Improving the security model of the LVFS

There are lots of layers of security in the LVFS and fwupd design, including restricted account modes, 2FA, and server side AppStream namespaces. The most powerful one is the so-called vendor-id that the vendors cannot assign themselves, and is assigned by me when creating the vendor account on the LVFS. The way this works is that all firmware from the vendor is tagged with a vendor-id string like USB:0x056A which in this case matches the USB consortium vendor assigned ID. Client side, the vendor-id from the signed metadata is checked against the physical device and the firmware is updated only if the ID matches. This ensures that malicious or careless users on the LVFS can never ship firmware updates for other vendors hardware. About 90% of the vendors on the LVFS are locked down with this mechanism. Some vendors have to have IDs that they don’t actually own, a good example here is for a DFU device like the 8bitdo controllers. In runtime mode they use the USB-assigned 8bitdo VID, but in bootloader mode they use a generic VID which is assigned to the chip supplier as they are using the reference bootloader. This is obviously fine, and both vendor IDs are assigned to 8bitdo on the LVFS for this reason. Another example is where Lenovo is responsible for updating Lenovo-specific NVMe firmware, but where the NVMe vendor isn’t always Lenovo’s PCI ID.

Programming: Vim, Qt Shader and Python

• Vim Text Editor for Beginners Part 1 - Introduction

  In my newly refreshed Vim series, you'll learn all the things you'll need to know in order to use this text editor in your daily workflow. In this first video, we'll get Vim installed take an initial look.

• Vim Text Editor for Beginners Part 2 - Combining Files

  In my newly refreshed Vim series, you'll learn all the things you'll need to know in order to use this text editor in your daily workflow.

• Qt Shader Tools Looks To Become Official Qt6 Module

  The currently-experimental Qt Shader Tools allows for graphics/compute shader conditioning and used by the in-development Qt graphics abstraction layer for supporting Vulkan / Metal / Direct3D / OpenGL APIs. Qt Shader Tools offers various shader features in preparing them for consumption by different graphics APIs. Qt Shader Tools is currently used ahead of time for QtGUI with Qt 5.14+. But for Qt 6.0, Qt Shader Tools is going through the appropriate steps for becoming a formal Qt 6 module for compiling and translating shaders between interfaces.

• Python Positional-only parameters

  I have downloaded Python 3.8 and start to play around with those latest python functions. In this article, we will look at the Positional-only parameter syntax which is a function parameter syntax / to indicate that some function parameters must be specified positionally and cannot be used as keyword arguments which means after the / syntax we may specify a value for each parameter within that function.

• For Loop in Python Explained With Practical Examples

  If you are just getting started to learn Python, you must be in search of something to explore for loop in Python. Of course, our list of free python resources should help you learn about it quickly. In either case, we shall help you learn more about the ‘for‘ loop in python using a couple of important examples.

Games: Pygame, The Long Dark, DXVK and Shovel Knight

• Enable your Python game player to run forward and backward

  In previous entries in this series about creating video games in Python 3 using the Pygame module, you designed your level-design layout, but some portion of your level probably extended past your viewable screen. The ubiquitous solution to that problem in platformer games is, as the term "side-scroller" suggests, scrolling. The key to scrolling is to make the platforms around the player sprite move when the player sprite gets close to the edge of the screen. This provides the illusion that the screen is a "camera" panning across the game world. This scrolling trick requires two dead zones at either edge of the screen, at which point your avatar stands still while the world scrolls by.

• Survival Mode in The Long Dark just got a lot bigger with the ERRANT PILGRIM update

  As promised, Hinterland Studio have released a huge update to the Survival Mode side of The Long Dark named ERRANT PILGRIM. It brings in a whole new region to explore, Bleak Inlet. Once a home to a thriving industrial Cannery, seismic activity cut-off Bleak Inlet from the rest of the Great Bear mainland. Exploring is not for the faint of heart, being Timberwolf territory but the treasures contained in the industrial complex may just be enough to warrant the journey.

• DXVK Reportedly Going Into "Maintenance Mode" Due To State Of Code-Base

  While DXVK tends to be much-loved by Linux gamers for allowing more Direct3D 10/11 Windows games to run nicely on Linux with Wine or Proton (Steam Play) thanks to its fairly complete translation of D3D10/D3D11 API calls to Vulkan, it looks like Philip Rebohle is at least contemplating shifting it just into maintenance-mode. The DXVK lead developer recently commented that DXVK is "entering maintenance mode" and he doesn't want to make any significant changes or additions to the code.

• Shovel Knight: King of Cards and Shovel Knight Showdown are out, completing the series

  Starting off with a successful Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign back in 2013 and growing into a massive multi-part 8-bit inspired world, Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove now finally finished. Note: Keys provided by GOG.com to us. Originally having a goal of $75,000 and a Linux/macOS stretch goal at $130,000 it proved to be popular ending on $311,491. It's taken six years for Yacht Club Games to get here starting with Shovel of Hope, followed by Plague of Shadows in 2015, Specter of Torment in 2017, and now King of Cards and Shovel Knight Showdown in 2019.

today's howtos

• How to Create Templates in Ansible to Create Configurations On Managed Nodes – Part 7

• How to Install Apache with PHP-FPM on CentOS 8

• Install and Use Guake – A drop-down Terminal Emulator for Debian 10

• PostfixAdmin – Create Virtual Mailboxes on Ubuntu Mail Server

• How to rebase to Fedora 31 on Silverblue

• 15 Useful Firefox Keyboard Shortcuts You Should Know