Internet News Section
Keith Packard, an active developer of Debian, leader of the X.Org project, and creator of many X extensions, including XRender, XComposite, and XRandR, has released version 1.4.7 of the standard C library PicoLibc, developed for use in embedded devices with limited permanent storage and RAM. Part of the code was borrowed from the newlib library from the Cygwin project and AVR Libc during development.
The release of the Ubuntu 20.10 'Groovy Gorilla' distribution is now available, which is categorized as an interim release, with updates being provided for 9 months (support will continue until July 2021). Ready test images have been created for Ubuntu, Ubuntu Server, Lubuntu, Kubuntu, Ubuntu Mate, Ubuntu Budgie, Ubuntu Studio, Xubuntu, and UbuntuKylin (the edition for China). Key changes include updated application versions.
Another release of the open-source operating system — 9front — has been announced. 9front, plan9 (as well as inferno) are operating systems that were ahead of their time, combining traits such as extreme clarity and conciseness of basic abstractions. Together, this provides a daunting (for the average POSIX user) architectural transparency and simplicity in solving complex tasks.
Microsoft Corporation has released a beta version of its Edge browser for Linux, available for download in the developer channel. Microsoft Edge is a browser developed by Microsoft, first released in 2015 alongside the very first version of Windows 10. It replaced Internet Explorer. Initially, it operated on its proprietary EdgeHTML engine, but later Microsoft decided to switch to […]
Following the release of the new version of OpenBSD this week, the NetBSD team has also launched a significant update in the form of NetBSD 9.1. NetBSD 9.1 includes numerous enhancements, such as: the default inclusion of a new X11 window manager and other desktop improvements; improved touchpad and trackpoint functionality for Lenovo ThinkPad laptops; enhanced performance […]
Firefox 82 is now available. Pages using flexbox load 20% faster, and session recovery is improved by 17%. The appearance of the picture-in-picture mode activation button has changed (you can compare the old and new versions here). On macOS, you can use the shortcut 'Option + Command + Shift + Right Bracket' to activate the mode before playback starts. When saving […]
The latest version of Kaitai Struct 0.9 has been released — a description language and toolkit for parsing various binary formats (e.g., network packets, image/audio/video files, databases, archives, containers, etc.). Despite its seemingly trivial version number of 0.9, this is a major release that includes developments from the past 2.5 years. During this time, the language has grown to […]
Since Intel is discontinuing support for BIOS in 2020 https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Intel-Legacy-BIOS-EOL-2020, "Intel platforms produced this year presumably will be unable to run 32-bit operating systems, unable to use related software (at least natively), and unable to use older hardware, such as RAID HBAs (and therefore older hard drives that are connected to those […]
A new version of the Nim programming language has been released, celebrating a year since the first stable version came out this September. The syntax of the language is similar to Python, while its performance is nearly on par with C++. According to the FAQ, the language borrows significantly from (in order of contribution): Modula 3, Delphi, Ada, C++, Python, Lisp, Oberon. It works everywhere thanks to its ability to compile […]
In continuation of the development of the file manager spacefm, version 2.0.0 has been released at https://github.com/thermitegod/spacefm. SpaceFM is a fork of PCManFM from the LXDE project. It is distinguished by its lightweight design, configurability, high speed, and the ability to open more than two panels in a single file manager window. Changes: Transition to the meson build system. Updated exo tools, glib, and gtk+ functions. Added support for zstd, lz4, and git session backend files. […]
FreePN is a P2P implementation of a distributed virtual private network (dVPN) that creates an anonymous 'cloud' of peer nodes, where each peer node acts as both a client node and an exit node. Peer nodes connect randomly upon startup and reconnect to new (random) peer nodes as needed. The FreePN user interface (freepn-gtk3-tray) currently supports XDG-compatible environments on […]
NetBSD has addressed a vulnerability due to a lack of buffer boundary checks when processing jumbo frames in drivers for USB-connected network adapters. This issue could lead to part of a packet being copied beyond the buffer allocated in the mbuf cluster, potentially allowing an attacker to execute code at the kernel level by sending specific frames from the local network. A fix has been implemented to block the vulnerability […]