- wlug - list.wlug.org.nz

The Linux Foundation Launches IoT-focused Open Source EdgeX Foundry
by Peter Reutemann 26 Apr '17

26 Apr '17

'The Linux Foundation launches the open source EdgeX Foundry -- an attempt to unify and simplify the Internet of Things. The Linux Foundation says, "EdgeX Foundry is unifying the marketplace around a common open framework and building an ecosystem of companies offering interoperable plug-and-play components. Designed to run on any hardware or operating system and with any combination of application environments, EdgeX can quickly and easily deliver interoperability between connected devices, applications, and services, across a wide range of use cases. Interoperability between community-developed software will be maintained through a certification program."' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/17/04/24/1511239 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 4.11 Delayed For a Week
by Peter Reutemann 26 Apr '17

26 Apr '17

'Linux kernel creator Linus Torvalds said over the weekend that v4.11 version of Linux has hit a speed bump in the form of "NVMe power management that apparently causes problems on some machines." The Register adds: "It's not entirely clear what caused the [NVMe] issue (it wasn't just limited to some NVMe hardware, but also particular platforms), but let's test it." Which sounds like a good idea, given that flash memory on the PCIe bus is increasingly mainstream. That problem and "a couple of really annoying" bugs mean that Torvalds has decided to do an eighth release candidate for Linux 4.11. "I did get fixes for the issues that popped up, so I could have released 4.11 as-is," Torvalds wrote, "but it just doesn't feel right."' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/17/04/24/1633209 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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Canadian Regulator Puts Foot Down On Net Neutrality
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 23 Apr '17

23 Apr '17

While the Trump administration has rolled back consumer protections on net neutrality in the USA, the Canadian CRTC has come out firmly in favour of it <https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/04/21/canada_net_neutrality/>. It has said that “zero rating”--the practice of ISPs favouring certain online services by not counting them towards data caps, is bad because differential pricing practices, generally speaking, result in (a) a preference toward certain subscribers over others, (b) a preference toward certain content providers over others, (c) a disadvantage to subscribers who are not eligible for, or interested in, a differential pricing practice offering, and (d) a disadvantage to content providers that are not eligible for, or included in, an offering. In other words, they are anticompetitive, no matter what some may try to argue.

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File System Improvements To the Windows Subsystem for Linux
by Peter Reutemann 21 Apr '17

21 Apr '17

'In the latest Windows Insider build, the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) now allows you to manually mount Windows drives using the DrvFs file system. Previously, WSL would automatically mount all fixed NTFS drives when you launch Bash, but there was no support for mounting additional storage like removable drives or network locations. Now, not only can you manually mount any drives on your system, we've also added support for other file systems such as FAT, as well as mounting network locations. This enables you to access any drive, including removable USB sticks or CDs, and any network location you can reach in Windows all from within WSL.' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/17/04/20/1422256 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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Unicode In Domain Names Opens Up Homograph Attacks
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 19 Apr '17

19 Apr '17

The problem is not new: it was identified over a decade ago. But no fix has been forthcoming. <https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/04/18/homograph_attack_again/>

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meeting next Monday
by Peter Reutemann 18 Apr '17

18 Apr '17

Hi everyone We have a meeting coming up on Monday next week: "With Canonical killing off its desktop environment Unity in favor of GNOME, let's have a look at some of the available desktop environments: - Ian Stewart: Ubuntu 17.04 with Unity - William Mckee: LXDE - Peter Reutemann: MATE (vanilla and mint-flavored) Also, Ian Young: Getting a DVB-T card for laptops going - a live experiment." Details: https://www.meetup.com/WaikatoLinuxUsersGroup/events/237234793/ If you want to demo another desktop environment, like KDE or XFCE, then please let me know. Always looking for volunteers! :-) 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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demo at meeting on Monday
by Ian Young 17 Apr '17

17 Apr '17

Afraid I won't be talking about Unity as Ian S has suggested - I have only ever used it briefly and never really quite got what it was all about. However if there is any spare time I could bring a DVB-T card for use with laptops I got recently. It seems to be a live one, lights up and is seen by a laptop and various Linux software applications for viewing TV. Alas, not scanning any channels. Perhaps someone knows all about this, or at any rate more than I do. The device in question is badged as an HP EC300 and has a DIBcom chipset. ~ Ian Y

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suggestion for upcoming meeting
by Peter Reutemann 15 Apr '17

15 Apr '17

Hi everyone With Canonical pulling out of Unity development, how about we showcase the various desktops that have been available for a long time and are *still* available at the next meeting (April 24th)? If you want to present one, then please reply to this list naming the desktop of your choice. Thanks. Cheers, Peter PS And stay safe with Cyclone Cook! The next 24 hours will be interesting... -- 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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Dozens Of Canonical Employees Resign As Ubuntu Switches To GNOME, Shuttleworth Returns As CEO
by Peter Reutemann 12 Apr '17

12 Apr '17

'More than 80 Canonical workers are facing the axe as founder Mark Shuttleworth has taken back the role of chief executive officer. The number, revealed today by The Reg, comes as Shuttleworth assumed the position from CEO of eight years Jane Silber, previously chief operating officer. The Reg has learned 31 or more staffers have already left the Ubuntu Linux maker ahead of Shuttleworth's rise, with at least 26 others now on formal notice and uncertainty surrounding the remainder. One individual has resigned while others, particularly in parts of the world with more stringent labour laws (such as the UK), are being left in the dark. The details come after The Reg revealed plans for the cuts as a commercial get-fit programme instituted by Shuttleworth. The Canonical founder is cutting numbers after an external assessment of his company by potential new financial backers found overstaffing and that projects lacked focus.' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/17/04/12/1844230 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 Kodi Development Team Wants To Be Legitimate and Bring DRM To the Platform
by Peter Reutemann 11 Apr '17

11 Apr '17

'The XBMC/ Kodi development team has taken a lot of heat over the years, mostly due to third-party developers introducing piracy plugins to the platform. In many cases, cheap Android computers are often sold with these plugins pre-installed with the Kodi or XBMC name attached to them -- something that caused Amazon to ban sales of such devices. The Kodi team is not happy about this, and has taken the fight to the sellers. The Kodi team is now trying to work with rights holders to introduce DRM and legitimate plugins to the platform. Is this the first step towards creating a true one-stop do it yourself Linux entertainment system?' -- source: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/17/04/11/1911215 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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Canonical Founder Criticizes Free Software Developers Who 'Hate On Whatever's Mainstream'
by Peter Reutemann 10 Apr '17

10 Apr '17

'Canonical Founder Mark Shuttleworth said Saturday that "I came to be disgusted with the hate" on Canonical's display server Mir, saying it "changed my opinion of the free software community." After announcing his company was abandoning Unity for GNOME, Shuttleworth posted a gracious thank-you note to the Unity community Friday on Google Plus. But on Saturday, he added a sharper comment: "I used to think that it was a privilege to serve people who also loved the idea of service, but now I think many members of the free software community are just deeply anti-social types who love to hate on whatever is mainstream. When Windows was mainstream they hated on it. Rationally, Windows does many things well and deserves respect for those. And when Canonical went mainstream, it became the focus of irrational hatred too. The very same muppets would write about how terrible it was that IOS/Android had no competition and then how terrible it was that Canonical was investing in (free software!) compositing and convergence. Fuck that shit." The comment begins by saying "The whole Mir hate-fest boggled my mind - it's free software that does something invisible really well. It became a political topic as irrational as climate change or gun control, where being on one side or the other was a sign of tribal allegiance. We have a problem in the community when people choose to hate free software instead of loving that someone cares enough to take their life's work and make it freely available."' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/17/04/09/1829209 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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Smart TV hack embeds attack code into broadcast signal—no access required
by Chris O'Halloran 06 Apr '17

06 Apr '17

https://arstechnica.co.uk/security/2017/04/smart-tv-hack-embeds-attack-code… A new attack that uses terrestrial radio signals to hack a wide range of Smart TVs raises an unsettling prospect—the ability of hackers to take complete control of a large number of sets at once without having physical access to any of them.

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Android devices can be fatally hacked by malicious Wi-Fi networks
by Peter Reutemann 06 Apr '17

06 Apr '17

'A broad array of Android phones is vulnerable to attacks that use booby-trapped Wi-Fi signals to achieve full device takeover, a researcher has demonstrated. The vulnerability resides in a widely used Wi-Fi chipset manufactured by Broadcom and used in both iOS and Android devices. Apple patched the vulnerability with Monday's release of iOS 10.3.1. "An attacker within range may be able to execute arbitrary code on the Wi-Fi chip," Apple's accompanying advisory warned. In a highly detailed blog post published Tuesday, the Google Project Zero researcher who discovered the flaw said it allowed the execution of malicious code on a fully updated 6P "by Wi-Fi proximity alone, requiring no user interaction." Google is in the process of releasing an update in its April security bulletin. The fix is available only to a select number of device models, and even then it can take two weeks or more to be available as an over-the-air update to those who are eligible. Company representatives didn't respond to an e-mail seeking comment for this post.' -- source: https://arstechnica.com/security/2017/04/wide-range-of-android-phones-vulne… 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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Canonical Killing Unity For Ubuntu Linux, Will Switch To the Superior GNOME
by Peter Reutemann 05 Apr '17

05 Apr '17

'Today, the company admits that it is throwing in the towel on Unity, as well as its vision for convergence with devices like phones and tablets. Starting with Ubuntu 18.04, the wonderful GNOME will once again become the default desktop environment! "We are wrapping up an excellent quarter and an excellent year for the company, with performance in many teams and products that we can be proud of. As we head into the new fiscal year, it's appropriate to reassess each of our initiatives. I'm writing to let you know that we will end our investment in Unity8, the phone and convergence shell. We will shift our default Ubuntu desktop back to GNOME for Ubuntu 18.04 LTS," says Mark Shuttleworth, Founder of Ubuntu and Canonical.' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/17/04/05/1812232 <rant> Well, looks like some consolidation is happening, not that I consider Gnome3 "superior". IMHO MATE is still far better (and making me more efficient) than Gnome3. Introducing dynamic workspaces was the worst decision ever... </rant> 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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Samsung’s Tizen is riddled with security flaws, amateurishly written
by Peter Reutemann 05 Apr '17

05 Apr '17

'Tizen, the open source operating system that Samsung uses on a range of Internet-of-Things devices and positions as a sometime competitor to Android, is chock full of egregious security flaws, according to Israeli researcher Amihai Neiderman. Samsung has been developing the operating system for many years. The project started as an Intel and Nokia project, and Samsung merged its Bada operating system into the code in 2013. Like Android, it's built on a Linux kernel, with a large chunk of open source software running on top. App development on Tizen uses C++ and HTML5.' -- source: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/04/samsungs-tizen-is-riddled-with-secu… 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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Fuchsia: Google's new operating system
by Bryan Baldwin 04 Apr '17

04 Apr '17

Fuchsia is a new operating system <https://lwn.net/SubscriberLink/718267/206c8a5fbf0ee2ea/> being built more or less from scratch at Google. The news of the development of Fuchsia made a splash on technology news sites in August 2016, although many details about it are still a mystery. It is an open-source project; development and documentation work is still very much ongoing. Despite the open-source nature of the project, its actual purpose has not yet been revealed by Google. From piecing together information from the online documentation and source code, we can surmise that Fuchsia is a complete operating system for PCs, tablets, and high-end phones. The source to Fuchsia and all of its components is available to download at its source repository <https://fuchsia.googlesource.com/>. If you enjoy poking around experimental operating systems, exploring the innards of this one will be fun. Fuchsia consists of a kernel plus user-space components on top that provide libraries and utilities. There are a number of subprojects under the Fuchsia umbrella in the source repository, mainly libraries and toolkits to help create applications. Fuchsia is mostly licensed under a 3-clause BSD license, but the kernel is based on another project called LK (Little Kernel) <https://github.com/littlekernel/lk> that is MIT-licensed, so the licensing for the kernel is a mix. Third-party software included in Fuchsia is licensed according to its respective open-source license. https://www.osnews.com/story/29747/Fuchsia_Google_s_new_operating_system

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The r/place Experiment
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 04 Apr '17

04 Apr '17

Over the April Fool’s weekend, Reddit, the (in)famous social-media and troll-hangout site, tried something very unusual: they created a blank 1000-by-1000-pixel canvas, and turned their users loose on it to draw whatever they liked. The only restriction was a limit on how quickly any one user could update the image: just 1 pixel every 5 minutes. The resulting time-lapse animation is quite breathtaking to watch <https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/04/in-memoriam-reddits-72-hour-live-gra…>. Look at the number of logos and national flags: a battle between the French and German flags gets resolved with the French one running its bars vertically, the German one horizontally, and an EU flag placed at the intersection; another brief skirmish between the Greek and Turkish flags gets resolved with them being placed side by side, joined by a heart. Yes, there are the occasional rude words. But it’s surprising how little of that kind of thing appears--or perhaps it was removed too quickly by competing groups with other fish to fry. Watch the animations a few times; you’ll see something new each time.

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If-I-Buy-It-Do-I-Own-It Chapter 339: Tractors
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 31 Mar '17

31 Mar '17

Owners of John Deere tractors are resorting to pirated firmware in order to gain the ability to repair their own property: <https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20170322/04582036973/tractor-owners-using…> Are farmers in NZ impacted by any of this? I see that John Deere tractors are indeed sold here.

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Phrase Of The Week: “Necessary Hashtags”
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 28 Mar '17

28 Mar '17

UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd’s immortal quotation has spawned a T-shirt: <https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20170327/20224837016/limited-edition-gear…>. Do you have the necessary hashtags? Do they come in a nice series of tubes?

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After 20 Years, OpenSSL Will Change To Apache License 2.0, Seeks Pasts Contributors
by Peter Reutemann 26 Mar '17

26 Mar '17

'After nearly 20 years and 31,000 commits, OpenSSL wants to change to Apache License v2.0. They're now tracking down all 400 contributors to sign new license agreements, a process expected to take several months. Slashdot reader rich_salz shares links to OpenSSL's official announcement (and their agreement-collecting web site). "This re-licensing activity will make OpenSSL, already the world's most widely-used FOSS encryption software, more convenient to incorporate in the widest possible range of free and open source software," said Mishi Choudhary, Legal Director of Software Freedom Law Center and counsel to OpenSSL. "OpenSSL's team has carefully prepared for this re-licensing, and their process will be an outstanding example of 'how to do it right.'" Click through for some comments on the significance of this move from the Linux Foundation, Intel, and Oracle.' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/17/03/26/2258218 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 Linux 17.04 'Zesty Zapus' Final Beta Now Available For Download
by Peter Reutemann 26 Mar '17

26 Mar '17

'The final beta of Ubuntu 17.04 'Zesty Zapus' became available for download Thursday. While it is never a good idea to run pre-release software on production machines, Canonical is claiming that it should be largely bug free at this point. In other words, if you understand the risks, it should be a fairly safe. Home users aside, this is a good opportunity for administrators to conduct testing prior to the official release next month. "The Ubuntu team is pleased to announce the final beta release of the Ubuntu 17.04 Desktop, Server, and Cloud products. Codenamed 'Zesty Zapus', 17.04 continues Ubuntu's proud tradition of integrating the latest and greatest open source technologies into a high-quality, easy-to-use Linux distribution," says Adam Conrad, Canonical. "The team has been hard at work through this cycle, introducing new features and fixing bugs."' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/17/03/25/2127238 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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meeting next Monday
by Peter Reutemann 23 Mar '17

23 Mar '17

Hi everyone We have a WLUG meeting coming up next Monday: "William Mckee has been to nz.js.con recently and will talk about the A/V setup used for recording the presentations: hdmi2usb" https://www.meetup.com/WaikatoLinuxUsersGroup/events/237234774/ BTW It's not too late if you still want to present something! Just email me. 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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GNOME 3.24 Released
by Peter Reutemann 22 Mar '17

22 Mar '17

'GNOME 3.24 just finished its six-month development cycle, and it's now the most advanced stable version of the modern and popular desktop environment used by default in numerous GNU/Linux distributions. It was developed since October 2016 under the GNOME 3.23.x umbrella, during which it received numerous improvements. Prominent new features of the GNOME 3.24 desktop environment include a Night Light functionality that promises to automatically shift the colors of your display to the warmer end of the spectrum after sunset, and a brand-new GNOME Control Center with redesigned Users, Keyboard and Mouse, Online Accounts, Bluetooth, and Printer panels. As for the GNOME apps, we can mention that the Nautilus file manager now lets users browse files as root (system administrator), GNOME Photos imitates Darktable's exposure and blacks adjustment tool, GNOME Music comes with ownCloud integration and lets you edit tags, and GNOME Calendar finally brings the Week view. New apps like GNOME Recipes are also part of this release. The full release notes can be viewed here. Softpedia notes in conclusion: "As mentioned before, it will take at least a couple of weeks for the new GNOME 3.24 packages to land on the stable repositories of your favorite distro, which means that you'll most probably be able to upgrade from GNOME 3.22 when the first point release, GNOME 3.24.1, is out on April 12, 2017."' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/17/03/22/205210 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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Firefox for Linux is Now Netflix Compatible
by Peter Reutemann 22 Mar '17

22 Mar '17

'For a while, Netflix was not available for traditional Linux-based operating systems, meaning users were unable to enjoy the popular streaming service without booting into Windows. This was due to the company's reliance on Microsoft Silverlight. Since then, Netflix adopted HTML5, and it made Google Chrome and Chromium for Linux capable of playing the videos. Unfortunately, Firefox -- the open source browser choice for many Linux users -- was not compatible. Today this changes, however, as Mozilla's offering is now compatible with Netflix!' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/17/03/22/1510220 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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suggestions for upcoming meeting?
by Peter Reutemann 19 Mar '17

19 Mar '17

Hi everyone Any suggestions for the upcoming meeting? https://www.meetup.com/WaikatoLinuxUsersGroup/events/237234774/ Thanks. 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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