-- Leo's gemini proxy

-- Connecting to gemini.techrights.org:1965...

-- Connected

-- Sending request

-- Meta line: 20 text/gemini;lang=en-GB


● 07.27.21


● Links 27/7/2021: New Godot Engine Beta and a Call for Funding of GIMP


Posted in News Roundup at 5:19 pm by Dr. Roy SchestowitzContentsGNU/LinuxDistributionsDevices/EmbeddedFree Software/Open SourceLeftovers

GNU/Linux


Linux Storage


↺ Micron Working On NVMe SSD Abrupt Shutdown Support For Linux – Phoronix


The NVMe specification provides for an abrupt shutdown mode over the normal/safe shutdown command if needing to quickly get the NVMe solid-state storage ready for powering off as quickly as possible. Currently the Linux kernel isn’t making use of the NVMe abrupt shutdown command but a proposal by Micron is looking to begin its usage.


A patch set sent out on Monday by a Micron engineer wires up the abrupt shutdown support for NVMe SSD. The initial use-case is over platforms with a very limited back-up power supply and if knowing a power loss is imminent, to perform the abrupt shutdown of the NVMe SSD.


↺ Linux as a computational storage panacea? – Open Source Insider


Linux is widely agreed to be key to the onward development of computational storage.


As we have noted before, computational storage enables a software and hardware system to offload and alleviate constraints on existing compute, memory and storage.


So given this proposition, how should software engineers identify, target and architect specific elements of the total processing workload to reside closer to computational storage disks (CSDs) and what role can Linux play in this process?


The open ecosystem of open source Linux has been lauded as a key facilitating technology to creating the secure containerisation principles that express key elements of computational storage.


Audiocasts/Shows


↺ Pop OS 21.04 – How It Makes Your Computer More PREMIUM (COSMIC DESKTOP!)


I used Pop!_OS 21.04 for a couple of weeks and I was thoroughly impressed with the new Cosmic desktop environment, the performance, and the overall computing experience I got from Pop OS.


↺ Do we have too many Linux distros, and is it really an issue?


↺ The Frankenstein Desktop


Benchmarks


↺ AMD AOCC 3.1 Compiler Performance On EPYC 7003 / Zen 3


Last week AMD released their AOCC 3.1 compiler that is their downstream of LLVM Clang/Flang and carrying various yet-to-be-upstreamed patches for benefiting their latest processors. While just a point release, curiosity got the best of me for firing up benchmarks of this latest AMD Optimizing C/C++ Compiler release.


[...]


Curious about any performance impact of AOCC 3.1, I ran some benchmarks of AOCC 3.1 against the prior AOCC 3.0 release. This benchmarking was using an AMD EPYC 7543 (Zen 3) 32-core/64-thread processor from the Tyan S8036GM2NE-LE server that I have been testing out the past number of weeks. This server was running Ubuntu 21.04. While testing both AOCC releases, “-O3 -march=znver3″ were the CFLAGS/CXXFLAGS specified while running a variety of C/C++ benchmarks on this official AMD compiler.


Instructionals/Technical


↺ Ubuntu JPG to PDF Conversion Process (includes OCR Function) – Linux Hint


This tutorial shows how to convert jpg and other image types to PDF, including the OCR function on Debian-based Linux distributions such as Ubuntu.


After reading this tutorial, you’ll know how to convert images to PDF using GUI and a command-line interface. The graphical way allows you to implement the OCR function, extracting images from images to generate editable PDF files.


↺ How to Install and Configure Prometheus Alert Manager on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS – Linux Hint


Prometheus Alert Manager is used to send alerts via email and other web services (i.e., PagerDuty, Slack, GitLab, WeChat) depending on the alert events generated on Prometheus. Prometheus can generate alerts when a target is unavailable and send them to the Alert Manager, sending you an email notification to let you know that a target is down. This is just an example. Prometheus can send alerts to Alert Manager depending on any Prometheus metrics. So, the possibilities are limitless.


In this article, I will show you how to install Prometheus Alert Manager on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. I will also show you how to configure Prometheus and Alert Manager to send you email notifications via Gmail when a Prometheus target is down (unavailable). So, let’s get started.


↺ How to SCP from Windows to Linux – Linux Hint


FTP is no longer considered safe enough to be used for usage on the internet. As a result, I’m trying to demonstrate to you SCP now. SCP is indeed a system that is built on the SSH protocol. As a result, you’ll require a user with SSH right to use the server. SSH keys can be used to make SCP connections, just like they can with SSH. Because some Windows clients may control Linux computers, I’ll additionally guide you to use the free application WinSCP to transmit files from Windows to Ubuntu server using SCP in the body of this tutorial.


↺ How to underline text in html – Linux Hint


Hypertext markup language (HTML) is a language that designs the front-end of any website, which can be static or dynamic. Websites that are present on the internet and are built online like Magento and WordPress also work on the basic principles of HTML. Like other programming languages, HTML also has commands known as tags, and these tags are written in angular brackets. Like any other text editor, HTML also allows adding text, images, videos, or any other item in the code. The basic content of HTML is text. Html includes many functions to apply to the text to enhance the feature of the design. Underlining the text is a basic and important feature use to design the text according to the demand and requirements of the website. If the text is underlined, it has something different to show or has a different impact on the reader. We will throw light on some of the content of underlining the text in this guide.


↺ How to make italics text in HTML – Linux Hint


Hypertext markup language (HTML) is a front-end language used to design and develop a website. HTML is the basic language of all languages used to design static or dynamic web pages. Html has many functions that are required in designing. With the help of tags, commands written in angular brackets, a web page is designed. HTML allows the user to create or edit text, image, or any other element like any text editor, i.e., Microsoft Word. The contents of HTML are text, image, color, design, etc. design is a very important part as it is responsible for decorating the text. Making the text italics is one example of designing the text. This element is important in emphasizing or driving the attention of the user. Some of the examples are highlighted in this tutorial.


↺ Guide to MySQL Encryption in Transit and Mandatory Encryption Settings – Linux Hint


By default, MySQL data transmission between the client and the server takes place without encryption. Unencrypted data transmission is acceptable only when the client and server are within the same network that ensures security. However, the data is at potential risk if both parties are on a separate network. The lack of encryption introduces a severe risk of data interception by man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack.


To overcome this risk, MySQL supports encryption in transit between the client and the server via TLS/SSL protocol. The article focuses on the manual generation of SSL certificates and keys files in MySQL to configure SSL. Later, the article also focuses on enabling obligatory encryption requirements from clients.


↺ How to purge Wine from Linux


If you’ve decided not to use Wine anymore on your Linux PC, you’ll probably want to know how to uninstall it and purge all Wine programs from your system. Sadly, if you’re a new user, there’s no built-in way to remove Wine from your system. Instead, you’ll have to do it manually. Here’s how.


Note: In this guide, we’ll show you exactly how you can remove Wine. We’ll cover the “wine” package. If you installed Wine on your Linux PC with a different package, you’re on your own.


↺ How do you get pods in Kubectl? – Linux Hint


A pod collects one or even more containers with common storage/network assets and a set of instructions for running them. So, in the most basic terms available, a pod is the process by which a container in Kubernetes is switched “on.” Although pods can accommodate numerous containers, it’s best to keep it to a minimum. Because pods are expanded as a whole, all containers in a pod must scale collectively, regardless of individual requirements. This results in a squander of resources. To combat this, pods should be kept as short as possible, typically containing only a main process and an interconnected helper container. However, Kubectl is a command-line tool for running Kubernetes cluster instructions. It accomplishes this by verifying your cluster’s Master Node and using API calls to explore a range of management tasks.


↺ How to install and use ADB and Fastboot on Ubuntu – Linux Hint


ADB (Android Debug Bridge) and Fastboot allow us to manage Android mobile devices from the computer. After reading this tutorial, you’ll know how to install and use ADB and Fastboot to control your Android cell phone.


↺ How to Install Oracle Java JDK 16 on Raspberry Pi – Linux Hint


Java Development Kit (JDK) is used to develop and test Java applications. It is used by Java developers all around the world. Recently, Oracle JDK 16 was released. A version of Oracle JDK 16 is available for Raspberry Pi as well.


In this article, I will show you how to install Oracle JDK 16 on Raspberry Pi 4. So, let’s get started


↺ A Beginner’s Guide to Kickstart – Linux Hint


When there are only one or two hosts to install, setting up Red Hat-based systems from virtual or physical media is simple. Furthermore, when a system administrator is required to set up numerous Linux computers, Kickstart can give a comparatively simple and fully automated approach. It is simple to set up countless alternative Kickstart settings, each with its configuration of deployment.


The topmost enterprises utilize Kickstart to deploy Red Hat server images that can then be tweaked as needed. For Kickstart, an administrator needs to set it up as a web server, at least one Kickstart configuration file, and an installation media. An active DHCP server is also required so that after obtaining a valid DHCP address, new clients can find their Kickstart server and get Kickstarted. Moreover, Kickstart utilizes different installation channels such as local media and NFS, etc.


↺ How to Get System Information With the uname Command on Linux


Whether you’re a developer working on a script that requires information related to the kernel or a regular user who’s just curious about their operating system, the uname command is the first choice when it comes to extracting system information.


Although uname is fairly easy to use, for beginners, the output of the command might seem sophisticated at first. To make it easier for you, this guide demonstrates how to use uname to print basic system-related information on Linux.


↺ How to Build a Raspberry Pi Cloud Server with ownCloud


Cloud storage is incredibly useful for accessing your data from any device. The downside is that you have to trust a corporation with the privacy and security of your precious documents and photos stored on remote servers.


There is an alternative, though: you can host your files on your very own cloud server running on a computer in your home or office. One of the most popular services for achieving this is ownCloud.


We’ll show you how to install ownCloud on a Raspberry Pi, attach external storage, and choose a suitable case.


↺ How to install Chrome browser on CentOS 7 or 8 Stream – Linux Shout


Chrome Browser is the popular one but unfortunately not available by default in the base repository of CentOS 8 or 7 because it is not an open-source project. Thus, in case you want it to install on your Linux, then we have to download the RPM packages available for Chrome from its official website. Then only we will be able to use it.


↺ Get a list of all available Linux commands that you can use


We’re all familiar with Linux’s command-line interface (CLI), which allows you to execute nearly any job you can think of by just typing commands into it. This is why we have such a lengthy list of commands for the various versions of Linux. We’ll go through the various techniques for showing all of the commands, functions, aliases, and keywords that your Linux terminal may run in today’s article.


↺ How to prevent a Linux system user from logging into the system


The shell setting in /etc/passwd determines whether a Linux system user may log in via the shell or over SSH. If you don’t want a certain user to be able to log in, set the shell to /bin/false or /sbin/nologin.


↺ How To Install Audacity on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS – idroot


In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Audacity on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. For those of you who didn’t know, Audacity is an easy-to-use, multi-track audio editor and recorder for Windows, Mac OS X, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems. Audacity in addition to allowing us to record multiple audio sources as well can allow us to post-process all types of audio, including podcasts, by adding effects such as normalization, clipping, and fading in and out. Developed by a group of volunteers as open source and offered free of charge. Amazing support community.


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 Audacity open-source audio editor 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 Sysdig to Monitor System Load on Ubuntu 20.04


Sysdig is an open-source and comprehensive activity monitoring tool for Linux. It is used to capture and analyze application logs and helps you to troubleshoot system-related issues. It displays a complete overview of CPU usage, Memory usage, Users, IO in a command-line interface. It is available for Linux, OS X, and Windows operating systems.


In this post, we will show you how to install and use the Sysdig monitoring tool on Linux.


↺ How to monitor your Linux server performance with Netdata – TechRepublic


Every data center admin understands the importance of monitoring servers. Things go wrong, and when they do, administrators need to be on top of things. That’s why every good admin is always on the lookout for a good monitoring tool. And Linux is rife with such things. Toss a stone into a pile of open-source software and you are certain to hit a monitor or twelve. And that’s a good thing, especially considering every one of those monitors approaches the task from a different perspective.


↺ The Draw Guide 7.1 has arrived!


LibreOffice Draw produces anything from a quick sketch to a complex plan, and gives the means to communicate with graphics and diagrams. With a maximum page size of 300cm by 300cm, Draw is an excellent package for producing technical drawings, brochures, posters and many other documents. Draw manipulates graphical objects, group them, crop them, use objects in 3D and much more.


“The Draw guide update is long due in the set of LibreOffice Guides and I am happy to have coordinated the effort to bring it to the community. LibreOffice Draw is a powerful vector drawing tool plenty of resources and the Guide is the most comprehensive text on the features. I hope the Draw community will thrive with this book.”


↺ How to Change Lock and Login Screen Wallpaper in elementary OS


This tutorial explains the steps you need to change lock and login screen background elementary OS. This will replace the default grey background.


Games


↺ Godot Engine – Dev snapshot: Godot 3.4 beta 2


It’s finally time for some extensive testing of the upcoming Godot 3.4 release, which is already quite feature-packed a mere 3 months after the 3.3 release!


And you read correctly, this is 3.4 beta 2, even though we never had a formal beta 1 announcement on this blog. 3.4 beta 1 is available for download for comparison purposes, but since it had a major regression on C# support on Windows, I skipped its blog post…


↺ Assemble Entertainment release an open letter on who they “don’t want” as a customer | GamingOnLinux


Catching up on some industry news, a statement from Assemble Entertainment’s Founder and CEO Stefan Marcinek entered our inbox recently and it’s quite a blunt one.


Assemble Entertainment are the publisher behind quite a few titles like Ultimate ADOM – Caverns of Chaos, ENCODYA, Pizza Connection 3, Endzone, Leisure Suit Larry – Wet Dreams Dry Twice and many more. The CEO, Stefan Marcinek, previously co-founded Kalypso Media and went onto found Assemble Entertainment in 2016 so they’ve been involved in the games industry for a long time now.


↺ Run your own talent agency in business sim Idol Manager out now on Steam | GamingOnLinux


Glitch Pitch and PLAYISM today released Idol Manager, a business strategy sim about conquering the entertainment industry using any means you deem necessary. It’s been in Beta for some time now with most of the game available via itch.io, however today sees the big 1.0 release with it now being on Steam too.


“You take on the role of manager at a small (but growing!) talent agency. As you cultivate and train the newest generation of young pop stars, you’ll have to decide who to hire and who to fire, who gets promoted when things go well and who gets reprimanded when things get sour. The personal lives of these young celebrities are a part of your business, and the life of a pop star isn’t always a happy one. Their crowning personal achievements can be your greatest commercial successes, but their emotional meltdowns and PR nightmares can spell financial disaster for your company.”


↺ Feral no longer porting A Total War Saga: TROY to Linux, citing less demand since Proton | GamingOnLinux


Well, the writing was on the wall for some time but this confirms it – it seems Feral Interactive aren’t likely to do more Linux ports with the official port of A Total War Saga: TROY for Linux cancelled.


It was announced today that TROY would be finally seeing a Steam release on September 2. Feral did their usual thing on Twitter of quote-tweeting, mentioning it would be on macOS soon after the Windows release. A mention of Linux was totally absent.


Desktop Environments/WMs


K Desktop Environment/KDE SC/Qt


↺ KDE Plasma 5.22.4 Further Improves Plasma Wayland, Makes System Monitor Faster to Launch


KDE Plasma 5.22.4 is packed with many improvements to make the KDE Plasma 5.22 desktop environment series more stable and reliable. First, it improves the login screen authentication on systems using systemd-homed to no longer fail when entering the wrong password.


Second, it makes the new Plasma System Monitor app a lot more faster to launch and improves the ksystemstats daemon, which is used by the Plasma System Monitor app and other sensor widgets for sensor data, to no longer crash on launch on certain systems.


Distributions


New Releases


↺ Solus 4.3 Released With Linux Kernel 5.13: See What’s New


Solus is a modern-day Linux distro aimed at home users. It offers a cohesive desktop experience for users who are new to the Linux world. So, if you’re a starting Linux user looking for a polished system, Solus might be a good fit for you.


The developers recently released Solus 4.3, the latest stable version of this distro. It comes with a new kernel, several desktop improvements, and support for new hardware.


SUSE/OpenSUSE


↺ Digest of YaST Development Sprints 127 & 128


As you all know, developing and maintaining complex software distributions like openSUSE Leap, Tumbleweed or SUSE Linux Enterprise is not an easy task. Specially since we want to ensure all of them stay independent but at the same time closely related, and since they keep evolving in new directions like Kubic, MicroOS and SLE Micro.


Our beloved Open Build Service is the key component that makes all that possible. But some extra tools are needed in addition to OBS in order to manage the complexity of the (open)SUSE distributions. Those extra tools are hosted and developed in a GitHub repository simply called openSUSE-release-tools. For years, the development process of those tools has been highly unstructured (not to say “slightly chaotic”), with more than 60 contributors but no clear mid-term strategy. Although that is not necessarily bad, some sustained and directed development is needed to solve some of the challenges we have ahead of us and to fix some pitfalls in the current development process of the openSUSE and SUSE products and distributions.


The YaST Team was chosen for such a task, so we will steadily take over development and maintenance of the tools in that repository. As first steps, we improved a lot the documenation. That includes extending the README file and adding new documents like an inventory of tools and a summary of the processes in which those tools are involved. We also extended and updated the automated tests and implemented an easy new check in the factory-auto bot.


IBM/Red Hat/Fedora


↺ Longer internships give Red Hat’s Canadian interns more time to learn and grow


Every summer for the past ten years, the Red Hat Toronto office has hosted approximately 9-12 interns for 16-month terms. During the last 15 months, I have been a software engineering intern working on WildFly Elytron, a security framework that ships with Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform. I hope to shed some light on the specifics of our internship program in Canada and perhaps steer you towards deciding whether a “red hat” would look good on you or someone you know!


↺ How Ansible is breaking down cultural silos with innovation


In any large organization, you will need cross-functional teams to build and sustain your enterprise IT environment.


Large organizations often have teams that are isolated from one another, creating a silo that inhibits collaboration. Each silo may also have its own culture, which can make working across teams tricky. Collaboration in such a workplace might look more like just throwing something over the fence and letting someone do their part.


↺ IBM z/OS V2.5 Strengthens Security, Introduces New Capabilities For Application Modernization


IBM has announced the next-generation operating system (OS) for IBM Z, designed to accelerate client adoption of hybrid cloud and AI and drive application modernization projects. According to the company, IBM z/OS V2.5 helps deliver new capabilities across AI enablement, application modernization, resiliency, enhanced security and an improved developer experience.


↺ The Linux Foundation, Prometeo, IBM, and Partners Announce New Firefighter Safety Open Source Project


↺ Openwashing IBM


↺ The Linux Foundation, Prometeo, IBM, and Partners Announce New Firefighter Safety Open Source Project


The Linux Foundation, the nonprofit organization enabling mass innovation through open source, today announced it will host Pyrrha, created and contributed by Prometeo Platform S.L., in collaboration with IBM to help accelerate the development and deployment of firefighter safety technology around the world. In 2019, Prometeo was named the winner of the Call for Code Global Challenge and since then their technology has been further developed with updated hardware and enhanced software through work with the IBM volunteer Service Corps and leading ecosystem partners.


↺ The Linux Foundation’s Latest Effort is Around Firefighter Safety


The GitHub-hosted project…


↺ Linux Foundation, IBM, Samsung and Prometeo join forces for firefighter healthcare project


Debian Family


↺ Thinking about upgrading to Debian Bullseye? Watch out for changes in Exim and anything using Python 2.x


The Debian Project has set a release date of 14 August for Debian 11, also known as Bullseye.


Debian is an important distribution in its own right, but also influential since it is the basis for many others including Ubuntu, Mint, Devuan, Knoppix, Tails, Raspbian, Pop!_OS, SteamOS and more.


In a post to the developer announcements mailing list, the release team said: “We plan to release on 2021-08-14.” This is a little over two years since the release of Debian 10 “Buster,” which came out 6 July 2019. The testing release is now “completely frozen” other than to “emergency bug fixes.”


Debian 11 is based on the 5.10 Linux kernel and officially supports the same architectures as Debian 10, though this may be the last with full 32-bit i386 support.


↺ Systemback


There is a new application available for Sparkers: Systemback


Devices/Embedded


↺ Discontinued classroom hardware hacked for use as a handheld Linux terminal


The Smart Response XE is a simple handheld device that was designed for use in classroom settings (teachers could send questions to students over a local wireless network and then collect responses). It was discontinued years ago, but hardware and software hackers have been picking up user devices on eBay and finding new uses for the old hardware.


One interesting project? Hacker chmodd775 has turned the Smart Response XE into a handheld Linux terminal by giving the little device new brains, but keeping the keyboard and display.


↺ Classroom Surplus Becomes Linux Powerhouse


The SMART Response XE is a handheld computer that was originally sold for use in the classroom as a terminal for pupils taking tests. It’s now cheap enough on the surplus market to have become a target for experimenters, and we’ve seen them with a variety of cool hacks. We particularly like what [chmod775] has done with it, putting a VT100 terminal emulator on the device and hiding a NanoPi Neo Air single board computer in the battery bay. Powered from a USB battery bank, it gives a fully-featured Linux terminal in the palm of the hand. We see it running an Ubuntu LTS version, and it’s clear that it’s a functional and usable device.


↺ Full-featured RK3566 SBC ships with custom Linux stack


Boardcon’s “EM3566” SBC runs Linux on Rockchip’s RK3566 via a “CM3566” module with up to 8GB RAM and 32GB eMMC. Features include WiFi/BT, GbE, HDMI, MIPI-DSI and -CSI, 6x USB, SATA, M.2 for NVMe, and mini-PCIe with SIM.


Boardcon has announced its first single board computer based on the Rockchip RK3566, following earlier Rockchip-based models such as its RK3399-powered Idea3399, RK3288-driven Idea3288, and RK1808-based EM1808. The EM3566 ships with a custom Linux stack and is designed for AI robot, smart POS machine, e-book, face recognition terminal, and business display integrated equipment deployments.


Open Hardware/Modding


↺ The P-CNC Plotter is a DIY drawing machine ‘disguised as a quadruped robot’ | Arduino Blog


In their quest to create a portable CNC plotter, Instructables user tuenhidiy combined several PVC pieces with a couple of motors to build the P-CNC Plotter. The small machine — which was designed to resemble a quadruped robot — features an Arduino Uno and a Gbrl control shield at its heart that takes incoming G-code and translates it into motor movements. The X axis consists of a single NEMA-17 stepper motor that actuates a threaded rod to slide the rest of the device along a path.


↺ Present! uses an Arduino and a PIR sensor to keep you from embarrassing yourself on Zoom calls | Arduino Blog


Teleconferencing is more popular than ever, especially with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but we have also seen an increase in embarrassing videos from people who were unaware that their cameras were still on. To address this problem, Charitha Jayaweera came up with a clever solution that he calls the “Present!” — a system that uses an Arduino Nano and HC-SR501 passive infrared sensor to detect if there is a person in front of the computer and automatically disable their camera and microphone if not.


↺ Scan items from the real world into your Arduboy games with the Ardumiibo | Arduino Blog


Inspired by a recent project involving Disney’s MagicBand technology, William Wimberly and Anthony Pallitta created an Arduboy-compatible RFID scanner they call the Ardumiibo, along with a DIY rumble pack. The Ardumiibo got its name from Nintendo’s Amiibo platform, which allows players to tap NFC-equipped figurines and see them within a game. In a similar manner, the Ardumiibo enables users to scan their NFC tags on a device built from an Arduino Leonardo board and PN532 RFID module.


The scanning system is contained within a small 3D-printed enclosure that also has a NeoPixel ring around the top for some added flair. It connects to a Tiger Electronics handheld-style host Arduboy device via a serial cable, which allows for programs on the gaming system to simply implement the protocol for communicating with the Ardumiibo. As for the rumble pack that is integrated into the scanner, it is attached to the Arduboy over pin 2 that lets the game send pulses with the Tone commands for haptic feedback or playing small songs.


Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications


↺ Android 12: Can your phone handle Google’s latest mobile OS? – CNET


↺ When will the Galaxy A52 get the Android 12 and One UI 4.0 update?


↺ How to enable themed icons in Android 12 – TechRepublic


↺ OnePlus is winding down the Android 11 beta program for the OnePlus 8, 8 Pro, and 8T


↺ TechCentral.ie | Ireland’s technology news resource


↺ Samsung says it will get around to fixing the Galaxy S21′s Android Auto issues in September


↺ LineageOS: All You Need to Know About the Most Popular Android ROM


↺ OnePlus Nord 2 5G review: £399 Android is a bargain iPhone SE rival | Metro News


↺ Best Android app deals of the day: Arrog, Runic Curse, more – 9to5Toys


↺ 10 Best Parental Control Apps for Android to Secure Your Kids Device


↺ Android 13’s dessert codename might be Tiramisu – The Verge


↺ Google brings Android Data Restore Tool to the Play Store following backup overhaul


↺ Google TV for Android gets new discovery features and more streaming apps – The Verge


↺ New Google Bug Hunters platform unites Android, Chrome – 9to5Google


↺ How to find a Wi-Fi password on Android | Laptop Mag


↺ How to Create, Manage, and Disable Tab Groups in Chrome on Android


↺ How to Stream Music to a HomePod With an Android phone | Digital Trends


Free, Libre, and Open Source Software


↺ F Prime: The Innovative Open-Source Software Powering NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter


Created at NASA’s JPL, the open-source flight software called F Prime isn’t just powering humanity’s first interplanetary helicopter; it’s also powering inspiration at multiple universities.


When NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter hovered above the Red Planet April 19 on its maiden voyage, the moment was hailed as the first instance of powered, controlled flight on another planet. Figuring out how to fly on Mars, where the air is thin but gravity is about a third of that on Earth, took years of work. Along with the challenge of developing a craft that was up to the task, the mission needed software to make the unprecedented flights possible.


So they turned to F Prime, a reusable, multi-mission flight software framework designed for CubeSats, small spacecraft, and instruments. The software was architected by Tim Canham in 2013 as part of a technology exploration effort at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California with the aim of creating a streamlined, low-cost software development approach that would allow components written for one application to be reused easily in other applications and run on a range of processors.


↺ The Apache Cassandra Project Releases Apache® Cassandra™ v4.0, the Fastest, Most Scalable and Secure Cassandra Yet


The Apache Cassandra Project released today v4.0 of Apache® Cassandra™, the Open Source, highly performant, distributed Big Data database management platform.


“A long time coming, Cassandra 4.0 is the most thoroughly tested Cassandra yet,” said Nate McCall, Vice President of Apache Cassandra. “The latest version is faster, more scalable, and bolstered with enterprise security features, ready-for-production with unprecedented scale in the Cloud.”


↺ Apache Cassandra 4.0 Big Data Database Management System Released


pache Cassandra 4.0 is finally available as the latest major feature release to this widely-used NoSQL database management system.


Cassandra 4.0 further juices the performance with scaling operations being up to five times faster, 25% faster throughput for reads and writes, and also lower latency work. Cassandra 4.0 also has improvements to yield better consistency, better security and observability, new configuration settings, better compression support, and more.


FSFE


↺ 20 Years FSFE +++ Finland achieving Router Freedom +++ microFSFE


Long before the first smartphone was introduced, it was evident to the FSFE’s founders that it is the people who should be in control of technology and not vice versa. In 2001, Free Software experts around Europe created the Free Software Foundation Europe.


20 years is a long time in computing history and although technology is ever-changing, our values have been consistent. The core of our work is, in a nutshell: educating people on the nature of Free Software, highlighting its political implications, and simplifying its legal preconditions. Matthias Kirschner, President of the FSFE since 2015, explains this in his own words in a short video.


Our work throughout the years would not have been possible without the help of our European community. Whether you have translated our news, used your voice to share our message, helped us financially, or participated in one of our public events: you have helped our cause to take a step further.


Would you like to share your thoughts about your time with the FSFE? We are looking forward to hearing from you. Also we would love to see pictures from your activities in the past and share them with the community. Or, if you are feeling creative, you can send us a birthday video, just like the science-fiction author Cory Doctorow did. Do not miss to watch it and to find out more on how to share your throwback on our birthday page.


FSF


GNU Projects


↺ Funding GIMP developers for sustainable development


GIMP has been developed as a community effort since very early on, after its original authors left the project. This begs the question of sustainability when contributors wish to stay longer while not being able to afford being penniless volunteers forever.


We have seen skilled developers come and go for years, the latter becoming a growing concern. Contributing takes a crazy amount of time and people have family, work and other responsibilities to take care of. Thus when core team contributors are willing to be paid for making Free Software, we have decided that GIMP as a project should encourage such endeavours by putting more emphasis on their funding.


There are currently 2 such crowdfunding projects. You can consider these crowdfundings as “official” as can be and completely endorsed by the GIMP project…


[...]


ZeMarmot is a Libre Art project born as an idea in 2014, launched in 2015 with production starting in 2016. In particular, it is an Open Animation short film (Creative Commons BY-SA license promoting sharing and reuse) led by the film director, Aryeom, and GIMP co-maintainer, Jehan.


[...]


What these donations through GNOME still cannot do is funding paid development, so if that’s what you want, please fund the developers directly as explained above. GIMP project obviously welcomes the 2 types of donation, for community needs through GNOME and for paid development through the 2 crowdfundings listed.


Programming/Development


↺ Emmanuele Bassi: Final Types


Additionally, any derivable type can be marked as abstract; an abstract type cannot be instantiated, but you can create your own derived type which may or may not be “concrete”. Looking at the GType reference documentation, you’ll notice various macros and flags that exist to implement this functionality—including macros that were introduced to cut down the boilerplate necessary to declare and define new types.


The G_DECLARE_* family of macros, though, introduced a new concept in the type system: a “final” type. Final types are leaf nodes in the type hierarchy: they can be instantiated, but they cannot be derived any further. GTK 4 makes used of this kind of types to nudge developers towards composition, instead of inheritance. The main problem is that the concept of a “final” type is entirely orthogonal to the type system; there’s no way to programmatically know that a type is “final”—unless you have access to the introspection data and start playing with heuristics. This means that language bindings are unable to know without human intervention if a type can actually be inherited from or not.


↺ Peter Czanik: Syslog-ng 3.33: the MQTT destination


Version 3.33 of syslog-ng introduced an MQTT destination. It uses the paho-c client library to send log messages to an MQTT broker. The current implementation supports version 3.1 and 3.1.1 of the protocol over non-encrypted connections, but this is only a first step.


Python


↺ Matplotlib Scatter Plot in Python – Linux Hint


The human can understand the visual more as compared to the text form. That’s why people always suggest drawing the big data graph to understand it in a very easy manner. There are different types of graphs available in the market like bar graphs, histograms, pie charts, etc. These different graphs are used according to the dataset and requirements. For example, if you have a dataset of company performance from the last 10 years, then the bar chart graph will give more information about the company’s growth. So, like that, the graph choice depends upon the dataset and requirements.


If you are a data scientist, then sometimes you have to handle the big data. In that big data, you are processing the data, analyzing the data, and then generating the report on that. To generate the report on that, you must need some clear image of the data, and here the graphs come in place.


↺ String to Hexadecimal in Python – Linux Hint


Hexadecimal has a base of 16, and we can represent a string in hexadecimal format using the prefix 0x.


↺ How to Use Textwrap Module in Python – Linux Hint


This article will cover a guide on using the “textwrap” module in Python. As the name suggests, this module can be used to “wrap” text so that lines or sentences can be fit within the predefined length constraints. This is usually done by shortening a piece of text and moving the longer parts to the next line so that all lines adhere to the character limits. The usage of the textwrap module can be best understood through examples. Below are some code samples that illustrate the usage of the textwrap module and its methods. These code samples are tested with Python 3.9.5 on Ubuntu 21.04.


Shell/Bash/Zsh/Ksh


↺ Full Guide to Bash Arrays


In itself, Linux is merely an operating system kernel; the kernel is a crucial component of the operating system, which facilitates I/O devices communicating with the software used by the user. Besides, it manages memory, CPU, and protects hardware and software from malfunctioning. The interface or software part that the user uses to interact with the hardware is called Command Line Interface (CLI) or a Shell.


Linux shell is a program with an interface that takes commands from the user, interprets them, and sends them to the kernel to perform a specified operation. Command Line Interface (CLI) is the minimalist way to interact with the hardware of the system. There are tons of commands for performing various functionalities, such as making a directory, moving a directory, creating a file, deleting a file, etc.


↺ Revisiting a command-line translator


I don’t know who developer Mort Yao is (the “About Me” page on his personal website says nothing), but his command-line translate-shell program has proved to be very useful.


C


↺ How to Use Pointers in C – Linux Hint


In C, learning pointers is simple and enjoyable. Certain Programming language activities are easier to complete with pointers, while others, like dynamic memory allocation, seem impossible to complete without them. To be a competent C developer, it is thus beneficial to understand pointers. Within C, a pointer is a variable that holds the location of some other variable. You may do use a pointer to reference some other reference method. A pointer could be increased or decreased, indicating that it points towards the next or prior memory address. A pointer would aim to save storage and speed up processing. Let us start from the beginning. Make sure to use Ubuntu 20.04 Linux system to implement these examples below.


↺ For loop in c – Linux Hint


In the programing language, loops play an important role in conducting the programs efficiently. Manual execution requires a lot of time that causes the operating system to slow down the speed of its tasks to be performed. In this article, we will discuss using one of the commonly used loops that is for-loop.


C++


↺ Return Array From Function C++ – Linux Hint


Arrays are specific containers that have values of the same data type. Functions in C++ perform operations on arrays, and these arrays are then returned to the main function. There are many approaches to describe this phenomenon. In this guide, some common methods are explained:


↺ Vector Resize() Function in C++ – Linux Hint


The vector is a very useful class of C++ for creating the dynamic array. The size of the vector can be changed at any time to solve any programming problem. Many built-in functions exist in C++ for doing the different types of tasks in a vector container. The resize() function is one of them. It is used to change the size of the vector. The vector size can be increased or decreased by using this function. The uses of resize() function in C++ vector have been explained in this tutorial.


↺ Vector Erase() Function in C++ – Linux Hint


The array is used to store multiple data, and the number of elements of the array can’t be changed at the run time. This problem can be solved by using a vector that works like a dynamic array. Different functions exist in the vector class to add and remove an element from the vector. The erase() function is used to remove one or more elements from the vector at the run time that decreases the size of the vector. The uses of this function have been explained in this tutorial.


↺ Vector Insert() Function in C++ – Linux Hint


The vector is a useful container class of C++ to store the sequence of data that works as a dynamic array. The size of the vector object can be increased or decreased by adding or removing an element in the object at the run time. The insert() function is used to add one or more new elements before the specific element of the vector object by mentioning the position of that element. It will increase the size of the vector object dynamically. The different syntax and the uses of this function have been explained in this tutorial.


↺ Use of Vector Pop_Back() Function in C++ – Linux Hint


The size of the vector can be reduced by using different built-in functions of C++. The pop_back() function is one of them. It is used to remove the last element of the vector from the back and reduce the size of the vector by 1. But the last element of the vector is not removed permanently like the erase() function. The different uses of this function have been explained in this tutorial.


↺ Vector Push_Back() Function in C++ – Linux Hint


The dynamic array can be implemented by using a vector in C++. The elements can be added to the vector in different ways. The push_back() function is one of the ways to insert a new element at the end of the vector that increases the size of the vector by 1. This function is useful when one element is required to add to the vector. If the data type of the vector does not support the value passed by the argument of this function, then an exception will be generated, and no data will be inserted. The way to insert data in vector using the push_back() function has shown in this tutorial.


↺ Find array size C++ – Linux Hint


An array is a container having elements of the same data type. If we don’t know the actual size of an array, it can be determined by different methods. When we talk about the size of an array, in actual we are talking about the number of elements present in the array. Sometimes, we define the array size, and sometimes the brackets are left empty. This is an apparent size that only shows the capacity of an array to store value in it.


Leftovers


Integrity/Availability


Proprietary


Security


↺ Security updates for Tuesday


Security updates have been issued by Debian (drupal7), Fedora (linux-firmware), openSUSE (qemu), Oracle (kernel and thunderbird), Red Hat (thunderbird), Scientific Linux (java-1.8.0-openjdk, java-11-openjdk, kernel, and thunderbird), SUSE (dbus-1, libvirt, linuxptp, qemu, and slurm), and Ubuntu (aspell and mysql-5.7, mysql-8.0).


↺ LemonDuck is a new crypto-mining malware targeting Windows and Linux systems


↺ relaying Microsoft PR/BS


↺ Announcing new event focused on Building Cybersecurity into the Software Supply Chain, August 18, Virtual


Modern day supply chains leave greater potential for vulnerabilities, and supply chain security should be a high priority for organizations. Vulnerabilities could be catastrophic, and lead to unnecessary costs, inefficient delivery schedules and a loss of intellectual property.


In addition, over the last few years, supply chains have increasingly been exposed as a major weak point in organizational security. While security may be top of mind within company walls, you are only as strong as your most vulnerable supplier.


Monopolies


Patents


↺ US district court patent filings set to climb above 4,000 for the year


Data from both Unified Patents and RPX suggests that recent climbs in district court patent cases in the US are set to continue, as is the decline in PTAB filings


↺ SEP Licensing Negotiation Groups — Part III: legalization of buyers’ cartels would invite group boycott and collective hold-out


This is the final part of a trilogy on licensing negotiation groups: automotive industry cartels that would collectively negotiate standard-essential patent (SEP) licenses with major patent holders and pools. In Part I, I discussed the rich history of automotive cartels, and couldn’t help but conclude that the LNG proposal is, at best, a solution in search of a problem. Part II looked at the implications for SEP enforcement. Patentees would hardly be able to hold an individual implementer responsible for the positions taken by an LNG in negotiations, no matter how unconstructive.


Share in other sites/networks: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. Permalink  Send this to a friend

----------

Techrights

➮ Sharing is caring. Content is available under CC-BY-SA.

-- Response ended

-- Page fetched on Tue May 7 17:47:23 2024