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System 76 Talks With Ubuntu, WordPress Ups Game and More…

By Christine Hall on December 11, 2016 |

Community, Desktops, Distros, Hardware, Internet, News, Software and Web Apps

System 76 Talks With Ubuntu, WordPress Ups Game and More…Ubuntu logo

Also included: Fedora community says goodbye to Matthew Williams, Solus gets a new package build system, end-of-life for Fedora 23 and IoT security.

Ubuntu logo

FOSS Week in Review

Something arctic this way comes. That”s what Lannie Pope, the weatherwoman on the local NBC affiliate, tells us, Trouble is, I’m still stuck in a house without proper heat, a situation that’s been dragging on since near the end of September. It’s a long story, but…brrr. I’m glad I don’t live in a part of the country where it gets really cold.

Now on to this week’s FOSS news, which is always warm…

Continue readingSystem 76 Talks With Ubuntu, WordPress Ups Game and More…
Make Raspberry Pi Portable With 5-inch Touch ScreenRaspberry Pi touch screen

Make Raspberry Pi Portable With 5-inch Touch Screen

By Phil Shapiro on December 9, 2016 |

Hardware and Video

You can be your own Geordi La Forge and build yourself a fully capable GNU/Linux pocket computer with this uber inexpensive five-inch touch screen and a Raspberry Pi.

Raspberry Pi touch screen

The Video Screening Room

A Raspberry Pi enthusiast in Thailand shares this video showing how you can take your Raspberry Pi on the road with a $28 five-inch HDMI touch screen available from AliExpresss.

Continue readingMake Raspberry Pi Portable With 5-inch Touch Screen
Remembering Linux InstallfestsLinux Installfest

Remembering Linux Installfests

By Robin "Roblimo" Miller on December 8, 2016 |

Community, Distros and Operating Systems

In this article, for the first time since 2003 a writer makes mention of Caldera without immediately following it with a mention of SCO. Must’ve been a mistake.

Linux Installfest
Installfest hosted by the Rutgers University Student Linux Users’ Group on November 13, 2005.
MJKazin at English Wikipedia [CC BY-SA 2.5-2.0-1.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons

Ah, yes. I remember the good old days when you had to be a real man or woman to install Linux, and the first time you tried you ended up saying something like “Help!” or maybe “Mommmmyyyyy!” Really, kids, that’s how it was. Stacks of floppies that took about 7,000 hours to download over your 16 baud connection. Times sure have changed, haven’t they?

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FOSS DOS for 21st Century HardwareAs Easy As FreeDOS

FOSS DOS for 21st Century Hardware

By FOSS Force Guest Writer on December 6, 2016 |

Gaming and Operating Systems

Jim Hall

The founder and coordinator of the FreeDOS Project writes about FreeDOS 1.2, which is scheduled for a Christmas Day release. There is good news for classic gamers and nostalgia buffs: this one’s got games.

Wing FreeDOS
WING is a DOS game similar to the arcade game Galaga.

Sure, you know a lot about Linux, but what about other non-Linux free and open source software systems? FreeDOS is an open source implementation of DOS. While DOS isn’t as old as Unix, it has a rich history. Let me tell you about how FreeDOS came about, and what’s coming up next.

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New IoT Botnet, Attackers Target Tor, and More…Tor logo

New IoT Botnet, Attackers Target Tor, and More…

By Christine Hall on December 3, 2016 |

Browsers, Distros, News, Security and Software

Also included, Flash on life support, Mageia’s new release, Ubuntu sets date for “Zesty Zapus” and our News Wire gets an RSS feed.

Tor logo

FOSS Week in Review

Outside of FOSS, the news becomes too depressing and repetitive to read. Gamergate has taken over our country and is set to move into the White House and to have free rein in the halls of congress. Roles are being reversed and it’s rapidly becoming politically incorrect to express concerns for our mother the earth or for the creatures who inhabit it, while it’s perfectly fine to label anyone who advocates for equality as a “social justice warrior” who should have no place within any organization.

If you think I’m bummed out, you’re right. At least for the time being, in the world of FOSS life goes on as usual…

Continue readingNew IoT Botnet, Attackers Target Tor, and More…
Securing SourceForge With HTTPSSourceForge

Securing SourceForge With HTTPS

By FOSS Force on December 1, 2016 |

Admin, News, Software and Web Apps

SourceForge

SourceForge says, “With a single click, projects can opt-in to switch their web hosting from HTTP to HTTPS.”

SourceForge has added a feature that gives project websites the opportunity to opt-in to using SSL HTTPS encryption. Project admins can find this option in the Admin page under “HTTPS.”

Opting-in will also trigger a domain name change, from http://name.sourceforge.net to https://name.sourceforge.io. Visitors using the old domain will automatically redirect to the new domain.

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What Malware Is on Your Router?router

What Malware Is on Your Router?

By Christine Hall on November 30, 2016 |

Hardware, News and Security

router

Mirai is exposing a serious security issue with the Internet of Things that absolutely must be quickly handled.

Until a few days ago, I had been seriously considering replacing the 1999 model Apple Airport wireless router I’ve been using since it was gifted to me in 2007. It still works fine, but I have a philosophy that any hardware that’s more than old enough to drive probably needs replacing. I’ve been planning on taking the 35 mile drive to the nearest Best Buy outlet on Saturday to see what I could get that’s within my price range.

After the news of this week, that trip is now on hold. For the time being I’ve decided to wait until I can be reasonably sure that any router I purchase won’t be hanging out a red light to attract the IoT exploit-of-the-week.

Continue readingWhat Malware Is on Your Router?
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