Indholdsfortegnelse for February 2023 i Linux Magazine

Dear Reader, After all these years in publishing, it is really hard to grab my attention with a random headline, but I have to admit this one caught my eye: “Poor Software Quality Costs the US $2.4 Trillion.” At first I thought it was a typo. (I was thinking maybe it should be “Billion” – I had no illusions that it was going to be “Million.”) But with further reading, it appears that “Trillion” really was what they had in mind. All the articles that appeared in the press with some variation of this headline pointed to a report by the Consortium for Information on Software Quality (CISQ) [1]. CISQ is an organization founded by the Object Management Group (OMG) standards development organization and the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie…

The developers of Linux Mint have officially announced the upcoming release is in beta https://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=4442). What’s big about this news is that 21.1 will include the latest release of the Cinnamon desktop. The new version of Cinnamon has been tidied up to look cleaner and more modern. You’ll find more vibrant colors, a new mouse pointer, new system sounds, and some of the desktop icons have been removed and are now pinned to the panel or opened from the main menu. In order to achieve more vibrant colors, the developers had to use fewer accents across the user interface (UI). This change also required a number of other minor theme tweaks. The Linux Mint Driver Manager also received a number of improvements for the user interface and includes a more…

The developers of the Orange Pi board have made available four operating systems supported for their hardware: Orange Pi OS, Ubuntu, Debian, and Manjaro. Soon, they will be adding another distribution into the mix, one based on Arch Linux. This version of Arch Linux will be user-friendly and highly compatible with open source drivers. Orange Pi OS (Arch) will ship with Libre Office and will support most of the major Linux desktops, such as Gnome, KDE, and Xfce. According to the developers, Orange Pi OS (Arch) (http://www.orangepi.org/html/softWare/orangePiOS/arch.html) will be easy to install, stable, highly secure, support multi-framework systems (such as x86, Arm, and RISC-V), and will support a wide number of applications (including Code::Blocks, Gnome-disks, Inkscape, Thunder bird, VLC, VS Code, NeoChat, Remmina, and more). Orange Pi OS (Arch) will…

Get the latest news in your inbox every two weeks Subscribe FREE to Linux Update bit.ly/Linux-Update Star Labs has been creating Linux laptops for some time now and recently they announced a new addition to their fleet of options, the StartFighter custom laptop (https://us.starlabs.systems/pages/starfighter). This beautiful piece of technology features a true matte display that uses a protective coating to defuse ambient light so colors can shine brighter. The display offers up to 3840x2400 4K resolution, a 16:10 aspect ratio, and 600cd/m² of brightness at a 165Hz refresh rate and 178 degrees of viewing. Other features found on the StarFighter include a removable webcam with built-in storage, a kill switch to shut off wireless when needed, a backlit keyboard with media keys, international layouts, and LED indicators. The StarFighter also…

Vulnerabilities using a 32-Bit Kernel on a 64-Bit CPU Naresh Kamboju of Linaro reported that the kernel was giving some serious Spectre and Retbleed security warnings on the Linaro test farm. He said they were using the i386 kernel on the 64-bit Intel Skylake CPU. Or at least, he posted some debugging output that identified the specific CPU. Greg Kroah-Hartman remarked that this particular combination – a 32-bit kernel running on a 64-bit architecture – was sort of pathological. People should really use a faster and more efficient 64-bit kernel if their architecture supports it. Greg said this particular environment might not be something the kernel developers needed to care about. He suggested that Pawan Gupta from Intel might be the person to ask. Meanwhile, Peter Zijlstra remarked, “Yeah, so…

Whether it’s on a Post-it note under the screen or in a commercial application like OnePass, users have to write down their passwords somewhere. The Go application for the terminal presented in this article encrypts the sensitive data for storage on the hard drive and displays selected entries after entering the master password. The secret data leaves traces only in the computer’s memory, with the traces vanishing when the program is closed. Resourceful users could simply put all account names and passwords in a text file and encrypt it. However, to add new entries, the file would have to be decrypted and then re-encrypted after editing. To ensure that no unencrypted data remains on the drive, you would then need to run a scrub command to overwrite the deleted file…

Linux is running right now in millions of homes, for users who just need a reliable desktop system for office work, gaming, email, and other tasks. But everyone knows that Linux is also a fabulous server system. If you need a server, but you don’t have the time or inclination to become a Linux server administrator, YunoHost might be your best bet. The goal of YunoHost is to make it very easy to set up and use a Linux server. In many cases, YunoHost lets you install a service with a single mouse click. This month we introduce you to Linux server management with YunoHost. Also in this month’s Linux Voice, manage your finances with Skrooge and manage your processes with btop++.…

Order online: https://bit.ly/Linux-Newsstand #266/January 2023 Generative Adversarial Networks What is the secret behind the recent explosion of computer art and fake videos? One neural network lies to another neural network… On the DVD: Ubuntu 22.10 and AlmaLinux 9.0 #265/December 2022 Quantum Computing Most Linux users know that this futuristic technology leverages the weird power of quantum mechanics. But how does it really work? What can I do with it? Are there tools available today that will help me experiment? This month we take a deep dive into quantum computing. On the DVD: Manjaro 21.3.7-220816 and Arch Linux 2022.10.01 #264/November 2022 Artificial Intelligence Machine learning remains shrouded in mystery even though it is now an integral part of our everyday world. This month we look behind the curtain at some popular techniques for…

We are always looking for good articles on Linux and the tools of the Linux environment. Although we will consider any topic, the following themes are of special interest: • System administration• Useful tips and tools• Security, both news and techniques• Product reviews, especially from real-world experience• Community news and projects If you have an idea, send a proposal with an outline, an estimate of the length, a description of your background, and contact information to edit@​linux-magazine.com. The technical level of the article should be consistent with what you normally read in Linux Magazine. Remember that Linux Magazine is read in many countries, and your article may be translated into one of our sister publications. Therefore, it is best to avoid using slang and idioms that might not be understood…

4MLinux 41 is now available for general use and includes plenty of updates. There are new applications to be had, including FileZilla, XPaint, and GNU Paint, a comm-and-line tool for managing NVM Express (NVMe) partitions, a small collection of games, Libre Office 7.4.3, Gnome Office (AbiWord, Gimp, Gnumeric), Dropbox, Firefox, Chromium, Thunderbird, the Audacious music player, VLC, SMPlayer, Wine 7.18, and more. With the release of 4MLinux 41.0, it is now possible to install on a Btrfs partition, with the help of Syslinux acting as a boot manager. This lightweight Linux distribution ships with kernel 6.0.6 and Mesa 22.1.4, and uses Joe’s Window Manager (JWM) as the desktop interface. There are three different versions that can be downloaded and used: Full, Core, and Server. The Server edition makes it easy…

Linux Magazine www.linux-magazine.com ADMIN HPC http://www.admin-magazine.com/HPC/ Warewulf 4 • Jeff Layton Warewulf 4 is ready to help you build an HPC cluster. ADMIN Online http://www.admin-magazine.com/ Lithnet Password Protection for Active Directory • Christian Knermann Lithnet Password Protection for Active Directory provides flexible rules beyond that possible with group policies alone and prevents the use of previously compromised passwords. Chef Users Faced with a License Change Might Find Solace in a New Open Source Distribution, Cinc. • Martin Loschwitz For the past two years, Chef software used commercially has required a separate license. Cinc enters the scene as a free and completely compatible Chef distribution that makes it a genuine alternative. Setting Up a PXE Boot Server • Andreas Stolzenberger Set up a PXE server for BIOS and UEFI clients and…

Red Hat added a new CVE code, listed as 2022-3977 (https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-3977), which is described as a use-after-free flaw. A use-after flaw can occur when a program attempts to use memory that has been released. CVE 2022-3977 resides in the Linux kernel Management Component Transport Protocol (MCTP). How this vulnerability works is after a user simultaneously calls DROPTAG ioctl at the same time a socket close occurs. When this happens, the vulnerability can then be used to elevate privileges all the way up to root. This CVE has been listed as Moderate, with a CVSS v3 base score of 7.0 and the vulnerability was found in the most recent upstream Linux kernel. It was the Venustech Active Defense Laboratory that originally reported the vulnerability, finding it in kernel v5.18.0 with the…

For Raspberry Pi users, Xonsh [1] offers many opportunities to write some extremely light weight scripts, with Python connecting to physical devices and Bash utilities accessing system and file resources. In this article, we look at two lean Xonsh projects for the Raspberry Pi. The first program connects to a DHT11 temperature and humidity sensor and shows the results in a Bash dialog in just five lines. The second project calls the Bash top utility in a lean eight lines to show the Raspberry Pi idle time and user time on a 16x2 LCD screen. Getting Started Xonsh has two requirements: Python 3.8 or greater and a Bash shell. To install and run Xonsh on a Raspberry Pi, Ubuntu, or Debian system, enter: When the Xonsh shell opens, the terminal…

Jon “maddog” Hall is an author, educator, computer scientist, and free software pioneer who has been a passionate advocate for Linux since 1994 when he first met Linus Torvalds and facilitated the port of Linux to a 64-bit system. He serves as president of Linux International®. Getting started with commands Recently, I was at a conference and I met a young person who wanted to start using free and open source software, but they did not know where to start. They told me that they were a programmer and even could do simple programs in C, but they wanted an open source IDE (there are a couple) and they were “even willing to learn vim or emacs, but they are really hard.” Now I have been a vim person for…

Graham was lucky enough to attend the first Ubuntu Summit in a decade, held in Prague in the Czech Republic. If he goes next year, he promises to run a session on making open source beer. Audio workstation Ardour There has been a steady influx of new audio software for Linux over the past few years, and PipeWire looks set to make the Linux audio stack professionally performant and flexible. When it comes to digital audio, there’s one application in particular that rules them all, and that’s Ardour. Ardour is almost 20 years old now, and over that time it has become the most powerful open source digital audio workstation you can use. It’s installed on macOS, Windows, and Linux desktops everywhere, from recording studios in Africa to universities in…

Users, developers, and vendors meet at Linux events around the world. We at Linux Magazine are proud to sponsor the Featured Events shown here. For other events near you, check our extensive events calendar online at https://www.linux-magazine.com/events. If you know of another Linux event you would like us to add to our calendar, please send a message with all the details to info@linux-magazine.com. NOTICE Be sure to check the event website before booking any travel, as many events are being canceled or converted to virtual events due to the effects of COVID-19. SCaLE20x Date: March 9-12, 2023 Location: Pasadena, California Website: https://www.socallinuxexpo.org/blog/scale-20x The 20th Annual Southern California Linux Expo will take place on March 9-12, 2023 at the Pasadena Convention Center in Pasadena, California. SCaLE is the largest community-run open-source and…

Approximate UK/Europe Feb 10 USA/Canada Mar 17 Australia Apr 28 On Sale Date Please note: On sale dates are approximate and may be delayed because of logistical issues. Machine learning starts with finding the right training data. Have you ever wondered what sort of mischief an attacker could do with the wrong training data? Next month, we explore data poisoning and the dark side of AI. Preview Newsletter The Linux Magazine Preview is a monthly email newsletter that gives you a sneak peek at the next issue, including links to articles posted online. Sign up at: https://bit.ly/Linux-Update…

Initial Support for Rust in the Linux Kernel is Finally Released Linus Torvalds finally announced that the latest LTS version of the Linux kernel (version 6.1) includes the initial support for the Rust programming language that recently has been hyped (https://lkml.org/lkml/2022/12/11/206). This, of course, comes on the heels of what Torvalds calls the “merge window from hell,” thanks to the holidays and his pre-holiday travel. On this, Torvalds announced he would be very strict with the merge window rules, saying “The rules are that the pull requests sent to me during the merge window should have been ready _before_ the merge window and have seen some time in linux-next. No last-minute batch of experimental new development that hasn’t been seen by our test automation.” Of course, the big news for…

When the next version of Xfce is released, you might not be blown away by an array of new and game-changing features. Instead, what you’ll find are plenty of subtle new features and fixes that make the open source desktop better than ever – all the while remaining very familiar, stable, and easy to use. The new features include a number of improvements to the Thunar file manager – such as a new bookmark menu, recent sidebar entry, customizable keyboard shortcuts, option to show full directory path, recursive search, undo/redo options, a split view, support for drag & drop items in the view panels, and the ability to execute shell scripts from within a directory. As far as the desktop, you’ll find the panel length is now configured in pixels…

The first Alpine Linux release in the 3.17 stable series is now available for download and finally adds Rust on all supported platforms. The distribution ships with either Gnome 43 or KDE Plasma 5.26 and enjoys all of the new features and fixes found in both of those desktop environments. As for what’s new in Alpine Linux itself, the list includes Bash 5.2, GCC 12, Kea 2.2, OpenSSL 3.0, Perl 5.36, PostgreSQL 15, Node.js 18.12, Ceph 17.2, Go 1.19, Rust 1.64, and. NET 7.0.100. OpenSSL also is available with the openssl1.1-compat package. It should be noted that PHP 8.0 has been officially deprecated and ISC Kea was moved to the main repository for long time support, whereas ISC DHCP was moved to the community repository. With this move, users are…

The newest release of AlmaLinux, version 8.7, is now available to the general public. This release is a 1:1 binary-compatible replacement for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.7 and features plenty of changes and updates. One of the big changes comes in the ability to build custom images with custom/boot mount-point partitions and sizes. In addition, the latest release includes important security updates, such as all Network Security Service (NSS) libraries have increased the minimum key size for all RSA operations from 128 to 1023 bits. Other updates include, scap-security-guide is now better aligned with Defense Information Systems Agency technical guides content; a new package, xmlstarlet, which can parse, transform, query, validate, and edit XML files; Ruby 3.1; Mercurial 6.2; and Node.js 18. The kernel shipping with AlmaLinux 8.7 is 4.18.0-423.el8…

Anyone who wants to bring order to their personal finances and reveal potential savings will appreciate a good financial management program. Skrooge [1] was developed specifically for managing private finances. It helps you to record your income and expenses, arrange them by categories, and evaluate them graphically. The project name is based on the character Ebenezer Scrooge from Charles Dickens’s novella A Christmas Carol. The current version of Skrooge is 2.28.0 from July 30, 2022. The program was originally developed for KDE, but it also runs on other desktop environments. Most distributions already have Skrooge in their package sources, so you can install it conveniently via the package manager. However, the repositories do not always give you the latest version. You can get this as an AppImage, Flatpak, Snap, or…