Distribution Releases
Alpha Distribution Releases
- Ubuntu MATE 16.04 Alpha 1 was released. On their site they claim that Alpha releases are not for users who need a stable system or for those that dislike not having a stable system, but if you are one of those people try it out anyway. Watching videos of people rage is always fun for the rest of the internet to watch. Ubuntu MATE comes with several updates to packages as well as updates to the MATE Tweak tool. And several important bugs were squashed, including one dealing with Minecraft. Three .iso choices are available, they are: 32 bit, 64 bit and PowerPC/POWER5
Open Source News
Four Auto brands have just joined the Linux Foundation's Automotive Grade Linux initiative. An initiative that was created in 2012 to create the connected car. They are Ford, Mazda, Mitsubishi and Subaru, they join a group that is already home to Toyota, Nissan, Jaguar and Land Rover. The system that is being worked on between these brands will be shown off at CES 2016.
Console hacking group, fail0verflow, has hacked the PS4 to run Linux. The group will not abandon this remarkable feat just yet. They want the PS4 to also be able to play 3D accelerated games with full support, and are looking for programmers to join this quest.
Ransom-ware program, Linux.Encoder, was reborn for the 3'rd time, and like the original iterations it was a short time before an antidote was found. Only 600 machines are infected with the code and instead of paying the evil master minds for your computer back simply run BitDefender's decryption utility.
Mozilla released Firefox 43.0.4. A maintenance release that fixes an important bug for Linux. Bug 1233434 was fixed allowing for multiple users on the same system to download the same file on the same computer.
Unity 5.3 finally comes to the Linux world, it was released on Jan.7 and includes many fixes to mouse movement, focusing and re-sizing. Unfortunately an official installer is only available for those running Ubuntu based OS'.
Google Chrome now officially supports smooth-scrolling.
Jobs/Volunteering
- fail0verflow is looking for low-level programmers to help with getting 3D accelerated games running flawlessly on their Frankenstein'd PS4. Join them on their IRC channel #f0f on EFNet, or tweet them your interest @fail0verflow.
In Case You Missed It
A 15 year old teen has received a scholarship from the Linux Foundation for sending in bug fixes. If you were affected by a bug in GNOME 3 where the magnifier caused flickering, this young man was the one that fixed that bug. He is also here on Tek Syndicate, @Zippy_Parmesian. RJ Murdok, is legally blind and after high school plans to open a small business specializing in Linux technical support.
Ian Murdock, the creator of Debian and apt-get is dead. Possibly from suicide.
Sources
BitDefender decryption download link: http://labs.bitdefender.com/wp-content/plugins/download-monitor/download.php?id=encoder_3_decrypter.zip
fail0verflow twitter page: https://twitter.com/fail0verflow
Linux Foundation scholarship awarded to RJ Murdok: http://sdtimes.com/high-schooler-awarded-linux-foundation-scholarship/
Firefox release notes: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/43.0.4/releasenotes/
Unity, the game engine : http://linux.softpedia.com/blog/unity-5-3-game-engine-editor-finally-arrives-for-linux-download-for-ubuntu-498595.shtml
Chrome smooth scrolling: http://www.ghacks.net/2016/01/08/smooth-scrolling-finally-coming-to-chrome-for-windows-and-linux/