Here's all the news items we were able to gather during the last month. Lots of interesting stuff an links covering a diverse range of issues to do with Free and Open Source Software.
GNEWS for May 2015 ------------------------------- April 15 Samsung's public-facing attitude has changed more in the past year than in the previous five combined. Driven by a sense of urgency coming from its falling smartphone sales, the Korean company has taken decisive steps to rectify its stagnant design, improve its marketing, and streamline its operations. It's also adopted a refreshingly collaborative approach when it comes to working with others. Today's Samsung seeks alliances, not adversaries. THis does not mean they've gone all free and open. But if they are looking at seeking aliances... who knows full story at http://www.theverge.com/2015/4/15/8419683/friendly-samsung ---------------------------------------------- April 15 EU also investigating Android shenanigans After five years of investigation, the European Commission (EC) has sent a formal statement of objections to Google, based on the company's business practices in that region. The main focus is on how Google promotes its own comparison shopping results over that of rivals. Android is in the spotlight too, however: the EC is launching a separate antitrust probe into Google's operating system, which powers more than 80 percent of the world's mobile devices. full story at http://www.zdnet.com/article/eus-three-gripes-with-android-what-you-need-to-know/#ftag=RSSbaffb68 -------------------------------------------- April 15 NVIDIA's New Hardware Is "VERY Open-Source Unfriendly" While NVIDIA's new GeForce GTX 900 series is dominating for Linux gamers with excellent performance with their $1000+ GPU as well as great Linux OpenGL/OpenCL performance out of their lower-cost GPUs with excellent power efficiency, that's only when using the proprietary driver... NVIDIA's newer GTX 900 / Maxwell hardware is less open-source friendly than their previous generations of hardware. Full story at http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=NVIDIA-Unfriendly-OSS-Hardware&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Phoronix+%28Phoronix%29 ------------------------------------------- Colabora announced they are working on LibreOffice Online which will be a cloud based alternative to Google Docs and Office 365. Full Story at http://fedoramagazine.org/libreoffice-online-announced-by-collabora/ -------------------------------------------- Emotet Banking Trojan is on the loose again. Kaspersky Labs say the trojan is being distributed via spam mailings that include malicious attachments or links. Usually ZIP archives containing the Emotet Loader. The files have long names so the user may not see the .exe extension in the email on a standard windows panel. If a link will be linked to executable. Targeting customers of German, Austrian and Swiss banks. http://securelist.com/analysis/publications/69560/the-banking-trojan-emotet-detailed-analysis/ -------------------------------------------- VMware has announced two big open source projects to accelerate Enterprise Adoption of Cloud-Native applications. Project Lightwave for identity and access management and Project Photon a light-weight linux operating system optimized for cloud-native applications http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/marketwire/11G038888-001.htm ---------------------------------------- New Browser Midori 0.5.10 released. It's a lightweight browser that utilizes GTK2/GTK3 tool-kit and common to the Xfce desktop. Mostly bug fixes. http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Midori-0.5.10-Released&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Phoronix+%28Phoronix%29 ----------------------------------------- Univention (manufacturer of Linux Enterprise distribution Univention Corporate Server) has published UCS Core Edition. Freely available for Business use so companies don't need to buy maintenance services. Replaces "free for personal use" LIcence. https://www.linux.com/community/blogs/130-distributions/824925-free-edition-of-univention-corporate-server-now-for-corporate-use/ ------------------------------------------- Tor project is recieving dunding from the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to improve Tor's hidden services. Tor plans to double the encryption strength of hidden services identity key and allow offline storage for that key. https://www.linux.com/news/software/applications/825026-how-tor-is-building-a-new-dark-net-with-help-from-the-us-military-the-daily-dot/ -------------------------------------------- Qubes 3.0 has been released. An installable Security focussed distro using a Compartmentalization approach. Fun for all the family. http://blog.invisiblethings.org/2015/04/23/qubes-30rc1-and-roadmap.html ----------------------------------------------------- Turing phone is being developed. Not AI but we can live in hope. Made of "Liquidmorphium" allow stronger than titanium and steel. aims to introduce new decentralized authentication technology with static key exchange. It comes with its master public key and unique private key pre-installed on it. On top of that, if you attempt to communicate with another Turning Phone, the two devices can directly verify their identity, without the need of authenticating each other with a third party. The result of all this fancy technology applied onto the phone? A secure network where users can exchange sensitive data including social security numbers or bank wiring instructions. http://news.softpedia.com/news/The-Turing-Phone-Is-Super-Durable-and-Ultra-Secure-479293.shtml ----------------------------------------------- Citrix is now a corporate sponsor of Open Stack Foundation. http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2405182/citrix-joins-openstack-aims-at-interoperability-in-the-cloud ---------------------------------------- Distrowatch reports Back Box release. Pen Testing and forensic analysis distro based on Ubuntu http://distrowatch.com/?newsid=08919 --------------------------------------- A stink has arrisen over Valves move to sell game mods. A group has formed to create an Open Source game launcher called Project Ascension. The aim is to consolidate many different stores for comparison. http://news.softpedia.com/news/Valve-s-Mods-Blunder-Prompts-Reddit-Community-to-Create-Open-Source-Steam-Replacement-480197.shtml https://www.reddit.com/r/Project_Ascension/ ------------------------------------------ Interesting topic of discussion regarding Goole Play Book store. Pirate copies of books are being sold through the Google store. And you can too. http://yro.slashdot.org/story/15/05/10/1922218/how-to-set-up-a-pirate-ebook-store-in-google-play-books ------------------------------------ Firefox 38.0.5 Beta has been released by Mozilla. No security fixes and a few new updates. Updates to Firefox Hello function (video calls to other WebRTC powered browsers.). And using services of Propietry third party software so users can save content for later viewing on other platforms. http://news.softpedia.com/news/Firefox-38-0-5-Beta-Arrives-with-Proprietary-Pocket-Integration-481205.shtml --------------------------------- How to become a valued OpenStack contributor (for devs) http://opensource.com/business/15/5/interview-adrian-otto-rackspace --------------------------------- GNU Guix adds 718 new packages. GNU Guix is a purely functional package manager for Guix System Distribution which is the GNU operating system. http://savannah.gnu.org/forum/forum.php?forum_id=8273 ------------------------------ Price Drop on the Raspberry Pi B+ (4 x USB, lower power, ethernet) http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/05/raspberry-pi-model-b-price-cut-to-just-25/ ----------------------------- Interesting discussion on Slashdot regarding Online Voting. http://yro.slashdot.org/story/15/05/14/1530259/online-voting-should-be-verifiable----but-its-a-hard-problem?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed ------------------------------ The in-vehicle wireless charging technology adopted by Ford, Chrysler, Dodge, RAM, and Toyota has been released to the public domain without royalties or licenses. http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/15/05/14/1249220/wireless-charging-tech-adopted-by-ford-chrysler-and-toyota-goes-open-source?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed ---------------------------- The U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill on Wednesday that would end spy agencies' bulk collection of Americans' telephone data, setting up a potential showdown with the U.S. Senate over the program, which expires on June 1. The House voted 338-88 for the USA Freedom Act, which would end the bulk collection and instead give intelligence agencies access to telephone data and other records only when a court finds there is reasonable suspicion about a link to international terrorism. http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/13/us-usa-security-nsa-vote-idUSKBN0NY2MQ20150513 Of course there are plenty of sceptics about the news. ----------------------------- HP laptops and PCs pre-loaded with Ubuntu are to go on sale in Russia from the middle of May, Canonical has announced. http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2015/05/hp-launch-ubuntu-laptops-pcs-in-russia ------------------------------ Popular virtualization platforms relying on the virtual Floppy Disk Controller code from QEMU (Quick Emulator) are susceptible to a vulnerability that allows executing code outside the guest machine. http://news.softpedia.com/news/11-Year-Old-Bug-in-Virtual-Floppy-Drive-Code-Allows-Escape-from-Virtual-Machines-481079.shtml ------------------------------- Hardware News C.H.I.P is a project currently on KickStarter to build a $9 computer with built in wifi and bluetooth so you can connect to keyboard and mouse wirelessly. WTF? 1GHz Processor, 512MB RAM, 4GB storage. Open Source Operating System with Open Source Hardware. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1598272670/chip-the-worlds-first-9-computer --------------------------- Slashdot Discussion: Australian Law could criminalize the teaching of encryption. But not yet in effect. The Defence and Strategic Goods List (goods considered important to national defence and security) casts such a wide net over what is classified Dual use that potentially even division could be called a weapon. http://it.slashdot.org/story/15/05/20/0536206/australian-law-could-criminalize-the-teaching-of-encryption?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed Further links in the discussion. -------------------------------- GovHack - More on that elsewhere http://www.govhack.org/melbourne2015/ Buzzconf is a local mini/un-conference looking for presenters Broad technology focus, but organizer is ammeniable to Free software ethos. If anyone is interested in support for presenting a free software talk just reach out to us. Ballan, Victoria Australia http://buzzconf.io/ ### GPL Compliance call to action to request source How Ubiquiti Networks Is Creatively Violating the GPL releasing kernel source, but not _the actual_ source not releasing u-boot code their claim: alright to refuse to provide source code to GPL-licensed software if "This decision was taken with the security of the users in mind" Call to action: Write to Ubiquiti requesting the source - their email addresses are [email protected] and [email protected] Send me an email telling me what you've done. My email address is [email protected] http://libertybsd.net/ubiquiti/ ### EFF in the news Whether you’re a local journalist or citizen watchdog, add Automated Vehicle Occupancy/Passenger Detection to your vocabulary https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/04/another-surveillance-technology-watch-automatic-vehicle-occupancy-detection EFF Busts a phony Podcasting Patent https://www.eff.org/press/releases/eff-busts-podcasting-patent-invalidating-key-claims-patent-office EFF Fighting Automakers Over Whether You Own Your Car Some time ago the EFF asked for a DMCA exemption to be put in place so car owners would be free to inspect and modify the code running on their vehicles ... recently U.S. automakers filed opposition comments through trade associations Add our names to petition (international option): https://act.eff.org/action/fight-for-your-right-to-repair-your-car https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/04/automakers-say-you-dont-really-own-your-car USPTO Demands EFF Censor Its Comments On Patentable Subject Matter statement of how the USPTO does not appear to be living up to what the courts are saying in the wake of the Alice ruling redacted: https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150403/14555030543/uspto-demands-eff-censor-comments-patentable-subject-matter.shtml origional: https://www.eff.org/files/2015/03/18/eff_comments_regarding_ interim_eligibility_guidance.pdf ### Government European Commission Will Increase Use of Open Source Software eg for internal development "OSS shall be the preferred choice and used whenever possible" and "facilitate participation in external OSS communities" http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/informatics/oss_tech/strategy/strategy_en.htm http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/informatics/oss_tech/index_en.htm India Mandates Use of Open Source Software In Government Promising but not as good as it sounds, the policy is the manditory bit: "endeavour to adopt Open Source Software" "suppliers to consider OSS along with CSS" "in case of urgent / strategic need, Closed Source Software (CSS) may be permitted" "Suppliers will need to provide justification for exclusion of OSS in their response" http://trak.in/tags/business/2015/03/30/open-source-software-mandatory-govt-offices/ http://deity.gov.in/sites/upload_files/dit/files/policy_on_adoption_of_oss.pdf UK force MS to adopt open standards, part of their "digital by default agenda" 5 departments already publishing in odf "has confirmed it will start supporting the Open Documents Format (ODF) in the next update to Office 365" "has not confirmed whether this update will be available worldwide, or just in the UK" http://www.itproportal.com/2015/03/30/microsoft-will-adopt-open-document-standards-following-government-battle/ https://governmenttechnology.blog.gov.uk/2015/03/27/making-documents-formats-open-it-makes-them-better/ https://www.gov.uk/government/news/further-progress-made-on-open-standards First Alpha of Public Sector Linux Deployment System in Sweden Linux deployment system for the public sector. Making setting up workstations, DHCP, DNS and user data in LDAP, logins using Kerberos and centralized storage easy. https://github.com/SverigeLinux/ https://www.internetfonden.se/om/the-internet-fund/ India's Net Neutrality Campaign Picks Up Steam, Sites Withdraw From Internet.org Airtel Zero is a platform that allows customers to access mobile applications for free, similar to internet.org "More than 100,000 people have emailed India's telecom regulator demanding that the government protect net neutrality" "large monetized apps can afford to pay more than consumers" "[will we have a free internet] or will we get a collection of 100 services who pay a telecom operator" ClearTrip said "it was against their core DNA, and that was impossible to pretend there is no conflict of interest." "NDTV is committed to net neutrality and is therefore exiting from the internet.org initiative." Internet.org’s list of 38 sites includes Wikipedia... might be a good candidate for net nutralit pressure. "regulators in Chile, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Canada have prohibited zero-rating, while their counterparts in Germany, Austria and Norway have publicly stated that zero-rating violates network neutrality" http://www.huffingtonpost.in/2015/04/15/internetorg-withdrawal_n_7071532.html?utm_hp_ref=india http://www.huffingtonpost.in/2015/04/12/fight-for-net-neutrality_n_7049902.html http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-32298536 http://www.hindustantimes.com/technology-topstories/mr-zuckerberg-facebook-is-not-and-should-not-be-the-internet/article1-1337944.aspx ### General open source news Mozilla response to Day Against Drm campaign far from ideal, but the "Additional Resources" section includes many Cory Doctorow articles so very balanced https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2015/05/12/update-on-digital-rights-management-and-firefox/ DuckDuckGo, donated $125,000 towards open source projects in annual donation. SecureDrop, Privacy Badger (from the EFF), GPGTools, TAILS (a Debian-based Linux distribution focused on using the Internet anonymously) and Girl Develop It (a program which helps to get more women involved in open source software development) http://www.networkworld.com/article/2913632/opensource-subnet/duckduckgo-founder-gabriel-weinberg-talks-privacy-and-open-source.html http://www.networkworld.com/article/2900499/opensource-subnet/duckduckgo-and-the-corporate-incentives-of-donating-to-noble-tech-projects.html Debian Project Leader Election Results Neil McGovern winning by a conclusive margin... with source. http://lwn.net/Articles/640358/ Interview with New Debian Project Leader Neil McGovern https://www.linux.com/news/software/applications/829303-new-debian-project-leader-talks-open-source-careers-ppas-and-more wireless (but contact) charging technology has been released to the public domain Open Dots standard (used by Ford, Chrysler, Dodge, RAM, and Toyota) design guides, schematics, application notes, standards and test protocols are provided in full online so that manufactures can self-certify To join the consortium, potential members simply submit a signed copy of the membership agreement http://www.technologytell.com/apple/149966/auto-industry-first-get-wireless-charging-open-standard/ http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150512005129/en/Global-Auto-Industry-Open-Standard-Wire-Free-Power#.VViDJLxEHWW http://opendotsalliance.org MAME Changing License To Fully Libre call for past contribuitors to vote on libe licence expand both its pool of supporters and its utility to developers and historians did use a modified BSD license that prohibits, among other things, commercial use of the code and deter "misuse of MAME in illegal ways," but it also kept museums that charged entry fees from using MAME in their exhibits or legal license owners from using MAME to rerelease old games MAME now incorporate MESS (handhelds, phones, set-top-boxes, consoles, computers, development boards) http://gamasutra.com/view/news/243598/MAME_is_going_open_source_to_be_a_learning_tool_for_developers.php Oculus Rift Linux Development Halted with no timeframe for resumption https://www.oculus.com/blog/powering-the-rift/ ### Android Arc Welder Android apps to run on (Windows, Macs and) Linux http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-32160263 https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/arc-welder/emfinbmielocnlhgmfkkmkngdoccbadn OnePlus (carrier) has introduced its own OS, an Android fork called OxygenOS. its goal with OxygenOS "is to provide faster, more meaningful updates and a better-integrated range of services... oh nevermind reduce its dependence on Cyanogen gesture shortcuts you can input while the screen is off http://www.theverge.com/2015/4/4/8344931/oneplus-one-oxygenos-rom-download-available https://blog.oneplus.net/2015/04/oxygenos-is-here-2/ ### Newly Open Sourced Valve Bootstrapped Source 2 Engine On an Open-Source Vulkan Driver Vulkan is the new graphics API Valve developers were quickly able to resolve issues and progress the driver in a turn-key manner thanks to relying on an open-source driver "The engine developers do not know the driver and hardware architecture like the driver team does but being able to step across the Vulkan interface in the debugger enabled the teamto see what the driver was doing with the workload and more often than not isolate an issue in either their back-end, or the driver, or both" http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=valve-lunarg-vulkan&num=1 BioWare Announces Open-Source Orbit Project Orbit is a Java based framework for building distributed online services (MMOPGs) last-generation used in Dragon Age Keep and Dragon Age: Inquisition http://blog.bioware.com/2015/03/30/launching-into-orbit/ https://github.com/electronicarts/orbit http://orbit.bioware.com/orbit-prerequisites.html The Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVO) has spent 16 years developing the Pure File Magic Area Based Editor (PFMABE) software suite This software, and accompanying source code (Win & Linux), has been released to the public domain... requires registration, so not that open. http://pfmabe.software/ http://shoals.sam.usace.army.mil/PFMABE.aspx Netflix Open-Sources FIDO - Fully Integrated Defense Operation (Automated Security Incident Response system) http://www.networkworld.com/article/2918673/security/netflix-opensources-security-incident-management-tool.html http://techblog.netflix.com/2015/05/introducing-fido-automated-security.html https://github.com/Netflix/Fido DARPA open sources Memex/SourcePin build a system that sees the web more like a human user with a browser, and therefore actually behaves like a human user by using a browser to crawl the web, to the point of being able to scroll down a page, or even hover over an object on the page to reveal more content current search aren’t adequate for in-depth searches, not to mention they only capture around five per cent of the internet “That’s our ambitious goal: to enable a new kind of search engine, a new way to access public web content.” http://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2015/04/10/darpa-memex-search-going-open-source-check-it-out/ http://www.darpa.mil/opencatalog/ http://www.darpa.mil/opencatalog/MEMEX.html ### Security Fluendo MP3 plugin for GStreamer vulnerability A maliciously crafted MP3 file can lead to a potentially exploitable crash in FF https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/security/advisories/mfsa2015-31/ 'Let's Encrypt' Project Strives To Make Encryption Simple a free, automated and open security certificate authority for the public’s benefit the Linux Foundation will now be hosting it http://www.linuxfoundation.org/news-media/announcements/2015/04/linux-foundation-host-open-encryption-project http://www.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/it-unmasked/the-linux-foundation-starts-open-source-encryption-project.html https://letsencrypt.org/howitworks/technology/ Venom' security vulnerability in qemu and fixed (patch the bug before it was publicly disclosed) Xen, KVM, and Oracle's VirtualBox, include the buggy code http://www.zdnet.com/article/venom-security-flaw-millions-of-virtual-machines-datacenters/ http://www.zdnet.com/article/venom-the-anti-toxin-is-here/ http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2015-3456 http://venom.crowdstrike.com/ ### an unbelievable amount of Microsoft news Microsoft Open Technologies Is Closing, MS not so affraid of the GPL these days. Origionally a division called "Microsoft Open Technology Programs Office" to manage integration with technologies such as Chef, Puppet, and Docker. Which does seem to be unnesicary with a MS Fellow attending CheffConf for eg. contributed to projects such as Apache Cordova, Cocos2d-x, OpenJDK, and dash.js collaborating with the industry on standards... more questionable positive spin on negative news? maybe. http://betanews.com/2015/04/17/microsoft-open-technologies-is-closing-is-that-good-or-bad-news-for-open-source/ Visual Studio 2015 can target Linux out of the box https://www.visualstudio.com/products/vs-2015-product-editions http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Visual-Studio-2015-Linux-Suppor Mono 4 Linq, Collections, RegularExpressions, ComponentModel and more http://www.mono-project.com/docs/about-mono/releases/4.0.0/ An Open Source Windows Is ‘Definitely Possible at ChefConf Microsoft Technical Fellow Mark Russinovich talked briefly about the prospect of some or all of Windows going open source Might do than Android: “If you open source something but it comes with a build system that takes rocket scientists and three months to set up, what’s the point?” http://www.wired.com/2015/04/microsoft-open-source-windows-definitely-possible/ Microsoft releases PowerShell DSC for Linux it's like cheff/puppet but with the directory slashes back to front support for CentOS, Debian GNU/Linux, Oracle Linux, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, and Ubuntu Server http://blogs.msdn.com/b/powershell/archive/2015/05/06/powershell-dsc-for-linux-is-now-available.aspx http://blogs.msdn.com/b/powershell/archive/2015/04/27/dsc-resource-kit-moved-to-github.aspx https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn249912.aspx Microsoft Launches Visual Studio Code, with Linux support screenshot of Ubuntu at a MS conference GitHub Atom supplies the shell, and Google Chromium the runtime http://techcrunch.com/2015/04/29/microsoft-shocks-the-world-with-visual-studio-code-a-free-code-editor-for-os-x-linux-and-windows/#.u5axhw:GJlu https://code.visualstudio.com/Download but proving it hasn't changed it's spots: .Net OSS concerns patent promise seems set to allow them to win an Oricle-v-Google style case. Rather than granting a right to use the necessary patents, the recipient gets a promise. http://www.ifross.org/artikel/4-shifty-details-about-microsofts-open-source-net Microsoft Increases Android Patent Licensing Reach http://betanews.com/2015/04/24/microsoft-continues-earning-money-from-linux-increases-patent-licensing-agreements/ http://www.zdnet.com/article/310-microsoft-patents-used-in-android-licensing-agreements-revealed-by-chinese-gov/ ### Releases Hurd kernel 0.6 32-bit x86 machines message dispatching improvments, libz and libbz2 compression, fakeroot tool improvments, integer hashing improvments, init server has been split into startup server and a SysV-style init http://lwn.net/Articles/640668/ Debian 8 released improvements to UEFI support, browsable view of all source code & code search, systemd updates to apache, gimp, libre office http://www.linuxtoday.com/infrastructure/debian-8.0-jessie-debuts-after-two-years-of-effort.html Debian GNU/Hurd 2015 released Redy to run image snapshot of Debian "sid" at the time of the stable Debian "jessie" release with the Hurd kernel. https://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2015/04/msg00047.html http://ftp.debian-ports.org/debian-cd/hurd-i386/debian-hurd-2015/ Ubuntu 15.04 Vivid Vervet Always on menu option in unity. Ubuntu Core (snappy) for embeded/cloud. Ubuntu Make for android/go/dart/more. systemd Updates to nVidia, libre office, open stack, qemu, docker and more. https://wiki.ubuntu.com/VividVervet/ReleaseNotes Ubuntu on a fridge (and network Switches) http://www.eweek.com/networking/snappy-ubuntu-linux-now-used-in-networking-refrigerators.html MuseScore 2.0 Released new UI, top features include linked parts (good for pieces with many instruments), guitar tablature, flexible chord symbols, and fret diagrams http://musescore.org/en/musescore-2.0-released Nano 2.4 fully functional undo system (now enabled by default), vim-compatible file locking, linter support, formatter support, syntax highlighting flexibility, and many fixes http://musescore.org/en/musescore-2.0-released GNOME 3.16 Released gnome calendar, gnome books, builder gnome ide, updated glib, updated notifications and ui elements https://help.gnome.org/misc/release-notes/3.16/ Firefox 37 Released & Firefox 38 Security improvements, disabled insecure TLS version fallback, developer security panel, rating widget, download manager backend revamp, updated WebRTC Include Digital Rights Management (DRM) tech for playing protected content in the HTML5 video tag, tab-based preferences, Ruby annotation (pronunciation or meaning) support https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2015/03/31/new-firefox-releases-now-available/ Security improvment found vulnerable: Malicious header can be crafted so that SSL certificate verification can be bypassed for the specified alternate server. As a result of this, warnings of invalid SSL certificates will not be displayed and an attacker could potentially impersonate another site through a man-in-the-middle "We plan to re-enable this feature once we've had time to fully investigate the issue," https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/security/advisories/mfsa2015-44/ https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/38.0/releasenotes/ https://stacy.makes.org/thimble/MTUxMzI5MjI4OA==/what-is-drm http://techcrunch.com/2015/05/12/mozilla-launches-a-new-firefox-version-without-drm-support/#.uycuqr:GwgJ GCC 5.1 released C11 support by default, C++14 support, C++11 support in libstdc++, OpenMP 4.0, Intel Cilk Plus multi-threading, new ARM processor support, Intel AVX-512 handling, Optimizer Improvements https://gcc.gnu.org/gcc-5/changes.html http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=GCC-5-Coming-This-Month https://gcc.gnu.org/ml/gcc-announce/2015/msg00000.html Qt Creator 3.4.0 Released C++ refactoring, autocomplete sig/slots, experimental Qt Test and Qt Quick Tests, 63 bit android support. http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Qt-Creator-3.4-Released https://blog.qt.io/blog/2015/04/23/qt-creator-3-4-0-released/ KDE Ships Plasma 5 & Plasma 5 as the default desktop on OpenSUSE Tumbleweed Power management improvments and stats, Bluetoot improvments and app, new and improved Plasma Widgets (and Press and Hold), Plasma Media Center, Towards Wayland Support Kdenlive, Telepathy Chat, KAccounts, and more https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.3.0.php https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.2.2-5.3.0-changelog.php https://news.opensuse.org/2015/05/16/tumbleweed-moves-to-plasma-5-3-and-a-new-release-of-kde-applications/ https://dot.kde.org/2015/04/28/plasma-5.3 http://www.linuxveda.com/2015/05/16/plasma-5-becomes-default-desktop-of-opensuse-tumbleweed/ OpenBSD 5.7 Released Improved hardware support, network & security improvements, installer update, updates to OpenSMTPD, OpenSSH, LibreSSL and many more http://www.openbsd.org/57.html release song: http://www.openbsd.org/lyrics.html#57 gradle 2.4 released performance improvements https://gradle.org/gradle-2-4-the-fastest-yet/ Ubuntu MATE 15.04 Arrives MATE Tweak switching profiles, Tilda was added by default, http://ubuntuportal.com/2015/05/ubuntu-mate-15-04-arrives-with-mate-desktop-1-8-2-and-mate-tweak.html Rust 1.0 released "make it easier to build reliable, efficient systems... a “drop-in replacement” for C." todos: API breaking changes are largely out of scope ... improvements to compile times, work on new APIs and language features http://lwn.net/Articles/644671/rss http://blog.rust-lang.org/2015/05/15/Rust-1.0.html GOG has announced the open beta for GOG Galaxy, an entirely optional launcher (a la Steam) Crossplay-enabled games offer online play between GOG and Steam http://www.gog.com/galaxy _______________________________________________ Free-software-melb mailing list [email protected] http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
