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Keyboards are how we connect to our computers and very often to the rest of the world. The layout of keys is a physical representation of the languages we speak, and this simple tool gives us a limitless ability to communicate. A keyboard is a collection of mechanical and electrical relays that convert touch into digital signals. This allows it to exist both in our world of real objects and in the digital world of computers. read more

The Open Invention Network has protected Linux with strong patent consortium for more than a decade. Now, it's expanding its protection to other major open-source projects.

This easy (“at your own risk”) hack can unlock a Nest thermostat’s “Cool” mode in heater-only installations, allowing control of a heater’s ventilation fan as though it’s an A/C. The Nest Learning Thermostat is a terrific energy saving Linux gizmo, with lots of cool features. I’ve been using one since January of 2016, and have […]

Beleaguered email client team gets its 'Dear John' letter A little over a year ago, Mozilla started pondering the future of Thunderbird. And this week, it's decided the troubled open-source email client must sleep in the spare room.…

In Diane Marsh's keynote at OSCON, one of the biggest open source conferences in the US each year, the Director of Engineering at Netflix explained a tale of two systems. At Netflix, the Asgard continuous delivery platform was developed internally, then shared openly. Did this cause headaches? Yes. read more

When last we met we reviewed some iptables fundamentals. Now you'll have two example firewalls to study, one for a single PC and one for a LAN. They are commented all to heck to explain what they're doing.

In this article, I'll discuss the process of creating a user interface for an email client with the help of the free Webix framework. It's a JavaScript and HTML5 framework for developing cross-platform, data-rich web applications with responsive user interfaces. The library is fast, lightweight, and easy to learn. Integration with AngularJS, Vue.js, and jQuery may be pretty handy. The standard version of this library is distributed under the GNU GPLv3 license. read more

I do a lot of system administration with my thumbs. Yes, if I'm home, I grab a laptop or go to my office and type in a real terminal window. Usually, when things go wrong though, I'm at my daughters' volleyball match or shopping with my wife. Thankfully, most tasks can be done remotely via SSH. There are lots of SSH clients for Android, but my favorite is JuiceSSH.

Christmann’s “RECS|Box” evaluation platform and server enclosures can cluster up to 72 Toradex Apalis COMs, and offer GbE and KVM switching. Toradex announced that Christmann Informationstechnik + Medien GmbH & Co. KG has launched several RECS|Box cluster-computing platforms for Toradex’s ARM-based, Linux-friendly Apalis computer-on-modules. The systems work with any of Toradex’s SODIMM-style, pin-compatible Apalis-brand modules, […]

We’re happy to announce the results of the Mozilla Research Grant program for the first half of 2017. This was a competitive process, and after three rounds of judging, we … Read more The post Mozilla Awards Nearly $300,000 to Research Grant Winners appeared first on The Mozilla Blog.

Congatec has launched a “ComX” standard for computer-on-module API and middleware spanning COM Express, Qseven, and SMARC form-factors. At the Embedded Systems Expo & Conference (ESEC) in Japan this week (May 10-12), Congatec announced an “extended standardization initiative” called ComX. The proposed standard builds upon existing computer-on-module hardware standards such as COM Express, Qseven, and […]

As an evangelist for open organizations and an ambassador for open principles, I am fully aware of the challenges organizations go through when they're trying to effect lasting change. Changing deep-rooted organizational culture should not be taken lightly. It's something people should weigh very carefully, debate fully, and then embrace wholly. read more

Issue 40 of the MagPi magazine changed everything I thought I knew about computing and technology. In the 1990s and early 2000s, tech publications drew subscribers by giving freebies with their magazines. First, with CDs and then DVDs, magazines came with free demos of games, shareware applications, and even limited internet service provider memberships. In the open source world, magazines gave away Linux distributions ready to be booted and installed. Although it's not done as much in the U.S. read more

Finland, Finland, Finland, the place to build open DBs! The European Investment Bank has decided MariaDB Corporation is worthy of €25 million funding under the European Commission’s Investment Plan for Europe.…

Jay Nick is a retired electrical engineer who volunteers at local schools in his community by using art as a creative way to introduce students to mathematics and coding. Reflecting on the frustrations that his own children experienced in college programming classes, he decided to use his own experience with Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) to create an approach to coding that combines principles of mathematics and art. read more

There can be only one and it looks like the vote is bad news for the LEDE brand Competing Linux-for-routers distributions OpenWRT and LEDE will soon vote on a proposal to heal the schism between the two.…

There is a sea of game engines available on the internet. Some specialize in 2D, some 3D. The languages vary. Some are Java based, Javascript, C#, C++, or perhaps their own special scripting language. The licenses vary. Some are free to use but pay on sales. Some are completely free to do anything you like with. Some have large communities, rich toolsets, and big businesses behind them. And very occasionally, you come across a project in a quiet corner of the internet that just ticks all the right boxes. Yet, the majority of the crowd has simply passed it by. read more

There is no question that the web browser will be the piece of software with the largest and the most exposed attack surface on your Linux workstation. It is a tool written specifically to download and execute untrusted, frequently hostile code. It attempts to shield you from this danger by employing multiple mechanisms such as sandboxes and code sanitization, but they have all been previously defeated on multiple occasions. System administrators should learn to approach browsing websites as the most insecure activity you’ll engage in on any given day.

The Open Invention Network (OIN) patent consortium was formed to defend Linux against intellectual property (IP) attacks. The stakes may not be so high today, but Linux and open-source software is still under attack from patent trolls and other attackers. The Open Invention Network has protected Linux with strong patent consortium for more than a decade. Now, it's expanding its protection to other major open-source projects.

Build Microsoft has made a change to its forthcoming ASP.NET Core 2.0 web framework so that it is now incompatible with the Windows-only .NET Framework, causing confusion and annoyance for some .NET developers.