monitor a running process, but for checking dynamic real-time processes, we can use a command called 'TOP. This tool enables System Administrators to determine how fully real-time processes are utilized by their current system.

        With every Linux distribution, the 'top' utility comes pre-installed. We can utilize the interactive command to see the summary of the current system stats, and also customize the list of processes, threads, and many other features. This guide shows you how to use the top with various options to view all the current system activities. System administrators will be able to manage system resources as well as optimize their hardware utilization by analyzing uptime, CPU usage, memory utilization, swap space usage, load average, and all the other processes that are running on their system to ascertain how much real-time processing is being used.

    • Games

      • Steam Next Fest gets a fresh trailer ahead of the event on October 1 | GamingOnLinux

        Steam Next Fest is fast approaching with it set to go live on October 1 so Valve has made a fresh trailer to give a little tease on what to expect from it.

      • What is Proton? | TechRadar

        You may have seen lots of mentions of Proton with the upcoming launch of the Steam Deck handheld game console, but what is it, and how does it work?

        Proton is a piece of software created by Valve and CodeWeavers that acts as a compatibility layer that allows games designed for the Windows 10 and Windows 11 operating systems to run in Linux with a minimal impact on performance. Proton is based on the existing WINE tool, which allowed Windows applications to run in Linux, with Valve and CodeWeavers taking the tech and using it to specifically run games.

        This is incredibly useful, as the vast majority of games are coded for Windows, due to the sheer popularity of Microsoft’s operating system.

        Linux, a free and open-source operating system, is relatively niche, which meant that many game developers couldn’t – or wouldn’t – spend resources on making a port of their games to run natively on Linux.

      • Neptune 15 v2 from Juno is a Linux Gaming Laptop with 240 Hz Display

        The Neptune 15″ V2 from Juno Computers is powered by Intel’s 10th-gen Comet Lake chipsets, and can be configured with up to 64GB of RAM.

        Nowadays, it is a little difficult to choose a perfect Linux gaming laptop, but it is not impossible to get it. As well as, these laptops are prepaid with full advantages like an additional graphic card with a brilliant CPU.

        In fact, some of the best Linux gaming laptops offer up the same durability and premium design as their Windows counterparts. They’ll also cost less since there’s no Windows license included with the laptop.

      • Humble has a nice looking VR bundle if you need some more games | GamingOnLinux

        Do you have a VR kit that's begging to be played? Check out the Fall VR Emporium Bundle over on Humble Bundle. Sadly, there's not many native / supported Linux VR games and so you're going to need Steam Play Proton to enjoy this set of games.

    • Desktop Environments/WMs

      • K Desktop Environment/KDE SC/Qt

        • KDE Sees Another Big Batch Of Plasma Wayland Improvements - Phoronix

          Along with releasing Plasma 5.23 Beta this week, KDE developers have been busy on driving in a bunch of Plasma Wayland fixes and other refinements to their stack.

          This week was yet another busy push of Plasma Wayland fixes ahead of next month's official v5.23 release. Among the changes this week were:

          - KWin will no longer crash the Plasma Wayland session when disconnecting a Bluetooth drawing tablet.

        • Plasma 5.23 Anniversary Edition Beta available for testing

          Are you using Kubuntu 21.04 Hirsute Hippo, our current Stable release? Or are you already running our development builds of the upcoming 21.10 Impish Indri?

          We currently have Plasma 5.22.90 (Plasma 5.23 Anniversary Edition Beta) available in our Beta PPA for Kubuntu 21.04, and 21.10 development series.

          However this is a beta release, and we should re-iterate the disclaimer from the upstream release announcement...

        • Using KNotifications in QML

          KDE Frameworks provides a cross-platform notification API, and with a proposed change still in review this would also become directly usable from QML.

      • GNOME Desktop/GTK

        • The Truth they are not telling you about “Themes”

          Before we start, let’s get this out of the way because the week long delirium on social media has dragged enough.

          Yes, libadwaita “hardcodes” Adwaita. Yes, applications, as is, will not be following a custom system theme. Yes this does improve the default behavior of application for GNOME when run on other platforms like Elementary OS. However, this is was the result of a technical limitation, and not some evil plot as Twitter will keep telling you…

          The reason is that in order for High Contrast (and the upcoming Dark Style) to work, libadwaita needs to override the theme name property so it doesn’t fallback to GTK’s “Default” High Contrast style. The “Default” style is an older version of Adwaita, not your system style.

          Compared to GTK 3, there isn’t a new way to enforce the “hardcoded” style. The GTK_THEME variable still works, as does gtk.css and probably 3 other ways of doing this. Likewise, if you are developing a distribution, you have control of the end product and can do anything you want with the code. There is a plethora of options available. Apparently complaining on social media and bullying volunteers into submission was one such option…

          And I guess this also needs to be stated: this change only affects apps that choose to use libadwaita and adopt the GNOME Design Guidelines, not “every” GTK 4 application.

          As usual, the fact that the themes keep working doesn’t mean they are supported. The same issues about restyling applications when they don’t expect it apply and GNOME can not realistically support arbitrary stylesheets that none of the contributors develop against and test.

    • Distributions

      • New Releases

        • Kali Linux 2021.3 is now more fun in VMs [Ed: Automated translation]

          The special distribution Kali Linux based on Debian GNU / Linux has been released in version 2021.3. The developers particularly emphasize that the system should now run better in virtual machines.

          As can be seen from a post In addition to various updates for the ARM architecture and a visual revision, the current version brings more support for older encryption algorithms. The Android version of the system, NetHunter, can now be installed on a smartwatch for the first time.

          Kali Linux is aimed at everyone who wants to track down and investigate security gaps in IT systems as part of their professional or private activities. It comes with a large number of preconfigured tools, the use of which is helpful or even necessary in the context of security analyzes.

      • IBM/Red Hat/Fedora

        • [IBM's IWB:] Why Our Judgements Are Often Flawed and What to Do About It

          A few weeks ago I listened to a very interesting Freakonomics podcast hosted by University of Chicago economist Steven Levitt. In the podcast, Why Our Judgment is Flawed — and What to Do About It, Levitt interviewed Daniel Kahneman about his recent book, Noise: A Flow in Human Judgement, co-authored with Olivier Sibony and Cass Sunstein. Kahneman is Professor of Psychology and Public Affairs Emeritus at Princeton University. In 2002, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics “for having integrated insights from psychological research into economic science, especially concerning human judgment and decision-making under uncertainty.”

          Thinking, Fast and Slow, Kahneman’s 2011 bestseller, was about the major discoveries by psychologists and cognitive scientists that have led to our current understanding of judgement and decision-making over the past several decades. Up to the 1970s, the prevailing view among social scientists was that people are generally rational and in control of the way they think and make decisions. It was thought that people only departed from rational behaviors because powerful emotions like fear, hatred or love distorted their judgement.

          These assumptions were challenged by the pioneering research of Kahneman and his long time collaborator Amos Tversky, who died in 1996. In a series of experiments, they demonstrated that human behavior often deviated from the predictions of the previous rational models, and that these deviations were due to the machinery of cognition, that is, to the biases and mental shortcuts or heuristics that we use for making everyday decisions, rather than to our emotional state.

        • redhat subscription alternative | Local Repo

          we need to know although redhat provide open source software products for enterprises but it have payment subscription to install packages and updates in RedHat Enterprise Linux distribution and that supports diverse workloads in physical, virtualized and cloud environments , RHEL editions are available for servers, mainframe, SAP applications, desktops and OpenStack.

    • Devices/Embedded

    • Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

      • World Free Software Day: why it is celebrated today and what are the advantages of these programs [Ed: Automated translation]

        Linux, Firefox, WordPress and even the very popular Android are, each in their own way, examples of the software free. Today is celebrating the move that involves a specific way of distributing and using computer programs: just like every third Saturday in September since the Free Software Day.

        The event arose in 2004 and on the occasion it was held on August 28, but around 2006 the third Saturday of the ninth month of the year was set.

      • Web Browsers

        • Mozilla

          • Firefox could come to Ubuntu 21.10 in Snap format instead of Deb

            Canonical is willing to convert Snap, at least, into the new package format for Ubuntu applications (and if possible for the rest of the distributions ), so after the rivers of ink that ran through the Chromium case, now we comes a “sequel” with Firefox, which in Ubuntu 21.10 indicates that it will be served in Snap format .

          • Running the AWSY benchmark in the Firefox profiler — Paul Bone

            The are we slim yet (AWSY) benchmark measures memory usage. Recently when I made a simple change to firefox and expected it might save a bit of memory, it actually increased memory usage on the AWSY benchmark.

            We have lots of tools to hunt down memory usage problems. But to see an almost "log" of when garbage collection and cycle collection occurs, the Firefox profiler is amazing.

            I wanted to profile the AWSY benchmark to try and understand what was happening with GC scheduling. But it didn’t work out-of-the-box. This is one of those blog posts that I’m writing down so next time this happens, to me or anyone else, although I am selfish. And I websearch for "AWSY and Firefox Profiler" I want this to be the number 1 result and help me (or someone else) out.

            The normal instructions

      • SaaS/Back End/Databases

      • Productivity Software/LibreOffice/Calligra

        • LibreOffice 8.0 New tabbed interface layout available

          Muttakin Rizal ( Rizal Muttaqin ), one of the designers LibreOffice office suite, has published in his blog, the user interface possible development plan LibreOffice 8.0. The most notable innovation is the built-in support for tabs, through which you can quickly switch between different documents, similar to how switching between sites is carried out in modern browsers.

          If necessary, each tab can be unpinned in the form of a separate window, or vice versa, convert the window into a tab. It is also possible to collapse all tabs into a drop-down list accessible by pressing the “^” button. The header also shows a LibreOffice button to launch the initial interface, which was previously shown when starting or closing all documents, to open a file, visually evaluate recently opened documents, or create a new document based on a template.

      • CMS

      • FSF

        • GNU Projects

          • GIMP 2.10.28 is Here as a Bugfix Release, Version 2.10.26 Was Skipped

            GIMP 2.10.28 features all of the usual stuff like bug fixes and performance adjustments mainly aimed at Windows users.

            Whenever anyone asks for a free alternative to Adobe Photoshop, GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is always the first app that people talk about. It is a bitmap/pixel-based image manipulation program for photo editing and retouching and creating images and animations.

            Today open source image editor GIMP has been updated to version 2.10.28. Because GIMP 3.0 is pretty far away from becoming a stable release, we recommend that you stick with the new 2.10.28 release for now if you use GIMP regularly and you do not want random crashes or unexpected behavior.

      • Programming/Development

        • Java

          • Oracle Releases Java 17
          • Oracle Releases Java 17, Here’s All The Latest Updates
          • Oracle Releases Java 17

            Oracle today announced the availability of Java 17, the latest version of the world’s number one programming language and development platform. Java 17 delivers thousands of performance, stability, and security updates, as well as 14 JEPs (JDK Enhancement Proposals) that further improve the Java language and platform to help developers be more productive.

            Java 17 is the latest long-term support (LTS) release under Java’s six-month release cadence and is the result of extensive collaboration between Oracle engineers and other members of the worldwide Java developer community via the OpenJDK Community and the Java Community Process (JCP). Since the previous JDK 11 LTS released three years ago, over 70 JEPs have been implemented.

          • Oracle Releases Java 17
          • Oracle releases Java 17

            Oracle has announced the availability of Java 17, which delivers thousands of performance, stability, and security updates, as well as 14 JEPs (JDK Enhancement Proposals).

            Java 17 is the latest long-term support (LTS) release under Java’s six-month release cadence and is the result of extensive collaboration between Oracle engineers and other members of the worldwide Java developer community via the OpenJDK Community and the Java Community Process (JCP). Since the previous JDK 11 LTS released three years ago, over 70 JEPs have been implemented.

          • Oracle makes JDK free

            Oracle this week made Oracle JDK “available for free,” for personal, commercial and production use, including quarterly security updates, for a limited time.

          • Oracle Releases Java 17

            Next Java long-term support release delivers thousands of updates, further improving the language and platform to help developers be more productive Oracle JDK 17 gives customers security, performance, and bug-fix updates through September 2029

          • Java 17 dons features for safe, concise code; Oracle changes JDK licensing, pushes for more frequent LTS releases

            Java 17 reference implementation JDK 17 as well as GPL-licensed OpenJDK builds have been made available this week. The first long-term support release in three years sports 14 JEPs and is meant to improve not only the language but also the way it interacts with external functions and data.

            To make the programming language a little more intuitive to use, Java 17 includes a preview of a pattern-matching feature for switch expressions and statements. Up until now developers could use switch for limited types only and were restricted to constants for their case labels, which often made more complex queries tricky to construct (and read). Allowing patterns in labels and introducing new patterns altogether is therefore hoped to help devs in formulating more concise code for such scenarios.

          • Oracle Releases Java 17, Here's All The Latest Updates
          • Oracle Java 17 released under a free-to-use license [Ed: That's not what the licence is or says]

            Oracle announced the availability of Java 17, the latest version of the world’s number one programming language and development platform.

    • Standards/Consortia

      • Improving the New York Times’ line wrap balancer

        I looked into options to improve the breaking points for line wrapping on the web. I found a few “text balancer” programs that use different methods to even out the number of words per line on the fewest number of lines possible. I wasn’t happy with any of them, but ended up improving on the New York Times’ text balancer. It wasn’t how I imagined spending my weekend.

        Web browsers follow a simple algorithm for laying out text: one word after the other, and wrap onto a new line when there’s no more room on the current line. It’s fast and produces good enough results in most cases. However, it doesn’t guarantee an even distribution of words and you can end up with a single word on a line by itself (known as a “widow”).

        An uneven distribution of words can make the design heavier on one side; making it unbalanced. It can be a small eye-sore at the end of a large paragraph of text. However, it draws unwanted attention to itself when it appears in a headline and other large type.

        The simplest solution is to rewrite the text until you get a better fit. However, you can’t rely on rewriting a text to get a perfect fit for every visitor. The fit will depend on the screen size and the font and platform (or require a webfont). You also end up doing more work and possibly awkward wording for the sake of the design.

        A text wrapping balancer is a program that tries to more evenly distribute words over multiple lines. There are at least two dozen algorithms used to achieve this. The most common one found on the web is the Adobe BalanceText project.

  • Leftovers

    • Integrity/Availability

    • Defence/Aggression

      • Eritrean and Tigrayan forces killed and raped refugees - HRW

        Eritrean soldiers and Tigrayan militias raped, detained and killed Eritrean refugees in Ethiopia’s northern region of Tigray, an international rights watchdog said on Thursday.

        Human Rights Watch's report detailed attacks around two camps in Tigray, where local forces have battled the Ethiopian government and their Eritrean allies since November in a conflict that has rocked the Horn of Africa region.

        Tens of thousands of Eritrean refugees live in Tigray, a mountainous and poor province of about 5 million people.

    • Censorship/Free Speech

      • Google extends right-to-be-forgotten to app permissions on older Android devices

        In December, Google plans to have app runtime permissions expire on older versions of Android for apps that haven't been opened for several months, extending the availability of a privacy protection feature introduced in Android 11.

        "In Android 11, we introduced the permission auto-reset feature," explained Google software engineers Peter Visontay and Bessie Jiang in a blog post on Friday. "This feature helps protect user privacy by automatically resetting an app’s runtime permissions – which are permissions that display a prompt to the user when requested – if the app isn’t used for a few months."

        That behavior is the default in Android 11 and in Android 12, expected in a few weeks. Come December, it will become the default in older versions of Android that rely on Google Play services, specifically Android 6 (API level 23) through Android 10 (API level 29).

    • Monopolies

      • WIPO Proof to end in 2022 after poor demand

        Director general Daren Tang told the CIPA Congress that WIPO should not be offering services that compete with the private sector

      • KOL357 | Free Man Beyond The Wall Ep. 631 with Pete Quiñones: Biden’s Mandate and Getting to a Hoppean Framework

        Pete and Stephan discuss the Constitutionality of Biden's vaccine mandate and then get into discussions about Hoppe's plan for local politics and how it can fight against overreach by the Feds.

      • Patents

        • Japan: The IP High Court has clarified that the Japanese Bolar exemption covers clinical testing for not only “generic” but also “innovator” drugs

          In the pharma industry, constant battles have been taking place for many decades between innovators and generics. More recently, battles among innovators have also started to occur. This post concerns a case which may have an impact on the development strategies of innovators, as well as licensing strategies of universities and public research institutions which do not commercialize patented drugs by themselves.

        • EPO welcomes new trainees, bids farewell to graduates [Ed: Funny that EPO mentions EUIPO, which is its EU corruption pipeline]

          During an online Commencement Ceremony held earlier today, the EPO welcomed a record intake of 117 new Pan-European Seal (PES) trainees from 50 universities in 27 member states and celebrated the valuable contribution made by the 77 graduates from the 2020/21 cohort. In his welcome address, EPO President António Campinos that extending the Programme partnerships to Europe's leading technical universities is an important step in integrating IP into technical and scientific education. He also highlighted the programme's growing success: and female trainees accounted for 60% of the 2020/21 cohort, underlining the EPO's commitment to diversity and social responsibility. The graduates were congratulated for their adaptability, resilience and above all their valuable contribution to the Office.

          [...]

          This year marks the seventh consecutive programme run jointly with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). The EPO and EUIPO work together with 94 partner universities in 35 member states and two extension states, to enhance IP education and to bridge the gap between academia and the labour market. It gives graduates the opportunity to experience work in a collaborative, multicultural environment, undertake challenging assignments, and build their professional networks. Despite the challenges faced with the pandemic, the programme continues to grow: fourteen new universities, including technical universities, joined this year and contributed to the highest-ever intake of trainees in its history.

        • EPO holds cloud event for IP offices [Ed: Corrupt EPO has put its head in the "clown", just like confidential data]

          The European Patent Network cloud event was held digitally on 15 September 2021. A total of 71 IT experts from national patent offices, as well as the World Intellectual Property Organization, European Union Intellectual Property Office and European Patent Institute, took part. The aim was to establish common ground on major topics affecting the European patent system when it comes to cloud security, service providers and operations.

          EPO Vice President for Corporate Services Nellie Simon opened the meeting by emphasising the central importance of the cloud to the EPO’s ongoing digital transformation and to the future success and sustainability of all IP offices. Ms Simon highlighted the opportunities that cloud technologies provide for delivering better, faster and more flexible services, as well as potentially greener IT solutions. Further insights into the range of secure and scalable solutions, as well as best practice at leading finance and public sector organisations throughout Europe, were presented by senior management from major cloud service providers.

        • Sonos withdraws PI application against Google in Hamburg

          Wireless sound systems manufacturer Sonos has apparently withdrawn its two preliminary injunction applications from the Hamburg patent courts. That Higher Regional Court Hamburg confirmed to JUVE Patent that Sonos withdrew its appeal against a negative decision from the Regional Court (case ID: 3 U 47/21). The latter court had not granted the PI against the German Google company.

          However, in the second case, the Hamburg Regional Court granted a PI against the European Google company in April. Google appealed the ruling (case ID: 3 U 74/21) and requested a stay of enforcement. But in June, the Hamburg Higher Regional Court rejected the initial application.

          Nevertheless, Google persisted and filed a second application. At that time, the written PI judgment of the first instance was unavailable. Google asked the court for a stay of enforcement following the court making the written judgment available. Now Sonos has withdrawn its PI application. This renders the PI against Google moot.

          [...]

          In Germany, Google claims that Sonos infringes its patents. As such, Google demanded that Sonos cease and desist. The wireless sound systems manufacturer immediately challenged both Google patents. The Federal Patent Court has not yet ruled on their validity.

          In March this year, with the consent of both parties, the Munich Regional Court suspended the lawsuit concerning EP 491 (case ID: 21 O 7264/20). Now, the court is waiting on the Federal Patent Court’s decision on the validity.

          In June, the Munich Regional Court handed down a first ruling, dismissing a lawsuit filed by Google (case ID: 21 O 7265/20). The court ruled that Sonos has not infringed Google’s EP 621. However, Google has appealed against the ruling.

        • Latest news on IP and coronavirus in Europe [Ed: JUVE'sAmy Sandys seems to be under the impression that copy-pasting press releases from gangsters who hijacked the EPO is "journalism"...]
        • Software Patents

          • Using File Prevalence To Inform Aggressiveness Of Behavioral Heuristics: Non-technical [Ed: Software patent litigation profiteers in Europe still looking for ways around the law]
            This decision relates to an European patent application for a method for adjusting an aggressiveness level to use in behavior based heuristics malware detection. Here are the practical takeaways from the decision T 2386/16 (MALWARE DETECTION USING FILE PREVALENCE TO INFORM AGRESSIVENESS OF ... of 27.4.2021 of Technical Board of Appeal 3.5.01...



          • Report suggests UKIPO-EPO dual filings for software patents

            Software patent applicants face different outcomes depending on whether they go to the UKIPO or EPO, according to a report published on Wednesday, September 15.

            The report by patent and trademark attorney firm Mewburn Ellis, which is based on applications filed at the UKIPO and EPO over a decade, recommended that applicants file in both offices.

            According to Mewburn’s report, eligibility issues were less likely to be raised by the EPO – yet in some scenarios, more favourable outcomes could be obtained at the UKIPO.

            The disparity was due, at least in part, to the different approaches taken by the two offices when examining software invention eligibility for patent protection.

            The report noted that the EPO used the Comvik approach, which coupled patent eligibility with the assessment of inventive step. This approach was clarified by the EPO’s Enlarged Board of Appeal in the G1/19 case in March, which centred on computer-implemented simulations.

            The UKIPO used the Aerotel-Macrossan test, which originated from a 2006 England and Wales Court of Appeal decision in Aerotel v Telco and Macrossan's Application.

            The report suggested that the two approaches should produce the same result but weren’t, and that applicants should consider a dual filing strategy in certain circumstances.

            Following such a strategy could be preferable, Mewburn noted, in situations where the inventions were of a high value, where UK protection was particularly important, and where inventive step arguments over known prior art were marginal.

            James Leach, partner at Mewburn Ellis, said: “It is difficult to predict with any certainty whether a given software invention will fare better at the UKIPO or EPO.

            “We have already seen anecdotal evidence that some large US tech companies are pursuing a dual filing strategy.”

      • Copyrights



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