● 02.14.22

Gemini version available ♊︎

● Links 15/2/2022: pgAdmin 4 6.5, Kali Linux 2022.1, and KaOS Linux 2022.02

Posted in News Roundup at 8:45 pm by Dr. Roy SchestowitzContentsGNU/LinuxDistributionsDevices/EmbeddedFree Software/Open SourceLeftovers

GNU/Linux

Desktop/Laptop

=> ↺ 5 Major Developments in Desktop Linux in 2022

• Linux is an ever-evolving family of operating systems. Here are some of the desktop advancements you can expect to see in Linux in 2022.

• Linux is the dominant operating system on servers, but it’s much less well-known as a desktop operating system. Yet the Linux desktop has come a long way in the past decade, and the momentum isn’t slowing.

• Linux development happens out in the open, but unless you know where to look, it’s easy to miss. Here are several major developments happening simultaneously to keep your eyes on.

Audiocasts/Shows

=> ↺ Manjaro 21.2.0 GNOME Edition Quick overview #Shorts – Invidious

• A Quick overview of Manjaro 21.2.0 GNOME Edition.

=> ↺ mintCast 378 – Reaching Enlightenment – mintCast

• First up in the news, Mint 20.3 Una is released, Pipewire has a new release and Solus co-lead resigns

• In security, Ubuntu Kernel update fixes vulnerabilities and Ryzen Mobile CPU’s and Pluton Security

• In our Wanderings, Joe talks about the HPR New Year Show, Norbert watched a new series, Bill has been on the grind with cold temperatures, Nishant joined the Serenity OS team and Moss is back

=> ↺ XeroLinux. Is It Just About The Eyecandy? – Invidious

• XeroLinux is an Arch-based Linux distro that focuses heavily on eyecandy and polish. XeroLinux comes in three different desktop editions: KDE Plasma, GNOME and Xfce. Today, I’m going to take a first look at their flagship edition (KDE).

=> ↺ Stop Praising High Linux System Uptime! – Invidious

• Every so often I see people talk about how much uptime [their] linux system has and I have no idea why people praise this, a high system uptime isn’t something that should be praised in fact, you should be mocked for not updating your system for that long.

Kernel Space

=> ↺ Using Device Tree Overlays, example on BeagleBone boards

• The Device Tree language is a way to describe hardware that is present in a system and cannot be automatically detected. That’s the case of devices directly implemented on a System on a Chip, such as serial ports, Ethernet or Nand flash controllers. That’s also the case of devices connected to a number of buses, such as I2C and SPI, that do not provide mechanisms for dynamic enumeration and identification of devices.

• For a given CPU architecture (ARM, PowerPC, etc), such a description allows to have a unique kernel supporting many different systems with distinct Systems on a Chip. The compiled Device Tree (DTB: Device Tree Binary), passed to the kernel by the bootloader at boot time, lets the kernel know which SoC and devices to initialize. Therefore, when you create a new board, and want to use a standard GNU/Linux distribution on it, all you have to do is create a new Device Tree describing your new hardware, compile it, and boot the distribution’s kernel with it. You don’t need to recompile that kernel, at least when it supports your SoC and the devices on your board.

=> ↺ Intel software-defined silicon to debut with the next version of Linux

• Intel’s plans for software-defined silicon (SDSi) will begin to fall into place with the next version of the Linux kernel, it has emerged.

• The company has remained tight-lipped about the SDSi initiative, whereby customers will pay an additional fee to activate certain features built into their processors. Although Intel has acknowledged the existence of the scheme, it has so far offered no specifics as to which capabilities can be toggled on or off and which CPUs will be compatible.

• However, a message sent to the Linux Kernel Mailing List by a Red Hat developer has revealed Intel’s SDSi code will be incorporated into the Linux kernel “before the 5.18 merge window”, which commences at the end of March. The finalized version of Linux 5.18 is expected to land in May.

=> ↺ AMD’s Linux tweaks pave the way for USB 4 in Ryzen 6000 laptops

• AMD has made tweaks to USB 4 handling in Linux, which come on top of recent patches to ensure that USB 4 works with laptops powered by Ryzen 6000 mobile silicon.

• As you may recall, laptops with Ryzen 6000 APUs inside – otherwise known as ‘Rembrandt’ chips – are the first to support USB 4 (and therefore Thunderbolt 3, optionally) on the AMD front, with Team Red now pushing to get the software side ready for when these devices launch, and they should arrive imminently (the company has previously said Ryzen 6000 notebooks will be out at some point in February, or the first models should be, anyway).

Graphics Stack

=> ↺ NVIDIA fix up a Vulkan problem with the v510.54 driver release

• NVIDIA decided Linux gamers need a little love on Valentines Day so they put up a small driver release for you.

• In comparison to previous drivers, it’s not going to make any big headlines. There’s no big new features, no new Vulkan extensions or performance improvements. Instead, there’s quite an essential bug fix included.

Benchmarks

=> ↺ Linux Snatches Alder Lake Productivity Crown From Windows 11 | Tom’s Hardware

• The latest Kernel updates for Linux have brought some important performance optimizations for Intel Alder Lake CPU owners. When Intel’s 12th-Gen Core processors first launched in Q3 2021, they were better performers in Windows 11 (with its new scheduler) than in Linux. Now, thanks to Linux kernel improvements since Linux 5.16, the open source OS has retaken the lead with Intel’s first desktop hybrid architecture processors. Linux-centric site Phoronix ran a bevy of benchmarks looking at browsing, coding, rendering, encoding, and de/compression.

Applications

=> ↺ The 8 Best Apps to Transfer Files Between Android and Linux

• Need to share a file from your Linux desktop to Android, or vice versa? Check out these eight apps that let you transfer your files effortlessly.

• As an Android user who runs Linux on their desktop, you have several options for transferring files between your Android phone and Linux computer. Using a USB cable or Bluetooth are two such methods.

• However, while these methods can help you transfer files between your devices, they tend to be inefficient when you need to transfer files frequently. File transfer apps, on the other hand, are a much better option, as they facilitate quick and efficient file transfers between devices.

• Here are the best apps to transfer files between Android and Linux that you must check out.

=> ↺ Best PDF Editors to Edit PDF Documents in Linux

• The PDF file format is one of the most widely used document formats that is used to attach, transfer and download digital files thanks to its ease of use, portability, and ability to preserve all elements of a file. You can seamlessly view a PDF document across multiple devices without visual alteration of its contents.

• Occasionally, you might want to modify your PDF and maybe add text, images, fill forms, append a digital signature, and so on. In this guide, we have put together a list of PDF editors (both free and proprietary) that you can leverage to modify your PDF documents.

=> ↺ 10 Lightest Linux Apps and Programs to Speed Up an Old PC

• You could tune up a car by yanking out the engine and putting in a new one, but that’s pretty drastic. Sometimes, so is switching your Linux distribution. Sure, that’s a great way to breathe life into an aging machine—but it’s also a lot of work!

• Even if you go through that effort, it doesn’t matter if you’re using heavy applications. So if you want to lighten the load on your Linux-powered machine, these are the programs you want to run.

=> ↺ Announcing Istio 1.12.3

• This release contains bug fixes to improve robustness. This release note describes what’s different between Istio 1.12.2 and Istio 1.12.3.

Instructionals/Technical

=> ↺ How to Use the dd Command in Linux

• dd is one of the most important commands in Linux, mostly used in backing up hard disks and partitions. When utilized correctly, dd can be a powerful tool for writing data from one partition to another and performing different tasks with files. Here we show you how to put the dd command to good use.

=> ↺ How to Set Up WordPress Multisite with OpenLiteSpeed on Ubuntu 20.04 – RoseHosting

• WordPress is a free, open-source, and one of the best content management systems around the world. It is based on PHP and uses MySQL/MariaDB as a database backend. It provides a simple and easier way to create a simple to advanced blog or website. It provides a web-based frontend to create and manage a website.

• OpenLiteSpeed is a high-performance, lightweight, open-source HTTP server edition of LiteSpeed Web Server Enterprise.

• In this guide, we will show you how to install WordPress multisite with OpenLiteSpeed on Ubuntu 20.04 server. A multisite network is a group of sites sharing the same WordPress installation and could also have the same plugins and themes.

=> ↺ How To Change Passwords in Linux | Tom’s Hardware

• Passwords are one of the most important aspects of computing. They keep our bank accounts, user profiles and computers safe (as long as we don’t reuse passwords). Just to log into our computers, most of us need a password and, for Linux, this is even more important.

• Managing passwords via the terminal is relatively simple. Users can change their own passwords and users belonging to the sudo (super user) account can administrate the passwords of other users.

• In this how-to we’ll learn the basics of passwd, a command designed to manage passwords. We will also learn a few advanced arguments for this command, arguments which will enhance its use and make our lives easier.

• These commands will work on most Linux machines. Our test PC ran Kubuntu 21.10 but you can also run through this how-to on a Raspberry Pi. All of the how-to is performed via the Terminal.

=> ↺ How to Install UVdesk Helpdesk on Ubuntu – VITUX

• UVdesk is an open-source helpdesk platform. It is designed to provide a convenient web-based helpdesk for companies that can be accessed from anywhere in the world. You can set up an account, build your own support center, and try out many different ways of interacting with customers. There are lots of features so you will not feel like you are using every function. The user interface is very easy to use, as well as being highly customizable by way of CSS or JavaScript, depending on what you would like to do.

=> ↺ How to Customize the Orange Dots in the Dock of Ubuntu 20.04 / 22.04 | UbuntuHandbook

• Ubuntu by default shows orange dots under app icons in the dock panel, indicate the apps have running windows. They are called ‘running dots‘. And, Ubuntu provides hidden settings to change the style as well as colors if you don’t like the default look and feel.

=> ↺ How to Build a Continuous Delivery/Deployment Pipeline Using Jenkins.

• In this post, you will learn how to build a Continuous Delivery using Jenkins

=> ↺ How To Install Kimai web-based time tracking application in Linux

• Kimai is a Free Time-Tracking App (open-source), With Kimai, the boring process of feeding Excel spreadsheets with your working hours is not only simplified, it also offers dozens of other exciting features that you don’t even know you’re missing so far!

• Kimai does not have to run while recording, you can even quit your browser. Your time is still recording until you stop it from any web browser that has access to your installation. It is designed to hold lots of users, but you can also use it for a single user if you want to.

=> ↺ How to install RStudio on a Chromebook

• Today we are looking at how to install RStudio on a Chromebook. Please follow the video/audio guide as a tutorial where we explain the process step by step and use the commands below.

• This tutorial will only work on Chromebooks with an Intel or AMD CPU (with Linux Apps Support) and not those with an ARM64 architecture CPU.

=> ↺ How to install OnlyOffice on Zorin OS 16 – Invidious

=> ↺ How to deploy and test the new release of ONLYOFFICE Document Server | TechRepublic

• ONLYOFFICE is one of many options for those looking to host their own alternative to Google Workspaces. Recently ONLYOFFICE unleashed v7 of its platform, which includes exciting new features like a built-in form builder. Along with other features such as Projects, CRM, Mail, Contacts and Documents, ONLYOFFICE could be a perfect solution for those looking to bring such a tool in-house.

=> ↺ How to Use xargs to Process Piped Arguments in Linux

• If you try to pipe the output from one Linux command into another, you may run into errors where the command fails because its argument list is too long.

• Fortunately, there’s a command on Linux systems that properly formats arguments to commands. It’s called xargs and here’s how to use it.

=> ↺ Install/Enable Configure UFW Firewall on Ubuntu 22.04 – LinuxCapable

• One of the keystones of any operating system is a properly configured firewall for complete system security. Ubuntu uses IP tables; however, most users will use software that works as a front end with UFW (Uncomplicated Firewall).

• Some of the great benefits of UFW are its simplicity, user-friendly and easy-to-use command line, making it great for beginners in Linux to the most advanced power users.

• In the following tutorial, you will learn to install and set up UFW Firewall on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS Jammy Jellyfish desktop or server.

=> ↺ Install MKVToolNix 65.0.0 On Ubuntu /AlmaLinux & Fedora | Tips On UNIX

• MKVToolNix is an open-source software to create, alter and inspect Matroska files. MKVToolNix is available to end-users as a graphical and command line.

• MKVToolNix recently released a new version 65.0.0 and users are recommended to upgrade to this version, due to bug fixes and new features added to this release.

• This tutorial will be helpful for beginners to download and install MKVToolNix 65.0.0 on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, Ubuntu 21.10, AlmaLinux 8, and Fedora 35.

=> ↺ Detecting Log4Shell with Wazuh

• This time, you will learn about Detecting Log4Shell with Wazuh

• The Apache Log4J is one of the most common logging libraries in Java, mainly used for error messages. It is part of several high valued applications including iCloud, Twitter, and Minecraft amongst others.

• Recently, a zero-day vulnerability dubbed Log4Shell with CVE CVE-2021-44228 was detected in Apache’s Log4J 2 that allows malicious actors to launch Remote Code Execution (RCE) attacks. This means that an assailant can remotely send commands to a server running vulnerable applications.

• The affected Apache Log4j 2 versions are 2.0-beta9 to 2.15.

• As a matter of fact, version 2.15.0 which was the initial fix for the vulnerability was later discovered to still be vulnerable. So it is recommended to update to version 2.16.0 which disables JNDI and completely removes %m{lookups}.

=> ↺ Linux CMP Command Explained

• The cmp command in Linux/UNIX compares two files byte by byte, allowing you to determine if they are identical or not. If a difference is detected, cmp displays the location of the first mismatch on the screen, if no difference is found, cmp displays the files are identical.

• cmp shows no message and basically returns the brief assuming the files analyzed are identical. A lot of options are available for the cmp command to be paired with to display different output, these options are explained below. Also, I am going to show you the practical uses of cmp command.

=> ↺ Flatpak on Linux: What It Is and How to Install Apps with It

• Here we will learn what is Flatpak, how to install Flatpak on Linux, and how to use the Flatpak command-line user interface to install, remove, and update Flatpak applications.

=> ↺ Convert image in .png format to .webp on Ubuntu and Ubuntu based distributions

• The webp image format has been around for quite a few years, but I only recently found out about it. The Webp image format greatly reduces the file size without losing any quality over formats such as .gif, .png and jpeg.

• Gimp on Linux already has this function to export as webp, but you can also install the cwebp package in Ubuntu or Ubuntu based distributions to convert images to the webp format using the terminal.

• With the basic command for converting one image below, you could create a bash script to take a folder of .png images or mixed images and convert these .webp format.

=> ↺ Let’s Encrypt with GnuPG easy 100%

• Public and private keys GnuPG each have a specific role when encrypting and decrypting documents. A public key may be thought of as an open safe. When a correspondent encrypts a document using a public key, that document is in the safe, the safe shut, and the combination lock spun several times. The corresponding private key is the combination that can reopen the safe and retrieve the document. In other words, only the person who holds the private key can recover a document encrypted using the associated public key. The procedure for encrypting and decrypting documents is straightforward with this mental model. If you want to encrypt a message to Alice, you encrypt it using Alice’s public key, and she decrypts it with her private key.

• Likewise, if you want to send a message, she encrypts it using your public key, and you decrypt it with your key.

• To encrypt a document, the option –encrypt is used. It would be best if you had the public keys of the intended recipients. The software expects the document’s name to encrypt as input or, if omitted, on standard input. The encrypted result is placed on standard output or specified using the option –output. The document will be compressed for additional security in addition to encrypting it.

=> ↺ Traefik for Docker Containers on Ubuntu

• This post is about Traefik for Docker Containers.

Games

=> ↺ GOG puts up a We Love Games Sale with lots of good deals | GamingOnLinux

• Prefer GOG over other stores for their DRM-free collection? It’s Valentines Day and of course there’s a sale. The We Love Games Sale is live until Monday, February 21st at 2 pm UTC. This sale features a number of big hitters, new releases and plenty of indie gems to look out for.

=> ↺ Building a Retro Linux Gaming Computer – Part 12: In Tremendous Pain | GamingOnLinux

• In 1998 developer Raven Software acquired the rights to Soldier of Fortune to make a video game inspired by the mercenary magazine of the same name. The plan was to make a realistic tactical shooter, with consultant John Mullins brought in to add both his insights and likeness to the project. The final result he described as “emblematic” of the real world experience, which is a generous way of putting it. Where the controversy laid was in the game’s violence.

• Soldier of Fortune was the first game to feature the GHOUL system, allowing for the depiction of damage to specific parts of the body, with your enemies reacting in graphic over the top ways. More pacific players might opt to instead just shoot the weapon from their hands, which is also made possible by GHOUL, but with your mission objectives often tied to eliminating all opponents on a map, such mercies are made just a block to your progress.

• A more salient discussion could have been had on the plot of Soldier of Fortune, steeped as it is in the doctrines of western military interventionism. It is hard to take a detached view of your actions in the game when they are taking place within the context of what were then contemporary conflicts. No matter where you stand on these issues, I think we can all agree that the cutscene where Mullins deferentially walks in on Saddam Hussein is more than a little surreal today.

=> ↺ Check out Rise of the Third Power if you love JRPG styled games | GamingOnLinux

• Rise of the Third Power is a brand new release from Stegosoft Games and DANGEN Entertainment, the same team who previously released the popular Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition.

• This was first shown off back in 2017, a throwback to the SNES era of RPGs but of course built for modern audiences with plenty of up to date convenience features thrown in. That, plus a mix of designs inspired by JRPGs and more western elements too. In the game you build up a party of up to eight unique characters, with each having their own background story, ambitions, and personalities, as they embark upon a suicide mission to prevent a war and topple the Arkadyan emperor. A blend of humour, drama and tragedy await you in a 35+ hour story-focused quest as they navigate the treacherous world of Rin.

=> ↺ Children of Morta gets online co-op in the Fellowship Sanctuary update | GamingOnLinux

• Children of Morta is easily one of the best looking pixel-art games around, and the gameplay is pretty awesome too. Now you can team up with a friend as the online co-op update is out.

• “Children of Morta is an action RPG with a rogue-lite approach to character development, where you don’t play a single character – but a whole, extraordinary family of heroes. Hack’n’slash through hordes of enemies in procedurally generated dungeons, caves and lands and lead the family of Bergsons, with all their flaws and virtues, against the forthcoming Corruption.”

Desktop Environments/WMs

K Desktop Environment/KDE SC/Qt

=> ↺ Kile: An Interactive Cross-Platform LaTeX Editor by KDE

• You can use a TeX/LaTeX editor for a variety of documents. Not just limited to scientific research, you can also add your code, start writing a book (academic/creative), or draft articles.

• An interactive solution with the option for preview, and several features, should come in handy if you regularly work with LaTeX documents.

• Kile is one such option by KDE, available for Linux and other platforms. In fact, it is one of the best LaTeX editors available for Linux, which we decided to highlight separately.

=> ↺ You Can Now Install KDE Plasma 5.24 LTS on Kubuntu 21.10, Here’s How

• Released in October 2021, Kubuntu 21.10 (Impish Indri) ships with KDE Plasma 5.22.5 as the default desktop environment. But, thanks to the Kubuntu Backports PPA effort, users were able to quickly update to the KDE Plasma 5.23 “25th Anniversary Edition” and now they can update to the latest release, KDE Plasma 5.24.

• The Kubuntu team recently announced that the Plasma 5.24 packages are now available in the Kubuntu Backports PPA repository, alongside the KDE Frameworks 5.91 and KDE Gear 21.12.2 software suites, all compiled against the Qt 5.15.2 application framework.

GNOME Desktop/GTK

=> ↺ Modernizing GTK’s macOS backend (again) – Zen and the Art of GNOME

• Since the early days of working on the macOS backend for GTK 4 I knew eventually we’d have to follow suit with what the major browsers were doing in terms of drawing efficiency. Using OpenGL was (while deprecated, certainly not going anywhere) fine from a performance standpoint of rendering. But it did have a few drawbacks.

• In particular, OpenGL (and Metal afaik) layers don’t have ways to damage specific regions of the GPU rendering. That means as we’d flip between front and back buffers, the compositor will re-composite the whole window. That’s rather expensive for areas that didn’t change, even when using a “scissor rect”.

• If you’re willing to go through the effort of using IOSurface, there does exist another possibility. So this past week I read up on the APIs for CALayer and IOSurface and began strapping things together. As a life-long Linux user, I must say I’m not very impressed with the macOS experience as a user or application author, but hey, it’s a thing, and I guess it matters.

=> ↺ Georges Basile Stavracas Neto: OBS Studio 27.2 on Flathub, get it while it’s hot!

• Today, OBS Studio published its 27.2 release. With this release, besides the always good to have bugfixes and improvements, there’s one change in particular that makes me super excited: this is the first release officially published to Flathub!

• Flathub joins OBS Studio’s Ubuntu PPA in the list of official builds.

• On Ubuntu, both can be installed and used without any major annoyance, since Flatpak can easily be installed there – though it would be great if Flatpak was distributed by default on Ubuntu, but oh well, such is life. For other Linux distributions, especially the ones not based on Debian, the Flathub package is probably the easiest one to install, and certainly the most complete.

=> ↺ Neil McGovern: Handing over

• In 2017, I was attending FOSDEM when GNOME announced that I was to become the new Executive Director of the Foundation. Now, nearly 5 years later, I’ve decided the timing is right for me to step back and for GNOME to start looking for its next leader. I’ve been working closely with Rob and the rest of the board to ensure that there’s an extended and smooth transition, and that GNOME can continue to go from strength to strength.

• GNOME has changed a lot in the last 5 years, and a lot has happened in that time. As a Foundation, we’ve gone from a small team of 3, to employing people to work on marketing, investment in technical frameworks, conference organisation and much more beyond. We’ve become the default desktop on all major Linux distributions. We’ve launched Flathub to help connect application developers directly to their users. We’ve dealt with patent suits, trademarks, and bylaw changes. We’ve moved our entire development platform to GitLab. We released 10 new GNOME releases, GTK 4 and GNOME 40. We’ve reset our relationships with external community partners and forged our way towards that future we all dream of – where everyone is empowered by technology they can trust.

Distributions

New Releases

=> ↺ KaOS 2022.02

• With the release of Plasma 5.24, a first for KaOS can be announced. Wayland on Plasma is in such a good shape that it now can be the default session for KaOS. For Virtualbox, this means some intervention is needed for auto-resize, upstream does not support this yet for a Wayland session, so you will need to set the desired screen resolution in Systemsettings. When you choose to use non-free Nvidia during the boot-up of the Live session, then Wayland won’t be used, for Nvidia, it is still better to use an X session.

• [...]

• Other news regarding Plasma 5.24 includes a new Configure Display Settings item. This lets you adjust your screens’ resolution, orientation, scaling, and position relative to other monitors. Desktop Panels are now easier to move around and stick to any edge you want, as you can now drag them from anywhere on their toolbar while in Edit Mode. To make critically important Plasma notifications stand out, they now come with an orange strip on the side to visually distinguish them from less urgent messages. The Task Manager’s context menus have been clarified and simplified. The Add a keyboard layout dialog has been redesigned for simplicity and ease of use. And the Cover Flip and Flip Switch effects are back, you can find them in the System Settings Window Management > Task Switcher page. For the other KDE parts, the latest Frameworks (5.91.0) and KDE Gear (21.12.2) are included. All built on Qt 5.15.2+.

=> ↺ KaOS Linux 2022.02 Is Out with KDE Plasma 5.24, Makes Plasma Wayland Default Session

• KaOS Linux 2022.02 comes a little over a month after KaOS Linux’s first release in 2022 and ships with the recently released KDE Plasma 5.24 LTS desktop environment, which is accompanied by the latest and greatest KDE Frameworks 5.91 and KDE Gear 21.12.2 software suites, as well as the brand-new Kalendar 1.0 app.

• With this release, KaOS Linux switches to Plasma Wayland as the default session for new installations. As you can imagine, this big move makes some changes in the distribution, such as the fact that the default media player, SMPlayer, has been replaced by Haruna as it supports Wayland.

=> ↺ Kali Linux 2022.1 Released with New “Everything” Flavor, New Tools, and a Visual Refresh

• Coming two months after Kali Linux 2021.4, the Kali Linux 2022.1 release is here with a visual refresh as the development team updated the desktop, boot splash, and login backgrounds, along with a refreshed installer theme and more consistent boot menu options to make the ethical hacking distro look more modern.

• Another major change in Kali Linux 2022.1 is the availability of a new ISO flavor called “Everything”, which apparently includes a complete Kali Linux environment with all the tools you’ll ever need for offline use. However, this image is huge in size (about 11GB) and it’s only offered as a torrent download.

=> ↺ Kali Linux 2022.1 Release (Visual Updates, Kali Everything ISOs, Legacy SSH)

• Today we are pushing out the first Kali Linux release of the new year with Kali Linux 2022.1, and just in time for Valentine’s Day! This release brings various visual updates and tweaks to existing features, and is ready to be downloaded or upgraded if you have an existing Kali Linux installation.

Debian Family

=> ↺ Got to boot a RPi Zero 2 W with Debian

• About a month ago, I got tired of waiting for the newest member of the Raspberry product lineup to be sold in Mexico, and I bought it from a Chinese reseller through a big online shopping platform. I paid quite a bit of premium (~US$85 instead of the advertised US$15), and got it delivered ten days later…

=> ↺ DSA-2019: Debian Security Advisory: Lovestruck Leaders

• Clients and friends have been asking a very similar question recently: what do the scandals in Debian and other free software organizations mean for me, my computers, my servers, my business?

• [....]

• Many people perceive social engineering as an attempt to gain access to confidential information, for example, successfully impersonating the queen to obtain medical records.

• Yet social engineering attacks go much further. Sophisticated attackers encourage their targets to break rules in the hope that the shared knowledge of these crimes will give the attacker an opportunity to blackmail the target. Edward Snowden revealed an unsophisticated plot to entrap a Saudi banker in Geneva by orchestrating a drink driving violation.

• Many of the attackers have a long-term view. They start by testing small rule violations and gradually lead their target deeper and deeper into the hot water.

• [...]

• Once again, we need to come back to the question that started this blog: what does it mean for the user? These social engineering attacks under the guise of diversity may not compromise any of the archive keys or add new backdoors into the code. On the other hand, when ordinary volunteers see these rorts they may lose motivation. Fixes for security bugs, like everything else in Debian, depend on the motivation of volunteers to fix them promptly. A volunteer who was treated rudely at DebConf may simply leave a bug open for an extra week. High-impact projects that never finish: see the example of FreedomBox, which still hasn’t made an official release after more than 12 years. Social engineering can play a role in all of these phenomena.

Canonical/Ubuntu Family

=> ↺ Slimbook & Kubuntu 18.04 – Combat report 14

• My Slimbook brings all the nerds to the yard, and they’re like. Indeed. The laptop works well. Kubuntu 18.04 proudly holds its ground. The experience is slick and modern. I often compare the looks in Plasma 5.12 to the new crop, and there’s something rather professional and yet charming in the more classic layout of this older LTS. The new releases have a bit more crayony, flatter feel, and while it isn’t bad or ugly, it feels slightly less expensive, so to speak.

• I am quite pleased. The device is fast and does every task well. There are some questions marks regarding the battery, but I don’t have more data on that just yet. The system performance remains excellent, and nothing has really changed in the past three odd years. Every reboot, the save-session feature of Plasma makes me grin. Yes, there are annoying bugs, mostly inside applications, and stubborn won’t-fix issues in the desktop itself, which are only fixed in newer versions of Plasma. But all in all, even with an odd crash and some silly errors, the general feel remains good. Thinking about it, with Windows 11 looming over the horizon, I might have to seriously rethink my day-to-day choices and go full-KDE 24/7 (except gaming, of course). So far, the Slimbook Pro2 and its Kubuntu operating system prove that this can be done with joy, elegance and efficiency. We’re done. Until the next report.

Devices/Embedded

=> ↺ NanoPi router board updated with 8GB eMMC and a metal case

• FriendlyElec launched a $48 “NanoPi R2C Plus” router, an case-only variant of the RK3328-based NanoPi R2C SBC that adds 8GB eMMC, among other minor changes. Meanwhile, there is now a $9 metal case for the similar Orange Pi R1 Plus LTS SBC.

• In the NanoPi R2C blurb in our recent catalog of 136 Linux hacker boards, we mentioned that an eMMC equipped NanoPi R2C Plus was in the works. As reported by CNXSoft, the Plus model is now shipping for $48, but only in a version with a metal enclosure. CNXSoft also reported that Shenzhen Xunlong’s almost identical Orange Pi R1 Plus LTS router SBC, which similarly combines a Rockchip RK3328 and dual GbE ports, is now available with its own metal enclosure for $36 (see farther below.)

=> ↺ Edge AI box with PoE and GMSL taps new 64GB RAM Jetson AGX Xavier

• Vecow’s “EAC-3000” edge AI system runs Linux on a new 64GB RAM version of the 32-TOPS Jetson AGX Xavier and supplies GbE, 4x GbE with PoE+, 4x USB 3.0, 2x COM, 2x CAN, 2x DDI, 3x M.2, and 8x Fakra-Z links for GMSL cameras.

• Vecow announced a rugged embedded computer that supports a new Jetson AGX Xavier 64GB version of Nvidia’s high-end AGX Xavier module that doubles the LPDDR4x RAM to 64GB. The EAC-3000 is designed for in-vehicle computing, robotic control, medical imaging, public security, smart factory, AMR/AGV, and AIoT/Industry 4.0 applications.

Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications

=> ↺ What’s the difference between Android 12L and Android 13, and when will my phone get it?

=> ↺ Android 13: The first developer preview has arrived | TechRepublic

=> ↺ POCO X4 5G: Global version of Xiaomi’s upcoming mid-range smartphone surfaces with Android 11, a Snapdragon 695 and 6 GB of RAM – NotebookCheck.net News

=> ↺ How To Update Google Play Store On An Android Device

=> ↺ Got an Old Android Phone? Repurpose It With These 9 Creative Hacks – CNET

=> ↺ Niagara Launcher Is the Best Android Launcher for Big Phones

=> ↺ Samsung’s new Android tablets are so popular that it had to halt preorders | Ars Technica

=> ↺ Samsung Galaxy S22 vs. Google Pixel 6: Which Android Flagship Should You Buy? | PCMag

=> ↺ Android 13 looks set to bring substantial improvements to screen savers

=> ↺ Android 13 lets you run Windows 11 on your smartphone – Gizchina.com

=> ↺ android: Android 12 guide: How to turn off camera and microphone access in one tap from all apps

=> ↺ Android 12 Reaches Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 2 In The US

=> ↺ LG Wing 5G delivers a unique swiveling Android experience at $280 in Woot refurb sale – 9to5Toys

=> ↺ Nokia’s latest budget Android phone has a 50MP camera, three-day battery life | Android Central

Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

SaaS/Back End/Databases

=> ↺ PostgreSQL: pgAdmin 4 v6.5 Released

• The pgAdmin Development Team is pleased to announce pgAdmin 4 version 6.5. This release of pgAdmin 4 includes 24 bug fixes and new features. For more details please see the release notes.

• pgAdmin is the leading Open Source graphical management tool for PostgreSQL. For more information, please see the website.

=> ↺ PostgreSQL: Ora2Pg v23.1 released

• Version 23.1 of Ora2Pg, a free and reliable tool used to migrate an Oracle database to PostgreSQL, has been officially released and is publicly available for download.

• This release fix several issues reported since past four months and adds some new major features and improvements.

Programming/Development

=> ↺ Introducing Buildkite integration – Octopus Deploy

• Octopus Deploy now integrates with Buildkite. Our new Buildkite plugins will allow your build agents to create and deploy releases, push build information, and run runbooks as part of a pipeline.

• This post shows you how to use the Buildkite plugins to perform various operations with Octopus Deploy as part of a pipeline in Buildkite.

• [...]

• The integration provided through our new Buildkite plugins represents our initial design and release. We plan to build additional plugins and eliminate the dependency on the Octopus CLI by providing integration through Bash scripts.

• If you’re an existing Octopus Deploy customer, check out Buildkite as part of your build pipeline. If you’re an existing Buildkite customer, check out Octopus Deploy for deployments. And if you haven’t tried either product, consider them both as part of your CI/CD pipeline.

Rust

=> ↺ Crates.io Index Snapshot Branches Moving | Rust Blog

• Every so often, the crates.io index’s Git history is squashed into one commit to minimize the history Cargo needs to download. When the index is squashed, we save snapshots to preserve the history of crate publishes.

• Currently, those snapshots are stored as branches in the main index Git repository. Those branches are using server resources though, as the server still has to consider their contents whenever Cargo asks for the master branch. We will be deleting the snapshot branches from this repository to ensure that all objects referenced in the master branch will only be compressed against other objects in the master branch, ensuring that the current clone behavior will be much more efficient on the server side.

Leftovers

Hardware

=> ↺ A Solari Mechanical Digital Clock Hack With A Little Extra | Hackaday

• [Alfredo Cortellini] was perusing an antique shop in Bologna, and came across a nice example of a late 1950s timepiece, in the shape of a Solari Cifra 5 slave clock, but as the shop owner warned, it could never tell the time by itself. That sounded like a challenge, and the resulting hack is a nice, respectful tweak of the internals to bring it into the modern era. Since the clock requires a single pulse-per-minute in order to track time, the simplest track often followed is to open the back, set the correct time manually by poking the appropriate levers, and then let an external circuit take over clocking it. [Alfredo] wanted autonomy, and came up with a solution to make the thing fully adjust itself automatically.

• Electronics-wise, initial prototyping was performed with a Nucleo 32 dev board and a pile of modules, before moving to a custom PCB designed in Altium Designer. An STM32G031 runs the show, with a few push buttons and a SSD1306 OLED display forming the UI.

=> ↺ This Minibike Will Land You In Hot Water | Hackaday

• The minibike is an American phenomenon which fascinates those of us from countries in which such contraptions are illegal on the road; they seem to deliver bucketloads of low-octane fun in which we are unable to participate. [HowToLou] has one, and as it’s something for use in the Great Outdoors it naturally requires some means of fixing a brew. His solution to the need for a mug of boiling water in out-of-the-way places? A gravity-fed heat exchanger for the exhaust pipe, fed from a reservoir made using an upturned bottle.

• [...]

• It may not be the most practical of water heaters, but it’s certainly a bit of fun even if it might not work with all the minibikes we’ve covered.

=> ↺ Fail Of The Week: A Bigger Hacksaw Isn’t A Better Hacksaw | Hackaday

• If we’re being honest, the main reason to buy a power tool is to avoid the pain of using one’s muscles. Oh sure, we dress it up with claims that a power tool will make us more productive, or give better results, but more often than not it’s the memory of how your forearm feels after a day of twisting a screwdriver that makes you buy a cordless driver.

• It appears that [Artisan Makes] has a high tolerance for pain, seeing how the main prep tool in his metal shop is a plain old hacksaw. So in an effort to speed up his stock prep, he turned not to a bandsaw or cutoff saw, but instead built the world’s silliest hacksaw. It’s the metalworking equivalent of the two-man bucksaws that lumberjacks used to fell trees before chainsaws came along, and at a meter and half in length, it’s about the size of one too. Modifying the frame of his trusty hacksaw was easy — he just popped the end pieces off and attached them to an extra-long piece of tube stock. Finding a 1.5-meter hacksaw blade was the main challenge; not exactly a big-box store item, that. So a section of metal-cutting bandsaw blade was modified to fit the frame, and it was off to the races.

Integrity/Availability

Proprietary

Pseudo-Open Source

Privatisation/Privateering

Linux Foundation

=> ↺ Microsoft, Linux Foundation, others join Carbon Call

=> ↺ this foundation’s efforts with Microsoft have actively hurt Linux, the brand

• The ClimateWorks Foundation has announced the Carbon Call, an effort by twenty organizations including businesses like Microsoft, the Linux Foundation and KPMG. The goal is to develop reliable and accurate carbon emissions accounting, something the sponsoring organization and signatories agree is lacking presently.

Security

=> ↺ Security updates for Monday [LWN.net]

• Security updates have been issued by Debian (debian-edu-config, expat, minetest, pgbouncer, python2.7, samba, thunderbird, and varnish), Fedora (dotnet-build-reference-packages, dotnet3.1, dotnet6.0, hostapd, libdxfrw, librecad, mingw-expat, mingw-gdk-pixbuf, php-twig2, php-twig3, rust-afterburn, webkit2gtk3, and xstream), Mageia (bluez, firefox, libarchive, php-adodb, thunderbird, and webkit2), openSUSE (ghostscript, openexr, permissions, SDL2, and wireshark), Red Hat (firefox), Slackware (mariadb), and SUSE (busybox, ghostscript, openexr, permissions, SDL2, and wireshark).

=> ↺ Linux tops Google’s charts for fixing bugs the fastest • The Register

• The bug hunters at Google’s Project Zero team have released their latest time-to-fix data and Linux is smashing the opposition.

• Between 2019 and 2021 open-source developers fixed Linux issues in an average of 25 days, compared to 83 for Microsoft and Oracle pulling last place at 109 days, albeit from a very low number of cases. Furthermore Linux is showing consistent improvement in response times, from 32 days in 2019 to just 15 last year, and that improvement is being mirrored (mostly) across the industry.

• “In 2021, vendors took an average of 52 days to fix security vulnerabilities reported from Project Zero,” said the team’s Ryan Schoen in the report. “This is a significant acceleration from an average of about 80 days three years ago.”

• When it comes to mobile fixes Apple leads the telecoms duopoly, sorting out issues in an average of 70 days, compared to Android’s 72.

=> ↺ Does Linux need antivirus?

• Wondering if Linux users can take operating system security for granted and not worry about using anti-virus? Let’s look at the risks and what you can use to protect yourself when you’re running this popular open source OS and alternative to Windows 11.

• Linux malware has been gradually increasing over the years, with a 35% growth in Linux malware in 2021 identified by endpoint protection vendor Crowdstrike, largely affecting Internet-of-Things devices.

• But, assuming your day-to-day security practices are good and your OS is up-to-date, your Linux desktop doesn’t have a particularly great need of antivirus software. OS security updates promptly address new threats, to the point where the official position of Canonical, maker of Ubuntu Linux is that “Linux viruses are so rare that you don’t really need to worry about them at the moment.

=> ↺ Adobe Releases Security Updates for Commerce and Magento Open Source | CISA

• Adobe has released security updates to address a vulnerability affecting Adobe Commerce and Magento Open Source. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to take control of an affected system. This vulnerability has been detected in exploits in the wild.

Privacy/Surveillance

=> ↺ Christopher Parsons Delivers Testimony to the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics – The Citizen Lab

• Citizen Lab senior research associate Dr. Christopher Parsons provided the following briefing on Monday, February 14, 2022 to the House of Commons’ Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy, and Ethics, regarding the collection and use of mobility data by the Government of Canada.

Monopolies

Patents (Mostly EPO, Without Rebuttals)

=> ↺ Recent Updates To EPO Guidelines For Examination

=> ↺ Patenting AI: the nature of inventorship and the mechanics of ownership

=> ↺ Two Day Virtual Training Course: How to Avoid Common Pitfalls in Combined European Union/US Patent Applications, March 17-18, 2022 – ResearchAndMarkets.com

=> ↺ Where to Enter the PCT National Phase?

=> ↺ EPO fee increases from 1 April 2022: What you need to know

=> ↺ EPO to Increase Official Fees from 1 April 2022

=> ↺ ENDRA Life Sciences Strengthens TAEUS® System Global Intellectual Property Portfolio with Issuance of 6th and 7th European Patents

=> ↺ What next for description revisions at the European Patent Office?

=> ↺ European Patent Office Grants Further Patent to Salipro Biotech

=> ↺ Revised EPO Guidelines offer little guidance on description amendments

=> ↺ EPO provides transitional measures for obtaining Unitary Patents

=> ↺ Filling-in of Official Documents When Submitting Regular PPH on the basis of EPO or USPTO Examination Results

=> ↺ Priority News: Referral To EBA Gives PCT Joint Applicants Reasons To Rejoice In 2022

Software Patents

=> ↺ Review of EPO Software Decisions in 2021

• In 2021, reporting of the case law of the EPO Boards of Appeal in the field of IT & computer-implemented inventions has been dominated by two topics: the Enlarged Board’s decision relating to simulation and the rejection of two applications for inventions created by the artificial intelligence “DABUS” for failure to designate a human inventor. The simulation decision could well become the most important decision in this field as it endorses and summarises 20 years of case law since the well-known Comvik decision. The DABUS decisions follow the line taken in the UK and US that a human inventor must be named in any patent application and may be the start of a long debate on AI inventorship but are unlikely to have an immediate impact on day to day practice for most innovative companies. We discuss below these cases and other cases of interest published in 2021.

=> ↺ Review Of EPO Software Decisions In 2021

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