- wlug - list.wlug.org.nz

Canonical Moving Away From GNOME Control Center
by Peter Reutemann 11 Dec '13

11 Dec '13

"This announcement comes from the ubuntu-desktop mailing list. Due to GNOME Control Center already being a heavily patched version in Ubuntu, Canonical is planning to found their own fork called Unity Control Center. This would be a fork with a limited lifespan and later on they would move to something called Ubuntu System Settings, an in-house project. For now, a PPA has been set up to test the new fork." -- source: http://linux.slashdot.org/story/13/12/11/1814220 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Waikato, NZ http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ Ph. +64 (7) 858-5174

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OpenSSH Has a New Cipher — Chacha20-poly1305 — from D.J. Bernstein
by Peter Reutemann 11 Dec '13

11 Dec '13

"Inspired by a recent Google initiative to adopt ChaCha20 and Poly1305 for TLS, OpenSSH developer Damien Miller has added a similar protocol to ssh, chacha20-poly1305(a)openssh.com, which is based on D. J. Bernstein algorithms that are specifically optimised to provide the highest security at the lowest computational cost, and not require any special hardware at doing so. Some further details are in his blog, and at undeadly. The source code of the protocol is remarkably simple — less than 100 lines of code!" -- source: http://it.slashdot.org/story/13/12/11/173213 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Waikato, NZ http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ Ph. +64 (7) 858-5174

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Proprietary Unix Continues to Fall
by Peter Reutemann 10 Dec '13

10 Dec '13

"Analysts at International Data Corporation (IDC) posted a press release Wednesday highlighting the rapid decline of IBM's AIX and P-Series hardware. Along side the drop in proprietary Unix systems is an associated rise in sales of X86 servers running Linux. IBM has clearly identified this as a long term trend, investing $1 billion dollars in Linux development on Power systems. With the reported 20% drop in sales, the writing my finally be on the wall for AIX." -- source: http://ostatic.com/blog/proprietary-unix-continues-to-fall Did a syadmin course back at uni using AIX (yes, it was way back in the late 90s). The IBM guy running parts of the course mentioned how they'd be investing lots of money in Linux over the next few years. I wonder whether they were already developing an exit strategy back then. Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Waikato, NZ http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ Ph. +64 (7) 858-5174

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WLUG on meetup.com
by Peter Reutemann 10 Dec '13

10 Dec '13

Hi everyone Just to let you know that WLUG is now also on meetup.com: http://www.meetup.com/WaikatoLinuxUsersGroup/ Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Waikato, NZ http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ Ph. +64 (7) 858-5174

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The FLOSS 2013 survey
by Peter Reutemann 04 Dec '13

04 Dec '13

"In 2002, the first FLOSS survey was launched. With over 2500 participants, it was the first large survey of Free/Libre/Open Source developers around the world. This survey had major impact in the community, academia and politics. 10 years later we would like to replicate the survey in order to see how the community has changed." -- source: http://floss2013.libresoft.es/ Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Waikato, NZ http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ Ph. +64 (7) 858-5174

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GNOME 3 Worst Linux Idea Yet
by Peter Reutemann 04 Dec '13

04 Dec '13

"Linux Journal's Readers' Choice Awards 2013 found that GNOME 3 was the Best "Worst" Linux/Open Source Idea to come down the pike. Of course the other categories may be of interest as well. These include Best Distribution, Best Linux Tablet, and Best Linux Server Vendor." -- source: http://ostatic.com/blog/gnome-3-worst-linux-idea-yet Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Waikato, NZ http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ Ph. +64 (7) 858-5174

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Linux Mint 16 Released
by Peter Reutemann 02 Dec '13

02 Dec '13

'Clement Lefebvre, founder of Mint, today announced the releases of Linux Mint 16 Cinnamon and MATE editions. In separate announcements Lefebvre said, "Linux Mint 16 is the result of 6 months of incremental development on top of stable and reliable technologies. This new release comes with updated software and brings refinements and new features to make your desktop even more comfortable to use." * The boot and login sequence no longer scan your system for btrfs partitions. * The MDM display manager no longer listens or communicates over the network. * The Update Manager is now started with a delay to make it faster for the session to load. * The Software Manager features significant speed improvements. * The Linux Mint 16 ISO images are easier on the system and faster to decompress during the live session. * Safer kernel updates. * Faster boot sequence and faster login. * Better EFI support. * Better support for Steam and added to repositories * Better colors in terminal * Better help support.' -- source: http://ostatic.com/blog/linux-mint-16-released Just started downloading the MATE version... Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Waikato, NZ http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ Ph. +64 (7) 858-5174

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f.lux
by mailinglist 02 Dec '13

02 Dec '13

Hi all, I came across this on National Radio over the weekend. There is a linux version too. f.lux is a bit of software that subtly changes the colour of your computer, tablet and phone screen to help you sleep well. With Michael Herf of f.lux. http://justgetflux.com/linux.html http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/thiswayup/audio/2578136/f-lux

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New Linux worm targets routers, cameras, “Internet of things” devices
by Peter Reutemann 28 Nov '13

28 Nov '13

"Researchers have discovered a Linux worm capable of infecting a wide range of home routers, set-top boxes, security cameras, and other consumer devices that are increasingly equipped with an Internet connection." -- source: http://bit.ly/17VaXYG Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Waikato, NZ http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ Ph. +64 (7) 858-5174

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The Burning Bridges of Ubuntu
by Peter Reutemann 27 Nov '13

27 Nov '13

"According to this article, 'Whether Ubuntu is declining is still debatable. However, in the last couple of months, one thing is clear: internally and externally, its commercial arm Canonical appears to be throwing the idea of community overboard as though it was ballast in a balloon about to crash.' The author points out instances of community discontent and apparent ham-handedness on Mark Shuttleworth's part. Yet isn't this just routine kvetching in the open source community?" -- source: http://news.slashdot.org/story/13/11/27/1955239 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Waikato, NZ http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ Ph. +64 (7) 858-5174

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