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15 Devices (Including 6 Laptops) Awarded FSF's 'Respects Your Freedom' Certification
by Peter Reutemann 03 Jul '17

03 Jul '17

'This week the Free Software Foundation awarded its coveted 'Respects Your Freedom' certification to 15 products -- more than doubling the number of certified products (from 12 to 27) since the program began in 2012. An anonymous reader writes: The non-profit FSF certified six different laptops, two docking stations, three WiFi USB adapters and two internal WiFi devices, a mainboard, and their first-ever certified Bluetooth device, the TET-BT4 USB adapter. The products are all from Technoethical (formerly Tehnoetic), a Romania-based company who previously had just one mini wireless USB adapter on their list of FSF-certified products. "In 2014 we started selling hardware compatible with fully free systems in order to fund the free software activism work that we've been doing with our foundation," said Technoethical founder, Tiberiu C. Turbureanu. "Since then, we worked hard to build a hardware catalog that allows free software users to choose what best fits their computing needs, while also helping with the funding of different free software projects." "We are excited that Technoethical has brought out such an impressive collection of hardware whose associated software respects user freedom," said the FSF's executive director, John Sullivan. "RYF certification continues to gain speed and momentum, thanks to companies like them."' -- source: https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/17/07/02/205201 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 Mint 18.2 (Sonya) released
by Peter Reutemann 02 Jul '17

02 Jul '17

Hi everyone Linux Mint 18.2, nicknamed Sonya, has been released. Here are the blog entries for the various flavors: - KDE http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=3292 - XFCE http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=3291 - MATE http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=3290 - Cinnamon http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=3289 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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Govhack hamilton
by William Mckee 01 Jul '17

01 Jul '17

Hi, Govhack is happening end of July. Tickets are free. https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/govhack-nz-hamilton-tickets-35833922226 I'm planning on a project involving Waikato bus data. a static website that displays bus stops and when the next buses leave. Hope to see you there! Cheers, William

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Open-Source Healthcare
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 01 Jul '17

01 Jul '17

Report on a long-standing project called “NHSbuntu” to put together an open-source OS fit for use at the NHS in the UK <https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/06/30/nhsbuntu_nhs_revolution/>. Also mentions Code4health, a “home for the growing number of open source projects in the health service”.

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Tuesday’s massive ransomware outbreak was, in fact, something much worse
by Peter Reutemann 29 Jun '17

29 Jun '17

'Tuesday's massive outbreak of malware that shut down computers around the world has been almost universally blamed on ransomware, which by definition seeks to make money by unlocking data held hostage only if victims pay a hefty fee. Now, some researchers are drawing an even bleaker assessment—that the malware was a wiper with the objective of permanently destroying hard drives.' -- source: https://arstechnica.com/security/2017/06/petya-outbreak-was-a-chaos-sowing-… Welcome to cyber warfare... 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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Vulnerability Discovered In Latest Ubuntu Distributions, Users Advised To Update
by Peter Reutemann 29 Jun '17

29 Jun '17

'There is a vulnerability in the latest ubuntu distributions due to the DNS resolver included in systemd. The inclusion of the dns resolver was lamented by many on the mailing list, not without cause. All are advised to update their distribution.' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/17/06/28/1659216 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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Testing For Windows Vulnerabilities On Linux
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 27 Jun '17

27 Jun '17

What’s notable about this report <https://arstechnica.com/security/2017/06/latest-high-severity-flaw-in-windo…> on a vulnerability in Windows Defender is that the testing that uncovered the problem was done, not on Windows, but on Linux. The researcher, Tavis Ormandy, developed a framework <https://github.com/taviso/loadlibrary> for loading Windows DLLs (Dynamically-Loadable Libraries) under Linux so that he could take advantage of the superior tools available there.

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Intel Quietly Discontinues Galileo, Joule, and Edison Development Boards
by Peter Reutemann 20 Jun '17

20 Jun '17

'Intel is discontinuing its Galileo, Joule, and Edison lineups of development boards. The chip-maker quietly made the announcement last week. From company's announcement: Intel Corporation will discontinue manufacturing and selling all skus of the Intel Galileo development board. Shipment of all Intel Galileo product skus ordered before the last order date will continue to be available from Intel until December 16, 2017. [...] Intel will discontinue manufacturing and selling all skus of the Intel Joule Compute Modules and Developer Kits (known as Intel 500 Series compute modules in People's Republic of China). Shipment of all Intel Joule products skus ordered before the last order date will continue to be available from Intel until December 16, 2017. Last time orders (LTO) for any Intel Joule products must be placed with Intel by September 16, 2017. [...] Intel will discontinue manufacturing and selling all skus of the Intel Edison compute modules and developer kits. Shipment of all Intel Edison product skus ordered before the last order date will continue to be available from Intel until December 16, 2017. Last time orders (LTO) for any Intel Edison products must be placed with Intel by September 16, 2017. All orders placed with Intel for Intel Edison products are non-cancelable and non-returnable after September 16, 2017. The company hasn't shared any explanation for why it is discontinuing the aforementioned development boards. Intel launched the Galileo, an Arduino-compatible mini computer in 2013, the Edison in 2014, and the Joule last year. The company touted the Joule as its "most powerful dev kit." You can find the announcement posts here.' -- source: https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/17/06/19/1720201 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 on the 26th
by Peter Reutemann 18 Jun '17

18 Jun '17

Hi everyone Unfortunately, I haven't had any inspirations as to topics for the upcoming meeting on June 26th. Any ideas or suggestions? Any cool software or distro that you'd like to demo? Personally, I've never seen an installation and day-to-day usage of Arch Linux (adding/removing applications, configuring services, etc)... 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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Debian 9 "Stretch" released
by William Mckee 18 Jun '17

18 Jun '17

Hi, Debian 9 "Stretch" has been released... After 26 months of development the Debian project is proud to present its new stable version 9 (code name Stretch), which will be supported for the next 5 years thanks to the combined work of the Debian Security team and of the Debian Long Term Support team. Debian 9 is dedicated to the project's founder Ian Murdock, who passed away on 28 December 2015. https://www.debian.org/News/2017/20170617 Cheers, William.

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