Manjaro Linux 17.0.2 Arch-based operating system is here with GNOME, KDE, and Xfce

Many Linux snobs push the Arch operating system as the greatest thing since sliced bread. In fact, some members of the Arch community (not all of them) can be downright mean and unpleasant to non-users. Not using Arch? Ugh. Peasant! In reality, while Arch is a fine OS (stable and fast), it can be very hard to install and set up, and quite frankly, often not worth the hassle. People have lives to live, and sometimes it is easy to forget that an operating system and associated computer are tools -- not a religion.

[Older] Friends, syslog-ng, Package Hub, ARM: openSUSE conference 2017

Being a long-time openSUSE user, I visit the openSUSE conference not only to present on one of its components – syslog-ng – but also to meet friends and learn about new technologies and the plans for the upcoming year. Some talks, like those about Package Hub, were very interesting and important also from a syslog-ng perspective. Of course, I also joined a few talks for my personal interest, like the one on the new ARM devices supported by openSUSE.

UK Army to Use Red Hat OS, Automation Platform for Private Cloud Needs

Linux-ready PC/104 board runs on 6 to 7 Watts

Win Enterprises announced a “MB-83310” PC/104 SBC with a Vortex DX3 SoC, GbE, Fast Ethernet, SATA, M.2, and a -20 to 70°C operating range.

[Older] The Turtlebot 3 has launched

If you’re familiar with ROS (Robot Operating System), chances are you’re also familiar with the Turtlebot. The first version of the Turtlebot was created back in 2010 to serve as an inexpensive platform for learning ROS. This was followed in 2012 by the Turtlebot 2, which has since become the reference platform for learning ROS. We have a number of them here at Canonical, and we love them, although we have one issue with them: they’re just a tad too big. Taking them on a plane requires one to decide what one loves more, one’s belongings, or the Turtlebot, and to check the other.

Ubuntu ranked as 2nd most used IoT OS by Eclipse Foundation survey

Conjure-up dev summary: Week 25

We recently switched over to using a bundled LXD and with that change came a few hiccups in deployments. We've been monitoring the error reports coming in and have made several fixes to improve that journey. If you are one of the ones unable to deploy spells please give this release another go and get in touch with us if you still run into problems.

We're looking for Ubuntu 17.10 wallpapers right now!

Submissions will be handled via Flickr at the Ubuntu 17.10 Free Culture Showcase - Wallpapers group, and the submission window begins now and ends on July 3rd.

Atollic TrueSTUDIO, the leading commercial GNU/Eclipse IDE for ARM devices is now available for use on Linux workstations

Atollic TrueSTUDIO IDE has rapidly become the preferred Eclipse™/GDB/GCC-based software development environment for developers working with ARM-based devices. The Linux hosting announcement is expected to widely increase the popularity of this tool.

Security-Focused Purism Librem 13 & 15 Linux Laptops Go Mainstream with Qubes OS

Purism, the social purpose corporation focused on designing and manufacturing privacy-conscious hardware and software products, announced the general availability of their security-focused Purism Librem 13 and 15 laptops. Until recently, both Purism Librem 13 and Librem 15 laptops were available only as made-to-order, which means that those who wanted to purchase either model would have to order it first and then wait a few months until the device arrived. And now, the company finally managed to scale the production to hold inventory of the laptops.

What if gcc 7 gives you headaches?

In Slackware-current we use version 7.1.0 of the gcc compiler suite. These advanced compilers can sometimes be quite a bit more strict about what they accept as valid code. As a consequence, you will regularly run into compilation issues with software. Not just the software made with the scripts on slackbuilds.org, but also some of the software in the Slackware core distribution requires patches in order to get them to compile. Until now, I have been lucky to find the patches I needed in the repositories of other distributions, or else developers patched their software themselves. But there will be corner cases where solutions and patches are not readily found, or the developers will simply not support gcc 7. Pale Moon is such a piece of software where the developers recommend compiling with gcc 4.x or as a last resort, gcc 5.

Plasma 5 for Slackware – June release

Slackware64 14.2 users will have to wait another day, but I have uploaded my latest set of Plasma 5 packages for Slackware-current to the ‘ktown’ repository. KDE 5_17.06 contains: KDE Frameworks 5.35.0, Plasma 5.10.2 and Applications 17.04.2. I based this new release on Qt 5.9.0 (at least for Slackware-current… for 14.2 I will stick to Qt 5.7.1). NOTE: I will no longer be releasing Plasma 5 packages for 32bit Slackware 14.2.

LibreOffice 5.3.4 packages for -current

When looking for package updates in preparation for a new Slackware Live PLASMA5 edition, I noticed that the Document Foundation had released LibreOffice 5.3.4 without updating their blog with the news – it’s only mentioned on the download page. I have built and uploaded Slackware-current packages for libreoffice-5.3.4. If you are on Slackware 14.2 you will probably have to skip this one, as I will not have time for compiling packages the coming weeks (allocates one virtual machine for one day per build, since I can only check on progress in the evenings). The package for -current needed to be (re-)built anyway because of the library issue with Slackware’s updated libGLEW which prevented Impress to start.

Samsung to train students of Moscow University of Technology on IoT

Samsung and Moscow University of Technology (Technical University) recently reached an agreement to set up an Internet of Things (IoT) academy called “Samsung IoT Academy” which will be launched in September 2017. The basis of this agreement is to train professionals in the consistently growing field of information technology.

Samsung launches new Family Hub Refrigerator in the U.S with more features

Samsung Electronics America has unveiled its next generation of Family Hub refrigerator which presents with some advancements of the roles the gadget plays in modern family life. The new Tizen-powered refrigerator model is a testament of Samsung’s reputation as the fastest growing appliance brand in America for the fifth straight quarter because the company is building upon consumer insights and feedback over the past year to include new features in the latest model.

Android 7.1.1 Nougat Is Rolling Out to Sony Xperia X and X Compact Smartphones

After seeding the Android 7.0 (Nougat) software update to Sony Xperia XA, Xperia XA Dual SIM, Xperia XA Ultra, and Xperia XA Ultra Dual SIM models, Sony Mobile is now rolling out the Android 7.1.1 (Nougat) update to Xperia X and X Compact phones. Announced last year in May, the Sony Xperia X and Xperia X Compact smartphones came with Google's Android 6.0.1 (Marshmallow) mobile operating system, and they were later updated to Android 7.0 (Nougat), a major update that added multi-window support, longer battery life, and Messaging improvements.

[Older] HTC U11 hands-on—A squeezable, all-glass device with dual hotword support

[Older] “Android Go” will strip Android down for ultra-low-budget phones

The Nokia 6 comes to the US for $229

Italian municipality calls for sharing of IT solutions

The council of Mappano (Italy) is calling for public administrations to share their IT solutions. The Mappano municipality is starting from scratch, and the new council has decided to build its IT infrastructure, and offer its eGovernment services, using free and open source software.

Windstream joins Open Network Automation Platform (ONAP) project to accelerate adoption of open standards for SDN/NFV automation

Locks in the classroom – 2017

For the fifth year now, our grade nine students have been doing 3D modeling using Blender. Our students finished up their first assignments over a month ago, but it’s taken this long for me to get the top models together. So, with no further delay, here are the top models from each of the three grade nine classes (click on the pictures for Full HD renders).

Set the WABAC to 1984: Henry Spencer getopt, and the roots of open source

I excavated a bit of hacker history from old memories today. Not dead history either, but an important beginning of some large good things. Here’s how it happened. I got email from a person requesting me to identify a source for the following allegedly famous quote: “All operating systems eventually turn into Unix

Traveling “Kodi Repair Men” Are Apparently a Thing Now

With all the chaos and upheaval in the Kodi addon scene recently, many 'pirate' devices have stopped performing as they did before. This is a problem for the thousands of people who bought their devices ready configured, since they have no idea how they work. Enter the traveling 'Kodi repair men,' who will fix your box in the pub or even your own home.

[Older] Does Valve really own Dota? A jury will decide

The case could also take an interesting open source-based turn thanks to a September 23, 2004 forum post that could be seen as Eul giving up his claim on any rights to Dota. "From this point forward, Dota is now open source," he wrote. "Whoever wishes to release a version of Dota may without my consent, I just ask for a nod in the credits to your map." This post "might mean that anyone had permission to build their own versions of Dota on any platform—and to sell their versions of Eul’s creation," as Breyer puts it. Or it might simply mean that Eul was just granting a "limited license" intended for other mod-makers, not for standalone games based on Dota.

Innersource: A Guide to the What, Why, and How

In a nutshell, ‘innersource’ refers to bringing the core principles of open source and community collaboration within the walls of an organization. This involves building an internal community, collaborative engineering workflow, and culture.

PDP-8/e Replicated — Introduction

I am creating a replica of the DEC PDP-8/e architecture in an FPGA from schematics of the original hardware. So how did I end up with a project like this? The story begins with me wanting to have a computer with one of those front panels that have many, many lights where you can really see, in real time, what the computer is doing while it is executing code. Not because I am nostalgic for a prior experience with any of those — I was born a bit too late for that and my first computer as a kid was a Commodore 64.

[Older] PyCon Pune 2017

[Older] My lightning talk in Django Girls PyCon

In the weekend before PyCon US, we had a Django Girls PyCon workshop in Portland on 12th-13th May. On 12th there were a few lightning talks, and installation before the actual workshop started on 13th.

Dreams don’t cost a penny, mumma’s boy :)

In the dream, I am going to a Debconf, get bursary and the conference is being held somewhere in Europe, maybe Paris...

First Round Talks of Fedora + GNOME at UPN

Today our local group has traveled many miles to the north of Lima to present our lately work by using Fedora and GNOME as users and developers. Thanks to the organizers of the IT Forum to invite us and support our job as Linux volunteers and very nice potential contributors to GNOME and Fedora and the group we have formed.