• Google Quietly Releases Chrome 62 to Stable Channel for Linux, Mac, and Windows

  Google quietly promoted the Chrome 62 web browser to the stable channel today for desktops, including Mac, GNU/Linux, and Microsoft Windows platforms.

• Chrome 62 Promoted To Stable

  Google has released Chromium/Chrome 62 as the latest update to its widely-used web browser.

• Chrome Working On JPEG Encode Accelerator With VA-API/V4L2 Support

  Landing in the Chromium browser code-base this morning is a JPEG encode accelerator interface.

• Mozilla brings Microsoft, Google, the W3C, Samsung together to create cross-browser documentation on MDN

  Community contributions are at the core of MDN’s success. Thousands of volunteers have helped build and refine MDN over the past 12 years. In this year alone, 8,021 users made 76,203 edits, greatly increasing the scope and quality of the content. Cross-browser documentation contributions include input from writers at Google and Microsoft; Microsoft writers have made more than 5,000 edits so far in 2017. This cross-browser collaboration adds valuable content on browser compatibility and new features of the web platform. Going forward, Microsoft writers will focus their Web API documentation efforts on MDN and will redirect relevant pages from Microsoft Developer Network to MDN.

• A Week-Long Festival for Internet Health

  Says Mark Surman, Mozilla’s Executive Director: “The Internet is layered into our lives like we never could have imagined. Access is no longer a luxury — it’s a fundamental part of 21st century life. A virus is no longer a nuisance consigned to a single terminal — it’s an existential threat that can disrupt hospitals, governments and entire cities.”

  But much of the Internet’s best nature is flourishing, too. Each day, new communities form despite members being separated by whole continents. Start-ups and artists have access to a global stage. And open-source projects put innovation and inclusion ahead of profit.

• The pervasive risk of vulnerable open source components [Ed: Veracode is at it again (FUD); see the Black Duck connection. Veracode is connected to Microsoft through this other FUD firm. Black Duck, by its own admission, was created to smear the GPL. Every now and then Black Duck and its cohorts find some gullible or complicit journalist to publish marketing as 'article'.]

• Report: 88% of Java Apps Vulnerable to Attacks from Known Security Defects

• Companies Turn Blind Eye to Open Source Security Risks

• The critics are wrong about AWS’s open source approach [Ed: Mac Asay]

• Salesforce Offers 5 Tips for Open Source Program Success [Ed: Salesforce gave money. So Salesforce gets puff piece from the Linux Foundation. Openwashing.]

Hackers broke into Microsoft's secret, internal bug-tracking database and stole information related to vulnerabilities that were exploited in later attacks. But the software developer never disclosed the breach, Reuters reported, citing former company employees.

In an article published Tuesday, Reuters said Microsoft's decision not to disclose details came after an internal review concluded the exploits used in later attacks could have been discovered elsewhere. That investigation relied, in part, on automated reports Microsoft receives when its software crashes. The problem with that approach, Reuters pointed out, is that advanced computer attacks are written so carefully they rarely cause crashes.

Reuters said Microsoft discovered the database breach in early 2013, after a still-unknown hacking group broke into computers belonging to a raft of companies. Besides Microsoft, the affected companies included Apple, Facebook, and Twitter. As reported at the time, the hackers infected a website frequented by software developers with attack code that exploited a zero-day vulnerability in Oracle's Java software framework. When employees of the targeted companies visited the site, they became infected, too.

• Slapping minions, defeating heroes and being delightfully evil in Dungeons 3, my thoughts

  Combining elements from many different genres, Dungeons 3 [Steam, GOG] has arrived for you to spread evil across the world. Dungeons 3 was a same-day release for Linux, but how does it feel to to be bad?

• The Humble Down Under Bundle is a very good deal for Linux gamers

  The Humble Down Under Bundle features nine games, all of which have a Linux version and it's a rather nice selection.

• Adventure Game Hiveswap: Act 1 Releases For Linux

  Hiveswap: Act 1 [Official Site, Steam, Humble], based on the popular, long-running webcomic Homestuck by Andrew Hussie, has released for Linux, just over 1 month following release of the Windows and Mac versions.

• RUNNING WITH RIFLES: PACIFIC DLC has a trailer, launching October 26th

• Battlevoid: Sector Siege promises to be an interesting 2D space RTS, releasing this month

  Battlevoid: Sector Siege [Steam] promises to be an RTS where the action is never far away, I liked the previous Battlevoid game for its simplicity and Battlevoid: Sector Siege seems better in every way.

• Indonesia and Khmer are heading to Civilization VI

• The Linux version of Beyond Enemy Lines is being held up by Unreal Engine 4 bugs

  This is sadly a familiar story, the Linux version of Beyond Enemy Lines [Steam, Official Site] is now waiting on bugs being fixed in Unreal Engine 4.

• Slide!! A simplistic and slow puzzle game released with Linux support

  If you're in the mood to slow down a bit with a puzzle game, perhaps Slide!! [Steam, Official Site] from Red Chain Games Ltd. might help.

• Need a Horror Game for October? Join the 'Doki Doki Literature Club'

Just a few short days ago, the KDE team released Plasma 5.11, the latest edition of this desktop environment, plied with a range of bug fixes as well as some new features. Reason enough to celebrate, but even more so when you consider the fact that Plasma has been slowly, steadily – and consistently – improving over the past few years.

For me, the culmination of this effort is my great satisfaction with Plasma – epitomized in the shape and form of Kubuntu 17.04 Zesty Zoltan, including the most excellent twining of the distro with my HP Pavilion laptop. And on this very machine, I will be testing the KDE neon live edition, furnished with the latest desktop version. So let’s see what it does.

Also: GCompris at KDE-edu sprint 2017

• The Darker Past of the Next President of the EPO – Part I: Introduction
• Confessions of EPO Insiders Reveal That European Patents (EPs) Have Lost Their Legitimacy/Value Due to Battistelli’s Policies
• Patent Firms From the United States Try Hard to Push the Unitary Patent (UPC), Which Would Foment Litigation Wars in Europe
• In the Age of Alice and PTAB There is No Reason to Pursue Software Patents in the United States (Not Anymore)
• IAM is Wrong, the Narrative Isn’t Changing, Except in the Battistelli-Funded (at EPO’s Expense) Financial Times
• The Federal Circuit Continues Squashing Software Patents
• SUEPO Representatives Like Elizabeth Hardon Vindicated as Battistelli’s Detrimental Effect on Patent Quality is Widely Confirmed

• Use an Android Launcher to Get the Pixel 2's New Search Bar On Your Current Phone

• Gmail on iOS might get what Android already had—third-party email support

• Review: Google's Pixel 2 gives you the best of Android – if you can find it

• Monument Valley 2 is coming to Android in November

• You can now access your Plex library in Android Auto

• Google just gave Play Music a fresh redesign on Android TV [Gallery]

• A Virtual Android

Canonical founder and CEO Mark Shuttleworth is one of the most prominent people in open source software.

Ubuntu, the GNU/Linux-based operating system that he helped birth in 2004 is now one of the best-known open source projects in the world, accounting for a vast proportion of the Linux VMs in the public cloud and huge numbers of connected devices.

Ubuntu contributor Didier Roche shared today the last blog article for the development cycle of the Ubuntu 17.10 (Artful Aardvark) operating system, which is expected to launch tomorrow, October 19.

Also: Ubuntu 17.10 is back on track with GNOME: Here's why that's a good thing

Now that the KDE Applications 17.08 software suite got its second point release, it's time for the KDE developers to concentrate their efforts on the next major update, KDE Applications 17.12.

All good things must come to an end, however, in that particular case, it’s rather a beginning! We are indeed almost done in our road to Artful, which means that 17.10 is just around the corner: official Ubuntu 17.10 release is due tomorrow. Of course, it doesn’t mean we stop right away working on it: you will have bug fixes and security updates for 9 months of support! It’s thus time to close this series on Artful, and for this, we are going to tackle one topic we didn’t get to yet, which is quite important approaching the release: upgrading from a previous Ubuntu release! For more background on our current transition to GNOME Shell in artful, you can refer back to our decisions regarding our default session experience as discussed in my blog post.

Besides Ubuntu 17.10 "Artful Aardvark" launching tomorrow, System76 is also expected to issue their first official release of the Ubuntu-derived Pop!_OS operating system they plan to begin shipping on their laptops/desktops. Curious about their modifications to Ubuntu 17.10, I decided to give the latest snapshot of it a ride.

For those that missed the earlier news this summer, back in June is when System76 announced Pop!_OS as the Linux distribution to be shipped on their future PCs/laptops. System76 had been shipping stock Ubuntu installations on their systems since its founding in 2005, but with Ubuntu shifting from Unity back to GNOME Shell and other changes, System76 found it time to give their own take on a Linux desktop OS.

MYIR has launched a $239, HMI touch panel with a 7-inch resistive screen that runs Linux on a TI AM335x, and offers -10 to 70°C support and a 4G LTE module.

MYIR’s Linux-based “MY-EVC5100S-HMI” touch-panel computer is designed for HMI systems in industrial control, manufacturing, vending, food and beverage, automation, and utilities applications. MYIR has already used the platform to develop a billing display application for electric vehicle charging pile stations.

The Parrot Project began work on a new version of their Linux-based ethical hacking and penetration testing operating system, Parrot Security OS 3.9, and they recently put out a call for testing.

The development cycle of the GNOME 3.28 desktop environment kicked off with a bunch of updates for various of the core components and apps, including Mutter and GNOME Shell.

Also: GNOME 3.28 Desktop Will Add Google Safe Browsing Support to Epiphany Web Browser

Sir Tim Berners-Lee is a famous computer scientist and academic who invented the World Wide Web in 1989—so when he talks about new technologies it’s worth paying attention.

Today, one of the topics on his mind is blockchain, a revolutionary way of creating permanent, tamper-proof records across a disparate network of computers.

Blockchain is most famously associated with the digital currency bitcoin but the technology is increasingly being used for record keeping by banks and retailers. It will also come to be used by more ordinary citizens in the near future, says Berners-Lee.

In a recent conversation on the Apache Legal mailing list, a participant opined that “any license can be Open Source. OSI doesn’t ‘own’ the term.” He went on to explain “I could clone the Apache License and call it ‘Greg’s License’ and it would be an open source license.”

As long as the only people involved in the conversation are the speaker and people who defer to his authority, this might be OK. But as soon as there are others involved, it’s not. For the vast majority of people, the term “open source license” is not a personal conclusion resulting from considered evaluation, but rather a term of art applied to the consensus of the community. Individuals are obviously free to use words however they wish, just like Humpty Dumpty. But the power of the open source movement over two decades has arisen from a different approach.

The world before open source left every developer to make their own decision about whether software was under a license that delivers the liberty to use, improve and share code without seeking the permission of a rights holder. Inevitably that meant either uncertainty or seeking advice from a lawyer about the presence of software freedom. The introduction of the open source concept around the turn of the millennium solved that using the crystalisation of consensus to empower developers.

By holding a public discussion of each license around the Open Source Definition, a consensus emerged that could then by crystalised by the OSI Board. Once crystalised into “OSI Approval”, the community then has no need to revisit the discussion and the individual developer has no need to guess (or to buy advice) on the compatibility of a given license with software freedom. That in turn means proceeding with innovation or deployment without delay.

All the developers out there love Sublime Text. It has been emerging as a great text editor for learners and advanced. It is available on Linux, Mac OS and Windows. Sublime text offers features like macros, recognition of a wide variety of languages, split view etc. The editor can also be customized using different themes. Some of these themes are already popular through Notepad++.

For many people, using a word processor is the fastest, easiest, and most familiar way to write and publish an e-book. But firing up your word processor and typing away isn't enough—you need to follow a format.

That's where a template comes in. A template ensures that your book has a consistent look and feel. Luckily, creating a template is quick and easy, and the time and effort you spend on it will give you a better-looking book.

In this article, I'll walk you through how to create a simple template for writing individual chapters of an e-book using LibreOffice Writer. You can use this template for both PDF and EPUB books and modify it to suit your needs.

The year of Linux desktop was a running joke. The concept of Linux being ready for the mainstream with users confidently running it on their desktops, sadly, never happened.

Some bravely pushed the idea: the latest being Canonical with a more macOS-like desktop, easier to configure and use than the standard Linux distro. It came with an app-store concept too.