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When we launched Nethesis in 2003, we were just system integrators. We only used existing open source projects. Our business model was clear: Add multiople forms of value to those projects: know-how, documentation for the Italian market, extra modules, professional support, and training courses. We gave back to upstream projects as well, through upstream code contributions and by participating in their communities. read more

The oldest joke in open source software is the statement that "the code is self-documenting." Experience shows that reading the source is akin to listening to the weather forecast: sensible people still go outside and check the sky. What follows are some tips on how to inspect and observe Linux systems at boot by leveraging knowledge of familiar debugging tools. Analyzing the boot processes of systems that are functioning well prepares users and developers to deal with the inevitable failures. read more

CompuLab’s rugged, 68 x 42mm “CL-SOM-iMX8” module runs Yocto or Android on NXP’s dual- or quad-core Cortex-A53 i.MX8M, with up to 4GB LPDDR4, up to 64GB eMMC, onboard wireless, and PCIe and HDMI 2.0 support. CompuLab’s CL-SOM-iMX8 module, which ships with an optional SBC-iMX8 Evaluation Kit, shares many features with Variscite’s recently announced DART-MX8M module, […]

I used to write code. I don't anymore. There are lots of reasons for this, including the fact that I wasn't very good at it. To clarify, I was, I think, good at writing code,1 but I wasn't very good at writing code.2 It turns out that I'm quite good at a variety of other things, so my career3 moved in a different direction—or, in fact, a variety of different directions.

Just released on 1-14-2018: the 4.15-rc8 Linux kernel. You can view the commit diff here, and more information is available from The Linux Kernel Archives.

Every Linux desktop environment comes with at least a simple desktop calculator, but most of those simple calculators are just that: a simple tool for simple calculations. Fortunately, there are exceptions; programs that go far beyond square roots and a couple of trigonometric functions, yet are still easy to use. Here are two powerful calculator tools for Linux, plus a couple of bonus options. read more

The alliance announced the Wi-Fi Protected Access 3 (WPA3), a new standard of Wi-Fi security that greatly increases the security capabilities of the wireless standard. WPA2, which is the current standard in wireless security, has been around for 14 years, so this is way overdue.

Ever wanted to stream prerecorded music or a live event, such as a lecture or concert for an internet audience? With Icecast and Liquidsoap, you can set up a full-featured, flexible internet radio station using free software and open standards.

A debugger is one of those pieces of software that most, if not every, developer uses at least once during their software engineering career, but how many of you know how they actually work? During my talk at linux.conf.au 2018 in Sydney, I will be talking about writing a debugger from scratch... in Rust! In this article, the terms debugger/tracer are interchangeably. "Tracee" refers to the process being traced by the tracer. read more

Last week, a series of critical vulnerabilities called Spectre and Meltdown were announced. Because of the nature of these issues, the solutions are complex and requires fixing delicate code. The fixes for Meltdown are mostly underway. The Meltdown fix for... Continue Reading →

How you can help retrieve ROM data for classic video games.

The $18 Raspberry Pi Zero WH adds a soldered 40-pin GPIO header to the Zero W for easier prototyping or taking advantage of the new GPIO Expander tool, which lets you access your Pi’s GPIO pins from a PC running Debian Stretch. Raspberry Pi Trading has launched a variation on the Raspberry Pi Zero W […]

Red Hat is a company with roughly 11,000 employees. The IT department consists of roughly 500 members. Though it makes up just a fraction of the entire organization, the IT department is still sufficiently staffed to have many application service, infrastructure, and operational teams within it. Our purpose is "to enable Red Hatters in all functions to be effective, productive, innovative, and collaborative...

Variscite’s 55 x 30mm “DART-MX8M” showcases NXP’s 1.5GHz, quad-A53 i.MX8M SoC with up to 4GB LPDDR4, up to 64GB eMMC, WiFi-ac, BT 4.2, PCIe, and HDMI 2.0, plus an optional carrier that’s also sold as a “VAR-DT8MCustomBoard” SBC. Variscite unveiled a “coming soon” DART-MX8M computer-on-module and VAR-DT8MCustomBoard carrier board/SBC that tap NXP’s new i.MX8M SoC. […]

Introducing PyMOL, a Python package for studying chemical structures. I've looked at several open-source packages for computational chemistry in the past, but in this article, I cover a package written in Python called PyMOL.

How do you install an application on Linux? As with many operating systems, there isn't just one answer to that question. Applications can come from so many sources—it's nearly impossible to count—and each development team may deliver their software whatever way they feel is best. Knowing how to install what you're given is part of being a true power user of your OS. read more

This week we look at how open source projects are viewed by college students, unusual tools for agile team development, setting up a Raspberry Pi for retro gaming, the future of Kubernetes, and our annual Linux distro poll.

Reuven explores different types of multiprocessing and looks at the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Twenty years ago, when I first started using Linux, finding a distribution that worked, out of the box, was an impossible feat. Not only did the installation take some serious mental acuity, configuring the software and getting connected to the Internet was often a challenge users were reluctant to attempt. Today, things are quite different. Linux now offers distributions that anyone can use, right out of the box. But, even among those distros that “just work,” some rise to the top to stand as the best in breed.

The web browser has become a critical component of the computing experience for many users. Modern browsers have evolved into powerful and extensible platforms. As part of this, extensions can add or modify their functionality. Extensions for Firefox are built using the WebExtensions API, a cross-browser development system. Which extensions should you install?