Nvidia Optimus is a hybrid GPU system which utilises what is known as "discrete switching" and has been long associated with headaches and limitations on Linux systems. After years of wait, Ubuntu 14.04 with its shiny new kernel finally shipped with proprietary driver compatibility that can be installed easily. This article will guide you through the installation process after quick background of Nvidia Optimus for the unfamiliar readers. For the seasoned destroyer of Xorg configuration, you can quickly jump to the installation section below.

Want to learn your way around Linux? Your free Linux introduction class opportunity starts on August 1st.

For some time now, there has been much talk about the Raspberry Pi revolutionising the teaching of computing in schools. Linux User & Developer has devoted much space and attention to the growing number of Jamborees and the increasing attention teachers are giving to the small, £25 bare-bones machine. It is, say advocates, the perfect way to introduce children to the world of computing, allowing them to see and actually interact with the innards of the machines they are using. It is, they add, a great platform for programming and for creating all manner of electronic wonders.

This week, we discuss the great debate over Amazon's earnings report, what it means to AWS and the impact it has on other cloud service providers. We also look at the Australian government's move to the cloud and cloud's disruptive impact on IT.

W2Comp unveiled a faster, 4K-ready version of its Probox Android media player with a quad-core SoC, a Mali-450 GPU, Miracast, and a gaming-oriented remote. Hong Kong based reseller W2Comp, which previously introduced a dual-core Rockchip RK3066 based Probox2 Ultimate media player that runs Android 4.0, has now launched a faster model, called the Probox2 EX (Extreme), that runs Android 4.4 (“KitKat”). The new mini-PC is open for pre-orders at $150, with shipments beginning Aug. 8. There’s no mention of any support for Google’s upcoming remix of Google TV called Android TV, but the Probox2 EX would seem to have the advanced hardware to run it.

In today's open source roundup: The free Introduction to Linux class starts today and you can still register. Plus: Can LibreOffice 4.3 beat Microsoft Office, and Debian 8 will ship with Linux 3.16.

South Korea has been very friendly with Microsoft and its products, so it's understandable why succeeding in that country with an open source product would be very difficult. Canonical is now trying to make a dent there with its Ubuntu operating system.

Paying talented developers to write high quality code isn't cheap; why on Earth would you then turn around and give that code to your competitors? Turns out, there's probably a competitive advantage in doing so.

In a surprise move, HP has granted OpenVMS a new lease on life, effectively reversing last year's decision to mothball the venerable server OS. HP hasn't changed its mind about its latest OpenVMS roadmap, which has it ending standard support for some versions of the OS next year and pulling the plug completely by 2020. Rather, it has granted an exclusive license to another company, VMS Software Inc. (VSI), to take over after its own support ends.

In a video interview with eWEEK, Erica Brescia, co-founder and chief operating officer (COO) at Bitnami, explains what her company is all about and how it is helping to enable a new style of IT development and deployment.

It was May of 2012 at a security conference in Calgary, Alberta, when professor Ron Deibert heard a former high-ranking official suggest he should be prosecuted. This wasn't too surprising. In Deibert's world, these kinds of things occasionally get whispered through the grapevine, always second-hand. But this time he was sitting on a panel with John Adams, the former chief of the Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC), the National Security Agency's little-known northern ally. Afterward, he recalls, the former spy chief approached and casually remarked that there were people in government who wanted Deibert arrested—and that he was one of them.

This week, we published articles from eight young professionals in open source—they are interns, students, and fellows working on open source projects and for teams that are part of open source businesses. Next week, we'll publish articles from open source professionals who have been working in the field for a significant portion of their careers or who have at some point in thier careers worked on an open project.

Zuck's engineers unveil formal spec based on PHP 5.6. A group of Facebook developers has decided to break with 20 years of tradition and release a formal specification for the PHP programming language. The initial draft of the spec was released on Wednesday and is available via a Git repository hosted on PHP.net.

In this tutorial I explain one way to generate a random geographical location, using simple command-line tricks.

In many respects, the BadUSB hack is more pernicious than simply loading a USB stick with the kind of self-propagating malware used in the Stuxnet attack. For one thing, although the Black Hat demos feature only USB2 and USB3 sticks, BadUSB theoretically works on any type of USB device. And for another, it's almost impossible to detect a tampered device without employing advanced forensic methods, such as physically disassembling and reverse engineering the device. Antivirus scans will turn up empty. Most analysis short of sophisticated techniques rely on the firmware itself, and that can't be trusted.

A new Ubuntu MATE 14.10 Alpha release has been made available and integrates a large number of changes and improvements.

As I write this, NASA has just passed another milestone in releasing its work to the Open Source community. A press release came out announcing the release on April 10, 2014, of a new catalog of NASA software that is available as open source. This new catalog includes both older software that was previously available, along with new software being released for the first time.

Zorin OS is one of those Linux distributions that is fighting the middle ground combining ease of use with familiarity for Windows users. Its uniqueness is driven by the customised desktop experience which lets users choose whether to use a Windows 7, Windows XP or Gnome 2 style interface. Is that enough to keep it relevant or are there too many distros competing in the same ring.

Security researchers have found a fundamental flaw that could affect billions of USB devices.

The following article will walk you through the steps on how to install LEMP (Linux, Nginx, MariaDB & PHP-FPM) on one of our CentOS 7 Linux Virtual Servers.

Fedora is a big project, and it’s hard to follow it all. This series highlights interesting happenings in five different areas every week. It isn’t comprehensive news coverage — just […]

Revolv released an Android app for controlling devices via its Linux-based Revolv Hub home automation controller, and added Nest Thermostat support. Revolv was one of the earlier players in the new wave of mobile app enabled home automation hubs, starting out in 2012 under the name Mobiplug. Like the new Wink system, the Revolv Hub […]

In the following article we are going to show you how to install LAMP (Linux Apache, MariaDB & PHP) on a CentOS 7 VPS.

Award-winning magazine team launch an amazing new illustrated title in the Knowledge sector. How It Works IllustratedSetting their sights on nothing less than the complete illustration of the world – or at least, all the exciting bits that fascinate both kids and grown-ups – the team behind the award-winning How It Works, All About Space, World of Animals and All About History have launched a brand new magazine.

Variscite has upgraded its Linux- and Android-ready “VAR-SOM-AM33? COM based on a 1GHz TI Sitara AM335x SoC, adding MIMO WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0 LE. The “hugely successful” VAR-SOM-AM33, in Variscite’s description, appears to be a close cousin to its circa-2010 VAR-SOM-AM35 module, which showcased the 600MHz Texas Instruments AM3505 and AM3517 system-on-chips. The SODIMM-style VAR-SOM-AM33 instead runs on the also hugely successful Sitara AM335x, which has appeared in numerous Linux-ready computer-on-modules such as the IGEP Aquila.

In today's open source roundup: Has Linux always been a viable gaming platform? Plus: The Witcher 3 may be coming to Linux, and the best Linux distro for parents coming from Windows 7?

The Linux Foundation has announced four new members, including Linaro Limited, which focuses on open source software development for ARM devices.

After a headline lull, LibreOffice on Wednesday renewed its drive to replace Microsoft Office with the newest version of its open source suite of applications.

We build our very own cloud storage platform to replace other, obsolete and proprietary solutions. This episode of the Hacker Next Door show is the first in a two-part mini series.

This summer I started my first ever internship. It's certainly a culture-shock to transition from school to the workplace, but I generally like to pride myself on being a quick learner. At Red Hat, as a Systems Management intern, I learned a lot in just the first week. read more