The platform-drivers-x86 pull request has been filed for the Linux 3.20 kernel and it includes some prominent additions.

First up, the Toshiba ACPI driver (toshiba_acpi) is closer to feature-parity with its Windows counterpart. The Linux Toshiba ACPI driver now supports USB Sleep & Charge functions, USB Sleep functions under battery, USB Rapid Charge, USB Sleep & Music, support for keyboard functions mode, support for Panel Power On, support to enable/disable USB 3, etc. There's also driver clean-ups and other improvements for this ACPI laptop driver specifically for Toshiba hardware.

Ninja Blocks, a new kind of smart home controller that got funded through Kickstarter already, has announced that it will provide support for Ubuntu Snappy Core and it will make it feel right at home in the "Internet of Things."

Ubuntu developers are working on the 15.04 version of their operating system and they have made some interesting changes so far, but they also entertained the possibility of adopting GTK+ 3.16. Unfortunately, that wasn't meant to be.

Hewlett-Packard said on Thursday that it would sell a new line of networking switches that are manufactured by a Taiwanese company and depend on Linux-based, open-source software from another company.

HP, once at the center of high-tech manufacturing, will not make the new networking equipment but will act as a reseller, providing both online ordering and worldwide support for the product.

The 500,000 milestone for the Raspberry Pi 2 means the latest version now accounts for roughly 10 percent of the five million Raspberry Pi units shipped overall. The Pi hit its five million sales high-water mark this week, massively dwarfing the 10,000 units that Raspberry Pi co-founder Eben Upton expected the foundation would sell in total, but which instead it reached within hours on the first day of sales in February 2012.

"The Pi has gone from absolutely nothing just under three years ago, to becoming the fastest-selling British computer," the Raspberry Pi Foundation said.

The arrival last week of Linaro's open source 96Boards specification -- ARM's first pseudo-official SBC form factor standard -- shows that ARM is serious about bringing order to the chaotic ARM hacker board scene. 96Boards is a preemptive attempt to consolidate Linux and Android development before a new wave of ARMv8 hacker boards hits the scene later this year.

Linaro's 96Boards.org developer community and standards organization has defined a 96Boards Consumer Edition (CE) spec for ARM single board computers running Debian, Android, and other Linux-based distros. The spec defines either an 85 x 54mm or 85 x 100mm footprint, as well as standardized 40- and 60-pin expansion connectors for stackable boards. A higher-end Enterprise Edition (EE) spec will follow in the second quarter.

Even though Apple is baked into my past, I can’t help but think that writing an Android guide is a little like writing a guide to the future. Every operating system aspires to create a universal experience, yet Android may do the best job of actualizing and implementing it for a consumer market. The Google OS offers unprecedented compatibility thanks to its line of next-gen wearable technology, including the experiment-gone-mainstream, Google Glass, and a slew of recently-announced smartwatches. Everything seems to be going Android’s way.

• Techrights Under Attack Again, Shortly After Important EPO Articles
• EPO Staff Protests Against Benoît Battistelli’s Lowering of Patents Quality (Scope Expansion and Software Patents for Profit)
• Breaking: European Patent Office Sued by Its Own Staff in The Hague, Must Unblock Staff’s Voices
• Željko Topić’s History in SIPO Leaves a Legacy of Alleged DZIV Vehicles (Bribes), Authorship Abuses, and Intimidation Against Reporters
• The Old Obsession With Patent Trolls Continues to Distract From Debate About Software Patenting
• Links 19/2/2015: 64-bit ARM Linux, Chinese New Year
• Links 18/2/2015: Linux Report, FlightGear 3.4
• EPO Scandals: The Story So Far
• Links 17/2/2015: TripleO, Pivotal
• Links 17/2/2015: SystemD 219, Frugalware 2.0 (Rigel) Released
• Željko Peratović Slammed for Whitewashing Željko Topić After Publishing Important Piece on Behalf of Key Sources

Ubuntu 15.04 (Vivid Vervet) is getting close to its launch date and the developers are working to implement all the latest packages, including the Linux kernel. The current daily build is still using the 3.18 branch, but 3.19 is very close.

The demand for Linux developers has jumped seven per cent in comparison to last year, a study has shown.

The 2014 Linux Jobs Report shows that hiring managers at tech-powered companies are focusing more attention on Linux talent, and that’s reverberating in the market, with stronger than average salary increases to those working with the OS.

Even if Mir and Unity 8 still have some time until they reach the desktop in a default capacity, it doesn't mean that the developers don't make important updates to them. A new progress report has been made available, showing off the improvements for both Mir and Unity 8.

The GNOME development team is working hard on the next major version of their controversial and modern GNOME desktop environment, release 3.16, which will bring a number of improvements in performance, stability, and updated components, each one having its own major features. This is the case of GNOME Control Center, which is now available to testers worldwide in a beta form.

A new flash sale for BQ's Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition will take place in less than an hour, at 9 AM CET (Central European Time), so get your wallets ready.

In announcing the new OpenStack platform release, Red Hat emphasized other tools it has recently developed that will help customers avoid vendor lock-in and assure interoperabiliity. Those resources include a cloud management API for RHEL OpenStack Platform and a certification program for third-party cloud software that is designed to work with Red Hat's product.

"Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform 6 delivers enterprise-grade and telco-ready features, fueled by deep engagements with hundreds of customers and partners across the globe, to enable an open cloud infrastructure," Radhesh Balakrishnan, general manager, OpenStack, Red Hat, said in a statement. "Backed by our robust partner ecosystem, this release can enable a wider variety of enterprises and cloud service providers to quickly transition to an OpenStack-powered cloud infrastructure."

There is no shortage of desktop environments for Linux, which means you can customize your PC the way you want it.

I have used almost all major desktop environments -- not just to test the waters but to actually find the one that works for me -- because, you know, the best DE is the one that fits your needs.

Here are 10 highlights:

1. 3.15 was the biggest kernel release ever with 13,722 patches merged. "I imagine we will surpass that again," Corbet said. "The amount of changes to the kernel is just going up over time."

2. The number of developers participating is going up over time while the amount of time it takes us to create a kernel is actually dropping over time. It started at 80 days between kernel releases some time ago, and it's now down to about 63 days. "I don't know how much shorter we can get," het said.

3. Developers added seven new system calls to the kernel over the past year, along with new features such as deadline scheduling, control group reworking, multiqueue block layer, and lots of networking improvmenets. That's in addition to hundreds of new hardware drivers and thousands of bug fixes.