I like the overall look and feel of Redcore Linux. I generally do not use Gentoo-based Linux distros.

However, this distro does a good job of leveling the field of differences among competing Linux families. I especially like the way the LXQt and the KDE Plasma desktops have a noticeable common design that makes the Redcore distro stand out.

• Linux Distributions Deconstructed

  Wanna know what’s in a Linux Distribution? Watch this video...

• What To Do When Your Chromebook Reaches the End of Its Life

  Chrome OS is built on top of the Linux kernel, which is why newer models can install Linux applications. It also means that users can install Ubuntu and other Linux distributions. There are a few problems you may run into with installing other versions of Linux, but overall, it’s a great way to give your Chromebook a new life.

• Linux 4.20.10

  I'm announcing the release of the 4.20.10 kernel.

  All users of the 4.20 kernel series must upgrade.

  The updated 4.20.y git tree can be found at:
  git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-stable.git linux-4.20.y
  and can be browsed at the normal kernel.org git web browser:
  http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-st...

• Linux 4.19.23

• Linux 4.14.101

• Linux 4.9.158

• Linux 4.20.9

  I'm announcing the release of the 4.20.9 kernel.

  Stay away from this, use 4.20.10 instead.

  The updated 4.20.y git tree can be found at:
  git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-stable.git linux-4.20.y
  and can be browsed at the normal kernel.org git web browser:
  http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-st...

• Linux 4.19.22

• Linux 4.14.100

• Linux 4.9.157

• Forgiveness, a new escape room style puzzle game is coming to Linux this month

  With themes based around the seven deadly sins with psychological-horror vibes, Forgiveness, a new escape room puzzle game is coming to Linux.

• Littlewood, the peaceful building RPG has been fully funded and it's on the way to Linux

  Unlike a lot of RPGs, Littlewood actually takes place after all the action has been done. It's your job to rebuild and the Kickstarter campaign was a huge success.

  For those who didn't see this before, it's developed by Sean Young (Roguelands, Magicite, Kindergarten) with their own take on the building and crafting type of game taking inspiration from titles like Animal Crossing, Dark Cloud and earlier versions of Runescape.

  Against a funding goal of only $1,500 it managed to pull in $82,061 from 3,952 backers. This means it has smashed through every single stretch-goal that was set.

• The 2D beat 'em up 'Tunche' is another game funded on Kickstarter and heading to Linux

  Another bit of positive crowdfunding news for you today, as Tunche, the 2D beat 'em up with procedurally generated worlds has been funded and so it's coming to Linux.

  Their Kickstarter campaign managed to get $55,395 from 1,080 backers against their original goal of $35,000. With that funding secured, they managed to break through two stretch goals, which will add in "challenge events" and a "dark heroes expansion pack".

• The Linux version of Eastshade, the peaceful open-world exploration game is still coming to Linux

  While the Linux version of Eastshade sadly didn't arrive at release, the developer has confirmed it's still coming.

• Dungeons 3 has a new unexpected DLC out today, adding in another campaign

  I have to hand it to Realmforge Studios and Kalypso Media Digital, they've supported Dungeons 3 exceptionally well since release.

  Not only have they released multiple new (and fully voiced) campaign packs, they also put out a free update earlier this month adding in a new multiplayer map and a powerful new spell can be earned by completing the Clash of Gods expansion.

• Apparently Valve are working with Easy Anti-Cheat to get support in Steam Play (updated: yup)

  Turns out, this is true. As a Valve developer did reply to a user on the VKx Discord to say "they're probably referring to the ongoing conversation, which is currently stalled by the NDA, yes" which I've now seen myself—thanks for the tip, MartinPL.

• A look at what games and bundles are on sale ahead of the weekend

  Ah yes, another weekend is about to crash into our lives and so you're looking for a new game to sink some hours into. Let's have a look at what's available.

  First up, itch.io has a Midwinter Selects Bundle available with four games that support Linux and two that don't. The Linux games included are Minit, Wheels of Aurelia, Heaven Will Be Mine and Milkmaid of the Milky Way. The entire bundle is $10 and that's a pretty good price for all of them together.

  GOG have a midweek sale going on for another day or so which has some gems like Owlboy, Pinstripe, Timespinner and more with their prices cut down to size. GOG also have an 11 bit studios sale, with lots of their games going cheap too like Moonlighter and This War of Mine.

• Fancy working on Wine to help push Steam Play? CodeWeavers are hiring

  What will you need to work with them? They require strong C language skills, you obviously need to be very familiar with Linux, a good understanding of build systems, know your way around debugging problems and so on.

  This is great, if they're after more developers it shows just how serious they are about pushing Steam Play forwards to really improve Linux gaming for those titles that will never come to Linux.

Not too long ago, I published an article on TecMint about 13 Most Promising New Linux Distributions to Look Forward in 2019 in which I listed a distro for mobile phones, Bliss OS.

Today, I introduce to you a free, open source, and futuristic project that aims to bring mobile devices together in one swoop.

postmarketOS is a touch-optimized, security-focused, and pre-configured Alpine-based Linux distribution created to be compatible with several old and new devices.

Below is an introduction from the developers themselves,

• Why Does Mozilla Maintain Our Own Root Certificate Store?

  Mozilla maintains a database containing a set of “root” certificates that we use as “trust anchors”. This database, commonly referred to as a “root store”, allows us to determine which Certificate Authorities (CAs) can issue SSL/TLS certificates that are trusted by Firefox, and email certificates that are trusted by Thunderbird. Properly maintaining a root store is a significant undertaking – it requires constant effort to evaluate new trust anchors, monitor existing ones, and react to incidents that threaten our users. Despite the effort involved, Mozilla is committed to maintaining our own root store because doing so is vital to the security of our products and the web in general. It gives us the ability to set policies, determine which CAs meet them, and to take action when a CA fails to do so.

  A major advantage to controlling our own root store is that we can do so in a way that reflects our values. We manage our CA Certificate Program in the open, and by encouraging public participation we give individuals a voice in these trust decisions. Our root inclusion process is one example. We process lots of data and perform significant due diligence, then publish our findings and hold a public discussion before accepting each new root. Managing our own root store also allows us to have a public incident reporting process that emphasizes disclosure and learning from experts in the field. Our mailing list includes participants from many CAs, CA auditors, and other root store operators and is the most widely recognized forum for open, public discussion of policy issues.

• Extract Method Refactoring in Rust

• Why should you use Rust in WebAssembly?

  WebAssembly (Wasm) is a technology that has the chance to reshape how we build apps for the browser. Not only will it allow us to build whole new classes of web applications, but it will also allow us to make existing apps written in JavaScript even more performant.

  In this article about the state of the Rust and Wasm ecosystem, I'll try to explain why Rust is the language that can unlock the true potential of WebAssembly.

• Intake released on Conda-Forge

  Intake is a package for cataloging, finding and loading your data. It has been developed recently by Anaconda, Inc., and continues to gain new features. To read general information about Intake and how to use it, please refer to the documentation.

• Introducing the Meson Quest

• Eighth Annual PyLadies Auction at PyCon 2019

• Episode #117: Is this the end of Python virtual environments?

• Talk Python to Me: #199 Automate all the things with Python at Zapier

• Nohup Command in Linux Enables You to Run Commands Even After Logging Out

• Make websites more readable with a shell script

• Intel's OpenGL Mesa Driver To Better Handle Recovery In Case Of GPU Hangs

  It's sure been a busy week in the Intel open-source graphics driver space... The latest improvement is a patch series providing better context restoration in the case of GPU hangs.

  Chris Wilson who usually deals with the Intel DRM kernel driver, including on the reset/restore front recently, sent out a set of two patches for improving the Intel i965 Mesa driver's behavior following GPU hangs.

• Intel's Linux DRM Driver To Enable PSR2 Power-Savings By Default

  The Intel DRM/KMS kernel driver will soon see PSR2 panel self refresh capabilities enabled by default for allowing more power-savings on Intel-powered ultrabooks/notebooks.

  For a while now Intel's Direct Rendering Manager driver has enabled Panel Self Refresh (PSR) by default as well as other power-savings features like frame-buffer compression (FBC). But the newer Panel Self Refresh standard, PSR2, for eDP displays has not been enabled by default.

• Intel Linux Graphics Driver Adding Device Local Memory - Possible Start of dGPU Bring-Up

  A big patch series was sent out today amounting to 42 patches and over four thousand lines of code for introducing the concept of memory regions to the Intel Linux graphics driver. The memory regions support is preparing for device local memory with future Intel graphics products.

  The concept of memory regions is being added to the Intel "i915" Linux kernel DRM driver for "preparation for upcoming devices with device local memory." The concept is about having different "regions" of memory for system memory as for any device local memory (LMEM). Today's published code also introduces a simple allocator and allowing the existing GEM memory management code to be able to allocate memory to these different memory regions. Up to now with Intel integrated graphics, they haven't had to worry about this functionality not even with their eDRAM/L4 cache of select graphics processors.

Many dating Web sites run proprietary JavaScript. JavaScript is code that Web sites run on your computer in order to make certain features on Web sites function. Proprietary JavaScript is a trap that impacts your ability to run a free system, and not only does it sneak proprietary software onto your machine, but it also poses a security risk. Any piece of software can be malicious, but proprietary JavaScript goes the extra mile. Much of the JavaScript you encounter runs automatically when you load a Web site, which enables it to attack you without you even noticing.

Proprietary JavaScript doesn't have to be the only way to use Web sites. LibreJS is an initiative which blocks "nonfree nontrivial" JavaScript while allowing JavaScript that is either free or trivial.

Many dating apps are also proprietary, available only at the Apple App and Google Play stores, both of which currently require the use of proprietary software.

Let’s tackle the obvious starting question for 10. What’s a dock? I doubt this will ever be a question on the TV programme University Challenge…

A dock is a graphical user interface element that allows the user to have one-click access to frequently used software. This type of utility also enables users to switch quickly between applications, as well as to monitor programs. This type of application is an excellent way of extending the functionality and usefulness of the desktop

Latte is a dock based on plasma frameworks that aims to offer an elegant and intuitive experience for your tasks and KDE Plasma widgets. It animates its contents by using parabolic zoom effect and tries to be as unobtrusive is possible.

The software is mostly written in Qt/QML and C++, but this project also heavily relies on KDE Frameworks 5.

• How to Install Pagekit CMS on Debian 9

• How to print to PDF in Ubuntu 18.04

• How To Install VMware Workstation Player on Debian 9

• How to Install GNU Octave in Ubuntu 18.04 LTS

• How to Install and Setup Zsh (Z Shell) in Fedora

• C Programming Tutorial 4 - Variables and Memory

• Game porter and Steam Play dev Ethan Lee is running a crowdfunding campaign

  Nintendo's USB GameCube adapter for the Wii U and Switch could soon work on Linux, Mac and Windows if this crowdfunding campaign from Ethan Lee is a success.

  Ethan Lee should be a well-known name to most of our readers, they're responsible for a ridiculous amount of indie games that were ported to Linux (see here). On top of that, they're also now working on Steam Play (Valve's fork of Wine that's integrated with the Steam client on Linux) with Codeweavers and Valve too.

• We. The Revolution, a unique looking strategy game set during the French Revolution will be on Linux

  For those after a strategy game that certainly looks unique, We. The Revolution is bringing the blood-soaked history of the French Revolution to Linux.

  Developed by Polyslash with a publishing hand from Klabater, it's going to release with same-day Linux support on March 21st.

• Sid Meier's Civilization VI: Gathering Storm is out with Linux support as expected

  Sid Meier's Civilization VI: Gathering Storm, the massive new expansion has arrived and as expected Aspyr Media managed to get in support for Linux right away. Note: Key provided by Aspyr Media.

  This is the second major expansion for the game, following on from Rise and Fall which launched on Linux back in March last year. You can see some thoughts on that one from BTRE here.

• Xiaomi to steal Samsung’s thunder with Mi 9 launch on same day as Galaxy S10? (Update)

• These are the parts of Android that Apple iPhone users want

• T-Mobile Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus now receiving Android Pie (Update: on hold)

• Xiaomi Mi 8 SE receives Android Pie stable update, gets official price cut too

• Android 9 Pie now rolling out on Motorola G6, G6 Play, and Z3 Play in Brazil

• The Live TV Streaming Service Vidgo Launches on Android TV Devices

• Lego Hidden Side uses ‘haunted’ toys to advance AR on Android and iOS

• What is Android Things and when will the first devices arrive?

• 3D Android Smartphones to Boom

• Google likely bringing Playmoji AR stickers to more Android devices beyond the Pixel

• The FCC reveals some Galaxy A50 details, an Android Go version of A20 appears - GSMArena.com news

• Samsung One UI (Android 9 Pie) review: Samsung's best software yet

• Android Pie and Project Treble: Did Google's upgrade fix work?

• Vivo Follows Xiaomi, Launches An Android Sub-Brand

• How to check on your battery in your Android

• How to save a website as a PDF in Android Chrome

• Tutorial series: Android Studio for beginners

• Turn Your Android Phone into a Meme-Making Factory with These Apps

• Google Is Bringing Android's Best Feature to the iPhone

Yesterday's patches introducing RadeonSI primitive culling via async compute yielded promising initial results, at least for the ParaView workstation application. I've been running some tests of this new functionality since yesterday and have some initial results to share on Polaris and Vega.

I've been running tests using a Radeon RX 590 and RX Vega 64 graphics cards. Tests were run with the latest Mesa Git branch of Marek's that provides this primitive culling implementation. That Mesa version was built against LLVM 9.0 SVN, which is a requirement otherwise the very latest LLVM 8.0 release state otherwise this functionality will not work. Additionally, it depends upon the AMDGPU DRM-Next material in the kernel as well so I was running a fresh kernel build off Alex Deucher's latest code branch.

Initially planned for release on February 7th, 2019, the Ubuntu 18.04.2 LTS operating system has been delayed by Canonical until Valentine's Day, February 14th, due to a bug in the Linux 4.18 kernel inherited from Ubuntu 18.10 (Cosmic Cuttlefish) causing boot failures with certain graphics chipsets.

The kernel regression was quickly addressed in the Linux 4.18 kernel package of both Ubuntu 18.10 and Ubuntu 18.04 LTS systems, so Canonical now released Ubuntu 18.04.2 LTS (Bionic Beaver) with updated graphics and kernel stacks from Ubuntu 18.10 (Cosmic Cuttlefish), as well as all the latest security and software updates.

Also: Ubuntu 18.04.2 LTS Now Available With The New HWE Stack

Globalscale announced a $89 “Sheeva64” version of the old SheevaPlug NAS mini-PC that runs Ubuntu on Marvell’s dual-core -A53 Armada 3720 with 2x GbE, 3x USB, optional wireless, and a wall-power plug.

Globascale Technologies has resurrected Marvell’s old open-spec SheevaPlug mini-PC NAS design built around the same dual-core, Cortex-A53 Marvell Armada 3720 SoC it used in its circa-2016, Pico-ITX form-factor EspressoBin network switching SBC. The long-time Marvell partner has opened $89 pre-orders for the Ubuntu-powered Sheeva64, with shipments due in April.

• SUSE OpenStack Cloud 9 Release Candidate 1 is here!

• The New News on OpenShift 3.11

  Greetings fellow OpenShift enthusiasts! Not too long ago, Red Hat announced that OKD v3.11, the last release in the 3.x stream, is now generally available. The latest release of OpenShift enhances a number of current features that we know and love, as well as a number of interesting updates and technology previews for features that may or may not be included in OpenShift 4.0. Let’s take a look at one of the more exciting releases that may be part of The Great Updates coming in OpenShift 4.0.

• Red Hat Satellite 6.4.2 has just been released

  Red Hat Satellite 6.4.2 is now generally available. The main drivers for the 6.4.2 release are upgrade and stability fixes. Eighteen bugs have been addressed in this release - the complete list is at the end of the post. The most notable issue is support of cloning for Satellite 6.4.

  Cloning allows you to copy your Satellite installation to another host to facilitate testing or upgrading the underlying operating system. For example, when moving a Satellite installation from Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7. An overview of this feature is available on Red Hat’s Customer Portal.

• Chakra GNU/Linux Users Get KDE Plasma 5.15 Desktop and KDE Applications 18.12.2

  Users of the Chakra GNU/Linux distribution have received yet another batch of updates that bring them all the latest KDE technologies and security fixes.

  Less than a week after the previous update, which brought the KDE Plasma 5.14.5, KDE Frameworks 5.54.0, and KDE Applications 18.2.1 releases, Chakra GNU/Linux users can now install the recently released KDE Plasma 5.15 desktop environment, along with the KDE Frameworks 5.55.0 and KDE Applications 18.12.2 open-source software suites.

• A mobile Plasma Sprint

  I was last week in Berlin at the Plasma Mobile sprint, graciously hosted by Endocode, almost exactly 9 years after the first Plasma Mobile sprint in which we first started to explore Plasma and other software by KDE on mobile phones, which at the time were just starting to become powerful enough to run a full Linux stack (Hi N900!)

  Now the project got a wide breath of fresh air: the thing that impressed me the most was how many new faces came at the sprint and are now part of the project.

  [...]

  As for Plasma Mobile software in itself, we did many bugfixes on the main shell/homescreen to have a better first impact, and a significant improvement came in KWin about high DPI scaling when running on an Halium system.

  Also, many improvoements were done in the Kirigami framework, which is the main toolkit recommended to be used to build applications for Plasma Mobile: as developers of several applications that use Kirigami were present there, we could do very fast feedback and debug sessions.