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Home , Flatpak, Open Source Summit, Purism (company), Tails (operating system), Zenwalk

Newsdesk THIS ISSUE: -exclusive PCs has doubts Microsoft protects Linux severs Steam on Chromebooks

HARDWARE SYSTEMS A new generation of

Linux-only PCs Dell CREDIT: It’s the year of Linux on some desktops – perhaps this whole FOSS thing will catch on!

omething unusual is happening in the output supporting 4K at world of computing: companies big and 60Hz it’s ideal for use as a S small are releasing PCs with Linux media centre system, but running on them. Crucially, in these cases a Linux would run well as either a The Dell XPS 13 Developer operating systems being the only OS option. mini-destop or mini-server. Edition is an -only model. This shows an operational change in the Juno Computers, based both in the UK and marketplace, demonstrating that companies are the US, has made us aware of its all-new gaming not only confident that Linux-only models can , the Neptune 15, that can be bought either sell in enough volume to make money, but that with Ubuntu 20.04 pre-installed, or no OS at all3. they’re happy to support those devices. It’s one It’s powered by the latest Core i7-10875H thing to offer variations of existing Windows eight-core processor and runs a high-end Nvidia models, but quite another to only build a model GeForce RTX 2060 GPU with 6GB of GDDR6. At that offers Linux. £1,650 it’s one powerful – if expensive – system. We reported in LXF265 that Lenovo has We could argue that this trend, in part, extended its Ubuntu certification, making it able coincides with figures that show during the to offer Ubuntu pre-installed on a wider range of its Workstation offerings. Dell has gone one further, announcing an Ubuntu-only model – the “COMPANIES ARE NOT ONLY CONFIDENT Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition – that ships with 1 THAT LINUX-ONLY MODELS CAN SELL, BUT Ubuntu 20.04 LTS pre-installed . This won’t come as much of a surprise to anyone; Dell has THAT THEY’RE HAPPY TO SUPPORT THEM.” been offering its Dell XPS 13 with Ubuntu for a number of years. What is surprising is that this is coronavirus lockdown that the Linux desktop the first time it’s built an Ubuntu-only model. share of the PC market has increased from Purism had not one but two system around 1.5 per cent to just over three per cent. announcements. The first is that its all-new These browsing-based figures are full of 14 is the successor to its long-running uncertainty, though. It’s likely the increase is security-focused Librem 13. The 14-inch linked with a drop in work-based Windows workstation laptop is based around the Intel Core systems during lockdown, so perhaps we’ll see i7-10710U six-core processor, runs Purism’s own an adjustment towards the end of 2020. PureOS, and looks like a beast of a system2. Announced previous to this was the Librem Mini, 1. https://ubuntu.com/blog/dell-xps-13-developer-edition-with-ubuntu-20-04-lts-pre-installed-is-now-available an Intel NUC-styled mini PC running an Intel Core 2. https://puri.sm/products/librem-14 i7-8565U four-core processor. With HDMI 2.0 3. https://junocomputers.com/product/neptune-15

6 LXF266 Summer 2020 www.linuxformat.com NEWSDESK

LINUS ON LINUX OPINION Maintain the maintainers BETTER Kernel dad chats at the Open Source Summit 2020. CALL MATT

he has had its annual tree… It is one of the main issues we have.” He shindig at Open Source Summit 2020, went on to explain that he doesn’t write code T and this year Linus Torvalds spoke any longer and his main job is reading and about current and future kernel development. replying to emails saying “No” to people and Part of head kernel maintainer Linus suggesting code changes. Torvalds’s job is to tour the world giving keynote When asked if C is at risk of becoming the talks at the various conferences and chiefly the new COBOL Linus replied, “C is still one of the Matt Yonkovit Open Source Summit, which The Linux top 10 languages” but on Go and Rust adoption is Percona’s chief experience Foundation puts on around the globe. At the he said, “I’m convinced it’s going to happen. It officer and a member of SHA European event back in May this year he might not be Rust. But it is going to happen.” (Silly Hats Anonymous). discussed a range of topics, including how You can watch a number of talks from the Kernel 3.12 release got its name of Suicidal Open Source Summit 2020 at www.youtube. Squirrel and how the latest 5.4 release was com/user/TheLinuxFoundation/videos. Every year, Percona awarded the name Kleptomaniac Octopus (this runs an Open Source Data is quite a step up from its Management Software initial codename, Linus (left) survey. Here are a couple of Nesting Opossum). talks up being early results I’ve cheery- a kernel At the latest picked from this year’s maintainer. Summit in North survey, based on responses America Linus from just over 600 people. discussed the difficulty As you’d expect, open of finding kernel source is winning. Last maintainers. He year’s results suggest that explained that, “It’s hard 89 per cent of companies to find people who really are running more than one look at other people’s OS database, and the 2020 code and funnel that figures look likely to match, code upstream all the if not exceed this. The use way, eventually, to my of more than one cloud CREDIT: The Linux Foundation, YouTube provider or ‘multi-cloud’ has grown this year from 30 to 39 per cent. This is mostly a EVIL EMPIRE move to protect against outages and performance issues. Ironically, we also found that downtime is now Microsoft Linux Defender the top issue that keeps DBAs up at night. Enterprise protection now available on Linux servers. However, things aren’t so rosy with the cloud and icrosoft is hoping to boost its security first version of Defender ATP for Linux and Database as a Service protection for Android and Linux Android devices – can now be installed on a (DBaaS). The level of M systems with a new release of its range of systems. overworked staff jumped by Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) “This initial release delivers strong preventive 10 per cent between both service. A public preview – what you might call a capabilities, a full command line experience on non-cloud to cloud, and the client… a familiar integrated experience for non-DBaaS to DBaaS machines and alert monitoring in the Microsoft environments. Defender Security Center,” Microsoft wrote in a What caused this jump? blog post announcing the news. When companies move to The utility can be deployed and configured DBaaS, they tend to redirect Microsoft CREDIT: using Puppet, Ansible or through your existing resources. This means that Linux configuration management tool. when database problems Microsoft supports ATP for RHEL, CentOS, hit, they’re added to an Ubuntu 16 LTS or higher, SLES, 9+ and already extensive task list. . The reality is that there is Get more information straight from the still no substitute for Microsoft deploy Defender onto Linux servers. horse’s mouth: https://bit.ly/lxf266defend. database experts.

www.techradar.com/pro/linux Summer 2020 LXF266 7 NEWSDESK

OPINION GAMING SKY Steam on Chrome OS HIGH Google increases the playing possibilities on its hardware.

oogle is getting a taste of the education G market and it likes what it finds. As a result, Chrome OS’s features Keith Edmunds continues to expand apace. is Tiger Computing Ltd’s MD, The latest addition that’s which provides support for appeared on the Chromium businesses using Linux. project site under the codename Borealis appears to be a sandboxed Ubuntu Given how businesses build that includes Steam and are re-evaluating the very available on new Intel 10th foundations upon which gen or later Chromebooks. “Game on!” says Google, they operate, it’s perhaps Rumours that Steam might be coming to and who are we to argue? not surprising that there’s Chrome OS started early in 2020, but been a spike of interest appearance on the Chromium project all but something we’re sure the youngsters might in migrating to the Cloud confirms the move. Similar to the Debian-based appreciate when taking some downtime during recently. Crostini sandboxes that enable standard Linux their history lessons. It could also help justify Two recent, very similar, applications to run under Chrome OS, this latest shelling out extra cash on those ever-more- conversations reminded me moves up the ante to enable Steam gaming – expensive Chromebooks. that when it comes to Cloud migration, it’s easy to do it badly and not even know VULKAN FILE SYSTEM how poorly you’re doing. Most times when we do something poorly, it’s obvious. The paint looks Hardware Fedora to awful; the seam’s not level; the landing was jarring. But you can set up Cloud acceleration adopt Btrfs systems badly, and it won’t immediately show. Not until Video encode/decode takes a Buttery goodness. the bills come in or the data is compromised or the step in the right direction. eople not in the know like to blame availability isn’t what you Btrfs (b-tree file system) for all their ill- were expecting. hen you think of Vulkan you probably P fated storage problems, but OpenSUSE, If you’re on the side of the think of 3D graphics, but it turns out and now Fedora know better with the desk that wants to migrate a W that Vulkan with its low-level GPU blue-based distro choosing to use it as its default business function to the access can help out in other areas of video filesystem going forward. Expect to see Btrfs cloud, make sure the person graphics, too. The latest 4.3 release of FFMpeg from Fedora 33 onwards. you’re speaking to sports a pile of hardware acceleration: Intel QSV You can read about the thinking behind the understands Cloud systems Mjpeg and VP9, AMD AMF encoder via Vulkan, decision over here: https://fedoraproject.org/ specifically, fully and deeply. VDPAU VP9, together with AV1 encoding among wiki/Changes/BtrfsByDefault. If you’re on the side of the many new features. Get the lowdown on what’s desk responsible for new by visiting https://ffmpeg.org. This isn’t the implementing the migration real logo – and you don’t have that we’re not sure deep experience, it would be it has one… a strength rather than a weakness to say you need some help. The Cloud is not just another computer system, and shouldn’t be treated as such. This is definitely the right logo. CREDIT: Daniel

8 LXF266 Summer 2020 www.linuxformat.com NEWSDESK

OPINION Distro watch VIRTUAL What’s down the side of the sofa? PLUMBING

NOMADBSD 1.3.2 A 64-bit live system designed for USB flash drives and based on FreeBSD. Following the release of FreeBSD 12.1 NomadBSD has updated and fixed the filesystem layout to enable tools such as bectl to snapshot the boot environment. Mark Filion Chief updates include changes to the ZFS is a marketing manager (filesystem) layout to make it possible for users to back at Collabora up the boot environment, and support for special-case wireless driver licenses. See more at http://nomadbsd. Now you can use utilities to take a record org/index.html#1.3.2. of NomadBSD’s boot environment. 2020 has been, and continues to be, a redefining year for conferences. With SOLYDXK 10.4 large in-person gatherings Designed for small businesses, not-for-profit prohibited due to the organisations and home users, this Debian-based pandemic, most technical distribution has been updated to Debian 10.4 “Buster” conferences have decided to base, with a key update being new settings for either cancel or venture into web browsing. online conferencing. An interesting move is to merge all the usr/ While Halifax, Canada directories (bin, sbin, lib) with symbolic links to just the would have been a fantastic /usr/ directory. An Enthusiast release is expected to host city, the Linux Plumbers arrive later this year. Firefox users will benefit from extra Conference (LPC) committee Find out what else is new by visiting https://solydxk. privacy settings in the new version of decided to host the event com/news/solydxk-10-point-release-10.4. Debian-based distro SolydXK. online for 2020. Using free software, the conference will happen from the comfort of 4.8 everyone’s homes. One of the best known privacy distros The Amnesic Taking place over a whole Incognito Live System (Tails) is a Debian-based live week (24 to 28 August), this DVD/USB system designed to protect your privacy year’s edition will have a online. As you’d expect, this latest release contains different feel without its many security fixes. invaluable hallway track However, the key move appears to be disabling the conversations. However, Unsafe Browser (the hint is in the name) by default, organisers are working to because it’s become clear that another compromised replicate as much of the task (for example, a phishing attack on Thunderbird) LPC experience as possible, could start an invisible Unsafe Browser. Learn more The privacy-orientated distro Tails has with refereed talks, about the changes to the distro here: https://tails. been updated, partly to foil the running microconferences and BoFs boum.org/news/version_4.8. of Unsafe Browser. continuing to be the core of the 2020 edition. This year again, the 15.0 2020 committee is very happy to Based on the development branch, Zenwalk welcome the Kernel Summit is a lightweight 4.14 desktop with support and the Networking & BPF out of the box and offers modern features with an old- Summit as part of LPC 2020. school approach. With no in-person meeting Version 15 is the yearly milestone release for 2020, this year, there will be plenty which the project always aims for. The goal is to The Zenwalk project first appeared on the to discuss and address during provide a fast and simple setup, a refined desktop, a open source scene in 2004. the conference. selection of the best tools and ease of use, all while To learn more and fully respecting the Slackware philosophy. perhaps register, visit Read up about the distro at www.zenwalk.org. www.linuxplumbersconf.org or follow @LinuxPlumbers on Twitter for all the latest information.

www.techradar.com/pro/linux Summer 2020 LXF266 9