- wlug - list.wlug.org.nz

Chromification Continues: Firefox May Use Chrome's PDF and Flash Plugins
by Peter Reutemann 30 Sep '16

30 Sep '16

'Mozilla announced today Project Mortar, an initiative to explore the possibility of deploying alternative technologies in Firefox to replace its internal implementations. The project's first two goals are to test two Chrome plugins within the Firefox codebase. These are PDFium, the Chrome plugin for viewing PDF files, and Pepper Flash, Google's custom implementation of Adobe Flash. The decision comes as Mozilla is trying to cut down development costs, after Firefox took a nose dive in market share this year. "In order to enable stronger focus on advancing the Web and to reduce the complexity and long term maintenance cost of Firefox, and as part of our strategy to remove generic plugin support, we are launching Project Mortar," said Johnny Stenback, Senior Director Of Engineering at Mozilla Corporation. "Project Mortar seeks to reduce the time Mozilla spends on technologies that are required to provide a complete web browsing experience, but are not a core piece of the Web platform," Stenback adds. "We will be looking for opportunities to replace such technologies with other existing alternatives, including implementations by other browser vendors."' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/16/09/30/1524238 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Raspberry Pi Foundation Unveils New LXDE-Based Desktop For Raspbian Called PIXEL
by Peter Reutemann 29 Sep '16

29 Sep '16

'Until today, Raspbian shipped with the well-known and lightweight LXDE desktop environment, which looks pretty much the same as on any other Linux-based distribution out there that is built around LXDE (Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment). But Simon Long, a UX engineer working for Raspberry Pi Foundation, was hired to make it better, transform it into something that's more appealing to users. So after two years of work, he managed to create a whole new desktop environment for Raspbian, the flagship operating system for Raspberry Pi single-board computers developed and distributed by Raspberry Pi Foundation. Called PIXEL, the new Raspbian desktop offers a more eye-candy design with the panel on top (not on the bottom like on a default LXDE setup), new icons, new Applications Menu, and new theme. "It's actually surprisingly easy to hack about with the LXDE desktop once you get your head around what all the bits do, and since then I've been slowly chipping away at the bits that I felt would most benefit from tweaking," reveals Simon Long. "Stuff has slowly been becoming more and more like my original concept for the desktop; with the latest changes, I think the desktop has reached the point where it's a complete product in its own right and should have its own name."' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/09/29/1640251 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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starving journalists strike back
by Ian Young 29 Sep '16

29 Sep '16

As seen on theinquirer.net. While trying to read an article up came a message. 'Incisive Media publications, including INQ, are now blocking ad-blockers' One or two paragraphs are visible, the rest blurred. First time I've seen this. They want to be whitelisted.

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Government IT Contract Lock-In?
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 29 Sep '16

29 Sep '16

The UK Government has an IT policy which says that no single contract should be worth more than £100 million. The idea is to try to break up cosy mega-contracts that favour large incumbent companies, in order to allow a wider range of suppliers to get a look in. This article <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/09/28/government_20bn_it_contract_lock_in…> is a result of a bunch of FOIA requests to different departments, to try to get an idea of how well this policy is being implemented. As you might expect, the results are somewhat mixed. Anybody know anything about the NZ situation?

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Quote Of The Week
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 29 Sep '16

29 Sep '16

>From <http://forums.theregister.co.uk/forum/containing/2986543>: It is almost as if ½bits do not understand that the purpose of a GUI is so you can see all the terminal emulators for a task at the same time, and switch to different virtual desktops when you are doing multiple unrelated tasks.

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Design For Design’s Sake
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 29 Sep '16

29 Sep '16

Nice commentary <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/09/28/open_source_insider_peak_web/> on what constitutes “good” or “bad” design: ... open source software might be the best designed software in existence. After all, FOSS software is everywhere. ... No one forced anyone to use it for all those things. ... Open source was simply, presumably, the best designed tool for the job. And today every where you turn open source software is there, which is pretty impressive for something that's supposedly very poorly designed. ... On the other hand the world is increasingly awash in software that looks very "modern" and "well designed" but is inevitably a functional step backwards from the previous version. ... I increasingly turn to FOSS software that helps me route around this damage.

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Open-Source Digital Radio On A Raspberry π
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 28 Sep '16

28 Sep '16

It is possible to run a DAB radio station on a Raspberry π with a full open-source software stack <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/09/27/ofcom_blesses_linuxpowered_open_sou…>. The idea has even received regulatory approval in the UK.

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Geek’s Guide To Britain: Cambridge University
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 26 Sep '16

26 Sep '16

Worth mentioning this installment in the semi-regular series on The Register because of its high computing content: Turing, Sinclair, and of course Acorn <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/09/26/geeks_guide_to_britain_walking_tour/>. Worth watching is “Micro Men”, a dramatization of the heyday of Sinclair and Acorn, and the rivalry between them. There is one nice sequence where Hermann Hauser, from a wealthy Austrian wine-making family, is asked why he wanted to get into the computing business and invest in Acorn. His reply: “Have you ever tasted Austrian wine?”

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Krebs On Security Back Online
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 26 Sep '16

26 Sep '16

The “Krebs On Security” blog was knocked offline recently by a massive DDoS attack. Akamai stepped in to shield it for awhile, until the malicious traffic grew too much for it to bear. So Brian Krebs had to take his blog offline. But now it is back, courtesy of Google taking over the shield. <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/09/26/google_shields_krebs/>

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Fwd: [NZLUG] Linux.Conf.Au 2017: Miniconfs announced; Sysadmin Miniconf CFP
by Peter Reutemann 26 Sep '16

26 Sep '16

Apologies for cross-posting, but I thought some of you might be interested in this. Cheers, Peter ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Ewen McNeill Date: Tue, Sep 27, 2016 at 10:12 AM Subject: [NZLUG] Linux.Conf.Au 2017: Miniconfs announced; Sysadmin Miniconf CFP To: nzlug(a)lists.nzoss.org.nz Linux.Conf.Au 2017, being held in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, in January 2017, has announced the Miniconfs selected for the first two days of the conference: https://linux.conf.au/about/news/announcing-miniconfs/ https://linux.conf.au/schedule/miniconfs/list/ The Systems Administration Miniconf is pleased to have been selected again for LCA2017 -- our eleventh year at Linux.Conf.Au. Our Call for Presentations at the LCA2017 Sysadmin Miniconf is now open: https://sysadmin.miniconf.org/cfp17.html (A copy of the CFP text is included below for your convenience.) Please forward this CFP to your colleagues, peers, social networks, and other relevant mailing lists. Please help by encouraging submissions from people you would like to hear present at this Miniconf. This is our 11th Sysadmin Miniconf at Linux.conf.au. Previous presentations can be found at the website: https://sysadmin.miniconf.org/ -=+ Presentation Topics +=- We welcome talks on best current practice, new developments in Systems Administration, cutting edge techniques and technologies, and ways to better manage Linux environments large and small. Topics for presentations could include (but are not limited to): * Systems Administration Best Practice * Virtualisation and Cloud Computing * Containers and orchestration * Sysadmin Administration in a "serverless" environment (FAAS) * TLS everywhere * Monitoring and metrics: Collection, storage and presentation * Infrastructure/Platform/Software as a Service (IAAS, PAAS, SAAS) * Networkng: IPv6, SDN (Software Defined Networking), performance * DevOps, Configuration Management and provisioning * Bootstrapping systems, Lifecycle Management * Dealing with BYOD * Backups in a virtual/distributed world * Troubleshooting techniques * Buying Decisions * Web and Email management * Keeping legacy systems functioning * War stories from the "Real World" Presentations should be of a technical nature and speakers should assume that members of the audience have at least a couple of years experience in Unix/Linux administration. -=+ Format of Presentations +=- We are now seeking proposals for presentations at the mini-conference. We have openings for: 15-25 minute short presentations 5-10 minute "lightning talks" Please note, due to the single day available (and whole-LCA keynote before morning tea), we expect the majority of available timeslots to be 20 minutes or less, with possibly 1-2 slightly longer talks if there is space in the schdule. We have a general policy of accepting a high proportion of proposals but handing out relatively short timeslots. Please see previous years Miniconf schedules for examples of how the programme is organised. -=+ Submitting talks +=- Please note that in order to give a presentation or attend the Miniconf you must be registered (and paid up by the time the conference happens) for the main linux.conf.au conference. Presenting at the Miniconf does not entitle you to discounted or free registration at the main conference nor to priority with registration. Unfortunately the Miniconf has no budget for sponsorship of speakers. To submit a talk to the LCA2017 Sysadmin Miniconf, create an account on the LCA2017 website: https://linux.conf.au/dashboard create a speaker profile, and then select "New Proposal" and "System Administration Miniconf Presentation", or while logged into the LCA2017 site, go directly to: https://linux.conf.au/proposals/submit/sysadmin-miniconf/ If you have a preferred length of your Short Presentation (15/20/25 minutes) or Lightning Talk (5/10 minutes) please use the Private Abstract field to describe what would work best for your talk. Otherwise we will pick a length that best suits the gaps in the programme as we put the final programme together. In some cases we maybe able to add a few extra minutes to a few Short Presentations if there is any spare time left in the programme. -=+ Dates and Deadlines +=- To encourage early submissions, priority (both of inclusion and scheduling) will be given to presentations submitted by 23:59 UTC on the 23rd of October 2016. If you have a good presentation idea, please let us know early, even if you need time to finalise the presentation abstract. Please indicate if you need an early confirmation to aid you in arranging time off work or travel; we will do our best to assist. 2016-10-23 - Deadline for early submissions 2016-11-01 - Early submissions confirmation 2016-11-21 - Deadline for submissions 2016-11-30 - Confirmation of all presentations 2016-12-07 - Miniconf programme published 2017-01-16 - Sysadmin Miniconf held -=+ Contact and Questions +=- Please see our website at https://sysadmin.miniconf.org for more information on the miniconf, past presentations and presenting at it. If you have any questions please feel free to email the organisers at: lca2017 @ sysadmin.miniconf.org Ewen McNeill and Simon Lyall LCA2017 Sysadmin Miniconf Conveeners _______________________________________________ NZLUG mailing list NZLUG(a)lists.nzoss.org.nz http://lists.nzoss.org.nz/mailman/listinfo/nzlug -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Permanent job in Tokyo, Japan
by James Tobin 25 Sep '16

25 Sep '16

Hello, I’m working with an employer that is looking to hire someone to fulfil a permanent DevOps-type position at their office in Tokyo. Japanese language is not required; only English. Consequently I had hoped that some members of this LUG may like to discuss further; off-list. I can be reached using "JamesBTobin (at) Gmail (dot) Com". Kind regards, James

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free and open internet -- includes politics in the USA
by Ian Young 24 Sep '16

24 Sep '16

I always wanted to be an entity, albeit a tiny one. What about 'We the people'? http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-icann-ted-cruz-20160923-sna… But the federal government hasn’t run IANA for years. Instead, it hired the Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to do that, with a minimum of supervision. ICANN was formed to make sure the entities with the largest stakes in the Internet — telecommunications companies, online service providers, researchers, equipment makers and, yes, governments — would jointly have a say in the creation and management of domains.

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SolidRun x86 Braswell MicroSoM Runs Linux and Full
by rowan schischka 24 Sep '16

24 Sep '16

I'm afraid this embedded machine will not be competing with raspberry at a total price of $157 (I'm assuming thats USD). something to compare it to in the x86 space: ASUS N3050I-C Motherboard, Mini-ITX retails for around $100NZD; comes with CPU soldered; does not come with PSU, ram, HDD, case. but altogether much more practical considering you're getting a real computer for the price. power consumption is around 6W. i guess its not as small considering it needs an ATX power supply, http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?itemID=433649 -- Kind Regards Rowan Schischka

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Computer Security And The Ford Pinto Formula
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 24 Sep '16

24 Sep '16

With security breaches of company data happening so often nowadays, why aren’t these companies taking more effort to defend themselves? Could it be because the cost of doing so outweighs the cost of simply putting up with these breaches? <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/09/23/if_your_company_has_terrible_it_sec…>

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double commander
by Peter Reutemann 23 Sep '16

23 Sep '16

Hi everyone Since I'm quite often dealing with 100s of thousands of files in single directories, I've always been on the lookout for a file manager that can handle that properly. The Midnight Commander, which is cross-platform, works perfectly. However, if your users aren't well accustomed to file manager that runs within a terminal, then you might want to give "Double Commander" a whirl: http://doublecmd.sourceforge.net/ Don't mind the slightly dated looking website. The file manager is where they spend their time on! ;-) Not as fast as the Midnight Commander, but when you turn off some eye candy (namely icons), you get pretty close. It also offers multiple tabs for each half of the dual pane setup, which is quite nice. And it beats Nautilus, Caja and Sunflower FM in performance by a few magnitudes. But wait! What about Gnome Commander? Well, it doesn't integrate that nicely into MATE (I'm running Linux Mint/MATE). Double Commander does a much better job at this. You can install the Commander's GTK interface like this on a Debian/Ubuntu system: sudo apt-get install doublecmd-gtk Or, if you prefer the QT interface: sudo apt-get install doublecmd-qt Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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SolidRun x86 Braswell MicroSoM Runs Linux and Full Windows 10, Destroys Raspberry Pi
by Peter Reutemann 23 Sep '16

23 Sep '16

'BetaNews has a report today about a company called SolidRun, which has announced an Intel Braswell-based MicroSoM. Unlike the ARM-powered Raspberry Pi, this is x86 compatible, meaning it can run full Windows 10. Plus, if you install a Linux distro, there will be far more packages available, such as Google Chrome, which is not available for Pi. Heck, it can probably serve as a secondary desktop, Brian with the site writes. From the report: At 53mm by 40mm, these new MicroSoMs provide unheard of design flexibility while also eliminating the headache of having to design complicated power-delivery subsystems thanks to its single power input rail design. SolidRun's Braswell MicroSoM also offers flexibility in RAM options, ranging from 1GB to 8GB configurations, and offers on-board support of eMMC storage up to 128GB. Its robust design and unsurpassed HD Edge surveillance, event detection, and statistical data-extraction capabilities makes it the platform of choice for mission-critical applications requiring guaranteed reliability," says Solidrun. It starts at $117, the website has more details on specifications.' -- source: https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/16/09/22/2044237 It's also a bit pricier... Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Yahoo Confirms Massive Data Breach, 500 Million Users Impacted [Updated]
by Peter Reutemann 22 Sep '16

22 Sep '16

'Update: 09/22 18:47 GMT by M :Yahoo has confirmed the data breach, adding that about 500 million users are impacted. Yahoo said "a copy of certain user account information was stolen from the company's network in late 2014 by what it believes is a state-sponsored actor." As Business Insider reports, this could be the largest data breach of all time. In a blog post, the company said: Yahoo is notifying potentially affected users and has taken steps to secure their accounts. These steps include invalidating unencrypted security questions and answers so that they cannot be used to access an account and asking potentially affected users to change their passwords. Yahoo is also recommending that users who haven't changed their passwords since 2014 do so. The Intercept reporter Sam Biddle commented, "It took Yahoo two years to announce that info on half a billion user accounts was stolen." Amid its talks with Verizon for a possible acquisition -- which did happen -- Yahoo knew about the attack, but didn't inform Verizon about it, Business Insider reports. Original story, from earlier today, follows. Last month, it was reported that a hacker was selling account details of at least 200 million Yahoo users. The company's service had apparently been hacked, putting several hundred million users accounts at risk. Since then Yahoo has remained tight-lipped on the matter, but that could change very soon. Kara Swisher of Recode is reporting that Yahoo is poised to confirm that massive data breach of its service. >From the report: While sources were unspecific about the extent of the incursion, since there is the likelihood of government investigations and legal action related to the breach, they noted that it is widespread and serious. Earlier this summer, Yahoo said it was investigating a data breach in which hackers claimed to have access to 200 million user accounts and was selling them online. "It's as bad as that," said one source. "Worse, really." The announcement, which is expected to come this week, also possible larger implications on the $4.8 billion sale of Yahoo's core business -- which is at the core of this hack -- to Verizon. The scale of the liability could be large and bring untold headaches to the new owners. Shareholders are likely to worry that it could lead to an adjustment in the price of the transaction.' -- source: https://it.slashdot.org/story/16/09/22/095255 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Some Lenovo laptops won't install Linux it seems
by Ian Young 22 Sep '16

22 Sep '16

Maybe don't buy that shiny laptop from Lenovo just yet .... http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-37431299

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The Wheel Of Reincarnation Spins Again
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 22 Sep '16

22 Sep '16

This article <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/09/22/the_evolution_of_moores_law_suggest…> says that the end of Moore’s Law has not meant a let-up in improving hardware performance. Instead, the high-performance hardware is becoming ever more specialized, the example offered being Apple’s particular flavours of ARM processors. This oscillation between general-purpose versus special-purpose hardware is not a new phenomenon: it was observed as long ago as 1968 <http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/W/wheel-of-reincarnation.html> (you can read the original paper here <http://cva.stanford.edu/classes/cs99s/papers/myer-sutherland-design-of-disp…>). But is this the end of the cycles, now that Moore’s Law has hit its limits? Time will tell...

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GNOME 3.22 Desktop Environment Officially Released
by Peter Reutemann 22 Sep '16

22 Sep '16

'Today, September 21, is a big day for Linux users, especially those who love the GNOME desktop environment, as the next major release is now officially available. Yes, that's right, we're talking about GNOME 3.22, dubbed Karlsruhe after the German host city of the annual GUADEC (GNOME Users And Developers European Conference) event, which took place last month between August 12-14, 2016. Prominent features of the GNOME 3.22 desktop environment include batch rename functionality and support for integration of compressed files built directly into the Nautilus file manager, a new Week View, support for alarms, and the ability to drag and drop events to the GNOME Calendar, as well as an updated GNOME Music app that supports handling of music libraries with thousands of tracks. There are lots of improvements for the GNOME Games app as well, as it now offers support for numerous retro gaming consoles. Among other improvements, we can mention Flatpak integration, photo sharing, revamped GNOME Software app with support for firmware updates, redesigned keyboard settings and a brand new GNOME Control Center panel, and a redesigned dconf Editor. A video overview of the new features of GNOME 3.22 is available on the official website.' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/09/21/1726230 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Lenovo Denies Claims It Plotted With Microsoft To Block Linux Installs
by Peter Reutemann 22 Sep '16

22 Sep '16

'Several users noted certain new Lenovo machines' SSDs are locked in a RAID mode, with AHCI removed from the BIOS. Windows is able to see the SSD while in RAID mode due to a proprietary driver, but the SSD is hidden from Linux installations -- for which such a driver is unavailable. Speaking to The Register today, a Lenovo spokesperson claimed the Chinese giant "does not intentionally block customers using other operating systems on its devices and is fully committed to providing Linux certifications and installation guidance on a wide range of products." Complaints on Lenovo's forums suggest that users have been unable to install GNU/Linux operating systems on models from the Yoga 900S to the Ideapad 710S, with one 19-page thread going into detail about the BIOS issue and users' attempts to work around it.' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/09/21/1838252 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Inkscape/sozi/scribus talk Monday
by William Mckee 21 Sep '16

21 Sep '16

Hello, I'm doing a talk on Monday on creating slide deck with Inkscape/Sozi and book design with Scribus. Slides for my talk can be found at http://artctrl.me/sozi.svg It will be great meeting for any art/design people to attend, if you know any let them know. The meeting details: https://www.meetup.com/WaikatoLinuxUsersGroup/events/233952289/ Cheers, William.

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Emacs 25.1 Released With Tons Of New Features
by rowan schischka 20 Sep '16

20 Sep '16

Can someone demonstrate the web/youtube viewing capabilities of emacs at the next meeting? i guess its true when people say emacs is my favourite operating system -- Kind Regards Rowan Schischka

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Emacs 25.1 Released With Tons Of New Features
by Peter Reutemann 19 Sep '16

19 Sep '16

'After four years of development there's a major new release of Emacs, the 40-year-old libre text editor with over 2,000 built-in commands. An anonymous Slashdot reader writes: Emacs 25.1 now lets you embed GTK+ user interface widgets, including WebKitGTK+, "a full-featured WebKit port that can allow you to browse the internet and watch YouTube inside Emacs." And it can also load shared/dynamic modules, meaning it can import the extra functionality seen in Emacs Lisp programs. This version also includes enhanced the network security, experimental support for Cairo drawing, and a new "switch-to-buffer-in-dedicated-window" mode. Emacs 25.1 is available at the GNU FTP server, and since it's the 40th anniversary of Emacs, maybe it's a good time for a discussion about text editors in general. So leave your best tips in the comments -- along with your favorite stories about Emacs, Vim, or the text editor of your choice. What comes to your mind on the 40th anniversary of Emacs?' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/16/09/18/1715251 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Vim 8.0 Is Released After 10 Years
by Peter Reutemann 18 Sep '16

18 Sep '16

New Features in Vim 8.0 - Jobs - Asynchronous I/O support, channels, JSON - Timers - Supports partials, lambdas, and closures - Enables new style testing - Viminfo merged by timestamp - Supports GTK+3 - Support for MS-Windows DirectX You can install it through an unofficial ppa with just a few commandlines. -- source: http://www.tecmint.com/vim-8-0-install-in-ubuntu-linux-systems/ Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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IPv6 Support Across NZ ISPs
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 18 Sep '16

18 Sep '16

Came across this document from last year <http://www.ipv6.org.nz/2015/01/27/ipv6-support-across-nz-isps-january-2015/>, which shows two ISPs doing IPv6 on a “trial” basis and three saying “yes” for full support, albeit one of them only for business customers, not residential ones.

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Windows 10 Haters: Try Linux On Kaby Lake Chips With Dell's New XPS 13
by Peter Reutemann 16 Sep '16

16 Sep '16

'Attention Linux enthusiasts. Your OS of your choice can finally work on laptops with Intel's Kaby Lake chips. Dell is releasing three new models of slick XPS 13 Developer Edition that will be available with Ubuntu OS and 7th Generation Core processors in the U.S. and Canada starting on Oct. 10, reports PCWorld. From the article: Prices for XPS 13 DE will start at $949. Dell also announced the XPS 13 model with Kaby Lake and Windows 10, which will ship on Oct. 4 starting at $799. Dell didn't share details on what version of Ubuntu desktop OS will be preloaded. It officially supports Ubuntu 14.04 in existing laptops, but could pre-load version 16.04 on the new XPS 13 DE. Dell has remained committed to Linux while major PC vendors shift to Windows 10 on PCs. Intel made a major commitment to supporting Windows 10 with its new Kaby Lake chips but hasn't talked much about Linux support. XPS 13 DE is perhaps the sexiest and thinnest Linux laptop available, with an edge-to-edge screen being a stand-out feature. It is the latest in Dell's Project Sputnik line of laptops, and it is targeted at computer enthusiasts who want a Windows or Mac alternative. A knock against Linux is that the OS has lagged behind Windows on driver development and on supporting the latest technologies like USB-C ports, 4K screens, and Thunderbolt. Project Sputnik started four years ago as an effort between Dell and the open-source community to bridge that gap, and since then, the resulting laptops have achieved cult status among Linux enthusiasts. A Dell XPS 13 with a Core i5 chip will have a full HD screen, 8GB of RAM, and a 128GB SSD. Another configuration will have a 3200 x 1800-pixel screen, Core i5, and a 256GB SSD. A fully loaded model will have a Core i7 chip, a 512GB SSD, 16GB of RAM, and a 3200 x 1800-pixel screen.' -- source: https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/16/09/16/1838202 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Xiaomi Can Silently Install Any App On Your Android Phone Using A Backdoor
by Peter Reutemann 16 Sep '16

16 Sep '16

'Xiaomi, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer many refer to as the "Apple of China," can silently install any app on your device, according to a Computer Science student and security enthusiast from the Netherlands. Thijs Broenink started investigating a mysterious pre-installed app, dubbed AnalyticsCore.apk, that constantly runs in the background and reappears even if you try and delete it. The Hacker News reports: After asking about the purpose of the AnalyticsCore app on the company's support forum and getting no response, Thijs Broenink reverse engineered the code and found that the app checks for a new update from the company's official server every 24 hours. While making these requests, the app sends device identification information with it, including the phone's IMEI, Model, MAC address, Nonce, Package name as well as signature. If there is an updated app available on the server with the filename "Analytics.apk," it will automatically get downloaded and installed in the background without user interaction. Broenink found that there is no validation at all to check which APK is getting installed to a user's phone, which means there is a way for hackers to exploit this loophole. This also means Xiaomi can remotely and silently install any application on your device just by renaming it to "Analytics.apk" and hosting it on the server. Ironically, the device connects and receives updates over HTTP connection, exposing the whole process to Man-in-the-Middle attacks." ' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/16/09/15/1923220 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Fwd: BREAKING: The Link Tax is Officially on its Way
by Roderick Aldridge 15 Sep '16

15 Sep '16

Its understandable that the publishing establishment want to protect their content from those who would use it without contributing to generating it, but they should be promoting links which send viewers to their content.This measure would stifle the free flow of information and ideas. I invite members to take part. Should WLUG or NZLUG or NZOSS take part officially? Your thoughts. Rod ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Ruth Coustick-Deal -OpenMedia <contact(a)openmedia.org> Date: 15 September 2016 at 04:22 Subject: BREAKING: The Link Tax is Officially on its Way To: rod.aldridge1(a)gmail.com *It’s official, Roderick.* The EU Commission has officially released some of the worst copyright laws in the world, including unprecedented new Link Tax powers for publishing giants.1, 2 Earlier today, the Commission presented these new rules to the world. Over the past few weeks, leaks suggested the rules were worse than originally feared,3 and today’s announcement proved it. *We have to stop this now. * Despite opposition from over 100,000 Internet users and dozens of other advocacy groups, the EU Commission has charged ahead with its wrong-headed plan. *This will affect Internet users around the world.* But we can fight back and win.* Share these hard-hitting social media images on Twitter and Facebook today!* <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=I0bSQvl4iPegV0aFW8SXE%2BCKfLkJB…> *Share on Twitter* <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=j6PCUhX2tFXXO2W1lh%2Bb9eCKfLkJB…>* | **Share on Facebook* <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=r4eiWVxKXvGtgMwx1UtMaOCKfLkJBGne> <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=w%2B8TZO3T1iKYWWuTMT7lg320JAhxO…> *Share on Twitter* <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=%2BhLRxVqNmLtJB0mgky1v2uCKfLkJB…>* | **Share on Facebook* <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=fqFY%2F7FFxDHeBHW4aYs1X%2BCKfLk…> This comes on the heels of a major court ruling that undermined our right to use hyperlinks.4 This means it’s more important than ever that EU decision-makers do what they can to stop this dangerous #LinkTax plan.5 The link tax could *make some of your favourite content virtually disappear* from search engines.6 Users all over the world will be impacted. Join us now <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=bKmMmxqTfKTzkNMenSUp%2FuCKfLkJB…> to give decision-makers a clear resounding ‘no to the link tax’. We’re only weeks away from releasing a hard-hitting new tool that will let you send pro-Internet messages to Members of the European Parliament to stop this reckless proposal dead in its tracks. That’s where we’re taking the fight next. But in the meantime, let’s raise hell on Twitter <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=ZqFXncANqbo%2BCSLN6EF1NeCKfLkJB…> and Facebook <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=LMTErnjJVWARnEEo%2Fdx86OCKfLkJB…> and shame the Commission for ignoring our concerns and pushing on with this reckless plan. –Ruth Coustick-Deal, for OpenMedia *P.S. **Donate now* <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=4E4oSrg34LjNM9l9gYkkZeCKfLkJBGne>* so we can reach as many people as possible at this crucial moment. Every single bit helps.* *Footnotes* [1] Official announcement of EU DSM Copyright. Source: State of the Union address <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=IkS3990M7tGYWWuTMT7lg320JAhxOp3c> . [2] EU Commission formally proposes Link Tax to European Parliament as part of new Copyright Directive. Source: OpenMedia <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=hYnF54%2BemHlc1mI21KHvkeCKfLkJB…> . [3] Google snippet tax, geoblocking, other copyright reform shunned in EU plan. Source: Ars Technica UK <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=XyWhLZD6wxBOt8UV7WGhguCKfLkJBGne> . [4] Disappointing ruling by EU’s highest court sets worrying global precedent for how we share and access information online. Source: OpenMedia <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=3xPQS6KkwjKgyS6tYhlnkOCKfLkJBGne> . [5] Europeans deserve a better copyright reform Source: Communia <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=pt2xXcNSqTH0cDuMUNQxIOCKfLkJBGne> [6] Google stops displaying news snippets from German publishers that sued it. Source: ZDNet <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=IrdzBK7a8BI%2F2n1MlsljVuCKfLkJB…> . [image: OpenMedia] <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=PVymJXXIdSTuq3CVpUMwvuCKfLkJBGne> We are an award-winning network of people and organizations working to safeguard the possibilities of the open Internet. We work toward informed and participatory digital policy. You can follow us on *Twitter* <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=fgGjhtXZm736Zqri8dbigOCKfLkJBGne>, and like us on *Facebook* <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=v9tsIAW9sL7tgsYNavkPxeCKfLkJBGne> . You have received this message, because you have subscribed to OpenMedia's list with the email address rod.aldridge1(a)gmail.com. You can manage your email preferences. <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=tQXg5wXHn5CRpt9McM9OGHeIRo%2Fv1…> If you no longer wish to receive our emails, click here <http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=1wdSq2cc3QOaQczdMsEN8%2BCKfLkJB…> to unsubscribe.

1 0

Android Users Need To Delete Google Maps and Google Play If They Don't Want Their Locations Tracked
by Peter Reutemann 13 Sep '16

13 Sep '16

'Google, it seems, is very, very interested in knowing where you are at all times. Users have reported battery life issues with the latest Android build, with many pointing the finger at Google Play -- Google's app store -- and its persistent, almost obsessive need to check where you are. Amid complaints that Google Play is always switching on GPS, it appears Google has made it impossible to prevent the app store from tracking your whereabouts unless you completely kill off location tracking for all applications. You can try to deny Google Play access to your handheld's location by opening the Settings app and digging through Apps -> Google Play Store -> Permissions, and flipping the switch for "location." But you'll be told you can't just shut out Google Play services: you have to switch off location services for all apps if you want to block the store from knowing your whereabouts. It's all or nothing, which isn't particularly nice. This is because Google Play services pass on your location to installed apps via an API. The store also sends your whereabouts to Google to process. Google doesn't want you to turn this off.' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/16/09/13/1634237 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

2 1

Re: [wlug] Building Your Own Laptop
by Ian Stewart 13 Sep '16

13 Sep '16

Hi William, Thanks for your ideas... > I would add the Raspberry Pi 7 inch touch screen. This is a 800 x 480 pixels resolution screen. The RPi is meant to be capable of 1080 vertical lines per frame. With a 16:9 aspect ratio then this is a monitor of 1920x1080 pixels. This seems to be a common pixel ratio with HDTV's. Thus I suspect that due to mass production rates to fill the digital TV market, the price of these monitors should be dropping the fastest. So I would like to see a RPi with a 1920x1080 pixel monitor. I see that these monitors are commonly available in 21.5 and 24 inch. It looks like the 21.5 inch seems to be less popular and prices have dropped below $200. However getting one of these monitors with touchscreen seems to be a bit expensive at the moment. I see there is a company called gechic. They make some touch screen 1920x1080 monitors at 15.6inch. Models include the On-Lap2501H and On-Lap 1502. If you look at... http://www.gechic.com/product_help_en.asp?s=14 ...then there is a photo of a RPi connected to one of these gechic touch-screens. So, maybe it won't be too long before there will be good-sized 1080p touch-screen monitors suitable for RPi at a low price. > Use power banks (super cheap from China). No power in classroom is needed. While it would be nice to be rid of all cables, I think that power banks may be a bit messy to manage. You'd need to put 28 of them onto chargers each night, then hope they lasted the 6+ hours of a school day. If they only produce +5V for the RPi, then you need to also get +5V monitors. Plus their life-span of delivering to specification may not be very long. So I figure having an AC to DC regulator for each row would be more simple and then having DC cabling distributing the power down the row. cheers Ian.

1 0

meeting suggestions
by Peter Reutemann 13 Sep '16

13 Sep '16

Rowan posted the following meeting suggestion (http://www.meetup.com/WaikatoLinuxUsersGroup/events/233762057/) "regarding presenting the ubuntu m10 tablet; due to university i wont be available in september. its possible i could present in october; if not i will def be available in november. i could also demonstrate android on raspberry pi if it works (havnt found time to try it yet). or we could run through installing it together?" I'd suggest to have this meeting in November. As for September, how about we do a roundup of multi-media tools and giving them a quick spin. Here are some that I can think of (feel free to demo your own favorite tool!): - Gimp - Inkscape - Dia - OpenShot - Blender Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

3 9

Ubuntu Torrent Removed From Google Due To DMCA Complaint
by Peter Reutemann 13 Sep '16

13 Sep '16

"Cited in a DMCA takedown request filed against Google on behalf of Paramount Pictures is an innocuous link to a 32-bit alternate install image Ubuntu 12.04.2 LTS. The takedown request seeks to remove links to a number of torrent URLS that are alleged to infringe on Paramount movie Transformers: Age of Extinction. Ubuntu clearly doesn't. All it takes is a quick glance at the URL in question to see that. It's very much a stock ISO of an old Ubuntu release. And yet Google has complied with the request and scrubbed the link to the page in question from its search index." -- source: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/16/09/12/1515229 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

3 3

Building Your Own Laptop
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 13 Sep '16

13 Sep '16

This article <http://www.computershopper.com/feature/build-your-own-laptop> originated several years ago, but says it was updated last year. I am pleasantly surprised to discover there are such things as “barebones” laptops, albeit they still come with somewhat more than you get with a “barebones” desktop box. While there are a range of such laptops available from different vendors, certain components (wi-fi cards and MXM graphics cards) may not be so easy to get. The total price for the build is quoted as USD1352, while “comparable systems with GeForce 8600M graphics were typically running about $250 to $300 more than our build”. Wonder if that included the Windows licence. Also, regardless of the revised article date, it still mentions installing Windows Vista...

6 13

Self-Driving Cars Can Learn a Lot by Playing Grand Theft Auto
by Eric Light 12 Sep '16

12 Sep '16

Self-Driving Cars Can Learna Lot by Playing Grand Theft Auto Technology Review (09/12/16) Will Knight Several research groups are using the "Grand Theft Auto" video game to educate algorithms with potential application to self-driving vehicle navigation. The researchers say the game's scenic elements are extremely realistic, and can be used to produce data on a par with that generated using real-world imagery. A team from Intel Labs and Germany's Darmstadt University created a software layer positioned between the game and a computer's hardware, automatically classifying different objects in the game's road scenes. [...] "We showed that this synthetic data is almost as good, or sometimes even better, than using real data for training," Shafaei says. https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602317/self-driving-cars-can-learn-a-lot… -- Securely sent with Tutanota. It's good, you should try it: https://tutanota.com

1 0

Microsoft Fixes Bugs in Skype for Linux
by Peter Reutemann 12 Sep '16

12 Sep '16

'After neglecting Linux's Skype client for years, Microsoft released a new app of Skype for Linux in July, giving comfort to millions of users. The app, however, had a fair share of bugs. Microsoft today has updated the app to iron out those bugs, and introduced a handful of interesting options. An anonymous reader writes: There were plenty of users who complained that Skype for Linux was reconnecting automatically when not using the app for a certain amount of time and Microsoft has already acknowledged the bug. This new version fixes the problem, so everything should work correctly after updating. Additionally, Skype for Linux 1.7 introduces a new grid layout of the group calls, but also fixes the standard behavior of unread messages. According to Microsoft, this means that "when opening chat with unread messages, the view will focus on the first unread message and as you scroll, messages will be marked as read."' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/09/12/1414222 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

On a similar DYI theme
by rowan schischka 12 Sep '16

12 Sep '16

>28 x wireless keyboards and mice You definitely should not use so many wireless mice in the same room. keyboards are ok but the interference and drops on the mice are frustrating. We used them in a room of about 16 poeple and we had to convert to wired. Also you might want to check if r pis bluetooth has drivers yet. >For each row have a wireless ethernet router pretty sure a hub/switch is cheaper, you can get 10/100 for under $20 -- Kind Regards Rowan Schischka

3 2

IoT Devices With Default Telnet Passwords Used As Botnet
by Peter Reutemann 12 Sep '16

12 Sep '16

'IoT devices, like DVR recorders or webcams, which are running Linux with open telnet access and have no passwords or default passwords are currently a target of attacks which try to install malware which then makes the devices a node of a botnet for DDoS attacks. As the malware, called Linux/Mirai, only resides in memory, once the attack has been successful, revealing if your device got captured isn't so easy, and also analyzing the malware is difficult, as it will vanish on reboot. Plus the malware lays low at first, though "it is obvious that the main purpose is still for a DDoS botnet," according to MalwareMustDie, and it's designed to spread rapidly to other IoT devices using a telnet scanner. "According to the experts, several attacks have been detected in the wild," according to the article, which warns that many antivirus solutions are still unable to detect the malware, and "If you have an IoT device, please make sure you have no telnet service open and running."' -- source: https://it.slashdot.org/story/16/09/11/1155202 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Ubuntu-Based Elementary OS 0.4 'Loki' Achieves Stable Release
by Peter Reutemann 12 Sep '16

12 Sep '16

'"Today, Elementary 0.4 (code-named 'Loki'), achieves stable status," BetaNews reported Friday, applauding the "clean and functional" app tiles in its software center. Elementary OS (stylized as elementary OS) isn't the most popular Linux distro, and it certainly isn't the best. However, this Ubuntu-based operating system is focusing on something that some competitors do not -- user interface, which ultimately contributes to the overall user experience. It is because of this that Elementary is so important to the Linux community -- it matters. Developers focused on internationalization for this release, part of an effort to "grow the market" for open-souce software, according to the elementary blog, which proudly points out that 73% of the 1.2 million downloads for their "design-oriented" OS came from closed-source operating systems.' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/16/09/11/1912231 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Linux Kernel 3.14 Series Has Reached End of Life
by Peter Reutemann 11 Sep '16

11 Sep '16

"it looks like the Linux kernel maintainers decided that there's no need to maintain the Linux kernel 3.14 LTS series anymore, so earlier today, September 11, 2016, they decided to release that last maintenance update, version 3.14.79, and mark the series as EOL (End of Life). Famous Linux kernel maintainer Greg Kroah-Hartman was the one to make the big announcement, and he's urging users who want to still run a long-term supported kernel version to move to the Linux 4.4 LTS series, which is currently the most advanced LTS branch, or use the latest stable release, Linux kernel 4.7.3... Linux kernel 3.14.79 is a very small update that changes a total of 12 files, with 45 insertions and 17 deletions, thus fixing a bug in the EXT4 file system, a networking issue related to the Reliable Datagram Sockets (RDS) protocol, and updating a few HID, s390, SCSI, networking drivers." -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/09/11/2258223 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

mail servers
by rowan schischka 10 Sep '16

10 Sep '16

can someone please recommend a lightweight open source mail server. I'm looking at connecting up my old android phone to a solar charger and running services from it, so whatever i use needs to be small. the phone i have to work with that has 512mb ram. android itself uses around 220-230mb of ram, thats before i go silly on rooting it and removing stuff, not that theres much to remove. -- Kind Regards Rowan Schischka

3 2

LinuxScreenshots.org Closes. All Screenshot Tours Released For Downloading
by Peter Reutemann 10 Sep '16

10 Sep '16

"LinuxScreenshots.org is closed. An archive of all screenshot tours from this site has been made freely available to the community, which consists of 2300 releases from 580 distributions. You may download this archive for fun, or to start your own Linux screenshots website. Please help seed torrents. " -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/09/10/1856227 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

10 Million Raspberry πs Sold
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 09 Sep '16

09 Sep '16

The π is definitely now the most successful British computer ever <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/09/08/rasberry_pi_sells_its_ten_millionth…>.

3 4

meeting suggestions
by rowan schischka 08 Sep '16

08 Sep '16

>I've scheduled the meeting now for October 24 - you're OK with that? I can do October 24th -- Kind Regards Rowan Schischka

2 1

How Windows Handles Pathnames
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 08 Sep '16

08 Sep '16

A Google engineer has published a detailed exposé on how Microsoft Windows handles file and directory pathnames (as opposed to how it is documented to handle them) <http://googleprojectzero.blogspot.com/2016/02/the-definitive-guide-on-win32…> (found from <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/03/01/windows_path_hacks/>). Most of it, it could be argued, makes some sort of sense from a backward-compatibility rationale. Except for the reserved device names (PRN, NUL, CON etc): Now if just specifying these paths explicitly was all that this process handled it would be annoying but not the end of the world. However it’s much worse. The conversion process actively tries to convert any path with the device name last, even if the path is a Drive Absolute path. To make matters even worse the device name can have arbitrary trailing characters as long the trailing characters are separated from the device by a dot or a colon. The name can then also have trailing spaces. ... Why it does the check is beyond me as it seems to serve no actual purpose. Also note the removal of trailing suffixes, which can come in handy if something is actively trying to guard against this behavior. For example, if an application was mindful and was checking for a filename that matched one of the reserved names you can just bypass that check by appending an arbitrary suffix.

1 1

Sony Wins Battle Over Preinstalled Windows in Europe's Top Court
by Peter Reutemann 07 Sep '16

07 Sep '16

'The sale of a computer equipped with pre-installed software isn't an unfair commercial practice because most customers prefer to buy a laptop they can use straight away, Europe's top court has ruled in a victory for Sony. "Failure to indicate the price of each item of pre-installed software" isn't misleading, the Court of Justice of the European Union added in its ruling on Wednesday. The CJEU was asked to intervene after French citizen Vincent Deroo-Blanquart took Sony to court for failing to reimburse the cost of pre-installed software -- Windows Vista Home Premium operating system -- that he did not wish to use on a laptop. Sony refused and instead offered to cancel the sale altogether. ' -- source: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/16/09/07/1411229 Bummer... Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Fujitsu’s Upcoming 64-Bit-ARM-Based Super
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 07 Sep '16

07 Sep '16

Some discussion about why Fujitsu chose ARM over SPARC or x86 for its “Post-K” machine: <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/08/23/fujitsu_arm_post_k/>. Basically, it offers a much more customizable platform. Goes without saying it will be running Linux...

1 1

DNF Versus Zypper
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 06 Sep '16

06 Sep '16

Unlike the uniform dpkg+apt system in the Debian world, RPM-based distros have adopted a variety of approaches to add automatic management of dependencies on top of the basic functionality of the rpm tool itself: Red Hat originally developed Yum, which they have replaced with DNF; SuSE created Zypper, but before these, Mandrake had urpmi. Now Mageia (the successor to Mandrake) has also adopted Red Hat’s DNF <http://phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Megia-6-To-Have-DNF-Yum> as an alternative to urpmi. There are some interesting comments in the associated discussion by a Mageia developer with the handle “King InuYasha”, who did an evaluation of DNF versus Zypper before deciding to adopt the former.

1 0

OpenBSD 6.0 Released
by Peter Reutemann 06 Sep '16

06 Sep '16

"Version 6.0 of the free operating system OpenBSD has just been released. This release features much improved hardware and armv7 support, a new tool called proot for building software ports in an isolated chroot environment, W^X that is now strictly enforced by default, and removal of official support for Linux emulation, usermount, and systrace." -- source: https://bsd.slashdot.org/story/16/09/01/2147233 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

2 4

mike Wolfe authors alliance
by William Mckee 06 Sep '16

06 Sep '16

Hi, Mike Wolfe is going to be in Hamilton to talk TPP and copyright http://creativecommons.org.nz/2016/09/mike-wolfe-of-the-authors-alliance-is… Cheers, William

1 0

SoftBank Completes $31 Billion Acquisition of ARM
by Peter Reutemann 06 Sep '16

06 Sep '16

'Roughly two months later, SoftBank announced today that it has completed its $31 billion acquisition of British chip designer ARM Holdings. The Verge reports: "SoftBank's purchase of ARM is the latest in a line of acquisitions in recent years for the Japanese company, including the $20 billion Sprint acquisition, and a $15 billion investment in Vodafone's Japanese division. ARM is well known for designing chips and licensing them to companies like Apple and Samsung, and ARM-designed chips dominate mobile computing in phones and tablets. 15 billion ARM-designed chips shipped last year alone, and around half of those were in mobile devices. SoftBank is expected to use the ARM deal to bolster its Internet of Things plans." ' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/16/09/05/2215217 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

2 1

Adobe Resurrects Flash Player On Linux
by Peter Reutemann 06 Sep '16

06 Sep '16

'Four years ago, Adobe made a decision to stop updating the Flash Player package (NPAPI) on Linux, aside from delivering security patches. It has made an about turn on this decision in the last week and has said that it will keep it in sync with the modern release branch going forward. In its announcement, Adobe wrote: "In the past, we communicated that NPAPI Linux releases would stop in 2017. This is no longer the case and once we have performed sufficient testing and received community feedback, we will release both NPAPI and PPAPi Linux builds with their major version numbers in sync and on a regular basis." Although this is great news for Linux users who don't want to struggle to watch Flash content online, there also a few drawbacks. Adobe writes: "Because this change is primarily a security initiative, some features (like GPU 3D acceleration and premium video DRM) will not be fully implemented. If you require this functionality we recommend that you use the PPAPI version of Flash Player." ' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/09/05/2052256 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

When Smart TVs Hit Their IQ Limits...
by rowan schischka 06 Sep '16

06 Sep '16

“The symptoms being experienced are not a failure of the TV, but are as a result of specification changes made by YouTube that exceed the capability of the TV’s hardware.” Youtube's API terms state they will give 6 months warning before rolling out changes that affect compatibility of older devices; but I can't find any announcement on the youtube developer site. I'm wondering what this change is. -- Kind Regards Rowan Schischka

1 0

When Smart TVs Hit Their IQ Limits...
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 05 Sep '16

05 Sep '16

If you bought a 2012-vintage Sony Bravia smart TV, it is going to lose its ability to play YouTube videos. “The symptoms being experienced are not a failure of the TV, but are as a result of specification changes made by YouTube that exceed the capability of the TV’s hardware.” “As a result, Sony have decided to remove the YouTube icon for the 2012 Bravia TVs on 30th September 2016.” <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/09/05/youtube_breaks_sony_bravias/>

1 0

OpenOffice Could Shut Down
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 02 Sep '16

02 Sep '16

<http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/09/openoffice-after-year…> Does anybody still care? Use LibreOffice instead.

1 0

New Intel and AMD Chips Will Only Support Windows 10
by Peter Reutemann 02 Sep '16

02 Sep '16

'Buried in the announcement of the new Kaby Lake (seventh-generation) processors and a rash of incoming notebooks set to use them is the confirmation that they will have a Windows 10 future. Microsoft has been warning people for ages that Kaby Lake will not run on anything older than Windows 10, and it looks like AMD's upcoming Zen chip will be going the same way. Microsoft said, "As new silicon generations are introduced, they will require the latest Windows platform at that time for support. This enables us to focus on deep integration between Windows and the silicon, while maintaining maximum reliability and compatibility with previous generations of platform and silicon." "We are committed to working with Microsoft and our ecosystem partners to help ensure a smooth transition given these changes to Microsoft's Windows support policy," an Intel spokesperson said. "No, Intel will not be updating Win 7/8 drivers for 7th Gen Intel Core [Kaby Lake] per Microsoft's support policy change." An AMD representative was equally neutral. "AMD's processor roadmap is fully aligned with Microsoft's software strategy," AMD chief technical officer Mark Papermaster said, via a company spokeswoman.' -- source: https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/16/09/01/2031247 Or just use a Linux distro flavor of your choice... Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

2 1

ubuntu: unattended-upgrades
by Peter Reutemann 02 Sep '16

02 Sep '16

Finally came across a commandline way for configuring unattended upgrades: http://askubuntu.com/questions/9/how-do-i-enable-automatic-updates/204#204 Here are the commands: sudo apt-get install unattended-upgrades sudo dpkg-reconfigure unattended-upgrades Very useful for servers... Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

ubuntu devices
by rowan schischka 01 Sep '16

01 Sep '16

this recent social media post by canonical indicates new ubuntu phones/tablets coming out soon. it would explain the phones out of stock for the last three months. Am I right? https://plus.google.com/+Ubuntu/posts/iXKQoj4k7QZ -- Kind Regards Rowan Schischka

2 1

New cloud attack takes full control of virtual machines with little effort
by Peter Reutemann 31 Aug '16

31 Aug '16

'The world has seen the most unsettling attack yet resulting from the so-called Rowhammer exploit, which flips individual bits in computer memory. It's a technique that's so surgical and controlled that it allows one machine to effectively steal the cryptographic keys of another machine hosted in the same cloud environment. Cutting-edge hack gives super user status by exploiting DRAM weakness Until now, Rowhammer has been a somewhat clumsy and unpredictable attack tool because it was hard to control exactly where data-corrupting bit flips happened. While previous research demonstrated that it could be used to elevate user privileges and break security sandboxes, most people studying Rowhammer said there was little immediate danger of it being exploited maliciously to hijack the security of computers that use vulnerable chips. The odds of crucial data being stored in a susceptible memory location made such hacks largely a matter of chance that was stacked against the attacker. In effect, Rowhammer was more a glitch than an exploit. Now, computer scientists have developed a significantly more refined Rowhammer technique they call Flip Feng Shui. It manipulates deduplication operations that many cloud hosts use to save memory resources by sharing identical chunks of data used by two or more virtual machines. Just as traditional Feng Shui aims to create alignment or harmony in a home or office, Flip Feng Shui can massage physical memory in a way that causes crypto keys and other sensitive data to be stored in locations known to be susceptible to Rowhammer.' -- source: http://arstechnica.com/security/2016/08/new-attack-steals-private-crypto-ke… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Building a new Tor that can resist next-generation state surveillance
by Peter Reutemann 31 Aug '16

31 Aug '16

'Since Edward Snowden stepped into the limelight from a hotel room in Hong Kong three years ago, use of the Tor anonymity network has grown massively. Journalists and activists have embraced the anonymity the network provides as a way to evade the mass surveillance under which we all now live, while citizens in countries with restrictive Internet censorship, like Turkey or Saudi Arabia, have turned to Tor in order to circumvent national firewalls. Law enforcement has been less enthusiastic, worrying that online anonymity also enables criminal activity. Tor's growth in users has not gone unnoticed, and today the network first dubbed "The Onion Router" is under constant strain from those wishing to identify anonymous Web users. The NSA and GCHQ have been studying Tor for a decade, looking for ways to penetrate online anonymity, at least according to these Snowden docs. In 2014, the US government paid Carnegie Mellon University to run a series of poisoned Tor relays to de-anonymise Tor users. A 2015 research paper outlined an attack effective, under certain circumstances, at decloaking Tor hidden services (now rebranded as "onion services"). Most recently, 110 poisoned Tor hidden service directories were discovered probing .onion sites for vulnerabilities, most likely in an attempt to de-anonymise both the servers and their visitors.' -- source: http://arstechnica.com/security/2016/08/building-a-new-tor-that-withstands-… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

“Hacbook”: Refurbished HP EliteBooks
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 31 Aug '16

31 Aug '16

For US$329 <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/08/30/329_for_a_macbook_well_really_a_hac…>: ““It's optimized to run OS X, but you can install Linux or Windows on it and use it however you want - that's completely up to the user.”

2 1

Cool Linux Command-Line Image Management Hacks
by Peter Reutemann 30 Aug '16

30 Aug '16

"Feh and the identify command are two of the tools I use for viewing and managing images on Linux. They are fast, flexible, and can be stuffed into scripts for automating operations, which is especially valuable when you work with artists or marketing people who have large image galleries to maintain. For me, they are faster and better for managing large numbers of images than graphical image managers, which tend to require too much clicking and poking through nested menus to find what I want, if they even have it." -- source: https://www.linux.com/learn/cool-linux-command-line-image-management-hacks Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Maru OS: Marrying the Phone and the PC
by Peter Reutemann 30 Aug '16

30 Aug '16

"In case you haven't heard of Preetam D’Souza, he is noted in developer circles for exploring how to bring full-blown PC capabilities to smartphones and mobile devices. Maru OS is an operating system that he has created toward that end, and now this interesting platform has gone open source. Have you followed Canonical's efforts to marry computing and smartphone capabilities with its Ubuntu Unity phone OS that can dock into a monitor? Maru OS is in a similar space. Maru marries an Android base on a phone and Debian Linux on the desktop." -- source: http://ostatic.com/blog/maru-os-marrying-the-phone-and-the-pc Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Android Nougat Arrives on the Raspberry Pi
by Peter Reutemann 30 Aug '16

30 Aug '16

"As we've noted here before, when it comes to top open source stories of the past couple of years, it's clear that one of the biggest is the proliferation of tiny, inexpensive Linux-based computers at some of the smallest form factors ever seen. The diminutive, credit card-sized Raspberry Pi, which has been priced at only $25 and $35, has grabbed most of the headlines in this space. And, just a few months ago, code repositories started appearing online that showed that the Android operating system would be heading for the Pi. Now, Android 7.0 Nougat has been ported to the Pi, which potentially opens up a whole ecosystem of new apps and applications. Google's latest mobile OS is shown running on the $35 Pi in this YouTube video. " -- source: http://ostatic.com/blog/android-nougat-arrives-on-the-raspberry-pi Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Researching information on local body candidates
by Roderick Aldridge 30 Aug '16

30 Aug '16

Hi everybody I am researching information on local body election candidates, concentrating on sustainable environmental and social policies. I am particularly interested in the track record of councillors who are standing again. It is proving difficult to extract information from the Waikato Regional Council website, though the Hamilton City Council one is much better. Would anybody like to share their expertise on ferreting information from websites, and for gathering relevant information from public sources on websites, social media and anywhere. Or do you know anybody who ma be willing to share their skills. Any help much appreciated. Rod

4 7

Fedora 24 review: The year’s best Linux distro is puzzlingly hard to recommend
by Peter Reutemann 30 Aug '16

30 Aug '16

"Fedora 24 is very near the best Linux distro release I've used, and certainly the best release I have tested this year. Considering 2016 has welcomed new offerings like Mint 18 and Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, that says a great deal about the Fedora project's latest work. But like many Fedora releases before it, even Fedora 24 got off to a rocky start." -- source: http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/08/fedora-24-review-the-… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Re: [wlug] Researching information on local body candidates
by Wayne Luxton 29 Aug '16

29 Aug '16

I would suggest the way forward is to get the list of key words that would capture the essence of the vision statement and maybe the converse "development" type phrases used in meeting or public announcements and try and list or count them in relation to the participant. This alone is a research project. Maybe government bodies could be encouraged to prepare minutes in ways to enable this? Wayne

1 0

Linus Loves GPL, But Hates GPL Lawsuits
by Peter Reutemann 28 Aug '16

28 Aug '16

'During LinuxCon, Torvalds was full of praise for GNU GPL: "The GPL ensures that nobody is ever going to take advantage of your code. It will remain free and nobody can take that away from you. I think that's a big deal for community management... FSF [Free Software Foundation] and I don't have a loving relationship, but I love GPL v2. I really think the license has been one of the defining factors in the success of Linux because it enforced that you have to give back, which meant that the fragmentation has never been something that has been viable from a technical standpoint." And he thinks the BSD license is bad for everyone: "Over the years, I've become convinced that the BSD license is great for code you don't care about," Torvalds said. But Linus also addressed the issue of enforcing the GPL on the Linux foundation mailing list when someone proposed a discussion of it at Linuxcon. "I think the whole GPL enforcement issue is absolutely something that should be discussed, but it should be discussed with the working title 'Lawyers: poisonous to openness, poisonous to community, poisonous to projects'... quite apart from the risk of loss in a court, the real risk is something that happens whether you win or lose, and in fact whether you go to court or just threaten: the loss of community, and in particular exactly the kind of community that can (and does) help. You lose your friends."' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/08/27/1943246 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

3 3

New SWEET32 Crypto Attacks Speed Up Deprecation of 3DES, Blowfish
by Peter Reutemann 27 Aug '16

27 Aug '16

"New attacks revealed today against 64-bit block ciphers push cryptographic ciphers such as Triple-DES (3DES) and Blowfish closer to extinction. The attacks, known as SWEET32, allow for the recovery of authentication cookies from HTTPS traffic protected by 3DES, and BasicAUTH credentials from OpenVPN traffic protected by default by Blowfish. In response, OpenSSL is expected to remove 3DES from its default bulid in 1.1.0, and lower its designation from High to Medium 1.0.2 and 1.0.1. OpenVPN, meanwhile, is expected to release a new version as well with a warning about Blowfish and new configuration advice protecting against the SWEET32 attacks. The researchers behind SWEET32 said this is a practical attack because collisions begin after a relatively short amount of data is introduced. By luring a victim to a malicious site, the attacker can inject JavaScript into the browser that forces the victim to connect over and over to a site they're authenticated to. The attacker can then collect enough of that traffic -- from a connection that is kept alive for a long period of time -- to recover the session cookie." -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/16/08/27/186213 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

ReactOS 0.4.2 Released: Supports Linux Filesystems, .NET Applications, and Doom 3
by Peter Reutemann 27 Aug '16

27 Aug '16

'Continuing its rapid release cycle, ReactOS has unveiled version 0.4.2 of its free "open-source binary-compatible Windows re-implementation." Slashdot reader jeditobe reports that this new version can now read and write various Linux/Unix file systems like Btrfs and ext (and can read ReiserFS and UFS), and also runs applications like Thunderbird and 7-Zip. ReactOS 0.4.2 also features Cygwin support, .NET 2.0 and 4.0 application support, among other updated packages and revised external dependencies such as Wine and UniATA. The team also worked to improve overall user experience... ReactOS is free. You can boot your desktop or laptop from it. It looks like Windows (a 10-year-old version, anyway), so you already know how to use it. And it'll run some Windows and DOS applications, maybe including DOS games that regular 64-bit Windows can no longer touch.' -- source: https://games.slashdot.org/story/16/08/27/1724217 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Ubuntu Linux 16.10 'Yakkety Yak' Beta 1 Now Available For Download
by Peter Reutemann 27 Aug '16

27 Aug '16

'Today, the first beta of Ubuntu Linux 16.10 sees release. Once again, a silly animal name is assigned, this time being the letter "Y" for the horned mammal, "Yakkety Yak." This is also a play on the classic song "Yakety Yak" by The Coasters. Please be sure not to "talk back" while testing this beta operating system! "Pre-releases of the Yakkety Yak are not encouraged for anyone needing a stable system or anyone who is not comfortable running into occasional, even frequent breakage. They are, however, recommended for Ubuntu flavor developers and those who want to help in testing, reporting and fixing bugs as we work towards getting this bos grunniens ready. Beta 1 includes a number of software updates that are ready for wider testing. These images are still under development, so you should expect some bugs," says Set Hallstrom, Ubuntu Studio project lead. He adds: "While these Beta 1 images have been tested and work, except as noted in the release notes, Ubuntu developers are continuing to improve the Yakkety Yak. In particular, once newer daily images are available, system installation bugs identified in the Beta 1 installer should be verified against the current daily image before being reported in Launchpad. Using an obsolete image to re-report bugs that have already been fixed wastes your time and the time of developers who are busy trying to make 16.10 the best Ubuntu release yet. Always ensure your system is up to date before reporting bugs."' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/08/26/2318219 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

2 1

Has Science Become Infected With Microsoft Excel Syndrome?
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 25 Aug '16

25 Aug '16

Seems like Microsoft Excel has become an accepted tool for researchers to crunch numbers with, in spite of its obvious pitfalls. I thought it was only economists who fell into this trap <https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130417/02263922736/intellectual-bulwark…>. But it turns out other scientists do, too <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/08/25/excel_hell_messes_up_20_per_cent_of…>. What’s worse is that this is hardly a new observation <https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140727/03133828025/using-spreadsheets-b…>. I thought science was a process of learning from experience?

1 0

PowerShell is Microsoft’s latest open source release, coming to Linux, OS X
by Peter Reutemann 23 Aug '16

23 Aug '16

"Microsoft today released its PowerShell scripting language and command-line shell as open source. The project joins .NET and the Chakra JavaScript engine as an MIT-licensed open source project hosted on GitHub." -- source: http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/08/powershell-is-microso… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

2 2

Systemd Rolls Out Its Own Mount Tool
by Peter Reutemann 22 Aug '16

22 Aug '16

"anonymous reader: 'I'm surprised this hasn't surfaced on Slashdot already, but yesterday Phoronix reported that systemd will soon be handling file system mounts, along with all the other stuff that systemd has encompassed. The report generated the usual systemd arguments over on Reddit.com/r/linux with Lennart Poettering, systemd developer and architect, chiming in with a few clarifications.' Lennart argued it will greatly improve the handling of removable media like USB sticks." -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/08/21/2259219 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

2 1

New Linux Trojan Is A DDoS Tool, a Bitcoin Miner, and Web Ransomware
by Peter Reutemann 22 Aug '16

22 Aug '16

"A trojan that targeted Drupal sites on Linux servers last May that was incredibly simplistic and laughable in its attempt to install (and fail) web ransomware on compromised websites, has now received a major update and has become a top threat on the malware scene. That trojan, named Rex, has evolved in only three months into an all-around threat that can: (1) compromise servers and devices running platforms like Drupal, WordPress, Magento, Jetspeed, Exarid, AirOS; (2) install cryptocurrency mining in the background; (3) send spam; (4) use a complex P2P structure to manage its botnet; and (5) install a DDoS agent which crooks use to launch DDoS attacks. Worse is that they use their DDoS capabilities to extort companies. The crooks send emails to server owners announcing them of 15-minute DDoS tests, as a forewarning of future attacks unless they pay a ransom. To scare victims, they pose as a known hacking group named Armada Collective. Other groups have used the same tactic, posing as Armada Collective, and extorting companies, according to CloudFlare." -- source: https://it.slashdot.org/story/16/08/21/0050204 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

KDE Edition Beta Released For Linux Mint 18 'Sarah'
by Peter Reutemann 22 Aug '16

22 Aug '16

"Linux Mint 18 'Sarah' KDE Edition Beta is now available for download and testing. This release is based on the long-term supported Linux 4.4 kernel and KDE Plasma 5.6 desktop environment. The final release of this widely popular distro is expected to arrive in September... Just like MATE, Cinnamon, and Xfce releases, the KDE release is a long term release that will remain supported until 2021. Linux Mint 18 'Sarah' KDE Edition ships with Mozilla Firefox as default web browser and LibreOffice as the default office suite. The Linux distro also features a wide range of popular KDE apps like Kontact, Dolphin, Gwenview, KMail, digiKam, KTorrent, Skanlite, Konversation, K3b, Konsole, Amarok, Ark, Kate, Okular, and Dragon Player." -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/08/21/1622201 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

PowerShell is Microsoft?s latest open source release, coming to Linux, OS X
by rowan schischka 20 Aug '16

20 Aug '16

>Looking at it, I see something that is trying to be both a shell language and a programming language. Bringing scripting powers to .net based applications and plugging in to azure (devops market?) looks like a relaxation of windows desktop market dominance. whatever powershell is trying to be it looks like part of a strategy to move from relying on 90's desktop dominance to becoming a cloud service provider. the conversion to office 356 in nz is over 55% (unofficial word of mouth stat here); so microsoft appears to have done well to migrate office dependant IT systems to the cloud. it maybe in the near future businesses will be able to completely cut the windows umbilical cord? -- Kind Regards Rowan Schischka

1 0

multiboot usb
by rowan schischka 19 Aug '16

19 Aug '16

I am trying to make a usb flash drive that can hold multiple iso files for various linux distros that i find useful. In the past legacy bios was sweet and easy; there was syslinux. EUFI is a bit of a new PITA. im trying to make a usb drive that contains, kali, ubuntu desktop & server, fedora, LPS (arch-based) and debian; all live cds. This is complicated by the debian 'cant find installation cdrom' bug. I looked for a script and there are a surprising amount of multiboot usb options available now. not all of them support both EUFI and legacy bios; there use to be only one with a french UI, now theres almost a dozen and i dont know which one to choose. i am looking to create a multi-boot usb that can work on my macbook and my notebook that came with windows 8. older hardware i dont care too much about but it would be nice to have a toolbox for both boot types that i can carry around in my pocket. can anyone recommend a way to do this? - my preference is to do this manually; i have already been through the arch wiki and ubuntu wiki. -- Kind Regards Rowan Schischka

1 0

meeting on Monday
by Peter Reutemann 19 Aug '16

19 Aug '16

Hi everyone We have a meeting on Monday next week: "An introduction to Linux - features, history, examples of popular flavors (Debian, Ubuntu, Red Hat, etc) and user interfaces (MATE, Gnome3, KDE, Unity, etc). Advantages and disadvantages to Windows. Presenters: - William Mckee: History - Peter Reutemann: MATE and XFCE - Rowan Schischka: Gnome3 and Unity - Lawrence D'Oliveiro: KDE - John Thompson: Frustrations and delights as a disgruntled Windows 9x user." Details here: http://www.meetup.com/WaikatoLinuxUsersGroup/events/232676239/ Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

ubuntu global jam
by rowan schischka 18 Aug '16

18 Aug '16

This should be an interesting event; fixing bugs in ubuntu at the Ubuntu global jam. Fri, 26 Aug. 2016 01:00 - Sun, 28 Aug. 2016 13:45 UTC I have zero experience in fixing bugs in ubuntu but it would be a great learning experience. Do wlug members want to form a team? http://loco.ubuntu.com/events/global/3418/ -- Kind Regards Rowan Schischka

3 2

next meeting
by rowan schischka 15 Aug '16

15 Aug '16

>Feel free to bring your devices along and see if there is still time. >Though we could also just schedule a demo of them for the next >meeting? the meeting after the next one would be better so i can get better prepared. What kind of questions should I be prepared to answer? Im a regular gnome3 user and im confident I can show off its features, but im not a regular unity user. Iv just been using unity recently on my new tablet. -- Kind Regards Rowan Schischka +64226719711

3 2

LibreOffice Merchandise
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 15 Aug '16

15 Aug '16

The Document Foundation (who manage the development of LibreOffice) have put out their annual report for 2015 <http://phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=TDF-2015-Annual-Report>. Just glancing through it, I found that you can buy LibreOffice-themed coffee mugs, T-shirts etc here <https://shop.spreadshirt.de/documentfoundation?version=1471300568494>.

1 0

New FreeBSD 11.0 Release Candidate Tested By Phoronix
by Peter Reutemann 14 Aug '16

14 Aug '16

'"The first release candidate for the upcoming FreeBSD 11.0 is ready for testing," reports Distrowatch, noting various changes. ("A NULL pointer dereference in IPSEC has been fixed; support for SSH protocol 1 has been removed; OpenSSH DSA keys have been disabled by default...") Now an anonymous Slashdot reader writes: Sunday Phoronix performed some early benchmark testing, comparing FreeBSD 10.3 to FreeBSD 11.0 as well as DragonFlyBSD, Ubuntu, Intel Clear Linux and CentOS Linux 7. They reported mixed results -- some wins and some losses for FreeBSD -- using a clean install with the default package/settings on the x86_64/amd64 version for each operating system. FreeBSD 11.0 showed the fastest compile times, and "With the SQLite benchmark, the BSDs came out ahead of Linux [and] trailed slightly behind DragonFlyBSD 4.6 with HAMMER. The 11.0-BETA4 performance does appear to regress slightly for SQLite compared to FreeBSD 10.3... With the BLAKE2 crypto test, all four Linux distributions were faster than DragonFlyBSD and FreeBSD... with the Apache web server benchmark, FreeBSD was able to outperform the Linux distributions..." ' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/08/14/238226 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

next meeting
by Peter Reutemann 14 Aug '16

14 Aug '16

Hi everyone Just to get the meeting sorted: "An introduction to Linux - features, history, examples of popular flavors (Debian, Ubuntu, Red Hat etc). Advantages and disadvantages to Windows." http://www.meetup.com/WaikatoLinuxUsersGroup/events/232676239/ William will cover the history, but we need people demoing the various flavors and user interfaces (just a few minutes each). Flavors: Debian - ? Ubuntu - ? Red Hat - ? SuSE - ? User interfaces: MATE - ? KDE - ? Unity - ? Gnome3 - ? XFCE - ? LXDE - ? I'm happy to cover MATE. Ian S., Unity? Lawrence or Chris, KDE? Who wants to cover another one? Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

3 6

next meeting
by rowan schischka 14 Aug '16

14 Aug '16

Ive been playing around with the ubuntu m10 tablet, i can bring that; its actually a pretty good tablet. i havnt played with the wireless screen casting as I dont have a miracast device but i do have a mini hdmi cable. Iv also just received last years intel compute stick if you want to see that running, theyre dirt cheap now and i can bring it if anyone wants to try before they buy. -- Kind Regards Rowan Schischka

2 1

next meeting
by rowan schischka 14 Aug '16

14 Aug '16

I can also demonstrate gnome3 & unity -- Kind Regards Rowan Schischka

2 1

thef..k command correction
by Peter Reutemann 13 Aug '16

13 Aug '16

Hi everyone Excuse my Klatchian, but I just came across this interesting application that corrects your misspelled terminal commands: https://github.com/nvbn/thefuck The GIF on the github page is quite interesting to watch. Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

rise and rise of open source in New Zealand?
by rowan schischka 12 Aug '16

12 Aug '16

Looks like more push towards Silverstripe in government. I believe this relates to the common web platform which is an Internal Affairs project? Im not a big fan of php, and I dont really understand the CWP, but i guess nows a good time to get invested in silverstripe experience? https://www.cwp.govt.nz/ -- Kind Regards Rowan Schischka +64226719711

2 1

Can Facebook Really Make Ads Unblockable?
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 11 Aug '16

11 Aug '16

Facebook recently announced <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/08/09/facebook_ad_blockers/> it was going to disable adblockers and, in return, (supposedly) give users more control over their ad preferences. Here <https://freedom-to-tinker.com/blog/randomwalker/can-facebook-really-make-ad…> is an analysis of why such an adblocker bypass isn’t really possible. In its favour, Facebook does serve up its own ads, not relying on outside ad networks, which are notorious for being malware-infested <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/07/29/its_time_for_a_discussion_about_mal…>.

1 0

rise and rise of open source in New Zealand?
by Ian Young 11 Aug '16

11 Aug '16

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/SC1608/S00039/a-policy-win-for-open-source-s…

1 0

Open Source // Open Society Conference August 20-23rd
by Chris McClimans 11 Aug '16

11 Aug '16

I'm heading down for the hackathon and conf, probably fly in Friday return Wednesday. (I still haven't bought conf or flight tickets) Anyone else want to go or know folks I should connect with or places to stay? http://www.opensourceopensociety.com/programme.html Cheers, Chris

1 0

Security: Leading Edge, Bleeding Edge ...
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 11 Aug '16

11 Aug '16

Linux has been the first to offer a complete implementation of RFC5961 in its TCP/IP stack, designed to prevent certain kinds of hacking attacks. Now it turns out there’s a flaw in the spec itself, which creates its own vulnerability <http://arstechnica.com/security/2016/08/linux-bug-leaves-usa-today-other-to…>: The problematic RFC 5961 has not yet been fully implemented in Windows or Mac OS X, so those operating systems aren't believed to be vulnerable. By contrast, the Linux operating system kernel, starting with version 3.6 introduced in 2012, has added a largely complete set of functions implementing the standard. Linux kernel maintainers released a fix with version 4.7 almost three weeks ago, but the patch has not yet been applied to most mainstream distributions.

1 1

Finding, viewing, downloading, and saving videos from the web
by rowan schischka 11 Aug '16

11 Aug '16

Use a firefox extension to change the browser user agent string to iphone; right click and save :). I am forced to do this for sites that use flash or other proprietary video players. i find it does not work when a site has its own iphone app and forces you to use those apps such as tvnz and youtube. -- Kind Regards Rowan Schischka

3 3

Finding, viewing, downloading, and saving videos from the web
by Roderick Aldridge 11 Aug '16

11 Aug '16

Anybody got good tips for this, particularly good sources (as well as Youtube) of free videos on all subjects, not just news, movies and technical subjects. OS independent options for downloading and saving sought - the best downloaders and browser extensions. I have used Firefox extension Video DownloadHelper and William put me on to youtube-dl, but there are lots of others, some possibly better and/or with special uses. This is the topic for the Hamilton Computer Club meeting tomorrow, so any Windows-friendly options welcome, or you could join us to 60A Sare Crescent and show us yourself. Roderick Aldridge

3 3

Microsoft Leaks Its Golden Backdoor Keys
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 10 Aug '16

10 Aug '16

Seems Microsoft has inadvertently published “golden” master keys that will allow installation of third-party OSes on supposedly locked-down devices <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/08/10/microsoft_secure_boot_ms16_100/>.

1 0

Major Qualcomm chip security flaws expose 900M Android users
by Peter Reutemann 09 Aug '16

09 Aug '16

"Four major security holes in the Qualcomm chips which power modern Android devices have left as many as 900 million users vulnerable to a range of attacks. According to Israel-based security firm Checkpoint, the flaws—dubbed "Quadrooter"—found in the firmware which governs the chips, could allow potential attackers to "trigger privilege escalations for the purpose of gaining root access to a device" using malware which wouldn't require special permissions, allowing it to pass under suspicious users' radars." -- source: http://arstechnica.com/security/2016/08/qualcomm-chip-flaws-expose-900-mill… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Howdy, Ubuntu on Windows! How Fast Is It?
by Peter Reutemann 09 Aug '16

09 Aug '16

"My primary laptop is a Lenovo x250, with an Intel i7-5600U CPU, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB Transcend SSD, and a 2TB Samsung SSD. Let’s run some benchmarks on the CPU, Memory, Disk, and Network. We’ll first run each test in Ubuntu running natively on the hardware, and then reboot, and run the same benchmarks on the same machine running Ubuntu on Windows. We’ll use the utilities sysbench, dd and iperf, as well as compile the Linux kernel to do our benchmarking." -- source: https://www.linux.com/learn/howdy-ubuntu-windows-how-fast-it Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

2 1

SQLite 3.14 Does CSV
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 09 Aug '16

09 Aug '16

The latest release of SQLite now lets you load a CSV file as a “virtual” database table, and do the usual sorts of queries on it <http://phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=SQLite-3.14-Released>. More details about the new extension here <http://www.sqlite.org/csv.html>.

1 0

Linux Abandoning DocBook For Its Documentation?
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 08 Aug '16

08 Aug '16

Just came across this <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/08/08/linux_48_rc1_lands_with_surface_3_s…>: Torvalds has also pointed out that while progress on v 4.8 is “fairly normal … the patch itself looks somewhat unusual: over 20% of the patch is documentation updates, due to conversion of the drm and media documentation from docbook to the Sphinx doc format. There are other doc updates, but that's the big bulk of it.” DocBook is an open-source implementation of SGML, which is a pretty heavyweight, official-international-standard, 1980s, big-company way of writing documentation. Sphinx, on the other hand, is commonly used for Python documentation, including on python.org itself <https://docs.python.org/3/index.html>. If you were putting together the documentation set for a passenger liner or a chemical factory, you’ll probably use SGML (in fact, there is very likely a legal requirement to do so). But for the rest of us, more lightweight markup systems like Sphinx/ReST and Markdown are much more convenient.

1 0

The Murky (Under)World Of Pay-Per-Install
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 07 Aug '16

07 Aug '16

A research group has released a paper <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/08/05/payperinstall_study/> studying those “free” software installs that bring along a host of uninvited guests with them. While not actually illegal (yet), they resort to sneaky tactics, like lying low for a few weeks before taking over your browser search bar or injecting ads, to try to obscure their origin. They even actively defeat blocking attempts, by jumping between domain names as often as in a matter of hours.

1 0

Old server hardware
by Daniel Lawson 04 Aug '16

04 Aug '16

Hi all Endace is getting rid of a lot of old server hardware. Some of it is still in reasonable condition, and I can make it available to WLUG members if they are interested. It's all offered as-is, on a first-come-first-serve basis, and if you say you want it you have to take it away ( we are sending it to an e-waste recycler very soon) There's two types of system, multiple units of each: 1U, non-redundant PSU (SMC 6015X-TB system), Supermicro X7DBX-i motherboard, dual Xeon X5440 (quad-core, 2.5GHz), 16 or 32 GB (depending on unit) DDR2 667MHz FB DIMMs, IPMI controller, dual gige LAN, 3x SATA disk in hotswap drive bays 3U, 2+1 redundant PSU (Chenbro Chassis), Supermicro X7DBE Motherboard, dual Xeon X5540 (quad-core, 2.5GHz), 16 or 32 GB (dependint on unit) DDR2 667MHz FB DIMMs, IPMI controller, dual gige LAN, 2x 3Ware 9650SE-8LPML RAID controllers, 16 x SATA disk in hotswap drive bays In both cases, any disks inside them will need to be scrubbed. If anyone is interested, based on a firm commitment to pick up, please let me know by Friday 5pm. Email to daniel.lawson(a)endace.com or daniel(a)meta.net.nz please Thanks

3 3

FTC Stops Requiring Regular Password Changes
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 04 Aug '16

04 Aug '16

Lorrie Cranor, new chief technologist at the US Federal Trade Commission, has managed to persuade them to drop their policy of requiring regular password changes <http://arstechnica.com/security/2016/08/frequent-password-changes-are-the-e…>: Frequent password changes do little to improve security and very possibly make security worse by encouraging the use of passwords that are more susceptible to cracking.

1 0

Beware Of User-Interface Experts
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 04 Aug '16

04 Aug '16

The nice thing about GUIs is that there are so many to choose from. And everybody has an opinion about them. Particularly UI experts, who are always ready to point to things that any particular GUI does wrong. Even the platform developers themselves are prone to keep redesigning things from time to time. And then not even following their own rules. There was a famous map of the New York subway, released in 1972 <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/06/arts/design/the-subway-map-that-rattled-n…>, that represented the network in such a stylized fashion that the city’s residents got mightily confused. Was it the people’s fault? Was the designer’s brilliance simply misunderstood? Sometimes I think UI designers themselves lose track of how users actually do things outside their labs...

2 2

Project Hosting Service Fosshub Compromised, Embedding Malware Inside Hosted Files
by Peter Reutemann 04 Aug '16

04 Aug '16

'At least some applications on Fosshub, a free project hosting service appear to have been compromised, according to several reports. (Update: Fosshub has acknowledged the hack.) The software portal, furthermore, is serving malware payloads, reports add. Catalin Cimpanu of Softpedia says that a hacking group which goes by the name of PeggleCrew is responsible for the hack. "In short, a network service with no authentication was exposed to the internet," the hacker told Softpedia in an email. "We were able to grab data from this network service to obtain source code and passwords that led us further into the infrastructure of FOSSHub and eventually gain control of their production machines, backup and mirror locations, and FTP credentials for the caching service they use, as well as the Google Apps-hosted email." The hacker group told the publication that they have compromised the entire website, "including the administrator's email. He also revealed he didn't dump the site's database but claimed that "passwords weren't salted." A user on Reddit, who has since received lots of upvotes, adds: Some popular apps that have links to FossHub that may be infected include: Audacity, WinDirStat, qBittorrent, MKVToolNix, Spybot Search&Destroy, Calibre, SMPlayer, HWiNFO, MyPhoneExplorer, and IrfanView. Another application which has reportedly been compromised is Classic Shell. It is ostensibly overwriting the MBR on users' computers. Many users are upset with the timing of hack, noting that plenty of people were looking for Classic Shell amid the release of Windows 10 Anniversary Update. Update: 08/03 17:30 GMT by M :In a blog post, Audacity said that Fosshub was serving a hacked copy of its audio editing software for three hours. It adds that "no Audacity Team infrastructure was compromised." Fosshub team writes: Last night we had a security incident caused by a group of hackers that allowed them to log-in to FossHub developer *through* an user that was compromised. Shortly after, we noticed two users that were compromised. They simply logged-in using their passwords and this allowed them to escalate. [...] Several hours later, we noticed the attackers were able to gain access through an FTP account and we decided to shut down the main server immediately to prevent any further infection/damage. FossHub.com is down on purpose until we are able to identify the way hackers were able to escalate. Fosshub insists that the hacked copy of Classic Shell was only downloaded 300 times. In the meantime, if you know someone who may have downloaded the compromised copy of Classic Shell, here's what they need to do next.' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/16/08/03/1635240 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

2 1

Windows 10 Anniversary Update Borks Dual-Boot Partitions
by Peter Reutemann 04 Aug '16

04 Aug '16

'Windows 10 Anniversary Update may affect and even delete other partitions on the same disk, OMGUbuntu is reporting, citing several complaints by users. "Broken boot loaders on an update are one thing but losing data, even entire partitions?" asks the author. Microsoft-centric news blog WindowsReport is corroborating on the report, adding that in some cases, the new OS was not able to detect some partitions. It says (edited): Many users are reporting that some of their partitions disappeared after installing the Anniversary Update. Usually, it's the smallest partition that disappears, although we couldn't say for sure whether the partition is deleted or if Windows simply doesn't detect it. Some users are saying that the partition is not allocated, while others can detect it once they install third-party partition management applications. We have reached out to Microsoft for clarification, and will update the post when we hear back from them.' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/08/03/1614223 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

LibreOffice 5.2 Officially Released
by Peter Reutemann 04 Aug '16

04 Aug '16

'LibreOffice 5.2 is finally here, after it has been in development for the past four months, during which the development team behind one of the best free office suites have managed to implement dozens of new features and improvements to most of the application's components. Key features include more UI refinements to make it flexible for anyone, standards-based document classification, forecasting functions in Calc, the spreadsheet editor, as well as lots of Writer and Impress enhancements. A series of videos are provided to see what landed in the LibreOffice 5.2 office suite, which is now available for download for GNU/Linux, Mac OS X, and Microsoft Windows operating systems.' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/16/08/03/2022226 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Security Vulnerabilities In Wireless Keyboards
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 03 Aug '16

03 Aug '16

You’d think they’d be encrypted, but apparently most of them are not <https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2016/08/security_vulner_7.html>.

1 0

FCC Demands TP-Link Support Open Source Third-Party Firmware On Its Routers
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 03 Aug '16

03 Aug '16

You may have heard that the US Federal Communications Commission has been updating its regulations concerning wi-fi routers. Some interpreted the new rules as meaning that companies should lock down their routers to prevent them running third-party open-source firmware. The FCC tried to make it clear that was not its intent, but nevertheless some companies did start to interpret things that way. Now, here is a case where, as part of a settlement against TP-Link for violating the regulations, the FCC has made it an explicit requirement that the company allow the running of third-party firmware <https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20160802/06073235135/fcc-demands-tp-link-…>.

1 0

Linux Grabs More Than 2% of Desktop Market Share
by rowan schischka 03 Aug '16

03 Aug '16

>is another example of the kind of dubious stats I was referring to. >You?ll notice it has Android well behind IOS, at 17% versus 23%. This >simply does not make sense. i often get access to a customers web analytics or i get employed to set up on behalf. the way this information is presented makes it useless. web analytics is really fun and interesting because you get to see the country of origin, time of day, page click through etc. for example im still seeing large numbers of visits from ie6 on windows xp from china. there are so many variables all i can really add is that The Register is reporting on the number of perceived unique visitors to their web site, not the rise or fall of desktop software brands as they claim. -- Kind Regards Rowan Schischka

2 1

Chrome 52 for Android Arrives With Smoother Video Playback, Faster Load Times, and Better Battery Life
by Peter Reutemann 02 Aug '16

02 Aug '16

'Following the release of Chrome 52 for desktop two weeks ago, Google last week also launched Chrome 52 for Android. For whatever reason, the company didn't share what's new until today. You can download the new version from Google Play. Chrome 52 for Android makes video playback feel smoother, load faster, and consume less battery. More specifically, video playback has been improved for speed and power efficiency, meaning you should expect smoother playback and faster load times (so videos will start playing sooner, instead of pausing briefly before starting). Your Android device's battery should also last longer if you consume a lot of videos online. Last but not least, video in Chrome for Android also now works with Data Saver Mode. This means a lightweight version of the video will be downloaded and played if you have Data Saver Mode on, saving you as much as 50 percent in data downloads, by Google's estimation.' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/16/08/02/1713202 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Firefox 48 Released With Multi-Process Support, Mandatory Add-On Signing
by Peter Reutemann 02 Aug '16

02 Aug '16

'Mozilla on Tuesday released Firefox v48, touted as one of the most important updates the browser has ever received. With the new version, Firefox starts migrating users to using mullti-process threads (e10s, Electrolysis), and it is also the first version to ship with Rust component. In addition, Firefox is now also making add-on signing mandatory. >From a Softpedia article: Announced last year, Electrolysis, e10s, or multi-process support is Firefox's ability to process core browser operations separately from the content viewed on a Web page. Multi-process support allows a page to crash without bringing the entire browser down with it and improves the browser's overall performance. e10s rollout will take place in two phases, first in Firefox 48, and it will finish in Firefox 49, set for release on September 13, 2016. Mandatory add-on signing refers to Firefox preventing users from installing any add-ons that have not been approved by Mozilla's testers. This is something similar to what Chrome employs, but Firefox users have been spoiled all these years, always having the capability of installing any add-on they've desired. Rust is a programming language that's a revamped and improved version of C++ but that protects developers from accidentally including dangerous memory bugs in their code. It achieves this by how the language was constructed and by how developers write the code.' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/16/08/02/1646255 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Linux Grabs More Than 2% of Desktop Market Share
by Peter Reutemann 02 Aug '16

02 Aug '16

'W3Counter's stats for June 2016 are in, and Linux desktop accounts for 2.48% of all web visits from tracked websites... (Android is counted separately from "Linux desktop.") Meanwhile, NetMarketShare shows Linux with a 2.02% share of the desktop market. And StatCounter shows a more detailed breakdown of the top 7 operating systems, with Windows 7 at 42.02%, Windows 10 at 21.88%, OSX at 9.94%, Windows 8.1 at 8.66%, Windows XP at 6.5%, and another 4.06% for "Unknown" (which is roughly tied with "Other") -- beating Windows 8.0 at 3.52%. In May they also reported another thought-provoking statistic: that Firefox's browser usage had surpassed that of IE and Edge combined for the first time.' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/07/02/184229 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

3 3

There Is A Saying In Computer Science ...
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 01 Aug '16

01 Aug '16

... that any problem can be solved by adding yet another level of indirection. (Might have been Butler Lampson who said that.) What brought that to mind was this report <http://phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Ubuntu-Netplan-YAML-Network> of a new Ubuntu project to add a common front end for generating network confgurations for all the different network-control backends. What, you mean there are setups that don’t use NetworkManager? Or even networkd?

1 0

Seymour Papert Has Died
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 01 Aug '16

01 Aug '16

I remember I first heard of Seymour Papert when I picked up a copy of his book “Mindstorms” at the University library. This was based around the radical idea that young children could not only learn advanced concepts about mathematics and programming, but they could have fun doing so. For example, to draw a circle, you repeat the following some x number of times: * turn a little bit to one side * move a little bit forward (The larger the “x”, and the correspondingly smaller the “little bit” becomes, the better the approximation to a circle.) This comes straight out of a child’s intuitive idea of how they would walk in a circle (i.e. turtle graphics). But it is also a differential-geometric formulation of a circle! And today I discovered that Papert had suffered a serious traffic injury in Hanoi a decade ago. No word on whether he ever recovered, and now he has passed away, with no mention of the cause. <http://arstechnica.com/business/2016/08/seymour-papert-theorist-behind-one-…>

1 0

Microsoft Brings ChakraCore to Linux and OS X
by Peter Reutemann 01 Aug '16

01 Aug '16

'A few days ago I wrote about Microsoft's revival of Skype for Linux. I called it "a big deal" -- less because of Skype itself and more because it signified Microsoft's recognition that Linux is a platform worth supporting... Now the company has done it again. At Node Summit this week, Microsoft announced the availability of ChakraCore for Linux. ChakraCore is the core part of the Chakra JavaScript engine that powers Microsoft Edge and Universal Windows Platform. With this move, Microsoft is putting one of its core technologies on a competing platform. This, more than any other Linux-friendly move the company has made, is a clear departure from the Microsoft of Gates and Ballmer that used its technologies to lock users into Windows... While Ubuntu is the primary Linux distribution that Microsoft is using to showcase its ChakraCore technologies, the company said that the support should easily translate to other modern Linux distributions. ' -- source: https://apple.slashdot.org/story/16/07/31/151240 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

New Site Checks Your Browser's Fingerprint
by Peter Reutemann 01 Aug '16

01 Aug '16

'"Does your web browser have a unique fingerprint? If so your web browser could be tracked across websites without techniques such as tracking cookies..." warns a new site created by the University of Adelaide and ACEMS, adding "the anonymization aspects of services such as Tor or VPNs could be negated if sites you visit track you using your browser fingerprint."' -- source: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/16/07/31/1357234 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Onion Debian Services Are Now Available
by Peter Reutemann 01 Aug '16

01 Aug '16

'"I just set up a lot of Onion Services for many of Debian's static websites," announced Debian sys-admin Peter "weasel" Palfrader on Friday. "You can find the entire list of services on onion.debian.org. More might come in the future.' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/07/31/0017225 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Earth-friendly EOMA68 Computing Devices
by Peter Reutemann 01 Aug '16

01 Aug '16

Interesting concept: 'A new crowdfunding campaign by Rhombus Tech "introduces the world's first devices built around the EOMA68 standard," which separates a "modular" CPU board from the rest of the system so that it can be easily used in multiple devices and upgraded more simply. Rhombus Tech is now offering a 15.6-inch laptop, a laser-cut wooden Micro-Desktop housing, and two types of computer cards, both using A20 dual-core ARM Cortex A7 processors. The cards are available with four flavors of the GNU/Linux operating system, and they're hoping to receive RYF certification from the Free Software Foundation. "No proprietary software," explains their campaign's video. "No backdoors. No spyware. No NDAs." They envision a world where users upgrade their computers by simply popping in a new card -- reducing electronic waste -- or print new laptop casings to repair defects or swap in different colors. (And they also hope to eventually see the cards also working with cameras, phones, tablets, and gaming consoles.' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/16/07/31/0323255 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

meeting suggestion
by Peter Reutemann 30 Jul '16

30 Jul '16

Hi everyone William suggested a topic for our next meeting in August: "An introduction to Linux - features, history, examples of popular flavors (Debian, Ubuntu, Red Hat etc). Advantages and disadvantages to Windows." Meetup link: http://www.meetup.com/WaikatoLinuxUsersGroup/events/232676239/ He volunteered to cover a bit of the history (if I remember correctly), but we need others as well to fill in the rest! What do you think? Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

4 10

meeting suggestion
by rowan schischka 29 Jul '16

29 Jul '16

When are these meetings and how can i help? -- Kind Regards Rowan Schischka

2 1

Dark Patterns: User Interfaces Designed To Confuse
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 28 Jul '16

28 Jul '16

Ever come across websites that seem designed to trick you into paying for things you might not want? <http://arstechnica.com/security/2016/07/dark-patterns-are-designed-to-trick…>

1 0

NIST Says Two-Factor Auth Via SMS Is Not A Good Idea
by rowan schischka 26 Jul '16

26 Jul '16

Regarding two factor sms authentication; I wonder if new Zealands mobile providers are able to be tricked into sending out replacement Sim cards

1 0

NIST Says Two-Factor Auth Via SMS Is Not A Good Idea
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 25 Jul '16

25 Jul '16

The US National Institute for Standards and Technology is updating its Digital Authentication Guideline <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/07/24/nist_says_sms_no_good_for_authentic…>. Responding to recent cases where SMS-based two-factor authentication systems were hijacked to rack up charges on premium-rate phone numbers, it is now saying that sending a text message is no longer good enough. At least the service sending the messages needs to be sure they are going to a real mobile phone. Interestingly, it is posting review documents on GitHub, as an addition to the usual publication channels.

1 0

WLUG Library
by Chris O'Halloran 20 Jul '16

20 Jul '16

Hello all, I'm the holder of the WLUG library but as you're aware I haven't brought it along the meeting much. Would anyone care to be the caretaker of it for a while? I can bring it along to next Monday's meeting. Cheers, Chris

1 1

Meeting next Monday
by Peter Reutemann 20 Jul '16

20 Jul '16

Hi everyone We have a meeting schedule for next Monday: "X11, the most common display server on Linux, is showing its age. Newcomers, like Wayland and Mir are trying to address shortcomings and provide a basis for the future. Let's have a look at what each of the display servers' strengths and weaknesses are." We still need volunteers for presenting the Wayland and Mir? Any takers? More details here: http://www.meetup.com/WaikatoLinuxUsersGroup/events/232209899/ Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Fontconfig How-To
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 18 Jul '16

18 Jul '16

Quite a handy collection of font configuration tips and tricks at the Arch Linux Wiki <https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Font_configuration>. I regularly come across ArchWiki links in online forums these days...

1 0

Report On Open-Source Sustainability
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 18 Jul '16

18 Jul '16

Fernando Perez, one of the key developers behind Project Jupyter, has posted a link to a long, detailed report on the workings of Open Source <https://groups.google.com/d/msg/jupyter/SnfWgQ1Hx0E/F5936L-CAgAJ>. If you don’t have time to read the whole thing, there is also an “executive summary” in the form of a series of Twitter postings. Summary summary: getting companies to fund Open-Source projects, even ones that they might depend crucially on, is often a matter of luck.

1 0

Ubuntu Linux Forums Hacked -- IP Address, Username, Email of 2M Accounts Compromised
by Peter Reutemann 16 Jul '16

16 Jul '16

'Canonical announced on Friday that Ubuntu forums have been hacked. The company adds that data such as IP address, username, and email address of over two million users have been compromised. BetaNews reports: Keep in mind, this does not mean that the operating system has experienced a vulnerability or weakness. The only thing affected are the online forums that people use to discuss the OS. Still, such a hack is embarrassing as it happened due to Canonical's failure to install a patch. In a blog post, Jane Silber, Chief Executive Officer, Canonical said, "after some initial investigation, we were able to confirm there had been an exposure of data and shut down the Forums as a precautionary measure. Deeper investigation revealed that there was a known SQL injection vulnerability in the Forumrunner add-on in the Forums which had not yet been patched."' -- source: https://it.slashdot.org/story/16/07/15/1533236 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Quote Of The Week?
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 16 Jul '16

16 Jul '16

“People with older PCs upgraded to Windows 10 and held onto them. Microsoft didn’t expect that number to be so high.” <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/07/15/one_in_five_consumers_used_free_win…>

1 0

GNU Nano Fork
by rowan schischka 15 Jul '16

15 Jul '16

from the very end of the article posted: "It seems the argument came down to licensing rules, because an idea of moving Nano to Github was incompatible with the GNU license." Can someone please explain this statement to me? I am completely out of the loop in understanding this. -- Kind Regards Rowan Schischka

2 1

Court Says Microsoft Does Not Need To Respond To US Warrant For Overseas Data
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 15 Jul '16

15 Jul '16

You may have heard of the ongoing case where the US FBI is demanding Microsoft turn over data held on servers in Ireland. The US Government is claiming that, because the Irish operation is under the control of Microsoft’s headquarters in the US, that it falls under US jurisdiction and so the company can be compelled to turn over the data with nothing more than a warrant issued by a US court. The appeals court has disagreed <https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20160714/10134734971/huge-win-court-says-…>. The peculiar thing is, there are already international arrangements under which the US can ask the Irish Government to request one of their courts to order the surrender of the data. But they don’t seem to want to do that.

3 3

Microsoft Still “Supporting” Windows RT
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 15 Jul '16

15 Jul '16

Microsoft blocks a “security hole” on Windows RT tablets that might have allowed users to run alternative operating systems <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/07/15/windows_fix_closes_rt_unlock_loopho…>.

2 1

New Skype for Linux client released, built on Web technology
by Peter Reutemann 15 Jul '16

15 Jul '16

'A new Skype for Linux client is now available as an alpha. The Skype client for Linux had been long abandoned—it's stuck on version 4.3, compared to version 7 on Windows—but Microsoft has now belatedly recognized that Skype is at its most desirable when it's available on every platform. To that end, it has created an all-new Skype client. In fact, the new client has two versions. There's a Linux app for users of traditional Linux systems. There's also the Skype Web Client, which is supported in Chrome on Linux and Chromebooks running Chrome OS. Whether using the Web or the standalone app, the core code and capabilities are the same: it's using Chrome's WebRTC support to provide a plugin-free, Web-based Skype client.' -- source: http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/07/skype-for-linux-is-re… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Re: [wlug] puppy or qubes
by Michelle 14 Jul '16

14 Jul '16

After my last post, either that night or early next morning I realized I should have said a thank you to some folk. So to all those that shared information in an effort to help me.....Thank you. People at this LUG may indeed be right about puppy, I don't know. Here is an article about that policeman and puppy and banking: www.itnews.com.au/news/nsw-police-don't-use-windows-for-internet-banking-157767 So going off that article it would seem that any live distro that fits on RAM is safe for banking. Now as for Ian. It is intetesting to at least me. Many/most people don't move away from where they were born/bought up in. wwwpewsocialtrends.org/2008/12/17/who-moves-who-stays-put-wheres-home/ So a person could be getting sh*t from someine online that they babysitted. I find that ironic. No I'm not going off that article but rather family happenings bought me to that article. Anyway .....Ian. After Ian had a go at me last month for no reason: list.Waikato ac.nz/pipermail/wlug/2016-June/014171.html (I hope those two last addresses are correct after the effort it takes to type them on this finicky phone) If a person is bought to court, they never wear a shirt saying 'I am guilty'. Usually the jurry/judge has to go off circumstancial evidence. The most important point with Ian is that he had just had a YELLING RANT. Now when someone finishes a yellining rant, are they most likely to go: 1. Now who can I help or 2. Who will I have a go at next?. So anyway I'm having to type this out on my finicky little phone, because I Haven't had the privilege yet of buying a new computer yet that I know will work. So this isn't his entire post:wlug/2016-June/014171. But you can just go to last month if you're interested. So the next point of interest is that the very next thing that he "says to me' after his attack on me last month was this latest.....um stuff. "NOW WHAT ABOUT TRIMMING THOSE POSTS!!! OTHERWISE I MAY BE FORCED TO DIG OUT SOME ARCHAIC INTERNET ETIQUETTE FAQ AND POST IT IN FULL ALL IN CAPS. Just joshing people. But puhleeze???! A word for Michelle and the quest for perfection. Sometimes in this life there is a dichotomy between what we wish for and what we can actually accomplish. Maybe near enough is good enough. Is there actually such a thing as complete security on the internet? Possibly, but probably not for the average citizen. "You have zero privacy anyway. Get over it." Scott McNealy, formerly of Sun Microsystems. Sad but probably true" So about me and my quest for perfection: UN my post this month I said: "Well I give up. I have tried for months and invested dozens of hours to get a machine that runs qubes and it hasn't happened..... If nobody is prepared to do that it is more than fine . I will just buy a computer that runs a windows legacy os." Now I'm sorry, perhaps I missed the part there about "my quest for perfection ." Saying to to someone there "quest for perfection" well, whether that is taken taken as condescending or resemble depends on who said it, how they said it and when they said it.Vin this cade is was by a guy who had just insulted me and had just come of an angry rant! U think there were other things I wanted to mention about Ian but I can't remember. If I am amazingly wrong about Ian's intentions this time then so be it be he completely bought it upon his own head. On 2016-07-06 20:21, Peter Reutemann wrote: >> On Wed, Jul 6, 2016 at 4:46 PM, Michelle <michelle400(a)orcon.net.nz> >> wrote: >>> Puppy was recommended by a police officer. I think he was doing >>> banking for >>> the police maybe? >> >> Don't trust the filth. Surprised they even realize what Linux is. > > Please keep it civil! > > [...] > >>> So unless someone is willing to help in a hands on way, I don't want >>> anymore >>> help. Thanks anyway. >> >> Suggested it before, will suggest one last time. Show up to Te Ata on >> a Monday or Friday morning and someone from there will help. >> >> I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help but I really tried. Now to trim. > > If you read Michelle's emails again, you will see that she is not well > enough to travel. Therefore your offer is not an option. > > Cheers, Peter

3 4

Still life in Puppy take two
by Ian Young 13 Jul '16

13 Jul '16

Oh dear, what an aberrant keystroke will do. Moving on .... While it is probably mandatory to scorn Puppy, and indeed Puppy is but a pale shadow of its former self post the retirement of Barry Kauler, a few steadfast souls continue to produce useful variants Including one called Slacko. http://slacko.eezy.xyz/notes.php http://blog.puppylinux.com/ I am excited to announce the release of Puppy Linux Slacko 6.3.2. It is available in 32 bit and 64 bit versions. This might be called a bugfix release to Slacko 6.3.0 but it is so much more than that! This is the first ever official puppy to support UEFI booting for both for 32 and 64 bit versions and the same ISO image will boot legacy BIOS PCs as well. And there is so much more that is improved, such as the theming, sound detection, firewall, default application management plus our home grown apps such as pMusic. It is still based on upstream 14.1 but has all the latest security and bugfix updates. There is much more going on here than a point release can convey that is why we have given it 2 points! The official release announcement is available for 32 bit and 64 bit. For more information you can visit the release notes page and the download page. I Hope you enjoy using Slacko! Posted on 22 Jun 2016, 21:22 by 01micko

1 0

Still life in Puppy
by Ian Young 13 Jul '16

13 Jul '16

1 0

Firefox Bringing Rust Code Into Production
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 13 Jul '16

13 Jul '16

<http://phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Firefox-48-First-Rust-Code> Rust is a programming language that is designed to make it harder to commit the kinds of stuffups that lead to crashes and security bugs. So the proof of the pudding will be whether future versions of Firefox will turn out to be more reliable and secure.

1 0

When man-db goes thug ... help?
by Eric Light 12 Jul '16

12 Jul '16

Hi guys Never seen this before, need a hand. Fairly fresh Debian 8 install, fully updated, running as root. root(a)ROOTCA:~/ca# man opensslroot(a)ROOTCA:~/ca# man -kroot(a)ROOTCA:~/ca# which man/usr/bin/manroot(a)ROOTCA:~/ca# man --helproot(a)ROOTCA:~/ca# ... When I execute man, it doesn't give me anything, and just returns me to the command prompt. Not even man --help will return a response. I've purged and reinstalled man-db, ensured that ncurses-base is installed, even checked the size of man (106912 bytes), and checked dmesg for any segfaults... there's just nothing I can find anywhere. Any ideas? Thanks in advance. E-- Securely sent with Tutanota. It's good, you should try it: https://tutanota.com

2 3

Bye-Bye 32 Bits
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 12 Jul '16

12 Jul '16

Seems like nobody wants to offer 32-bit Linux builds any more... <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/07/05/linux_letting_go_32bit_builds_on_th…>

4 4

MIT Says Their Anonymity Network Is More Secure Than Tor
by Peter Reutemann 12 Jul '16

12 Jul '16

'Following the recent vulnerabilities in Tor, researchers at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne have been working on a new anonymity network that they say is more secure than Tor. While the researchers are planning to present their new system, dubbed Riffle, at the Privacy Enhancing Technologies Symposium later this month, they did say the system uses existing cryptographic techniques, but in new ways. A series of servers are what make up Riffle, each of which "permutes the order in which it receives messages before passing them on to the next," according to a news release. "For instance, messages from senders Alice, Bob, and Carol reach the first server in the order A, B, C, that server would send them to the second server in a different order -- say C, B, A. The second server would permute them before sending them to the third, and so on." Nobody would know which was which by the time they exited the last server. Both Tor and MIT's anonymity network use onion encryption. Riffle uses a technique called verifiable shuffle in addition to onion encryption to thwart tampering and prevent adversaries from infiltrating servers with their own code. Last but not least, it uses authentication encryption to verify the authenticity of an encrypted message. The researchers say their system provides strong security while using bandwidth much more efficiently than similar solutions.' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/16/07/11/2041203 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

ODF Versus OOXML
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 11 Jul '16

11 Jul '16

A summary of links comparing ODF (the file format native to LibreOffice and OpenOffice) with OOXML (as used in Microsoft’s Office suite): <http://courseweb.ischool.illinois.edu/~stanley8/LIS590DPL/standards/docform…>. Another reason why saving LibreOffice documents in MS Office format may cause formatting trouble (besides the usual inconsistencies that happen with MS Office formatting anyway) is that OOXML cannot actually represent all ODF information correctly.

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GNU Nano Fork
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 11 Jul '16

11 Jul '16

Some ructions over GNU Nano have led to the creation of yet another tiny text editor <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/07/11/in_mourning_for_nano_chap_crafts_1k…>. With regard to this: “Benno also did not want to assign copyright to the FSF for his contributions.” it’s not clear why outfits like the FSF and Ubuntu want you to assign your copyrights to them. The Linux kernel project, for example, doesn’t require it <https://lwn.net/Articles/592503/>.

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HTTPS crypto’s days are numbered. Here’s how Google wants to save it
by Peter Reutemann 09 Jul '16

09 Jul '16

'Like many forms of encryption in use today, HTTPS protections are on the brink of a collapse that could bring down the world as we know it. Hanging in the balance are most encrypted communications sent over the last several decades. On Thursday, Google unveiled an experiment designed to head off, or at least lessen, the catastrophe. In the coming months, Google servers will add a new, experimental cryptographic algorithm to the more established elliptic curve algorithm it has been using for the past few years to help encrypt HTTPS communications. The algorithm—which goes by the wonky name "Ring Learning With Errors"—is a method of exchanging cryptographic keys that's currently considered one of the great new hopes in the age of quantum computing. Like other forms of public key encryption, it allows two parties who have never met to encrypt their communications, making it ideal for Internet usage.' -- source: http://arstechnica.com/security/2016/07/https-crypto-is-on-the-brink-of-col… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Mesa 12.0 Released With OpenGL 4.3 Support, Intel Vulkan and More
by Peter Reutemann 09 Jul '16

09 Jul '16

'Mesa3D developers have announced the release of Mesa 12.0. Mesa 12 notably adds open-source OpenGL 4.3 drivers for Intel, Radeon, and NVIDIA on Linux, and it also integrates the previously open-sourced Intel Vulkan graphics API driver. From the Phoronix analysis, "Mesa 12.0 is easily one of the biggest updates to this important open-source user-space OpenGL driver stack in quite some time and will offer much better support and features especially for Intel, Radeon, and NVIDIA open-source Linux desktop users/gamers."' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/07/08/2135213 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Researchers Discover Over 100 Tor Nodes Designed To Spy On Hidden Services
by Peter Reutemann 08 Jul '16

08 Jul '16

'Two researchers have discovered over 100 Tor nodes that are spying on hidden services. Cory Doctorow from Boing Boing reports: "These nodes -- ordinary nodes, not exit nodes -- sorted through all the traffic that passed through them, looking for anything bound for a hidden service, which allowed them to discover hidden services that had not been advertised. These nodes then attacked the hidden services by making connections to them and trying common exploits against the server-software running on them, seeking to compromise and take them over. The researchers used 'honeypot' .onion servers to find the spying computers: these honeypots were .onion sites that the researchers set up in their own lab and then connected to repeatedly over the Tor network, thus seeding many Tor nodes with the information of the honions' existence. They didn't advertise the honions' existence in any other way and there was nothing of interest at these sites, and so when the sites logged new connections, the researchers could infer that they were being contacted by a system that had spied on one of their Tor network circuits. No one knows who is running the spying nodes: they could be run by criminals, governments, private suppliers of 'infowar' weapons to governments, independent researchers, or other scholars (though scholarly research would not normally include attempts to hack the servers once they were discovered)." The Tor project is aware of the attack and is working to redesign its system to try and block it.' -- source: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/16/07/08/2034209 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Antivirus Software Is 'Increasingly Useless' and May Make Your Computer Less Safe
by Peter Reutemann 08 Jul '16

08 Jul '16

'Is your antivirus protecting your computer or making it more hackable? Internet security experts are warning that anti-malware technology is becoming less and less effective at protecting your data and devices, and there's evidence that security software can sometimes even make your computer more vulnerable to security breaches. This week, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Computer Emergency Readiness Team (CERT) issued a warning about popular antivirus software made by Symantec, some of it under the Norton brand, after security researchers with Google's Project Zero found critical vulnerabilities. "These vulnerabilities are as bad as it gets. They don't require any user interaction, they affect the default configuration, and the software runs at the highest privilege levels possible," wrote Google researcher Tavis Ormandy in a blog post. Symantec said it had verified and addressed the issues in updates that users are advised to install. It's not the only instance of security software potentially making your computer less safe. Concordia University professor Mohammad Mannan and his PhD student Xavier de Carne de Carnavalet recently presented research on antivirus and parental control software packages, including popular brands like AVG, Kaspersky and BitDefender, that bypass some security features built into internet browsers to verify whether sites are safe or not in order to be able to scan encrypted connections for potential threats. In theory, they should make up for it with their own content verification systems. But Mannan's research, presented at the Network and Distributed System Security Symposium in California earlier this year, found they didn't do a very good job. "We were surprised at how bad they were," he said in an interview. "Some of them, they did not even make it secure in any sense."' -- source: https://it.slashdot.org/story/16/07/08/145245 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Android KeyStore Encryption Scheme Broken
by Peter Reutemann 08 Jul '16

08 Jul '16

'The default implementation for KeyStore, the system in Android designed to store user credentials and cryptographic keys, is broken, researchers say.>In an academic paper published this week, researchers argue that the particular encryption scheme that KeyStore uses fails to protect the integrity of keys and could be exploited to allow an attacker to modify stored keys through a forgery attack. KeyStore, which performs key-specific actions through the OpenSSL library, allows Android apps to store and generate their own cryptographic keys. By storing keys in a container, KeyStore makes it more difficult to remove them from the device. Mohamed Sabt and Jacques Traore, two researchers with the French telecom Orange Labs, claim the scheme associated with the system is "non-provably secure," and could have "severe consequences." The two point out in their paper "Breaking Into the KeyStore: A Practical Forgery Attack Against Android KeyStore," that it's the hash-then-encrypt (HtE) authenticated encryption (AE) scheme in cipher block chaining mode (CBC) in KeyStore that fails to guarantee the integrity of keys.' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/16/07/07/1819233 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

10 million Android phones infected by all-powerful auto-rooting apps
by Peter Reutemann 07 Jul '16

07 Jul '16

"Security experts have documented a disturbing spike in a particularly virulent family of Android malware, with more than 10 million handsets infected and more than 286,000 of them in the US. Researchers from security firm Check Point Software said the malware installs more than 50,000 fraudulent apps each day, displays 20 million malicious advertisements, and generates more than $300,000 per month in revenue. The success is largely the result of the malware's ability to silently root a large percentage of the phones it infects by exploiting vulnerabilities that remain unfixed in older versions of Android. The Check Point researchers have dubbed the malware family "HummingBad," but researchers from mobile security company Lookout say HummingBad is in fact Shedun, a family of auto-rooting malware that came to light last November and had already infected a large number of devices." -- source: http://arstechnica.com/security/2016/07/virulent-auto-rooting-malware-takes… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

The State Of systemd In Debian
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 07 Jul '16

07 Jul '16

Presentation from DebConf, slides and video <http://phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Debian-systemd-Status-2016>.

1 1

Yet Another Next-Generation Filesystem
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 06 Jul '16

06 Jul '16

As if btrfs and ZFS aren’t enough, here’s another next-generation filesystem being developed for Linux: <http://phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Bcachefs-Still-Rolling>. It apparently originated from “Bcache”, which was a filesystem developed for use on SSDs.

1 0

32 bit
by Ian Young 06 Jul '16

06 Jul '16

See also Linux Mint 18 in 32-bit version, and Bodhi complete with Enlightenment. NOW WHAT ABOUT TRIMMING THOSE POSTS!!! OTHERWISE I MAY BE FORCED TO DIG OUT SOME ARCHAIC INTERNET ETIQUETTE FAQ AND POST IT IN FULL ALL IN CAPS. Just joshing people. But puhleeze???! A word for Michelle and the quest for perfection. Sometimes in this life there is a dichotomy between what we wish for and what we can actually accomplish. Maybe near enough is good enough. Is there actually such a thing as complete security on the internet? Possibly, but probably not for the average citizen. "You have zero privacy anyway. Get over it." Scott McNealy, formerly of Sun Microsystems. Sad but probably true.

8 14

puppy or qubes
by Michelle 06 Jul '16

06 Jul '16

Well, I give up. I have tried for months and invested dozens of hours to get a machine that runs qubes and it hasn't happened. So would somebody be willing to go into say pb tech with different live puppy's on stick (or DVD) and finding what computers run it. Puppy was the distro I was wanting to run on my brand new computer I bought last year. I have been told that it is hard to find a new computer that won't rtun puppy. My new computer didn't. Hopefully it is just a freak. So if you are prepared to do that, could you then let me know at least two of those computers that should be able to run qubes according to the hardware specifications at the qubes website. If nobody is prepared to do that it is more than fine. I will just buy a computer that runs a windows legacy os.

5 11

post trimming
by Ian Young 06 Jul '16

06 Jul '16

Oh dear, it's a storm of my making, albeit in a teacup. Much of the time posts on wlug are brief and often evoke no responses. As it happens of late there have been some of greater length which have had replies including the full body of all the foregoing, This has lead to my occasional ire as I scroll on ever downwards through the screeds of text previously seen looking for some gem of wisdom only to finally find the dreaded "Me too" or something equally unmemorable. Call me a grinchy grouch but is this sort of thing effective communication? Lies back on the couch .... Let me tell you about my days on dialup when every word cost 10 cents ... have i mentioned my Scottish ancestry? OMG, apologies to all Scots. If you can't say anything nice then say nothing as my old dad (from Glasgow) was wont to say. ~ ttfn Ian Y

1 0

Why Dotfiles Need To Die
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 06 Jul '16

06 Jul '16

“Hidden” files and directories are outnumbering non-hidden ones 6:1 in my home directory: ldo(a)theon:~> ls -A ~/ | grep -c '^\.' 215 ldo(a)theon:~> ls -A ~/ | grep -vc '^\.' 35 ldo(a)theon:~> ls -A ~/ | wc -l 250 Quite a few applications are starting to adopt the XDG Base Directory Spec <https://specifications.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/latest/>, but it just can’t happen fast enough...

1 0

Any Old Machines Going Spare?
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 06 Jul '16

06 Jul '16

Te Whare O Te Ata (the Fairfield community centre) has a group of four public-access machines that are not getting any younger. Does anybody have any machines they don’t need any more, that they could donate as (slightly) newer replacements? I think all of us who volunteer there are on this list, so I think you might as well respond to the list, at least to begin with. Then we can take it from there. Thanks for any help.

3 3

Linux Mint 18 “Sarah” released!
by Peter Reutemann 05 Jul '16

05 Jul '16

Already happened on June 30th, but here it is anyway... Announcement for MATE: http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=3052 And for Cinnamon: http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=3051 Just installed MATE version, replacing my Ubuntu MATE edition. Gone is my disappearing mouse cursor when suspending, feels much snappier, better touchpad support too. At least 2 thumbs up! ;-) Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

32 bits
by Ian Young 05 Jul '16

05 Jul '16

Arch and Manjaro have 32 bit options. Slackware 14.2 just released is available for 32 bit. Porteus has a fresh release pending for 32. The recent Fedora 24 has 32 bit iso. So it's not over yet. One snag however is hardware limitations on 32 bit machines. It may be possible to run a current browser on less than 2 gigs of RAM but I find it is not enjoyable. So it partly depends on what one wants to do iwth that golden oldie.

1 0

Fwd: [NZOSS OpenChat] GovHack
by Peter Reutemann 04 Jul '16

04 Jul '16

Apologies for cross-posting, but some people on this mailing list might be interested in this. Cheers, Peter ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: DL Neil <NZOSS(a)etelligence.info> Date: Tue, Jul 5, 2016 at 7:03 AM Subject: [NZOSS OpenChat] GovHack To: NZOSS Open Discussion List <openchat(a)groups.nzoss.org.nz> Noticed this public invitation of likely interest to mash-up artists and OpenData enthusiasts: GovHack is all about bringing together coders, artists, storytellers, observers, communicators and more, from the private, public, NGO and academic sectors. While the group of people is diverse, we’re united in a single purpose – working with government data to innovate and create. What is GovHack, anyway? It’s not about “cracking” government – it’s about bringing together the power of open data and all of us to build a better democracy and a more open government and society. Watch this short video to find out more :) This year, New Zealand’s second (ever) GovHack event will be taking place across the country over the weekend of 29 – 31 July, in: Whangarei Auckland Hamilton Hawke’s Bay Whanganui Wellington Christchurch Queenstown Dunedin. ... http://govhack.org.nz/ -- Regards, =dn ―― View topic http://groups.nzoss.org.nz/r/topic/1mbHiTI4H5e8TQrmYTPFL4 Leave group mailto:openchat(a)groups.nzoss.org.nz?subject=Unsubscribe Start groups https://OnlineGroups.net -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

2 1

Linux Mint 18 'Sarah' Released, Supports Generic GTK X-Apps
by Peter Reutemann 03 Jul '16

03 Jul '16

'The Linux Mint team announced the immediate availability of their latest release, Mint 18 "Sarah," in Cinnamon and MATE flavors. These follow on the heels of their respective beta versions, which have been out for nearly a month. "Linux Mint 18 is a long-term support release which will be supported until 2021," the team announces on MATE's "new features" page, adding they've improved their update manager, included support for the Debian syntax of "apt", and are working on the "X-Apps" project to "produce generic applications for traditional GTK desktop environments...to replace applications which no longer integrate properly outside of a particular environment."' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/07/02/2045249 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Council CIO - suit required
by Ian Young 29 Jun '16

29 Jun '16

I fear no ordinary mortal could hope for a job such as this -- only for people from suitland who can spout the appropriate babble and appear to have a suitable track record in positions of such awesomeness. This is the world of the 'solutions provider' and they always provide a Windows solution. After all, why not go with what you know? And then there is the investment by many IT people in gaining industry qualifications around aspects of Microsoft technology. It would be sad to see that go to waste. It's a mindset thing. And let's not forget that for most people (aside from a minority of Appleheads) Windows is computers, or Windows is always on such computers as they use. Then there are the computer makers who still provide the industry standard, ie Windows. (Behind the scenes MS is still twisting arms there as far as I know). Perhaps this being broken down somewhat in recent times by the advent of tablets & smartphones but I think in large part real work is still done on a Windows box. Hard to see how this can ever change without some as yet unforeseen paradigm shift. So much for the business world and governmental organisations; things are perhaps a bit different in academia especially in fields such as computer science. However the desktop for most users is still always Windows so far as I have seen. Those crazy academics have to be given some choice but IT staff generally prefer to provide a standardised Windows image. Yes, it's a Windows world. Luckily Linux is still around for those who can't get with the programme. Personally I find the latest versions of desktop Windows unusable. If Windows 8 and 10 are the answer it must have been a most peculiar question imho. But I digress. Should HCC ever adopt Linux I will eat my hat - or be astounded at any rate.

2 1

A ZFS developer’s analysis of the good and bad in Apple’s new APFS file system
by Peter Reutemann 28 Jun '16

28 Jun '16

"Adam Leventhal: Apple announced a new file system that will make its way into all of its OS variants (macOS, tvOS, iOS, watchOS) in the coming years. Media coverage to this point has been mostly breathless elongations of Apple's developer documentation. With a dearth of detail I decided to attend the presentation and Q&A with the APFS team at WWDC. Dominic Giampaolo and Eric Tamura, two members of the APFS team, gave an overview to a packed room; along with other members of the team, they patiently answered questions later in the day. With those data points and some first-hand usage I wanted to provide an overview and analysis both as a user of Apple-ecosystem products and as a long-time operating system and file system developer." -- source: http://arstechnica.com/apple/2016/06/a-zfs-developers-analysis-of-the-good-… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

5 4

Re: [wlug] Hamilton City Council - CIO position
by rowan schischka 28 Jun '16

28 Jun '16

>You can apply for the position via the council web-site<http://%20 https://hamilton.careercentre.net.nz/job/chief-information-officer-cio-/ham…>. It is also advertised on seek< http://www.seek.co.nz/job/31234386?pos=12&type=standard&engineConfig=&userq… >. Im applying but doubt ill get it. whoever gets that contract i'd like to put my hand forward to help. -- Kind Regards Rowan Schischka

1 0

Re: [wlug] wlug Digest, Vol 300, Issue 19
by Wayne Luxton 27 Jun '16

27 Jun '16

On 25/06/16 12:00, wlug-request(a)list.waikato.ac.nz wrote: > Send wlug mailing list submissions to > wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > https://list.waikato.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/wlug > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > wlug-request(a)list.waikato.ac.nz > > You can reach the person managing the list at > wlug-owner(a)list.waikato.ac.nz > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of wlug digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. a Debian-based OS for Nexus 5 phone (Ian Young) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Fri, 24 Jun 2016 03:12:45 +0000 > From: Ian Young <gnomician(a)gmail.com> > To: wlug <wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz> > Subject: [wlug] a Debian-based OS for Nexus 5 phone > Message-ID: > <CA+e9D2Ev-OSuWxA98heFdjbERzTJYgZbiFRAuiepOVS9FURZNw(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 > > Came upon this today - mentioned on Barry Kauler's blog (the Puppy Linux guy). > > ' have previously posted about MaruOS:" > http://barryk.org/news/?viewDetailed=00363 > > > http://maruos.com/#/ > > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > wlug mailing list > wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz > https://list.waikato.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/wlug > > > End of wlug Digest, Vol 300, Issue 19 > ************************************* > Find this is brilliant news as have nexus 5 and was getting frustrated and scratchy about android and what they keep wanting or advertising. Something to do to keep my Parkinson's brain in action. Would like to compare notes with any other local enthusiast -looking to create an intergrated work system with production of posters. Wayne - thanks you guys I am not very active now days but keeping up with threads helps me check out what I need and widen potential

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Ubuntu-Based Peppermint 7 Released
by Peter Reutemann 26 Jun '16

26 Jun '16

'Softpedia reports on the newest version of Peppermint OS, "a lightweight, stable, elegant, and fast computer operating system based on GNU/Linux and Open Source technologies." An anonymous Slashdot reader quotes their report: It's a bit earlier than expected, but the Peppermint OS 7 GNU/Linux distribution has been officially unveiled...based on the Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) operating system [with] a lot of packages from the Ubuntu 16.04 LTS distro, which means that it will also be a long-term support release.... "Along with the shift to the 16.04 (Xenial) code base, Peppermint 7 continues our policy of choosing the best components from other desktop environments, wherever that may be, and integrating them into a cohesive whole with our own software," reads today's announcement. "Team Peppermint" says they're switching to Firefox as their default browser for site-specific browser functionality (similar to Chrome's -app mode) after Google dropped their 32-bit version of Chrome and moved to PPAPI plugins "which effectively ends Flash support in 32-bit Chromium"... But you can also still choose Chrome or Chromium for site-specific browsing (and the OS comes in 32-bit and 64-bit editions).' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/16/06/25/216216 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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a Debian-based OS for Nexus 5 phone
by Ian Young 24 Jun '16

24 Jun '16

Came upon this today - mentioned on Barry Kauler's blog (the Puppy Linux guy). ' have previously posted about MaruOS:" http://barryk.org/news/?viewDetailed=00363 http://maruos.com/#/

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KDE Developers Have Been Working On Improved Windows Support
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 22 Jun '16

22 Jun '16

<http://phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=KDE-Windows-Improvements>: “... they've abandoned the concept of having a single KDE installer for Windows, but work on individual programs (and installers) for Windows has continued. Single application installers are their path forward for shipping KDE programs on Windows...” Also in the reader comments, Krita lead Boudewijn Rempt writes about whether more Windows users leads to more Windows developers contributing <https://www.phoronix.com/forums/forum/software/desktop-linux/879128-kde-dev…>: “... I've certainly had half a dozen Windows developers come to the #krita irc channel asking how to build Krita on Windows so they could help out hacking. The problem is that setting up a build environment on WIndows is really hard, and in fact, we build the Windows binaries on Linux... So they need extraordinary perseverance to start contributing or use a Linux VM. That's really something we should improve on next, but I have no idea how to make it any eas[i]er anymore.”

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WLUG meeting next Monday
by Peter Reutemann 22 Jun '16

22 Jun '16

Hi there We have a meeting next Monday: 'systemd', which has replaced SYSTEMV 'init' in nearly ALL current Linux distributions, seems to go against the fundamental philosophy of Linux/Unix - Doug Mcllroy, the inventor of Unix pipes, summarized the Unix/Linux philosophy as follows: "This is the Unix philosophy: Write programs that do one thing and do it well..." systemd has a 'finger-in-all-pies' approach & seems quite complex. Let's discuss pros and cons of systemd. http://www.meetup.com/WaikatoLinuxUsersGroup/events/231330392/ Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Linux’s RPM/deb split could be replaced by Flatpak vs. snap
by Peter Reutemann 21 Jun '16

21 Jun '16

'Linux developers are going to have more than one choice for building secure, cross-distribution applications. Ubuntu's "snap" applications recently went cross-platform, having been ported to other Linux distros including Debian, Arch, Fedora, and Gentoo. The goal is to simplify packaging of applications. Instead of building a deb package for Ubuntu and an RPM for Fedora, a developer could package the application as a snap and have it installed on just about any Linux distribution. But Linux is always about choice, and snap isn't the only contender to replace traditional packaging systems. Today, the developers of Flatpak (previously called xdg-app) announced general availability for several major Linux distributions, with a pointer to instructions for installing on Arch, Debian, Fedora, Mageia, and Ubuntu.' -- source: http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/06/here-comes-flatpak-a-… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Microsoft: Nearly One In Three Azure Virtual Machines Now Are Running Linux
by Peter Reutemann 21 Jun '16

21 Jun '16

"Microsoft's self-professed Linux love is helping the company in the cloud. During his keynote at DockerCon 2016 in Seattle today, Azure Chief Technology Officer Mark Russinovich showed off some of the new and upcoming ways Microsoft is adding more container support to its cloud and server products. He also revealed a couple of new interesting datapoints. In the past year, Russinovich said, Microsoft has gone from one in four of its Azure virtual machines running Linux to nearly one in three. The other two-thirds of Azure customers are running Windows Server in their virtual machines. Russinovich showed off the promised Windows Server support that officials said would be coming at some point to the company's Azure Container Service (ACS). Microsoft made Azure Container Service generally available in April 2016, but for Linux containers only. Last year, company execs said Microsoft also would bring Windows Server support to ACS." -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/06/21/1754243 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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New World’s Fastest: 10-Million Core Supercomputer
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 21 Jun '16

21 Jun '16

<http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/06/10-million-core-super…> Not Intel-compatible, uses a home-grown 64-bit RISC chip architecture. According to this <http://www.nextplatform.com/2016/06/20/look-inside-chinas-chart-topping-new…>, it achieves 3 times the power efficiency of the x86 machines near the current top of the supercomputing league. According to the Ars article, the previous supercomputer king of the hill, “Tianhe-2 had been the world's fastest in six consecutive rankings, which are released twice a year”. So I think the record for staying the longest at the top still remains with the old NEC Earth Simulator, which was number one for maybe two years.

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Unprotected NFC Tags in MacDonald’s NZ & Australia Restaurants
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 20 Jun '16

20 Jun '16

Anybody could store any URL into these tags. Would customers who see these pop up on their phones think it was a legitimate MacDonald’s promotion and go to those sites? <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/06/20/filetophish_insecure_nfc_tag_relics…>

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New 'Hardened' Tor Browser Protects Users From FBI Hacking
by Peter Reutemann 20 Jun '16

20 Jun '16

'According to a new paper, security researchers are now working closely with the Tor Project to create a "hardened" version of the Tor Browser, implementing new anti-hacking techniques which could dramatically improve the anonymity of users and further frustrate the efforts of law enforcement... "Our solution significantly improves security over standard address space layout randomization (ASLR) techniques currently used by Firefox and other mainstream browsers," the researchers write in their paper, whose findings will be presented in July at the Privacy Enhancing Technologies Symposium in Darmstadt, Germany. The researchers say Tor is currently field-testing their solution for an upcoming "hardened" release, making it harder for agencies like the FBI to crack the browser's security, according to Motherboard. "[W]hile that defensive advantage may not last for too long, it shows that some in the academic research community are still intent on patching the holes that their peers are helping government hackers exploit."' -- source: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/16/06/19/2249239 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Under new management, SourceForge moves to put badness in past
by Peter Reutemann 19 Jun '16

19 Jun '16

"It has been six months since the company formerly known as Dice (DHI Group) sold off Slashdot Media—the business unit that runs Slashdot and SourceForge—to BIZX, LLC, a San Diego-based digital media company. Since then, the new management has been moving to erase some of the mistakes made under the previous regime—mistakes that led to the site becoming a bit of a pariah among open source and free software developers." -- source: http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/06/under-new-management-… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Fedora QA Lead Pans Canonical 'Propaganda' On Snap Apps
by Peter Reutemann 18 Jun '16

18 Jun '16

'...and how it's going to unite all distributions and kill apt and rpm! This is, to put it diplomatically, a heaping pile of steaming bullshit... The press release and the stories together give you the strong impression that this thing called Snappy is going to be the cross-distribution future of application delivery, and it's all ready for use today and lots of major distributions are buying into it... The stories have headlines like "Adios apt and yum? Ubuntu's snap apps are coming to distros everywhere" and "Snap Packages Become Universal Binary Format for All GNU/Linux Distributions"... Now, does Snappy actually have the cross-distribution buy-in that the press release claims (but never outright states) that it has? No... The sum total of communication between Canonical and Fedora before the release of this press release was that they mailed us asking about the process of packaging snappy for Fedora, and we told them about the main packaging process and COPR. They certainly did not in any way inform Fedora that they were going to send out a press release strongly implying that Fedora, along with every other distro in the world, was now a happy traveler on the Snappy bandwagon... They just decided to send out a wildly misleading press release and actively encourage the specialist press to report that Snappy was all set to take over the world and everyone was super happy with that.' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/06/18/1550249 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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The Biggest Maker of Raspberry Pis Has Been Acquired For $871 Million
by Peter Reutemann 14 Jun '16

14 Jun '16

'The biggest manufacturer of the Raspberry Pi minicomputer, Premier Farnell, has been acquired by Swiss industrial component supplier Daetwyler Holding AG for roughly $871 million. According to Bloomberg, the deal will reportedly help both companies compete better in the components market. "By combining forces, we significantly increase our competitiveness and extend our product range," Daetwyler Chairman Ulrich said in a statement, "facilitating a one-stop shopping experience for our wide range of customers from a multitude of industries." Premier Farnell is one of the only companies with a license to design and distribute Raspberry Pis. The Wall Street Journal says the Raspberry Pi devices are a big part of the company's business, as the division in charge of the Pi raked in 16 percent of the company's total revenue last year.' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/16/06/14/2044241 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Adios apt and yum? Ubuntu’s snap apps are coming to distros everywhere
by Peter Reutemann 14 Jun '16

14 Jun '16

'Ubuntu's "snappy" new way of packaging applications is no longer exclusive to Ubuntu. Canonical today is announcing that snapd, the tool that allows snap packages to be installed on Ubuntu, has been ported to other Linux distributions including Debian, Arch, Fedora, and Gentoo, among others.' -- source: http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/06/goodbye-apt-and-yum-u… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Thousands of Email Addresses Accidentally Disclosed By Let's Encrypt Anonymous
by Peter Reutemann 12 Jun '16

12 Jun '16

'"Let's Encrypt, the certificate authority best known for offering free SSL/TLS certificates, has reported that it accidentally disclosed thousands of user email addresses due to a bug with an automated emailing system." Executive Director Josh Aas posted this announcement: On June 11 2016 (UTC), we started sending an email to all active subscribers who provided an email address, informing them of an update to our subscriber agreement. This was done via an automated system which contained a bug that mistakenly prepended between 0 and 7,618 other email addresses to the body of the email... The problem was noticed and the system was stopped after 7,618 out of approximately 383,000 emails (1.9%) were sent. Each email mistakenly contained the email addresses from the emails sent prior to it, so earlier emails contained fewer addresses than later ones. We take our relationship with our users very seriously and apologize for the error... If you received one of these emails we ask that you not post lists of email addresses publicly.' -- source: http://m.slashdot.org/story/312355 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz

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Trimming etc continued
by Michelle 11 Jun '16

11 Jun '16

I am posting this here under a new heading because it's late and I can't seem to figure out how to send a reply to the mailing list without also sending it to the person who posted it. Or is that what is supposed to happen? Eric, thanks for reposting that for me and for your continued input. Wolf, I appreciate all that info. You've both sent me so much information I'm gonna take a little while to look at it. Paul, apology accepted, it's hard to know on the internet sometimes what's meant. Michelle

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Attention: HAL 9000 Owners
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 11 Jun '16

11 Jun '16

We have just received word of an important new book: *Programming Instructions for the HAL 9000 Computer*, revised edition. The new edition of the HAL 9000 handbook has been updated to incorporate improvements suggested by this versatile machine’s surviving users. In particular, the manufacturers suggest that priority be given to the retrofitting of small explosive charges at strategic points in the central memory unit. Authorized by Arthur C Clarke Chief Semantic Controls Engineer Colombo SRI LANKA (Found in the December 1978 issue of BYTE Magazine, downloaded from archive.org.)

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Firefox Finally Confirms 'Largest Change Ever' Featuring Electrolysis In v48
by Peter Reutemann 09 Jun '16

09 Jun '16

'With Electrolysis, Firefox can use child processes for content (tabs), media playback and legacy plug-ins. This is some way short of Google Chrome, which uses a different process for each tab. However, the result is that Chrome is a huge resource hog: Chrome uses roughly twice as much memory as Firefox on Windows and Linux. Eric Rahm has run some browser tests with Electrolysis, and says: "Overall we see a 10-20 percent increase in memory usage for the 1 content process case (which is what we plan on shipping initially). This seems like a fair trade-off for potential security and performance benefits." With 8 content processes, Rahm says: "we see roughly a doubling of memory usage on the TabsOpenSettled measurement. It's a bit worse on Windows, a bit better on OS X, but it's not 8 times worse."' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/16/06/08/1635231 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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The Web's Creator Thinks We Need a New One That Governments Can't Control
by Peter Reutemann 09 Jun '16

09 Jun '16

'The web has created millions of jobs, impacted nearly every industry, connected people, and arguably made the world a better place. But the person who started it all isn't exactly pleased with the way things have turned out to be. Sir Tim Berners-Lee, who invented the World Wide Web, believes that the way it works in the present day "completely undermines the spirit of helping people create." The Next Web reports: "Edward Snowden showed we've inadvertently built the world's largest surveillance network with the web," said Brewster Kahle, who heads up Internet Archive. And he's not wrong: governments across the globe keep an eye on what their citizens are accessing online and some censor content on the Web in an effort to control what they think. To that end, Berners-Lee, Kahle and other pioneers of the modern Web are brainstorming ideas for a new kind of information network that can't be controlled by governments or powered by megacorporations like Amazon and Google.' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/16/06/08/196225 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Re: [wlug] TRIMMING POSTS -- PLEASE ???!!!
by Eric Light 07 Jun '16

07 Jun '16

(Michelle you sent this to me directly, but I believe you intended to send it to the whole mailing list, so I'll include that here. I've left the history included, in spite of Ian's entreaties otherwise, for the benefit of those who want to see what I'm replying to) Ah, I understand a bit better now. By and large, Linux is relatively untouched by garden variety malware. However, your browser (cross-platform, JavaScripty, etc) can still fall prey to security issues, which sounds the case here. I note you said you were running NoScript, so it comes as a surprise, but I suppose they're always thinking up new avenues. That said, I don't think the Oprah thing is related to your missing files! I can't say what happened, but its vanishingly unlikely that a browser hijack could have deleted files on a LINUX system... On Windows, sure, but to perform that action on a Linux pc, the malware would need to be designed FOR Linux - and that's particularly unlikely. Okay so we've established that you want privacy, but overall you want a system where you can easily recover from corruption... Is that correct? I'm sticking with my recommendation for Debian - probably Linux Mint Debian Edition, because it's:- got a solid base (Debian) - got a wide user base (thus lots of testing) - got a lovely UI (Cinnamon) - specifically designed to be easy to use On top of this, you can install Sophos Antivirus for Linux... It's free, and it has some of the highest detection rates in the industry (note, solving a problem that barely even exists in a Linux environment, but which you may have encountered nonetheless). Since your threat profile sounds like browser-based malware, it might be worth looking into specifically sandboxing your browser. I know Chrome already does sandboxing between tabs and threads, so that might already be in place, but it sounds plausible. Alternatively, putting your /home partition on a filesystem that supports snapshots might be a good idea... Maybe ZFS? That sounds like a good solution to me, but I'll have to defer to the wizards in the group. ☺ Good luck!Eric -- Securely sent with Tutanota. It's good, you should try it: https://tutanota.com 7. Jun 2016 20:08 by michelle400(a)orcon.net.nz: > > Woops. Sorry. I used the wrong term, I used BUG when I should have used > MALWARE. Biological viruses are bugs and so instead of the term malware, > I've used bug for viruses, trojans etc.....So in other words I think I > caught some malware on my Toshiba despite those safety measures. And I > think the safest thing for a non computer expert like myself to do to keep > it from happening again is to install the safest and secure distros that > I've heard of. (I'm now not sure whether that person I mentioned was > talking about bug(s) or malware). > > William, thanks for looking out for me back there. > > Eric, thank you for going out of your way to make me feel better. You're a > clss act. I couldn't figure out why you were recommending a very stable > distro, and then I got it - I used the wrong term. Thanks again for your > input. > > > > On 2016-06-07 16:25, Eric Light wrote: >> Hi Michelle, >> >> I'm sorry that you feel you've been maligned and attacked. We do try >> hard to make this a safe forum for everyone. For what it's worth, most >> of us here ARE a bit batty, each in our own way. >> >> Security and safety, along with reliability and usability, are also >> the reasons I use Linux. You're in good company there. >> >> I feel that Whonix+Qubes is over-engineering. I haven't had any >> responses to my email last night re TAILS+grsecurity (ALSO >> over-engineering), but TAILS' lack of persistence makes it a drag for >> day-to-day use; Whonix sacrifices some security for usability there. >> >> What problem are you trying to solve? What is your threat profile that >> you're trying to defend yourself against? If you're just trying to >> avoid bugs in your distro, you could just go with Debian Stable, which >> will give you a reliable, secure, and well-known system, with very few >> "tricky bits". >> >> E >> >> -- >> Securely sent with Tutanota. It's good, you should try it: >> https://tutanota.com>> [1] >> >> 7. Jun 2016 15:43 by >> michelle400(a)orcon.net.nz>> : >> >>> Well when I looked at the mailing list page today I was totally >>> shocked to find I'd been maligned and attacked. I know that that >>> happens on other forums (yes I realize this is a mailing list) but I >>> didn't think it would happen here. I guess that I just got schooled. >>> >>> Perhaps I should say a few things. The only reason for me choosing >>> Linux over windows is security and safety. It may be different for >>> computer experts, but that's it for me. >>> >>> So anyway I have Mint on my Toshiba and some months back I clicked >>> to a page with info on Oprah Winfrey. The site then clicked on and >>> off and on and off etc. I closed the page and opened history. Here >>> the site was listed maybe 25 to 50 times. Then say that day or the >>> next, my most used folder disappeared from it's space. I found it in >>> the thrash. And that happened with maybe another couple of folders. >>> Someone said that Mint had had problems with a bug/bugs this >>> year/last year? >>> >>> So anyway I presume that I caught a bug and that it's still there. >>> (Don't worry,the emails I send on this phone and not the Toshiba). >>> This happened inspite of the fact that I use Mozilla, adblock and >>> NoScript, although they may not have been up to date. Computer >>> experts, if their machine gets infected may be able to debug it and >>> be confident that it's clear, but I can't. I figure the best way to >>> protect myself from now on is to have the safest set up from the >>> start. And from a bit of research I did on the net it appears that >>> that maybe Whonix and Qubes. >>> >>> On 2016-06-07 06:53, Paul Wilson wrote:I would be trending to a tent >>> inside a faraday cage, at least 50kms >>> from the nearest populated town. :p >>> >>> Sent from my iPhone >>> >>> On 6/06/2016, at 11:41 PM, Eric Light <>>> eric(a)ericlight.com>>> > wrote: >>> YES I FIND THIS MUCH LESS ANNOYING, THANKS WILLIAM �� >>> >>> Battiness aside, I suspect the answer to Michelle's problem isn't >>> Whonix on Qubes on an old laptop. It sounds like excessive >>> engineering for no good reason. Did anyone else have similar >>> thoughts? >>> >>> If I were going full-on paranoia mode, I'd be running TAILS, >>> probably with a grsecurity-patched kernel, and probably through an >>> offshore VPN. What do you guys think? >>> >>> E >>> >>> -- >>> Securely sent with Tutanota. It's good, you should try it: >>> https://tutanota.com>>> [1] [2] >>> >>> 6. Jun 2016 23:32 by >>> will(a)artcontrol.me>>> : >>> IS THIS BETTER? >>> _______________________________________________ >>> wlug mailing list | >>> wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz >>> Unsubscribe: >>> https://list.waikato.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/wlug>>> [2] >>> [1] >>> _______________________________________________ >>> wlug mailing list | >>> wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz >>> Unsubscribe: >>> https://list.waikato.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/wlug>>> [2] >>> [1] >> >> Links: >> ------ >> [1] >> https://list.waikato.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/wlug>> [2] >> [2] >> https://tutanota.com>> [1] >> >> _______________________________________________ >> wlug mailing list | >> wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz >> Unsubscribe: >> https://list.waikato.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/wlug>> [2] >> _______________________________________________ >> wlug mailing list | >> wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz >> Unsubscribe: >> https://list.waikato.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/wlug>> [2] >> >> Links: >> ------ >> [1] >> https://tutanota.com >> [2] >> https://list.waikato.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/wlug

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TRIMMING POSTS -- PLEASE ???!!!
by Ian Young 07 Jun '16

07 Jun '16

The saga of 'Michelle' (iirc) and her Linux problems is no doubt fascinating but could we possibly stop wasting bandwidth by broadcasting the entire sorry saga time and time again ... just asking. Aside from any other considerations it makes it difficult to determine whether there is any new data on the case. Far be it from me to speculate on whether the poster is just a wee bit batty .....

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I can pay 150 if somone is willing to help me out with setting up a computer
by Michelle 05 Jun '16

05 Jun '16

Hi, My name's Michelle. I've been using Linux on and off for the last few years. I'm looking for someone who would help me set up a computer with linux on it. I rang round all? or most the PB tech stores, they didn't have anyone who was up to the task. I rang a store where a guy was into Linux but they're too busy. I sent an email to a guy involved with one of the distros I want but even though it's on the web to contact him to pay for help he hasn't got back to me. A man kindly pointed out to me two computers from PB tech that he says will work but as you can see from the post I've had some trouble with computers not working or not working properly and I want to pay some money for someone to try the distros and experience that it works on a computer for sure. I had a Dell on which I set up Puppy with no problem whatsoever. The computer died and so then I took the puppy distro and the other disto I'd bought (can't remember what) and tried to install them on 2 older computers I had but it didn't work. I don't know why, maybe it was because one of the distros was on a USB drive and not compatible or maybe both computer hard drives were stuffed? After that I bought a mini-pc (I think it was supposed to run linux) but it didn't work at all. Then I bought a tablet but after a month or two it stopped working or pretty much? Stopped working. So I just used a phone for about a year and last year bought a brand new Toshiba laptop. The problem with this was two fold: 1. It was a laptop. 2. It was a Toshiba (oh how I hate Toshiba) I had known that not all computers were readily compatible with linux but after my easy experience with the Dell I wasn't too concerned. I bought two linux distros on different media and hoped/assumed? that something would work – it didn't. I bought another say 2 or 3 distros and managed to get the Mint to install on this Toshiba. It wasn't until after this annoying endeavor that I found out online that: -⁠ laptops are less compatible than desktops with linux and that - Toshiba out of the maybe top 6 or 8 computer manufacturers is consistantly about the least compatible with linux ( I HATE TOSHIBA) I don't happen to have a few spear thousand dollars sitting around to enable me to buy a computer and try and set it up with the distros I want, find it dosen't work, buy another computer, find it doesn't work, buy another and finally find one that works with the distros I want. So I am sending this message and hoping someone can help me set up a computer with the two linux distros I want. I don't know how that would work. Maybe someone is about to buy a new computer and can try these distros before they put theirs on, maybe someone has a partition on their computer that is spare and can try it there, maybe they own a computer shop or work in a computer shop or at a university or polytech with computers or computer parts around. So for anyone who may be willing to help me here is what I would like: - I'm up for paying up to 700 but would prefer to just pay say 400 or 500. - a desktop (not the modern ones that are a computer plus other thing/s but just a computer -⁠ not a toshiba -⁠ Whonix to run on top of Qubes. Whonix is great for anonimity and Qubes is designed for security/⁠safety. - I have a DrayTek vigor 120 modem. I connect it via DSL. When looking into whonix I read that it is complex to configure and setup, so I was hoping that you might have such a modem or access to one and set it up with whonix and then tell me how you did it. - I don't want the computer to come with wifi or bluetooth or any similar thing. I don't want it just not running, I don't want it there at all. - I'm wanting to install 3 old encyclopedias. I was reading about the new versions online and people were recommending old ones. I've bought Encarta 2004, 2001 and Encyclopaedia Britannica '98. To run them on I've bought Windows 98 second edition and Windows NT (first edition?). If you have or could borrow these windows OS could you see if you could get them running in whonix or qubes? - One or both of the encyclopedias need 2 DVD players so I'd like at least 2 DVD players with one being a recorder. - I'm not looking for a high end computer. As long as it will play youtube, that's fast enough. BUT I would appreciate hearing any recommendation about if I just add such and such for $100 or $150 it would go much faster. I'd like 500GB hard drive at least and I've been recommended to get 8GB RAM at least. I wouldn't buy the computer off you but rather if you could tell me what computer/computer parts worked, I'd pay up to $150 for the info. If 10 different people told me what worked of course I couldn't pay 10 different people $150. So to prevent two or more different people working on it at the same time, if you are willing to help me out could you please let me know and I could post a message just asking that no one else start working on it. It would be nice to have a choice of say two or three computers. So perhaps someone could say there is this computer or that one and I could ask you to try installing Whonix and Qubes on one of them. Or maybe there was a choice of two computers in parts and I could be told the parts of one computer and the other and I could choose the parts for one. It doesn't have to be brand new. As long as I can still buy it or the parts new it could be up to two years old. Thank you to anyone willing to help Michelle Gorringe.

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Op-ed: Oracle attorney says Google’s court victory might kill the GPL
by Peter Reutemann 03 Jun '16

03 Jun '16

"The developer community may be celebrating today what it perceives as a victory in Oracle v. Google. Google won a verdict that an unauthorized, commercial, competitive, harmful use of software in billions of products is fair use. No copyright expert would have ever predicted such a use would be considered fair. Before celebrating, developers should take a closer look. Not only will creators everywhere suffer from this decision if it remains intact, but the free software movement itself now faces substantial jeopardy." -- source: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/05/op-ed-oracle-attorney-says-googl… Interesting article, I have to say. The verdict might throw a spanner in what is considered "derivative work" in terms of GPL code. Companies using GPL libraries will no longer have to open-source their code, as it is simple considered fair use? Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Linux Kernel 4.6.1 Released; Some Users Report Boot Issue
by Peter Reutemann 02 Jun '16

02 Jun '16

'Linux kernel 4.6.1 is already here, only two weeks after the official launch of the Linux 4.6 kernel series. For those not in the loop, Linux 4.6 branch is the latest and most advanced kernel branch available right now for GNU/Linux operating systems, but it looks like its adoption is a little slow at the moment. "I'm announcing the release of the 4.6.1 kernel. All users of the 4.6 kernel series must upgrade," says Greg Kroah-Hartman. "The updated 4.6.y git tree can be browsed at the normal kernel.org git web browser."' 'Several folks on the web have reported a regression in the latest Linux kernels, starting with 4.6.1 and including the 4.7 beta that prevents booting and drops to busybox, at least the one supplied by the Ubuntu PPA. The boot sequence ends with "address family not supported by protocol: error getting socket" and then, "error initializing udev control socket" (screenshot here).' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/06/02/1717235 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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BBC Micro:Bit Learn-To-Code Device Up For Public Pre-Order In UK
by Peter Reutemann 02 Jun '16

02 Jun '16

'A tiny programmable board designed as part of an educational initiative for UK kids to learn programming skills and originally distributed by the public service broadcaster, the BBC, to one million schoolchildren is now up for public pre-order. The micro:bit is available for public pre-order in the UK, via Element14's website, with delivery slated for July. Although at this point it's being sold in minimum quantities of 90 for resellers (such as Microsoft) to then sell on to individuals. So consumers will have a bit longer to wait to be able to buy a device just for themselves. Prices start at 12.99 Pound ($19) for a single BBC micro:bit; 14.99 Pound for a starter kit which includes a BBC micro:bit, mini USB, battery pack and four project ideas; and 140 Pound for a 'BBC micro:bit Club' pack, which includes 10 devices and "everything needed to get a coding club started". The intention with the micro:bit project -- part of the BBC's wider 'Make it Digital' initiative to inspire "a new generation to get creative with coding, programming and digital technology" -- was always to open up the distribution of the device after the initial giveaway.' -- source: https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/16/06/01/1548252 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Tor Browser 6.0: Ditches SHA-1 Support, Uses DuckDuckGo For Default Search Results
by Peter Reutemann 01 Jun '16

01 Jun '16

"The version 6.0 of Tor Browser, a free software for enabling anonymous communication, is now available to download. The new version introduces several changes, including disabling SHA-1 support, and removing Mac Gatekeeper issue. Another big change is that Tor now uses DuckDuckGo for search results by default. The Tor Project, people behind Tor, add that the "updater is not relying on the signature alone, but is checking the hash of the downloaded update file as well before applying it." More details on NetworkWorld." -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/16/05/31/1643234 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Issue with systemd
by Ian Young 30 May '16

30 May '16

>From this week's Distrowatch. Could be a problem in some circumstances. The systemd project tends to stir up debate with each new feature it implements. One of the most recent changes to systemd (available in version 230), forces user processes to terminate when the user logs out. On some systems, such behaviour makes sense and effectively cleans up misbehaving processes when the user leaves. However, many administrators and developers rely on processes continuing to run to perform tests, backups or other tasks after they log off. Guus Sliepen summed up the concerns of the latter group quite nicely in a Debian bug report: It is now indeed the case that any background processes that were still running are killed automatically when the user logs out of a session, whether it was a desktop session, a VT session, or when you SSHed into a machine. Now you can no longer expect a long running background processes to continue after logging out. I believe this breaks the expectations of many users. For example, you can no longer start a screen or tmux session, log out, and expect to come back to it. For this reason, I think it is a bad decision on the part of the systemd maintainers to enable this feature by default, and it should rather be disabled by default in Debian." A similar discussion is taking place on a Fedora mailing list. The new default systemd behaviour can be disabled (either by distributions or system administrators) by editing the logind configuration file.

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Re: [wlug] Issue with systemd
by Andrew Crosby 30 May '16

30 May '16

To my mind, this seems like a useful feature. Odd choice to have it turned on by default though given the historic convention. Cheers Andrew On 30 May 2016 22:47, "Michael Cree" <mcree(a)orcon.net.nz> wrote: On Mon, May 30, 2016 at 10:22:13AM +0000, Ian Young wrote: > It is now indeed the case that any background processes > that were still running are killed automatically when the user logs > out of a session, whether it was a desktop session, a VT session, or > when you SSHed into a machine. Now you can no longer expect a long > running background processes to continue after logging out. I believe > this breaks the expectations of many users. Yes, it breaks the well established practice that the controlling terminal sends all its child processes a HUP signal on logout, and that the default signal handler will kill such processes, and if the process wants to remain running it therefore establishes a signal handler to properly receive and handle the HUP signal so that it is not terminated. If processes are not being terminated on logout when they should be, then it is the non-terminating processes fault as the process has taken action to set up a non-default signal hangler to receive the HUP signal to achieve this effect. It is most certainly not the responsibility of systemd to kill processes on logout! With these critical and non-sensical changes to system behaviour that is well without the established remit of the init process the systemd developers are fast losing what little respect I might have had for them. Cheers Michael. _______________________________________________ wlug mailing list | wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz Unsubscribe: https://list.waikato.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/wlug

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Apropos...
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 30 May '16

30 May '16

<https://twitter.com/nicholasbishop/status/737014814342533121/photo/1>

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Whom to contact for a public mirror for a Linux distribution?
by Michael Doerner - Technologywise 26 May '16

26 May '16

Hi all I am involved with a Linux distribution called "Koozali SME server" (https://wiki.contribs.org/Main_Page) Unfortunately we lost our mirror in NZ (Oceania) due to very sad circumstances and I am looking whether there is a chance to add that distro to one of the existing public mirrors. I am following the Wiki http://wiki.wlug.org.nz/NewZealandLinuxMirrors and would like to ask at University of Canterbury (Hm, there is a directory on their mirror server called "contrib" and I wonder whether there was something planned at some time ago). If someone here knows how to get in contact (email?) with an admin person there, I would appreciate any hint. Thanks Michael Doerner

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Google to bring official Android support to the Raspberry Pi 3
by Peter Reutemann 26 May '16

26 May '16

"The Raspberry Pi 3 is not hurting for operating system choices. The tiny ARM computer is supported by several Linux distributions and even has a version of Windows 10 IoT core available. Now, it looks like the Pi is about to get official support for one of the most popular operating systems out there: Android. In Google's Android Open Source Project (AOSP) repository, a new device tree recently popped up for the Raspberry Pi 3." -- source: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/05/google-to-bring-official-android-sup… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Behold, The Raspberry π Citrix Client
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 25 May '16

25 May '16

Citrix have unveiled their new desktop thin client built around a Raspberry π 3 <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/05/24/citrix_bakes_up_raspberry_pi_client/>, for USD89. "In classic disruptive fashion, the Raspberry Pi has already taken a significant share of the education PC market with over 8 million devices shipped," Citrix VP of emerging solutions Chris Fleck said...

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live edition of forthcoming Slackware release
by Ian Young 25 May '16

25 May '16

Anyone who takes an interest in Slackware may like to check out a live version recently made available. Mentioned in this week's Distrowatch Weekly. Link to project blog below. http://alien.slackbook.org/blog/stable-1-0-0-release-of-liveslak/

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Fwd: Bruce Gilbert suggested a new Meetup for WLUG - Waikato Linux Users Group
by Peter Reutemann 25 May '16

25 May '16

What do you guys think of the topic below for the next meeting? Personally, I'm just a Linux user, so not really qualified to discuss the topic. However, I'd be still keen to hear about. Cheers, Peter ---------- Forwarded message ---------- This Meetup will be announced to the group if 3 people say they're going. Or you can announce it now. Bruce Gilbert suggested a new Meetup. What: Talk about Linux/Unix philosophy & 'systemd'. When: This Meetup needs a date Where: This Meetup needs a location 'systemd', which has replaced SYSTEMV 'init' in nearly ALL current Linux distributions, seems to go against the fundamental philosophy of Linux/Unix. It has a 'finger-in-all-pies' approach & is, I believe, unnecessarily complex? Click here to check out this Meetup: http://www.meetup.com/WaikatoLinuxUsersGroup/events/231330392/

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Norton Bans kernel.org
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 24 May '16

24 May '16

The screenshot from the original report <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/05/24/norton_bans_kernel_dot_org/> shows “Computer Threats: 4” from the kernel.org site. Though it seems, since the report, Norton have fixed it to show no threats any more.

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Meetings tonight?
by Chris McClimans 24 May '16

24 May '16

Meetup.com doesn't show anything scheduled

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Supercomputing Is Hard, Reproducibility Is Harder
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 23 May '16

23 May '16

<http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/05/23/the_underbelly_of_simulation_scienc…> Their next step, to make the work easier for other researchers to replicate their results, was a replication study on other packages... That's where things got painful, they write: to get where they expected to get needed “three years of dedicated work that encountered a dozen ways that things can go wrong, conquered one after another, to arrive finally at (approximately) the same findings and a whole new understanding of what it means to do “reproducible research” in computational fluid dynamics.”

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Oracle v. Google draws to a close, jury sent home until next week
by Peter Reutemann 19 May '16

19 May '16

"Presentation of evidence in the Oracle v. Google trial ended today, and US District Judge William Alsup has sent the jury home for a long weekend. On Monday, the jury members will come back to hear closing arguments and begin their deliberations." More information on the trial can be found here: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/05/oracle-v-google-draws-to-a-close… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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