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● 09.13.23

Gemini version available ♊︎

● Links 13/09/2023: Unifont 15.1.01 and Quality Assurance Tool for Guix

Posted in News Roundup at 8:01 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

GNU/Linux

Server

=> ↺ Stop Turning Success Into Failure With Microservices

• MIcroservices can help you avoid business failure because of huge, monolithic application architecture.

Kernel Space

=> ↺ [Old] The University of Helsinki ☛ Linux: a Portable Operating System [PDF]

• We explore the hardware portability issues in Linux that were uncovered when porting the operating system to multiple CPU and bus architectures. We also discuss software interface portability issues, especially with regard to binary compatibility with other operating systems that can share the same hardware platform. The approach taken in Linux is described, with a few example architectures covered in some more detail.

=> ↺ 9to5Linux ☛ Linux Kernel 6.4 Reaches End of Life, Upgrade to Linux Kernel 6.5 Now

• Renowned Linux kernel developer Greg Kroah-Hartman announced today the release of Linux 6.4.16 as what appears to be the last maintenance update in the Linux 6.4 kernel series, which was released on June 25th, 2023.

• Linux kernel 6.4.16 is a hefty update that comes with no less than 873 changed files, consisting of 10654 insertions and 7653 deletions. All users using Linux 6.4 are recommended to update their installations to this version as soon as it hits the stable software repositories of their distributions.

=> ↺ LWN ☛ Linux 6.5.3

=> ↺ LWN ☛ Linux 6.4.16

=> ↺ LWN ☛ Linux 6.1.53

=> ↺ Syscall latency… and some uses of speculative execution

• Moving from UEK5 to UEK6 brought about an unwelcome surprise: an increase in syscall latency on some x86 systems. The root cause, as we will see, was slightly slower evaluation of audit rules, which, given that they are evaluated for every syscall, is not great.

• In this post we start off by exploring the root cause which turns out to not be UEK specific, it also impacts upstream kernels as well. Then we detail the fixes and how they take advantage of the speculative out-of-order nature of the CPU pipeline.

• The changes, even though they target low-level optimizations, are quite straight-forward, almost trivial.

=> ↺ Stéphane Graber: Two months in

• It’s now been two months since I left my position at Canonical and went freelance! A lot of things have now all fallen into place to the point where it almost feels like having a normal work routine again

• As mentioned in an earlier post, after over a year of rolling my own kernels and manually installing them on all my systems, I’ve decided to spend a bit of time automating the whole process and putting in place a proper build and publishing pipeline.

Graphics Stack

=> ↺ John Goerzen ☛ John Goerzen: A Maze of Twisty Little Pixels, All Tiny

• Two years ago, I wrote Managing an External Display on Linux Shouldn’t Be This Hard. Happily, since I wrote that post, most of those issues have been resolved.

• But then you throw HiDPI into the mix and it all goes wonky.

• If you’re running X11, basically the story is that you can change the scale factor, but it only takes effect on newly-launched applications (which means a logout/in because some of your applications you can’t really re-launch). That is a problem if, like me, you sometimes connect an external display that is HiDPI, sometimes not, or your internal display is HiDPI but others aren’t. Wayland is far better, supporting on-the-fly resizes quite nicely.

• I’ve had two devices with HiDPI displays: a Surface Go 2, and a work-issued Thinkpad. The Surface Go 2 is my ultraportable Linux tablet. I use it sparingly at home, and rarely with an external display. I just put Gnome on it, in part because Gnome had better on-screen keyboard support at the time, and left it at that.

Applications

=> ↺ Linux Links ☛ Machine Learning in Linux: Speech Note

• Speech Note is a GUI frontend for various processing engines. For Speech to Text it uses Coqui STT, Vosk, and Whisper. Whisper is our highest rated speech recognition tool and features in our award-winning Top 100 CLI apps study. It’s that good. Coqui STT is also highly recommended although it’s no longer actively maintained.

• For Text to Speech, Speech Note uses espeak-ng, MBROLA, Piper, RHVoice, and Coqui TTS. And the machine translation is handled by Bergamot Translator.

• This is free and open source software written in C++.

=> ↺ Linux Links ☛ Alternatives to popular CLI tools: uname

• This article spotlights alternative tools to uname, a command-line utility that prints system information.

=> ↺ Linux Links ☛ 13 Great Free and Open Source Linux Foreign Language Tools

• We have identified the best of breed free and open source Linux foreign language tools. Learn a new language.

=> ↺ Linux Links ☛ 22 Best Free and Open Source Stacking Window Managers

• Stacking window managers (also known as floating window managers) draw all windows in a specific order, allowing them to overlap.

=> ↺ Linux Links ☛ Alternatives to popular CLI tools: who

• This article spotlights alternative tools to who, a command that shows who is logged on to the system.

=> ↺ Make Tech Easier ☛ Ranger File Manager Keyboard Shortcuts

• Ranger is a simple yet powerful terminal file manager for Linux. It works by using the ncurses library and a custom file launcher script to create a beautiful and seamless interface that you can use to access any file on your machine.

=> ↺ TecMint ☛ 10 Best Clipboard Managers for Linux

• Many times you get frustrated after copying something to your clipboard and then end up clearing it due to distraction from something else or someone. It can be annoying when this actually happens.

• In this article, we’ll explore clipboard managers that help manage and track your clipboard contents, addressing the frustration of unintentionally clearing it.

=> ↺ TecMint ☛ 10 Best PDF Document Viewers for Linux Systems

• This article is the continuation of our ongoing series about Linux Top Tools, In this series, we will introduce you most famous open source tools for Linux systems.

• With the increase in the use of portable document format (PDF) files on the Internet for online books and other related documents, having a PDF viewer/reader is very important on desktop Linux distributions.

Instructionals/Technical

idroot

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

• In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Nessus Scanner on Debian 12. In the ever-evolving landscape of cybersecurity, ensuring the safety and integrity of your systems is paramount. Vulnerability scanning tools like Nessus Scanner play a pivotal role in identifying potential weaknesses in your network and applications.

=> ↺ ID Root ☛ Differences Between Vi And Vim Text Editors

• Text editors are essential tools in the world of Linux and software development. They provide a platform for creating, editing, and managing code and text files. Among the plethora of text editors available, two of the most iconic choices are Vi and Vim.

=> ↺ ID Root ☛ How To Install Nmap on AlmaLinux 9

• In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Nmap on AlmaLinux 9. Nmap, short for Network Mapper, is a versatile and powerful open-source tool used for network exploration, security auditing, and vulnerability assessment.

=> ↺ ID Root ☛ How to Use Which Command on Linux

• In the intricate realm of Linux command-line operations, efficient navigation is the key to unlocking the full potential of your system. Among the arsenal of commands at your disposal, the unassuming ‘which‘ command stands as a stalwart guide, aiding you in locating executable files with finesse and precision.

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

• In this tutorial, we will show you how to install VirtualBox on Debian 12. Virtualization technology has revolutionized the way we manage and deploy systems, allowing us to run multiple operating systems on a single physical machine. Among the plethora of virtualization software available, Oracle VirtualBox stands out as a versatile and powerful tool.

=> ↺ LinuxConfig ☛ Setting Up NVIDIA CUDA Toolkit in a Docker Container on Debian/Ubuntu

=> ↺ Installing and Running Fortran Program on Linux

• Fortran, which stands for “Formula Translation“, was initially created by IBM in the 1950s to serve as a high-level programming language for scientific and engineering calculations.

=> ↺ Kiwix – Access Wikipedia Content Offline Without Internet

• The internet is by far a well-rounded source to get information on just about anything you might need info on.

=> ↺ Jo Shields: Building a NAS

• Bringing it all together is the OS. I wanted an “appliance” NAS OS rather than self-administering a Linux distribution, and after looking into the surrounding ecosystems, decided on TrueNAS Scale (the beta of the 2023 release, based on Debian 12).

=> ↺ Own HowTo ☛ How to fix “Gnome terminal command not found” on Debian 12

• Debian 12 by default comes with Gnome desktop environment installed. And if you try to launch gnome-terminal it launches perfectly because gnome terminal is the default terminal of Gnome Desktop environment.

=> ↺ FOSSLinux ☛ Unpacking and installing .tar.xz and .tar.gz files on Ubuntu

• In the vast and diverse world of Linux, file installation sometimes comes in the form of compressed packages, often denoted as .tar.xz and .tar.gz files. These file formats contain bundled files and directories that need to be extracted and installed manually, offering a method to distribute various software packages efficiently. For newcomers and even seasoned users, navigating the installation of these file formats can sometimes pose a bit of a challenge.

=> ↺ It’s FOSS ☛ Access USB from Virtual Machine in VirtualBox on Linux

• You can totally access the USB storage from inside the virtual machine. Here’s how to do that if you are using VirtualBox on Linux.

Games

=> ↺ Bryan Lunduke ☛ “Talking about Linux Tycoon 3 for Android & Gameboy”

• Listen now (18 mins) | Lunduke Journal Podcast Special Announcement

=> ↺ Bryan Lunduke ☛ Linux Tycoon 3 comes to Android & Gameboy (seriously)

• Because who doesn’t want a Linux distro simulator in their pocket?

=> ↺ Unix Sheikh ☛ Bethesda’s Starfield is a disgrace to game development and a slap in the face to gamers

• Nowadays PC gamers are used as guinea pigs when big gaming titles are released with major bugs, major performance issues, and other similar problems. Even though PC gamers are used as guinea pigs, they still often have to pay full price for the games as well. Game development has turned into a cirkus and Bertheda’s latest title Starfield is a disgrace, not only to game development itself, but also to the gaming community.

=> ↺ GamingOnLinux ☛ Embracer’s troubles continue as they may sell off Borderlands dev Gearbox

• Embracer Group got a little too big it seems, and there’s no such thing as too big to fail. After shutting down Volition, it appears Embracer may be about to sell off Borderlands developer Gearbox.

=> ↺ Boiling Steam ☛ Alterium Shift is out in Early Access with a Linux Client

• There is an enormous chance that things I write here will change by the release date, some bugs were fixed since I started this review and many improvements to the story happened. The best that can be done is to share a snapshot of the current state of the game.

=> ↺ Arduino ☛ Your Arduino Nano ESP32 can run Doom

• “But can it run Doom?” is more than just a joke in the tech world. It is also a decent litmus test for the computing power of hardware.

=> ↺ Dedoimedo ☛ Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition works under Steam Proton

• ‘Tis the season to be jolly. Behold, a tutorial showing how to install and run Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition in Linux using Steam Proton compatibility layer, covering playback and performance, Enhanced Graphics Pack DLC setup, game save import from Windows, and more. Have fun!

• [...]

• So far, ever since I got the Slimbook Titan, I’ve been on a happy streak of success with Linux gaming. My goal is to be able to achieve functional parity with Windows come 2025, which is when Windows 10, the last okay version of this operating system, goes EOL. At the current pace, I’m almost there, two plus years early! The only thing missing is the Office compatibility. But the games be breezin’. One title after another. Well, time to play some classic RTS, with a bigass smile on me face. See you soon.

=> ↺ Hackaday ☛ ZX Spectrum Gets A 3D FPS Engine

• The Sony PlayStation and Nintendo 64 are well-known for bringing 3D gaming into the mainstream in a way that preceding consoles just couldn’t. The ZX Spectrum, on the other hand, is known for text adventures and barebones graphics. However, it now has a rudimentary version of a Quake-like engine, as demonstrated by [Modern ZX-Retro Gaming].

=> ↺ GamingOnLinux ☛ Steam goes green as Valve celebrate 20 years

• While we already marked the anniversary of Steam turning 20 in a previous article, Valve has now done their own announcement along with turning a bit green.

=> ↺ GamingOnLinux ☛ Happy Birthday to Steam as it turned 20 today

• Where has all that time gone? It’s pretty hard to believe that it was 20 years ago that Steam arrived, and with it that glorious green interface.

=> ↺ GamingOnLinux ☛ The open source Godot Engine has a new Godot Development Fund

• The same day that Unity confused all their developers with a new pay per user install revenue model, the team behind the open source Godot Engine just announced their new Godot Development Fund.

=> ↺ GamingOnLinux ☛ Unity introduces new fees for game devs based on revenue and game installs

• Unity Technologies have announced an overhaul to their fees for game developers, which now includes tracking game installs and revenue.

=> ↺ GamingOnLinux ☛ Steam and Steam Deck stable client update adds Indonesian support

• Valve has released a fresh stable client update for Steam desktop and Steam Deck, that amongst other improvements adds in Indonesian language support.

=> ↺ GamingOnLinux ☛ Stellaris 3.9 ‘Caelum’ free update is out now

• Paradox have released the latest free update to Stellaris with 3.9 “Caelum”. It’s a pretty big one too, with a rather long list of changes. Easily one of my favourite space strategy games.

=> ↺ GamingOnLinux ☛ Fanatical have great bundles live with Deathloop, Skyrim, Metro Exodus and more

• Fanatical have launched their Bundle Fest again so there will be a new bundle launching regularly for a few days, and there’s a few already live that are worth looking into if you need some new games.

Desktop Environments/WMs

K Desktop Environment/KDE SC/Qt

=> ↺ KDE Videos ☛ Using compositor handoff to switch between desktops

• In the video we can see applications seamlessly move between Plasma, Gnome, Weston, Hyprland and Sway as part of the wayland robustness project.

Distributions and Operating Systems

=> ↺ HaikuOS ☛ Haiku Activity & Contract Report, August 2023

• This report covers hrev57184 through hrev57256.

• It’s worth noting: the main Haiku CI is currently offline as the developer who was hosting the build machine moved to a location with much slower internet. A new build machine and home for the CI has already been selected, but isn’t fully online yet, so the nightly builds are a bit behind at the moment.

• Zardshard contributed some changes to refactor parts of Debugger’s CLI event handling, especially the WaitForThreadOrUser routine and also the message-passing facilities.

=> ↺ OSTechNix ☛ Dual Boot Zorin OS and Windows: A Step-by-Step Guide

• Zorin OS is a user-friendly Linux distribution that is designed to be a great alternative to Windows. It is easy to use, has a modern look and feel, and comes with a variety of pre-installed software. If you are looking to try Zorin OS, but you don’t want to give up Windows completely, you can install Zorin OS alongside Windows operating system. This means that you will be able to choose which operating system you want to use when you start your computer. This tutorial will walk you through the steps of dual booting Zorin OS and Windows.

EasyOS

=> ↺ Barry Kauler ☛ EasyOS Kirkstone-series version 5.5 released

• Version 5.4.10 was released on August 8, 2023, see announcement:

• If you are new to EasyOS, read the 5.4 release announcement as it has getting-started links: [...]

=> ↺ Barry Kauler ☛ Duplicate container icons created on desktop

• The usr-merge collateral damage is continuing. I posted about some issues when updated easy 5.4.10 installed on my Lenovo PC to 5.5: [...]

=> ↺ Barry Kauler ☛ Final usr-merge fixes for Kirkstone 5.5

BSD

=> ↺ Ruben Schade ☛ Which BSD did you start on?

• This post is dedicated to Benedict Reuschling, who encouraged me to write about this again! Danke :).

• I saw this question floating around the socials recently, and it got me thinking where I started. It was tricker to answer than I thought, though I was able to trawl through the archives to find some info.

• My first BSD was Red Hat Linux. You read that right: practically every Linux distribution has BSD-licenced code, and they depend on tooling like OpenSSH from the OpenBSD project for secured administration. I like to point out examples like this whenever a GPL advocate claims their licences are necessary to ensure freedom. Pity that importing into a GPL’d project is a one-way transaction.

=> ↺ Undeadly ☛ p2k23 Hackathon Report: Landry Breuil (landry@) on chasing memory corruptions

• Next up in the series of p2k23 hackathon reports is this from Landry Breuil (landry@), who writes, [...]

=> ↺ Klara ☛ Unlocking Infrastructure Sovereignty: Harnessing the Power of Open Source Solutions for Business Flexibility and Cost-Effectiveness

• The growing dependence on Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions has raised concerns about vendor lock-in and its consequences for businesses. In a recent discussion hosted by experts from Klara Inc. and Bell Technology Solutions, the focus was on infrastructure sovereignty and the advantages of adopting open source solutions.

• [...]

• Software as a Service (SaaS) and recurring revenue models have become prevalent, often leading to vendor lock-in. This constrains businesses from seamlessly transitioning to alternative solutions, trapping them and keeping them reliant on their vendors. Regaining (or simply maintaining) infrastructure sovereignty protects freedom of choice, which in turn eliminates the restrictions of vendor lock-in.

SUSE/OpenSUSE

=> ↺ Unicorn Media ☛ Slowroll: openSUSE’s New Take on the Rolling Release Model

• Currently an experimental project, Slowroll is a hybrid distro that seeks to meld the stability of a fixed release distro like openSUSE Leap with the advantages of a rolling release like openSUSE Tumbleweed.

Fedora Family / IBM

=> ↺ Red Hat ☛ A Node.js success story at the electrical training ALLIANCE

• Red Hat and customers often work together as partners to help get an application across the finish line. In this article, Stephen (electrical training ALLIANCE) and Michael (Red Hat) share the story of one such collaboration that led to success with Node.js in production.

• The electrical training ALLIANCE (ETA) has the mission to develop educational materials for electrical workers. They do this by developing national standards for the education and training of electrical workers, creating standardized training curricula, and assisting in establishing local educational programs. A key part of this work is to develop and provide an application for the 275 training programs that will assist in the day-to-day operations supporting apprentices within the program from application through to graduation.

=> ↺ Red Hat ☛ How to automate AWS network using Ansible Automation

• In today’s rapidly evolving technology landscape, Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform offers a powerful solution for managing network configurations in Amazon Web Services (AWS). In this article, we will explore how you can leverage the capabilities of Ansible Automation Platform to simplify and automate your network configuration tasks in AWS.

• We will guide you through the process of setting up the necessary credentials for your AWS account within the Ansible Automation Platform. We will then dive into playbook execution, demonstrating how you can execute playbooks to define and automate your network configurations in AWS. By the end of this article, you will have the knowledge and confidence to use Ansible Automation Platform to manage your network configurations in AWS effectively.

=> ↺ Kubernetes Blog ☛ Blog: User Namespaces: Now Supports Running Stateful Pods in Alpha! [Ed: Red Hat is working with Microsoft. Not good. They also use Microsoft proprietary prisonware, GitHub. Red Hat values your freedom to pay Microsoft and IBM for malicious software.]

• Kubernetes v1.25 introduced support for user namespaces for only stateless pods. Kubernetes 1.28 lifted that restriction, after some design changes were done in 1.27.

=> ↺ Red Hat ☛ How Red Hat enhances the developer experience

• Hybrid and multicloud approaches offer developers more access to powerful computing resources than ever. However, this increasing complexity can make it challenging to manage all your development tasks, hindering productivity.

• Red Hat’s cloud-first approach simplifies modern cloud environments. Our versatile toolbox maintains flexibility and limits cloud vendor lock-in by letting you work with a wide range of cloud tools and vendors. Let’s explore how Red Hat reduces friction by designing tools with developers in mind.

• Red Hat’s primary goal is to make it easier for you to create and deploy cloud-first applications. Our hybrid cloud approach builds on an open source foundation, enabling you to design software once and deploy it to any (or every) cloud platform.

Debian Family

=> ↺ Linux Mint ☛ LMDE 6 “Faye” – BETA Release

• This is the BETA release for LMDE 6 “Faye”.

• LMDE is a Linux Mint project which stands for “Linux Mint Debian Edition”. Its goal is to ensure Linux Mint would be able to continue to deliver the same user experience, and how much work would be involved, if Ubuntu was ever to disappear. LMDE is also one of our development targets, to guarantee the software we develop is compatible outside of Ubuntu.

• LMDE aims to be as similar as possible to Linux Mint, but without using Ubuntu. The package base is provided by Debian instead.

=> ↺ DebugPoint ☛ Free Download Manager Debian Package Infected with Malware

• In an alarming disclosure by Securelist.com for Linux users, a Debian package associated with the popular ‘Free Download Manager’ has been found to be infected by malware. This malicious software, lurking in the deb package, poses a significant security threat to unsuspecting users.

• The root of this issue lies in a Debian repository linked to the domain ‘deb.fdmpkg[.]org.’ On visiting this domain in a web browser, users encounter a seemingly harmless webpage. However, beneath this façade, trouble brews. This subdomain claims to host a Debian repository for ‘Free Download Manager,’ a well-known software used by many.

Canonical/Ubuntu Family

=> ↺ Ubuntu Handbook ☛ An Overview of New Features in Ubuntu 23.10

• Ubuntu 23.10, code-name “Mantic Minotaur”, has reached UI freeze stage. See what’s new in the upcoming release of the popular Linux Distribution. Ubuntu 23.10 will use Linux Kernel 6.5, though it’s still sticking to Kernel 6.3 at the moment in the daily build.

=> ↺ Ubuntu ☛ Deploy fully configured VMs in minutes on Google Cloud, using gcloud CLI and cloud-init

• Make reusable deployment templates for Landscape and other applications

=> ↺ Neowin ☛ Ubuntu Pro 22.04 LTS with real-time kernel now on AWS Marketplace

• Canonical has released Ubuntu Pro 22.04 LTS with real-time kernel on the AWS Marketplace. This comes several months after the real-time version was released back in February this year.

=> ↺ ZDNet ☛ Real-time Ubuntu is available in AWS Marketplace now, and it’s ideal for rapid prototyping

• Ubuntu Pro 22.04 LTS with a real-time kernel is now available to use in the AWS Marketplace.

=> ↺ Ubuntu ☛ Real-time Ubuntu is now available in AWS Marketplace

• Canonical is thrilled to announce the listing of Ubuntu Pro 22.04 LTS with real-time kernel in  AWS Marketplace, a digital catalog with thousands of software listings from independent software vendors that make it easy to find, test, buy, and deploy software that runs on Amazon Web Services (AWS).

=> ↺ Ubuntu ☛ Ubuntu updates, releases and repositories explained

• Since we launched Ubuntu Pro’s Expanded Security Maintenance for additional packages, and we now integrate more closely with public cloud update management tools, more people have been asking us about the Ubuntu archive and how this is divided and security patched.

=> ↺ Ubuntu ☛ Faster AI application development with Canonical and NVIDIA AI Enterprise

• Ubuntu KVM support comes to NVIDIA AI Enterprise Canonical continues to expand its collaboration with NVIDIA by providing Ubuntu KVM Hypervisor support with NVIDIA AI Enterprise 4.0 — which is generally available starting today. Organisations using GPU virtualisation on Ubuntu can look forward to a seamless migration to the new NVIDIA AI Enterprise licence.

Devices/Embedded

=> ↺ Linux Gizmos ☛ Waveshare presents low-cost RP2040 Pi-Zero board

=> ↺ Adafruit ☛ CircuitPython 8.2.6 Released! @circuitpython

• CircuitPython has a number of “ports” that are the core implementations for different microcontroller families. Stability varies on a per-port basis. As of this release, these ports are consider stable (but see Known Issues below): [...]

Open Hardware/Modding

=> ↺ 9to5Linux ☛ Purism Launches New Secure Librem 11 Tablet PC Powered by Linux

• Like most of Purism’s devices, the Librem 11 tablet PC promises users the best security, privacy, and freedom-respecting features including a secure boot with Purism’s PureBoot cutting-edge secure boot process based on the Coreboot and Heads projects.

• Librem 11 also promises real convergence with Purism’s PureOS security-focused operating system based on Debian GNU/Linux, so you can turn the tablet into a full-featured computer when connected to a monitor, keyboard, and mouse.

=> ↺ OMG! Linux ☛ Purism Announce New 11-Inch Linux Tablet

• Purism has announced its first foray into tablet computing with the Librem 11 tablet.

=> ↺ CNX Software ☛ $999 Librem 11 Linux tablet features Celeron N5100 processor, 1TB NVMe SSD, 2.5K AMOLED display

• Purism Librem 11 is an 11.5-inch Linux tablet running the secure PureBoot bootloader and PureOS Linux distribution with a focus on privacy and respect for personal freedom.

• The tablet comes with what looks to be a decent 11.5-inch AMOLED touchscreen display with a 2560×1600 resolution, 8GB RAM, and a 1TB NVMe SSD, but the Intel Celeron N5100 quad-core Jasper Lake processor would be considered entry-level in 2023. The tablet also comes with a keyboard and stylus making a 2-in1 hybrid device.

=> ↺ It’s FOSS ☛ Librem 11: Purism Unveils a Privacy-Focused Linux Tablet

• Purism is an increasingly popular manufacturer of computer hardware products that specializes in providing laptops, desktops, and mobile devices equipped with a privacy-focused open-source Linux distro.

• With a recent announcement, they have unveiled a new product, Librem 11 tablet equipped with some pretty neat hardware.

• Let’s look at what it has to offer!

=> ↺ Tom’s Hardware ☛ Pimoroni’s Pi-Powered ‘Pico Vision’ Nears Completion

• Pimoroni’s Pico Vision is a retro gaming development and digital video experimentation board for game developers and audio / visual artists

=> ↺ Tom’s Hardware ☛ This Raspberry Pi Pico Clock Project Features a Custom PCB

• The project relies on a DS3231 module to keep track of the time. However, there is no onboard battery, meaning it must be plugged into power to maintain accurate time. Envious Design explains that you could easily remedy this by permanently adding a battery module to the unit.

=> ↺ Raspberry Pi ☛ Globetrotting Polaroid camera magically fills Grandma’s photo frame

• Both the camera and the frame use Raspberry Pi, so Max gets double points from us. A Raspberry Pi Camera Module hides behind the lens of the old Polaroid, capturing Max’s travels. A Raspberry Pi board sits inside the body of the camera, processing the images and sending them to the frame via Wi-Fi.

=> ↺ Hackaday ☛ Logic Analyzers: Capabilities And Limitations

• Last time, we’ve used a logic analyzer to investigate the ID_SD and ID_SC pins on a Raspberry Pi, which turned out to be regular I2C, and then we hacked hotplug into the Raspberry Pi camera code with an external MCU. Such an exercise makes logic analyzers look easy, and that’s because they are! If you have a logic analyzer, you’ll find that a whole bunch of hacks become available to you.

=> ↺ Raspberry Pi ☛ Experience AI: Teach about AI, chatbots, and biology

• Updates and new Experience AI Lessons for teachers looking for high-quality AI education materials. Developed in partnership with Google DeepMind.

Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications

=> ↺ Computer World ☛ Google’s increasingly prickly Android perception problem | Computerworld

=> ↺ SamMobile ☛ Threads by Instagram gets themed icon support for Android – SamMobile

=> ↺ GSM Arena ☛ OnePlus 11 gets Android 14-based OxygenOS 14 Open Beta 1 – GSMArena.com news

=> ↺ Android 14 Open Beta Arrives for OnePlus 11

=> ↺ 9to5Google ☛ Find My Device 3.0 rolling out with new Android app icon

=> ↺ 9to5Google ☛ Google TV and Finance widgets are now on Android phones

=> ↺ Deutsche Welle ☛ Apple unveils iPhone with USB-C charger in line with EU law

• In June 2022, the European Union passed a law requiring all devices to be compatible with a USB Type-C charging port by late 2024, arguing that it will reduce electronic waste and save money for consumers.

Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

=> ↺ PostgreSQL ☛ EDB Open Sources Powerful Tool to Automate and Manage Postgres Deployments

• EnterpriseDB (EDB) announces that Trusted Postgres Architect (TPA) is now available as a new open source tool, accessible to all PostgreSQL users. This deployment automation and configuration management tool streamlines the setup of High Availability (HA) Postgres clusters, helping organizations effortlessly deploy robust, production-ready clusters while saving time and reducing the chance of errors.

Web Browsers/Web Servers

=> ↺ [Old] The University of Illinois ☛ NCSA Mosaic™

• “To be sure, Mosaic deserves credit for tackling two problems. First, earlier browsers were troublesome to get up and running, while Mosaic was a lot easier, thanks largely to [NCSA developer Eric] Bina’s programming skill. Second, Mosaic was the first published browser that automatically displayed pictures along with text, as in the pages of a magazine layout or an illustrated book. That was important because later on it would be the proliferation of pretty pictures that transformed that Web from the domain of scientists and hackers to a cultural phenomenon that captured the interest of the masses.”

=> ↺ [Old] History Computer ☛ NCSA Mosaic Internet Web Browser: The Complete History

• The very first web browser was the WorldWideWeb of Berners-Lee, but the first popularized web browser was the NCSA Mosaic Internet Web Browser. Previous web browsers were not user friendly; they lacked an intuitive and inviting way to allow people to navigate the then-new World Wide Web.In 1992 two developers at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois (Marc Andreessen and Eric Brina) began working on a graphical, user friendly web browser they would later call “Mosaic”. The most notable features this computer program had that other browsers lacked were the ability to view pictures directly on the page, its ease of navigation, and the way this browser handled hyperlinks. Previous browsers only showed pictures as separate files available for download that were linked to the page, so no pictures were directly visible from any main web page. Other browsers also lacked a smooth graphical interface to help navigate through the page, to include scrolling and the now-standard “back”, “forward”, and “refresh” buttons. Finally, the Mosaic browser was the first browser to incorporate clickable hyperlinks. Previous browsers gave reference numbers so users could manually type in the new URL, whereas this new browser allowed users to simply click the link directly to get to the desired page.

=> ↺ Terence Eden ☛ I think I kind of hate lazy loading

• Yesterday I was on a train. I clicked on a link and my browser loaded a long article for me to read. Halfway through reading it, the train went into a tunnel and I lost signal.

• That meant I couldn’t see the images on the other half of the page for the rest of the journey. I had a sea of broken images.

Mozilla

=> ↺ Mozilla ☛ How to easily switch from Chrome to Firefox

• There’s never been a better time to switch from Chrome to Firefox, if we do say so ourselves.

=> ↺ Mozilla ☛ Dani Chehak, Mozilla’s new chief people officer

• After having met with many different candidates over the past several months to fill the role of chief people officer — a significant role that contributes greatly to Mozilla’s culture and future — I am pleased to announce that Dani Chehak has joined Mozilla as chief people officer on a permanent basis.

SaaS/Back End/Databases

=> ↺ PostgreSQL ☛ New Podcast: Path To Citus Con for developers who love Postgres

• Path To Citus Con is a new monthly podcast for developers who love Postgres, available via most podcast apps and on YouTube. Guests join to discuss the human side of PostgreSQL, open source, databases, and the many PG extensions—along with co-hosts Claire Giordano and Pino de Candia.

• Recorded as a live show on Discord, the shows usually happen on the first (or second) Wednesday of the month. You can join the live recordings to participate in the parallel live text chat, which can be quite fun. Podcast episodes are usually published 2 days after recording.

FSF

=> ↺ FSF ☛ FSF Events: Free Software Directory meeting on IRC: Friday, September 15, starting at 12:00 EDT (16:00 UTC)

• Join the FSF and friends on Friday, September 15, from 12:00

GNU Projects

=> ↺ GNU ☛ unifont @ Savannah: Unifont 15.1.01 Released

• 12 September 2023 Unifont 15.1.01 is now available.

• This is a major release.  This release no longer builds TrueType fonts by default, as announced over the past year.  They have been replaced with their OpenType equivalents.  TrueType fonts can still be built manually by typing “make truetype” in the font directory. This release also includes a new Hangul Syllables Johab 6/3/1 encoding proposed by Ho-Seok Ee.  New Hangul supporting software for this encoding allows formation of all double-width Hangul syllables, including those with ancient letters that are outside the Unicode Hangul Syllables range.  Details are in the ChangeLog file.

=> ↺ GNU ☛ GNU Guix: A new Quality Assurance tool for Guix

• Maintaining and expanding Guix’s collection of packages can be complicated. As a distribution with around 22,000 packages, spanning across around 7 architectures and with support for cross-compilation, it’s quite common for problems to occur when making changes.

• Quality Assurance (QA) is a general term to describe the approach taken to try and ensure something meets expectations. When applied to software, the term testing is normally used. While Guix is software, and has tests, much more than those tests are needed to maintain Guix as a distribution.

• So what might quality relate to in the context of Guix as a distribution? This will differ from person to person, but these are some common concerns: [...]

Programming/Development

=> ↺ Earthly ☛ We built the fastest CI in the world. It failed. Here’s what we learned

• What was particularly appealing about this plan was that Earthly, the build system, targets one problem: build consistency, while the final version, Earthly CI, targets another problem: build speed. This meant that Earthly, which is free, would not cannibalize in any way the monetization of Earthly CI. We wouldn’t be giving away too much for free – as Jenkins did – and instead, it would serve as a sustainable and scalable business model. It made sense to use the build system as a way to then create bottom-up adoption for Earthly CI – and the fact that we were building it first allowed us to build traction that one day will magically just convert over to Earthly CI users.

=> ↺ Johan Halse ☛ The best laid plans

• Look, I’m known for executing really well. I’m your guy when you need someone with honed instincts, who can strike a good balance between speed, completeness, robustness, and performance. I’m also very creative, which helps with debugging and data modeling. I like to think I’m good at what I do, but I’m definitely in camp yee-haw when it comes to looking ahead and deciding what to do, and how to do it. In my experience it’s better to have a nebulous outline of where you want to end up, agree which part to bite off first, and then start fucking chewing. The next step will be obvious, and then the next step will be obvious from there, and so on.

=> ↺ Matt Rickard ☛ The Inevitability of Scope Creep

• Scope creep is inevitable. A project starts with a small mandate and ends with an enormous, uncontrolled scope. What was a small change is now a complete rewrite. It’s easier to visualize scope creep with software projects — you can easily see the number of services or areas of code that a change touches. And it’s sometimes easier to measure (which changes aren’t in the critical path of the goal feature or product?). But it happens in almost every project. I don’t think it can be eliminated entirely, but understanding the sources and the consequences might help limit its reach.

=> ↺ University of Toronto ☛ GNU Emacs, use-package, and key binding for mode specific keymaps

• Many GNU Emacs modes, such as MH-E, define mode specific keyboard mappings (keymaps), instead of putting their special keyboard commands into the global keymap that’s normally used in every file (okay, buffer). This is especially common in Emacs modes that are basically implementing an application inside Emacs, like MH-E and magit, but they also appear for other things like lsp-mode and backward-forward. Often you may want to modify those mode-specific keymaps, like mh-folder-mode-map, backward-forward-mode-map, company-active-map, and lsp-ui-mode-map.

=> ↺ Rlang ☛ R User Group Philippines Turns 10

• The R User Group-Philippines (RUG–PH) celebrated its 10th anniversary on the 16th of August. The group marked the occasion with its first physical event since the pandemic, and it highlighted the group’s progress over the past decade.

• The RUG-PH hosted 115 events in the past decade, making it one of the most persistent RUGs. During the pandemic, many RUGs struggled to remain active; however, RUG-PH continued with online events.

=> ↺ Valhalla’s Things: How I Keep my Life in Git

• After watching My life in git, after subversion, after CVS. from DebConf, I’ve realized it’s been a while since I talked about the way I keep everything1 I do in git, and I don’t think I’ve ever done it online, so it looked like a good time for a blog post.

=> ↺ KDAB ☛ Intro to C++ Coroutines: Concept

• The time has come, fellow devs. We are on our way to uncover the newest concept of C++ language – Coroutines.

=> ↺ Rlang ☛ How Open Source (R and Shiny) Is Transforming Processes in the Pharmaceutical Industry

• At the 2023 R/Basel event, we noticed a number of speakers and participants who were keen to share or gather knowledge about the use of R and Shiny technologies in many diverse processes of the pharmaceutical industry.

Perl / Raku

=> ↺ [Old] Rakulang ☛ A Complete Course of the Raku programming language

• The course is divided into five parts, each of which includes several sections, which in turn include a number of topics (or, merely saying, different pages with their unique URL).

Python

=> ↺ IEEE ☛ The Top Programming Languages 2023: Python and SQL are on top, but old languages shouldn’t be forgotten

• This year, Python doesn’t just remain No. 1 in our general “Spectrum” ranking—which is weighted to reflect the interests of the typical IEEE member—but it widens its lead. Python’s increased dominance appears to be largely at the expense of smaller, more specialized, languages. It has become the jack-of-all-trades language—and the master of some, such as AI, where powerful and extensive libraries make it ubiquitous. And although Moore’s Law is winding down for high-end computing, low-end microcontrollers are still benefiting from performance gains, which means there’s now enough computing power available on a US $0.70 CPU to make Python a contender in embedded development, despite the overhead of an interpreter. Python also looks to be solidifying its position for the long term: Many children and teens now program their first game or blink their first LED using Python. They can then move seamlessly into more advanced domains, and even get a job, with the same language.

=> ↺ Linux Hint ☛ Python Glob Recursive

• The “glob.glob()” method in Python is utilized to determine all the path names by taking the specified pattern and complete path as an argument.

=> ↺ Linux Hint ☛ Pandas Display All Columns

• To display all the columns in Python, the “pandas.set_option()” function takes the “display.max_columns” option and its value as an argument.

=> ↺ Linux Hint ☛ Python Simplify Fractions

• The “Fraction()” method of the “fractions” module, a custom function with the “gcd()” method, is used to simplify the specified fraction into the simplest form.

=> ↺ Linux Hint ☛ Python Hashlib SHA256

• In Python, the sha256 algorithm is implemented to strings, a list of strings, files, and Pandas DataFrame columns using the hashlib.sha256() constructor method.

=> ↺ Linux Hint ☛ Pandas Print All Columns

• The “df.columns.values” or “df.keys().values.tolist()”, “pandas.set_option()” and “df.dtypes” method prints all columns names, values, and types of DataFrame.

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