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● 09.07.23

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● Links 07/09/2023: LibreOffice 7.5.6 and Plans for LibrePlanet 2024 Have Begun

Posted in News Roundup at 12:50 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

GNU/Linux

Desktop/Laptop

=> ↺ ZDNet ☛ Why I use multiple operating systems to get my work done

• Over 20 years ago, I was a managing editor for a company and was charged with building Linux content for the site. At some point during that gig, I was told that I had to use Microsoft Windows and a bevy of MS software.

• I refused.

• Why? Call it pride, stubbornness, or just the knowledge that my operating system of choice (Linux) was not only far superior to anything Microsoft produced, but it made my life a lot easier and I never had to worry about viruses or the dreaded Blue Screen of Death.

Server

=> ↺ Upbound Extends Reach of Crossplane Control Plane Service

• Upbound’s new version of Crossplane will make it simpler for IT teams to deploy the control plane across a hybrid cloud computing environment.

=> ↺ Silicon Angle ☛ Upbound Spaces brings managed control planes to self-hosted computing environments

• Upbound Inc., the startup behind the popular open-source Crossplane project, today announced a new self-hosting feature for its flagship control plane technology, enabling users to deploy managed control planes in self-managed computing environments.

=> ↺ Cosmonic Commits to Next Iteration of Wasm Standard

• Cosmonic’s PaaS now supports the WebAssembly Component Model that is at the core of a forthcoming major update.

=> ↺ Kubernetes: The ‘All Things’ Platform

• Kubernetes has transitioned from being a mere tool for scaling applications into a comprehensive platform for a diverse range of cloud-native operations.

Audiocasts/Shows

=> ↺ The BSD Now Podcast ☛ BSD Now 523: Literally Unix

• The Elements Of Style: UNIX As Literature, The shell and its crappy handling of whitespace, Theo de Raadt on Zenbleed, OPNsense 23.7 released, illumos gets a new C compiler, fixing Thinkpad X1 WIFI on FreeBSD, and more

Kernel Space

=> ↺ LWN ☛ Linux 6.5.2

=> ↺ LWN ☛ Linux 6.4.15

=> ↺ LWN ☛ Linux 6.1.52

=> ↺ LWN ☛ Linux 5.15.131

Applications

=> ↺ Linux Links ☛ 4 Best Free and Open Source Linux Network Authentication Servers

• Remote Authentication Dial In User Service (RADIUS) is a networking protocol that offers centralized connection authentication, authorization, and accounting management for various types of network access. RADIUS is mature technology having been developed almost twenty years ago.

• Traditionally, this type of server was typically deployed by organizations that operate large banks of modems. However, the technology underpins secure network access for network appliances, wireless and virtual private network (VPN) connections. Internet service providers use RADIUS attributes in Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) and cable connections to ensure that users are connected to the correct services, reject connections for expired accounts, IP allocation, and to carry out accounting functionality. Nevertheless, these network authentication servers can be used on any network that needs a centralized authentication and/or accounting service.

• Whilst there is not a huge number of open source network authentication servers available for Linux, the competition is still strong, with a number of mature, highly proficient, and feature-laden servers.

=> ↺ Linux Links ☛ Gomu – Go Music Player

• I’ve reviewed a smorgasbord array of music players for Linux. So many, in fact, that I’ve honestly lost count of the number. Yet visitors to LinuxLinks are keen to share their finds with me. Gomu was shared to me by a hardcore Go aficionado.

• Gomu is billed as an intuitive, powerful CLI music player. It has embedded scripting language and event hook to enable a user to customize their config.

• This is free and open source software.

=> ↺ Linuxiac ☛ Mission Center: A New GUI System Monitoring Tool for Linux

• In the realm of Linux system administration, monitoring is the key to maintaining system health and optimizing performance.

• CPU, memory, disk, network, and GPU resources are the lifeblood of any computer system, and understanding how they are utilized is vital for ensuring smooth operation, preventing bottlenecks, and identifying potential issues before they escalate.

=> ↺ Cockpit Project: Cockpit 300

• Cockpit is the modern Linux admin interface. We release regularly.

• Today we celebrate the 300th release of Cockpit… This is brought to you live from a developer team gathering in the beautiful city of Nürnberg, Germany – home of world-famous visual artists like Albrecht Dürer…

=> ↺ XnView MP: Free and Open-Source Image Viewer, Editor, and Converter

• The quality of image and video capture has improved tremendously over the years and the capabilities of our digital devices continue to push the limits of image quality. However, there is a bummer! The high-res images we take do come at the hefty price of an increase in the size of images taken.

• For this reason, uploading images on the internet can be painfully slow especially if you’re on a network with minimal bandwidth.

• While there are varying online services and softwares for other platforms that will effectively convert your image files while still maintaining the original quality, it is rather hard to come by native clients for Linux systems.

=> ↺ 16 Best To Do List Apps for Linux Desktop [2023]

• ToDo lists are arguably the most developed applications after calculator-type apps because their feature lists are pretty much set in stone and that makes them

• The post 16 Best To Do List Apps for Linux Desktop [2023] first appeared on GeeksMint: Computers, How-to’s, Internet, Tips and Tricks.

=> ↺ Medevel ☛ 17 Open-source Free System Auditing Tools for macOS, Windows, Linux, and the Cloud

• System auditing is the process of collecting and analyzing information about a computer’s use, events, and security. This information can be used to detect and prevent security breaches, troubleshoot problems, and ensure compliance with regulations and policies.

=> ↺ Medevel ☛ 24 Open-source and Free Disk, Data, and Docker Backup Solutions

• Data backup is the process of creating a copy of important data and storing it in a safe location, separate from the original data. This is done to protect against data loss in case the original data becomes corrupted, damaged, or lost.

=> ↺ Medevel ☛ 54 Free Open-source Web Spiders, Crawler and Scrapping Solutions for Data Collection

• Web crawling, scraping, and spiders are all related to the process of extracting data from websites.

• Web crawling is the process of automatically gathering data from the internet, usually with the goal of building a database of information.

Instructionals/Technical

idroot

=> ↺ ID Root ☛ How To Install Certbot on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

• In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Certbot on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. In today’s digital age, ensuring the security of your website is paramount.

=> ↺ ID Root ☛ How To Install OpenLDAP on Debian 12

• In this tutorial, we will show you how to install OpenLDAP on Debian 12. In the intricate landscape of modern IT infrastructure, efficient management of user data and authentication is crucial. OpenLDAP, an open-source implementation of the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol, offers a robust solution for centralizing user information.

=> ↺ ID Root ☛ How To Install CyberPanel on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

• In this tutorial, we will show you how to install CyberPanel on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. In the ever-evolving landscape of SEO, website performance plays a pivotal role in determining search engine rankings. CyberPanel, a cutting-edge control panel, offers a comprehensive suite of tools to optimize your website’s performance on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.

=> ↺ Peter Czanik: Sending logs to OpenObserve using syslog-ng

• A question was asked if syslog-ng can send logs to OpenObserve. It has an Elasticsearch compatible API for log ingestion, but syslog-ng is not mentioned in the documentation. My plan was to document how to modify the syslog-ng elasticsearch-http() destination, based on API documentation. However, as it turned out, OpenObserve has a ready to use syslog-ng configuration example in the web UI.

=> ↺ Peter ‘CzP’ Czanik ☛ Peter Czanik: Sending logs to OpenObserve using syslog-ng

=> ↺ How to Configure VLAN Tagging Over Bonding on RHEL

• In Linux, you can create advanced network setups such as Network Bonding or NIC teaming, VLAN tagging, and bridging based on your needs.

=> ↺ Tmux Tutorial: Master the Basics

• What is tmux? Tmux is a terminal multiplexer that allows you to manage multiple terminal sessions witha single terminal window, and you can easily switch between those multiple terminal sessions.

=> ↺ LWN ☛ A guide to network performance tuning

• Leandro Moreira is maintaining a detailed description of Linux network tuning parameters and how they all tie together. There is a lot of good information for administrators seeking a better understanding of how all those knobs work and interoperate

=> ↺ How to Quickly Refresh and Reload Group Membership on Linux

• To immediately detect the changes after adding the user (let’s say “linuxtldr“) to the group (let’s say “docker“) in Linux, use the following command: However, I advise you to read the entire article in order to understand the main reason for this [...]

=> ↺ Install Cockpit Flatpak Client on Manjaro KDE 23

• Cockpit Client provides a graphical interface to your servers, containers, and virtual machines. Connections are made over SSH, using the SSH configuration of the local user (including aliases, known hosts, key files, hardware tokens, etc).

=> ↺ OSTechNix ☛ How To Configure SSH Key-based Authentication In Linux

• This guide provides an overview of different SSH authentication methods…

=> ↺ Pi My Life Up ☛ How to Edit a File on Ubuntu using the Terminal

• There are various times that you will want to edit a file on Ubuntu while using the terminal. This is especially true if you connect to your device remotely using SSH.

• Luckily for us, editing a file in the terminal is relatively straightforward, thanks to the pre-installed text editors on Ubuntu.

• Best of all, the provided editors are straightforward to utilize, especially once you are familiar with the terminal.

• In the following section, we will show you how to edit files using the nano text editor on Ubuntu. nano is one of the most straightforward text editors to utilize within the command line.

=> ↺ Linux Handbook ☛ Proxmox Series #7: Upgrading Proxmox version

• Proxmox 8.0 was released on June 22, 2023, and it’s full of exciting new features. Among the highlights are the following straight from the official Proxmox forum:

=> ↺ How to Create and Launch Your First AWS EC2 Instance

• At some point, everyone, particularly those in IT, will have to start their cloud journey with one of the many popular providers available, such as AWS, GCP, Azure, and more.

=> ↺ LinuxStans ☛ Linux Checklist: 20 Things to Do After Installing a Distro

• We tend to do the same old tasks every time we install a new distro. Oftentimes, regardless of what distro you’re installing, the post-installation tasks are pretty much the same.

=> ↺ Own HowTo ☛ How to change icon theme on Debian 12 XFCE

• If you have installed XFCE desktop environment on your Debian 12 system, and you are wondering whether you can change the default icons themes on your Desktop, yes you can, you can easily change the default icons from your system settings, without having to download any additional tool.

=> ↺ Red Hat ☛ Drop git pull for fetch and rebase

• I would like to explain why the git pull command is not to be used lightly and to question whether it is ever needed. The git pull command may look harmless, but it is used in ways that often leave a fair amount of mess. I will discuss safer alternatives. This article is for beginner to intermediate Git users looking to extend their skills in using pull requests and merge requests when collaborating on a project.

=> ↺ DebugPoint ☛ How to Install Themes in Linux Mint Cinnamon

• Linux Mint is a fantastic open-source operating system known for its user-friendly interface and robust performance. One of the most pleasant facts of using Linux Mint is the ability to customize its look and feel to suit your preferences. One way to do this is by installing themes, which can completely transform your desktop experience.

• This article’ll walk you through the simple steps to install themes in Linux Mint (Cinnamon edition).

=> ↺ How to Find LibreOffice and OpenOffice Version

• If you’re looking for a free and open-source office suite, LibreOffice is a great option. It’s a powerful alternative to commercial software such as Microsoft Office. It’s important to know the version of any software you’re using, including LibreOffice. Knowing your LibreOffice version is vital for troubleshooting, ensuring compatibility, and making the most of the latest features.

• This guide will guide you through finding your OpenOffice and LibreOffice version on various operating systems.

Games

=> ↺ Hackaday ☛ Quake 2 Ported To Apple Watch

• DOOM always seems to spontaneously appear on any new device the day it’s released. From printers to industrial robots to pregnancy tests, it always makes its way on anything with an integrated circuit and a screen. But that’s not the only 90s video game with a cult following and and ability to run on hardware never intended for gaming. The early Quake games are still remarkably popular, and the second installment of this series was recently brought to the Apple Watch thanks to [ByteOverlord].

=> ↺ GamingOnLinux ☛ DOOM Eternal removed Denuvo and it plays great on Steam Deck

• With all the new amazing games coming out basically every month, lets not forget some slightly older games worth playing. Like DOOM Eternal, that just removed Denuvo Anti-Tamper.

=> ↺ GamingOnLinux ☛ Linux continues rising above 3% desktop user share on Statcounter

• Another month, another set of stats showing that Linux desktop seems to be doing better than ever. According to Statcounter, the Linux share has risen once again. A great sign for the health of the platform with more people using it.

=> ↺ GamingOnLinux ☛ Merciless survival roguelite turn-based city builder ‘Dotage’ releases in October

• With a vision of a doomed future, you set off to build a new village in Dotage. Blending together a city-builder, with turn-based progress merged in with a survival roguelite? Sign me up. Sounds wild.

=> ↺ GamingOnLinux ☛ DREAMM emulator for classic LucasArts games v2.1 out with Linux support

• DREAMM is another project focused on keeping classic games alive, designed originally for preserving classic DOS, Windows, and FM-Towns LucasArts games. After a previous Beta release added initial Linux support, the developer has released DREAMM 2.1 now with the Linux support added in along with plenty of other enhancements.

=> ↺ GamingOnLinux ☛ Girl Genius: Adventures In Castle Heterodyne is out now

• Rain Games developer of Teslagrad has just released Girl Genius: Adventures In Castle Heterodyne, an action adventure game based on the graphic novel series, Girl Genius, by authors Phil & Kaja Foglio. This follows the successful Kickstarter campaign for the game in 2020 where they gained $256K in funding.

=> ↺ GamingOnLinux ☛ Steam will soon show better controller support details like for PlayStation controllers

• Valve has announced to developers that they’re going to be rolling out better ways to show off controller support for games on Steam.

Desktop Environments/WMs

K Desktop Environment/KDE SC/Qt

=> ↺ Make Tech Easier ☛ 5 System Administration Tools for KDE

• Keeping any computer system running can be some work. It would be nice if we never had to do any type of maintenance or troubleshooting, but no operating system has reached that point. Although Linux is known for being home to many extraordinarily powerful terminal administration applications, the KDE desktop environment provides several graphical tools that do the same job.

• Here are a number of applications that are included in the KDE suite that will help you with system administration.

=> ↺ Nate Graham ☛ September Plasma 6 update

• A month has passed since the last Plasma 6 status update, so it’s time for another one!

• First, what you’ve all been waiting for: a release date! We’ve decided that Plasma 6 will be released in early February of 2024. We don’t have a specific day targeted yet, but it’ll be in that timeframe. I’m feeling quite confident that the release will be in excellent shape by then! It’s already in good shape right now. 5 months should provide enough of a runway for a solid final release.

=> ↺ DrKonqi Developer Notifications

• For a while now DrKonqi has a special developer notification system when used in combination with coredumpd. I just realized I never told anyone about it though.

• It’s terribly simple: When used with coredumpd, parts of DrKonqi implicitly look at all crashes that pertain to your current user. Because of that it can also notify on all crashes, not just the KDE-related ones. Obviously it can’t report bugs or anything but sometimes, as a developer, it’s nice to know when things explode.

GNOME Desktop/GTK

=> ↺ Unicorn Media ☛ Why Your Favorite Extension Might Not Work With Gnome 45

• Dyed-in-the-wool Gnome users who have their desktop all tricked-out with carefully selected Gnome extensions might want to do some research before upgrading to Gnome 45, which will be released two weeks from today. Why? Because the gnomes at Gnome have been busy making some changes as to how things work in their world, which means your favorite extension won’t work in the next release unless it’s been upgraded by its developers.

• Here’s the deal: in the next release, the folks at Gnome will be adopting standard JavaScript modules, known as ECMAScript Modules or ESMs, as the desktop environment’s main way to manage and organize code. While this will be good for Gnome in the long run, since it’ll make it easier for Gnome devs to work with all the major JavaScript engines, in the short term it means that the extensions you’re running now won’t work in Gnome 45 without some serious tweaking from the extension’s developers.

=> ↺ Sam Thursfield: Quickball media server v2

• As a Linux hacker-type I am often searching for some way to apply my rather specialized skillset to a real world problem. And I am always after some sovereignty over my music collection. So I came up with the idea to make some kind of music player using a Raspberry Pi in an old radio case.

=> ↺ Sriyansh Shivam: GSoC 2023: Final Report

• Hello to everyone.

• So this is the final report on the work I completed throughout the Google Summer of Code contribution period (May-September). There’s a lot to share and discuss, but I’ll try to keep this brief.

• Sonny Piers and Andy Holmes

• Make GNOME Platform demos for Workbench

=> ↺ Jean-François Fortin Tam ☛ Jean-François Fortin Tam: Help us make GNOME Calendar rock-solid by expanding the test suite!

• GNOME Calendar 45 will be a groundbreaking release in terms of UX (more on that later?), performance, and to some extent, reliability (we’ve at least solved two complex crashers recently, including a submarine Cthulhu crasher heisenbug and its offspring)… and yet, I think this might be “just the beginning” of a new era. And a beginning… is a very delicate time.

• If you’ve tried to use GNOME Calendar in the past decade or so, you’ve certainly encountered one of the many bugs related to timezones, daylight saving time, and all of that crazy stuff that would make Tom Scott curl up in a corner and cry. But it doesn’t have to be that way, and in fact, there is a way for anyone who knows a bit of C programming to help us build the tools to solve this mission-critical problem.

• Today, I’d like to urge you to help in writing some automated tests.The sooner our test suite can grow, the faster we can make GNOME Calendar rock-solid.

Distributions and Operating Systems

New Releases

=> ↺ Linux Magazine ☛ Nitrux 3.0.0 Has Been Released

• Nitrux is a Linux distribution based on Debian that is fairly young but is already making a big impression.

• Codenamed “ut,” Nitrux 3.0.0 brings some serious improvements to the operating system, which include new features, plenty of updates, and a number of performance optimizations.

• The biggest changes come by way of the Nitrux Update Tool, which includes a rescue option that allows you to restore the root partition from a live session. This can be a real lifesaver should something go wrong during an update.

• There also are plenty of tweaks to the Calamares installer (such as the disabling of auto-login by default), the removal of a deprecated kernel parameter, and a change to the order of execution of certain Calamares modules.

SUSE/OpenSUSE

=> ↺ OpenSUSE ☛ New Leap Micro Alpha Enhances SELInux

• The openSUSE Project is pleased to announce its modern lightweight host operating system Leap Micro 5.5 just entered Alpha.

• This release brings a host of enhancements and additions that promise to make it an even more versatile and efficient choice for users.

=> ↺ CubicleNate ☛ Persistent Pipewire Problems Pause Productivity

• I was having some issues in openSUSE Tumbleweed where my audio devices would continue to be listed after being disconnected. My audio applet in KDE Plasma was looking like an incredible mess and it was making conducting remote meetings problematic.

Fedora Family / IBM

=> ↺ Red Hat Official ☛ Enterprise security challenges for CNI organizations: Security challenges with people and processes

• This is the second in a series of three blog posts focusing on Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) cybersecurity. This blog looks at the problem space through the lens of “People and Processes.”

• As mentioned in the previous blog post, CNI cybersecurity is not just a technical problem—technology and tools can be enablers to help reduce risk, but you should also identify the “people and processes” required to put good security practices in place.

Debian Family

=> ↺ Debian Brasil: Debian Day 30 years in Brasília – Brazil

• This year’s Debian Day was a pretty special one, we were celebrating 30 years! Given the importance of this event, the Brazilian community planned a very streamed via Debian Brazil’s YouTube channel (soon the recordings will be uploaded to Debian’s PeerTube instance. Nonetheless the local celebrations happened around the country and we’ve organized one in Brasília at University of Brasília on the Gama campus.

Canonical/Ubuntu Family

=> ↺ OMG Ubuntu ☛ Ubuntu 23.10 Mascot Art, Default Wallpaper Revealed

• Ubuntu 23.10’s default wallpaper and mascot artwork draws heavily on the motifs afforded to it by its mythological moniker – to a greater degree than I think many of us had expected.

• Most Ubuntu mascot artwork has, during the past 5 years or so, been fashioned from geometric shapes, simplistic lines, or concentric circles. But Mantic is a far more complex beast. The ‘bull’ head is present but it is not as linearly distinct as mascots past.

• Instead, Ubuntu’s designers have chosen to encapsulate the mascot image within a maze1, rather than a labyrinth like the Minotaur of legend. It’s still a clever intertwining and creates a conceptually bold centerpiece for the wallpaper – ancient and classical yet modern and dynamic…

=> ↺ DebugPoint ☛ Enable Fractional Scaling in Linux Mint Cinnamon

• Fractional scaling is a useful feature that enables you to optimize your HiDPI monitors and high-resolution laptops to their fullest potential. By adjusting the scaling, you can create a visually appealing desktop display that is neither too big nor too small. Although resolution settings may have benefits, they can be inconvenient at times due to operating system restrictions.

• Moreover, it enables you to enlarge the text and other user interface elements on your screen without causing them to become fuzzy. This feature comes in handy if you possess a high-definition display and wish to enhance the readability of your text.

=> ↺ Ubuntu ☛ TPM-backed Full Disk Encryption is coming to Ubuntu

• Discover Ubuntu’s latest security enhancement: TPM-backed Full Disk Encryption (FDE).

=> ↺ Ubuntu ☛ OpenSearchCon 2023 is coming, meet us in Seattle

• The search, analytics, and database communities are buzzing with excitement as the countdown to OpenSearchCon 2023 begins. This second annual conference will be a 3-day event in Grand Sheraton Seattle on 27-29 September.

=> ↺ Ubuntu ☛ Canonical launches [buzzwords] roadshow

=> ↺ Ubuntu ☛ Cloud storage for enterprises | Ubuntu

• Any data-centric organisation faces the prospect of data growth at some point in their existence; it is estimated that more than 2,500 Petabytes (PB) of new data is created every day. While only a few organisations will ever have to deal with that kind of scale, it is important to plan ahead for your own organisation’s growth.

• Legacy appliance-based storage systems where hardware and software are closely coupled can be expensive to maintain, expand, and difficult to operate. Moving between different models of an appliance, or to a more modern generation usually requires a complex fork-lift replacement and lengthy data migration.

Devices/Embedded

=> ↺ Purism ☛ All Librem 5 Smartphones Have Shipped

• Purism is excited to announce that all Librem 5 smartphones have been shipped, reaching shipping parity for all confirmed orders. Congratulations to all those who invested in the development of the secure device.

• The Librem 5 is now in-stock with a regular 14-day lead time to delivery for all new orders.

• The Librem 5 smartphone provides end-to-end security features such as:

• Secure, Peer Reviewed, and Private OS. The Librem 5 phone is powered by PureOS, a freedom respecting, open source, peer reviewed, and fully verifiable operating system that is neither based on Android nor iOS.

=> ↺ Linux Gizmos ☛ Development MCU Platform Supports Swift

• Today, Crowdsupply featured the SwiftIO Micro, a compact development board designed for programming in the Swift language. This board provides up to 44 IO pins with support for various interfaces. Additionally, it offers detailed guides and demo projects to help newcomers get started with ease.

=> ↺ Barry Kauler ☛ OpenEmbedded version 4.0.12 release-r4 compiled

• There has been a complete recompile of the Quirky fork of OE/Yocto, based on the Kirkstone 4.0.12 release of OE/Yocto. this is build “r4″; the previous is “r3″ which was based on OE/Yocto Kirkstone 4.0.10.

=> ↺ Barry Kauler ☛ OE-related posts April 25 2023 to September 7 2023

=> ↺ CNX Software ☛ DASUNG introduces the world’s first color E-ink monitor (Crowdfunding)

• Just a couple of years ago, we would have laughed at the idea of getting an E-ink monitor, because most displays were still in black and white only, larger displays were prohibitively expensive, and nobody wanted to wait for several seconds to get a full display refresh. But there’s been some good progress in recent years with color displays, faster refresh rate, and prices coming down somewhat which has led to the launch of devices such as the Onyx BOOX Tab Ultra C 10.3-inch color E-Ink Android tablet and a range of color eReaders such as the PocketBook Color. But DASUNG is going further with the launch of the world’s first color E-ink monitor.

Open Hardware/Modding

=> ↺ Arduino ☛ What will we do with an additional $22M?

• We are happy to announce that Arduino raised an additional $22 million round, taking our Series B funding to $54 million, thanks to an expansion co-led by CDP Venture Capital and Anzu Partners.

=> ↺ Arduino ☛ A beautiful minimalist rainbow LED lamp

• The frame is entirely 3D-printable. The only required components are an Arduino Nano board, a strip of 36 WS2812B LEDs (the 60 LEDs per meter density), and a power supply. The tutorial provides a sketch with lighting effects and also explains how to work with the FastLED Arduino library. That library is fantastic for easily controlling dozens or even hundreds of LEDs, so you can create whatever effects you can imagine.

=> ↺ Arduino ☛ Controlling home appliances with Arduino Cloud and TP-Link smart plugs

• In today’s modern world, smart technology is revolutionizing the way we interact with our surroundings. From managing our home’s energy consumption to controlling appliances remotely — such as washing machines, fans, coffee makers, and even air conditioners. Smart devices offer us a level of convenience and control that was once unimaginable. However, dealing with multiple apps for various systems can be cumbersome and inefficient. This is where an integrated platform like the Arduino Cloud comes into play, offering a unified dashboard to control all your smart devices. Moreover, if you’re an Arduino enthusiast, you’ll be excited to learn how Node-RED can bridge the gap between commercial products and the Arduino Cloud. Last, but not least, you can integrate this project with the rest of your Arduino Cloud projects automating your appliance control using other devices’ data.

• In this blog post, we’ll delve into a fascinating project that demonstrates how you can harness the power of the Arduino Cloud and Node-RED to control TP-Link smart plugs, giving you the ability to manage and monitor your appliances from a centralized hub.

=> ↺ Tom’s Hardware ☛ Raspberry Pi ISS Model Mimics Real ISS

• The ISS MIMIC project uses a Raspberry Pi to power a 1:100 scale International Space Station (ISS) model that moves and articulates to imitate the real ISS.

=> ↺ Tom’s Hardware ☛ Libre Computer Announces ‘Sweet Potato’ Raspberry Pi Alternative

• Following a theme of potato-based codenames, Libre Computer’s latest board is more of a companion to its long term supported ‘Le Potato’

Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications

=> ↺ Future Publishing Limited ☛ Some Android phones could get a big power boost next year | T3

=> ↺ Good E Reader ☛ Best Android-based E-Ink Readers for Manga – Good e-Reader

=> ↺ Dignited ☛ Original Xiaomi Mi Box S 4K upgraded to Android TV 12 from Android TV 9 – Dignited

=> ↺ Hindustan Times ☛ Android 14 launch date: Will it happen alongside Google Pixel 8? | Mobile News

=> ↺ GSM Arena ☛ Official: Xiaomi 13T and 13T Pro will get four Android updates, five years of security patches – GSMArena.com news

=> ↺ Gadgets Now ☛ Android: Honor 90 5G to run MagicOS 7.1 based on Android 13: Here’s what the OS will offer

=> ↺ Indian Express ☛ How long will my 2023 Android phone get updated? Top brands ranked | Technology News – The Indian Express

=> ↺ Gadgets Now ☛ Android: How to recover deleted photos and videos on Android

=> ↺ Lifewire ☛ How to View Your Incognito History on Android

=> ↺ SlashGear ☛ How To Download Offline Maps For Android Auto

=> ↺ 9to5Google ☛ ChromeOS prepares launcher, lockscreen, and Android updates

=> ↺ Notebook Check ☛ Google presents new Android logo and new features headed to all devices – NotebookCheck.net News

=> ↺ Gadgets Now ☛ Android: How to use common Android features to stay productive and connected

=> ↺ The Sun ☛ Google fixes serious Chrome flaw – PC and Android owners must update their devices now | The US Sun

=> ↺ Android Authority ☛ Wallpaper Wednesday: Android wallpapers 2023-09-06 – Android Authority

=> ↺ Android Police ☛ Some Android Auto users report bothersome audio issues

=> ↺ India Times ☛ How To Check For Spyware On Your Android Smartphone

=> ↺ WCCF Tech ☛ Future Android Phones Could Ship with 32 Gigs of RAM, Just When You Thought 24 Gigs is Enough

=> ↺ Phone Arena ☛ Waiting for Google’s stable Android 14 release? You may have to wait some more – PhoneArena

=> ↺ Notebook Check ☛ AYANEO Pocket Air: New Android 12 gaming handheld now orderable with 5.5-inch AMOLED display from US$279 – NotebookCheck.net News

=> ↺ Notebook Check ☛ Realme Narzo 60x lands with a 50MP main camera, Android 13 and 5G for well under US$200 – NotebookCheck.net News

=> ↺ Honor’s new 5G device to feature MagicOS 7.1 and Android 13: Know-more | Technology News – India TV

=> ↺ Android Police ☛ Android 14 Beta 5.3 is here to fix call issues and UI glitches on Pixel devices

=> ↺ Android 14 Beta 5.3 Released for Pixel Phones!

=> ↺ Tom’s Guide ☛ Android 14 just got a last-minute delay to launch — here’s what’s happening | Tom’s Guide

=> ↺ 9to5Google ☛ Android 14 Beta 5.3 rolling out with more Pixel bug fixes

Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

=> ↺ It’s FOSS ☛ FOSS Weekly #23.36: De-Googled Fairphone 5, GNOME 45 Features, Pacman Commands and More

• Several distributions released their new versions this week. GNOME 45 is nearing its release with devastating news for the extensions.

Web Browsers/Web Servers

=> ↺ Daniel Stenberg ☛ Bogus CVE follow-ups

• On August 26 I posted details here on my blog about the bogus curl issue CVE-2020-19909. Luckily, it got a lot of attention and triggered discussions widely. Maybe I helped shed light on the brittleness of this system. This was not a unique instance and it was not the first time it happened. This has been going on for years.

Mozilla

=> ↺ OMG Ubuntu ☛ Firefox for Linux Adds Rounded Bottom Corners

• Getting official support means you’ll no longer need to use a third-party GNOME extension to force rounded corners in the browser.

• The change will help Firefox look more ‘at home’ when run windowed on Ubuntu and on other Linux distros that use GNOME and/or ship large sets of modern GTK apps.

• Here’s how Firefox (stable) looks in Ubuntu 23.10…

=> ↺ Mozilla ☛ It’s Official: Cars Are the Worst Product Category We Have Ever Reviewed for Privacy

• Ah, the wind in your hair, the open road ahead, and not a care in the world… except all the trackers, cameras, microphones, and sensors capturing your every move. Ugh. Modern cars are a privacy nightmare.

• Car makers have been bragging about their cars being “computers on wheels” for years to promote their advanced features. However, the conversation about what driving a computer means for its occupants’ privacy hasn’t really caught up. While we worried that our doorbells and watches that connect to the internet might be spying on us, car brands quietly entered the data business by turning their vehicles into powerful data-gobbling machines. Machines that, because of their all those brag-worthy bells and whistles, have an unmatched power to watch, listen, and collect information about what you do and where you go in your car.

=> ↺ LWN ☛ Mozilla: It’s Official: Cars Are the Worst Product Category We Have Ever Reviewed for Privacy

• Proof, once again, that running Linux does not automatically make a device privacy-friendly.

=> ↺ Karl Dubost: Molly

• Molly passed away at 60.

• A blog post of this nature is never easy. She was so larger than life that she puts a print on each of us, who have discovered the Web early on.

• My first discovery of Molly Holzschlag was through the WebTechniques magazine published from 1996 to 2002. This was a real magazine about the Web. You would recognize early writers like Laura Lemay, Lynda Weinman, etc. She had a column there called Integrated Design. She started writing it on Web Techniques. September 1999.

=> ↺ Security Week ☛ 25 Major Car Brands Get Failing Marks From Mozilla for Security and Privacy

• Mozilla has analyzed the privacy and security of 25 major car brands and found that they collect a lot of data and can share it or sell it to third parties. 

=> ↺ Vice Media Group ☛ Every New Car Is a ‘Privacy Nightmare,’ Mozilla Researchers Conclude

• Modern cars are a “privacy nightmare” that collect vast troves of personal data and demand owners allow manufacturers to share or sell highly sensitive information such as disability status, genetic information, facial templates, and even sexual activity, according to a Mozilla Foundation analysis of car company privacy policies.

Productivity Software/LibreOffice/Calligra

=> ↺ How to Change UI Language in LibreOffice and OpenOffice

• LibreOffice is an open-source office suite that offers robust tools for word processing, spreadsheet management, presentations, and more.

• One of its standout features is the ability to customize the user interface (UI) language to your desired language preference. This feature is particularly useful for users worldwide who prefer working in their native language or another language they’re comfortable with. In this article, we’ll guide you through the simple steps of changing the UI language in LibreOffice, so you can enjoy a more personalized software experience.

=> ↺ 9to5Linux ☛ LibreOffice 7.5.6 Office Suite Released with More Than 50 Bug Fixes

• LibreOffice 7.5.6 is here almost two months after the LibreOffice 7.5.5 point release and addresses a total of 53 bugs that have been reported by users or discovered by the LibreOffice developers in the LibreOffice 7.5 series.

• LibreOffice 7.5 arrived in February 2023 with new features and enhancements like dark mode support, new application and MIME-type icons, an enhanced Single Toolbar UI, improved PDF Export, and more.

=> ↺ New “LibreOffice Expert” magazines available for schools and communities

• Recently, Linux New Media released an updated version of its “LibreOffice Expert” magazine, which contains tutorials, tips and tricks about LibreOffice. And some articles were contributed by members of the LibreOffice community! The magazines come with DVDs that include LibreOffice for Linux, Windows and macOS, alongside extra templates, extensions, videos and guidebooks.

Education

=> ↺ FSF ☛ Call for sessions for LibrePlanet 2024: Cultivating Community now open

• The call for sessions for LibrePlanet 2024: Cultivating Community, the sixteenth edition of the Free Software Foundation’s (FSF) conference on ethical technology and user freedom, is open.

=> ↺ SparkFun Electronics ☛ Chris’s 12 Years at SparkFun

• SparkFun is 20 years old this year! We’re lucky enough to have a bunch of employees that have been around for over 10 of those years, and we wanted to share their reflections on their time here with you. Today you’ll be hearing from Chris McCarty (you may know him as One Chris Two Chris Red Chris Blue Chris).

Programming/Development

=> ↺ SICP ☛ I was wrong, 80 characters is fine

• If there should be 66 non-white space characters per line, then a line should be 66 * (average word length + 1) / (average word length) characters long to hold 66 non-white space characters, on average, if it’s displaying a run of words. In English, the average word length is about five. That gives us 79.2 characters per line.

=> ↺ Evan Hahn ☛ How does Swift decode “weird” JSON numbers?

• Swift has several number types like UInt64 and Double. Like most languages, these types can’t represent every possible number. For example, Int16 can only represent numbers between -32768 and 32767.

• The JSON specification has no such restriction. Numbers like 9999999999999999999999999999999999999999 or 0.00000000000000000000000000000000000001 are completely valid.

=> ↺ Jim Nielsen ☛ “Out of the Software Crisis”: Making Software

• Hence the idea of pivoting — and acquisitions. It’s about getting a team of people working in a system that can generate something of value, regardless of what the thing actually is. What is acquired (or acui-hired) is primarily the system of people working together and their capabilities, and only secondarily the (by)product of their work.

=> ↺ Rlang ☛ CRAN Download counts

• I really like developing software and making my own life and work easier with it. But what I enjoy even more is to see others actually use it! So every now and then I look at CRAN download counts of my R packages. I’m not in any top-10 rankings or anything. But that was also never the point. I just like sharing my knowledge and see others use it!

Python

=> ↺ Seth Michael Larson ☛ Visualizing the CPython Release Process

• Last week I met with the CPython Developer-in-Residence and Release Manager Łukasz Langa to discuss the release process for CPython (detailed in PEP 101). Everything I learned I’ve documented below and will be proposing enhancements like introducing additional hardening for the release process and capturing Software Bill of Materials for the build process and the final built artifacts.

Java

=> ↺ Red Hat ☛ Quarkus extensions give Java dependencies superpowers

• Quarkus extensions are one of Quarkus’ best hidden-in-plain-sight features. Read on to learn how Quarkus extensions give Java superpowers and how you can get started with them.  

• Quarkus extensions are essentially adapter layers for Java-based libraries or technologies that enhance your application.

• However, the scope of Quarkus extensions goes well beyond “just” importing dependent libraries. They can significantly increase the application’s performance, help developers be more productive while developing their applications, integrate complex dependencies much easier, and simplify the application’s source code.

• Examples of Quarkus extensions include the Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) libraries, OpenAPI generators, Kubernetes manifest generators, and Apache Camel components. But there are many, many more.  

Rust

=> ↺ Rust Weekly Updates ☛ This Week In Rust: This Week in Rust 511

• Hello and welcome to another issue of This Week in Rust!

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