November 2016 - wlug - list.wlug.org.nz

Debian Is Moving To MariaDB
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 17 Nov '16

17 Nov '16

I upgraded my main machine, running Debian Unstable, a few days ago, and my time and billing system stopped working. Further investigation revealed that the mysql-server package had somehow disappeared. I am installing it again now, and it looks like it is putting in MariaDB instead of Oracle MySQL. The executables etc still keep the “mysql” name, so it looks like nothing in my code need change...

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Are Antivirus Tools A Useless Box-Ticking Exercise?
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 17 Nov '16

17 Nov '16

... many existing tools [are] ineffective "magic" that engineers are forced to install for the sake of compliance but at the expense of real security. <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/11/17/google_hacker_pleads_try_whitelists…>

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Word For The Day: “Serverless”
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 16 Nov '16

16 Nov '16

When I first came across this term, I assumed it meant something like “distributed peer-to-peer” rather than having dedicated servers. Turns out it means something quite different: instead of paying for the server as a whole, you pay per service request. <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/11/16/forget_razors_and_blades_apis_are_t…>

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The End Of GCJ?
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 16 Nov '16

16 Nov '16

GCJ, the GNU Compiler for Java, has been languishing for some time, and may be about to be put out of its misery. Unlike the Sun/Oracle compiler, GCJ can compile to native machine code (thanks to the common GCC infrastructure), it is not restricted to some intermediate byte code. It originated before Sun open-sourced Java, and I guess a lot of the need for it went away when OpenJDK appeared. <http://phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=GCC-Patch-To-Drop-GCJ>

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Disk-Reliability Data From Backblaze
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 16 Nov '16

16 Nov '16

Backup service company Backblaze has been migrating en mass from 2TB drives to 8TB ones. The Seagate ones, at least show no difference in failure rate--1.6% per year. They must be getting a special deal on the price, because last time I looked at cost, 4TB was still the sweet spot, same as it was 2 years ago. <http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/11/8tb-disks-still-looki…>.

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How Toy Story 2 Got Deleted Twice, Once On Accident, Again On Purpose
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 16 Nov '16

16 Nov '16

How a wayward “rm -rf *” almost destroyed Pixar’s “Toy Story 2”, and how it was recovered from a copy that a staffer just happened to have on her home machine <http://thenextweb.com/media/2012/05/21/how-pixars-toy-story-2-was-deleted-t…>.

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Ubuntu Budgie Is Now An Official Ubuntu Flavor
by rowan schischka 10 Nov '16

10 Nov '16

Cheers for that Peter, budgie looks like an interesting interface. Im going to have to review it. Why is there so much effort going into remixes when you can install the desktop on stock ubuntu? -- Kind Regards Rowan Schischka

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Open Source Pioneer Munich Debates Report That Suggests Abandoning Linux for Windows 10
by Peter Reutemann 10 Nov '16

10 Nov '16

'As an open-source software pioneer, Munich spent years moving away from Windows, but now politicians are debating a report that suggests the city could eventually abandon Linux. A report on TechRepublic adds: If the authority ruling Germany's third largest city backs proposals to make Windows 10 and Microsoft Office available across the council, it would be a significant step away from open-source software for an organization once seen as its champion. Over a nine-year period starting in 2004, the council moved about 15,000 staff from using Windows and Office to LiMux -- a custom version of the Ubuntu desktop OS -- and other open source software. At the time, Munich was one of the largest organizations to reject Windows, and Microsoft took the city's leaving so seriously that then CEO Steve Ballmer flew to Munich to meet the mayor. Now a report commissioned by current mayor Dieter Reiter to help determine the future of IT at the council has outlined a project to make Windows 10 and Microsoft Office available to all departments, and give staff the choice about whether to use Windows or LiMux.' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/16/11/09/212246 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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Ubuntu Budgie Is Now An Official Ubuntu Flavor
by Peter Reutemann 09 Nov '16

09 Nov '16

'After two successful major releases, budgie-remix has finally been accepted as an official Ubuntu flavor, earlier today during a meeting where four Canonical technicians voted positive. As such, we're extremely happy to inform our readers that the new Ubuntu flavor is called Ubuntu Budgie. In April this year, when budgie-remix hit the road towards its first major release, versioned 16.04, we reported that David Mohammed was kind enough to inform Softpedia about the fact that he got in touch with Ubuntu MATE leader Martin Wimpress, who urged the developer to target Ubuntu 16.10 for an official status. budgie-remix 16.10 arrived as well this fall shortly after the release of Ubuntu 16.10 (Yakkety Yak), and the dream of becoming an official Ubuntu flavor is now a reality. Re-branding of the official website and the entire distribution is ongoing. "We now move full steam ahead and look forward to working with the Ubuntu Develop Membership Board to examine and work through the technical aspects [...] 17.04 will be our first official release under the new name," said David Mohammed in the announcement.' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/16/11/08/2211257 Cheers, Petr -- 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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Signal Looks Secure
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 08 Nov '16

08 Nov '16

Signal is an application and secure messaging protocol created by a group led by Moxie Marlinspike. It has also been adopted by some other applications, notably Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. Now, an independent security audit by a multinational team <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/11/08/trust_it_results_of_signals_first_f…> has come to the conclusion that there are no obvious flaws in the protocol (accidental or otherwise)--that it really can deliver on the promise of preserving privacy in communication over an insecure network.

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