Linux

Having an open mind and admitting when you are wrong is a noble quality. Those that are stubborn and continue with bad ideas just to save face are very foolish. With all of that said, sometimes you have to stick with your decisions despite negative feedback because you know they are right. After all, detractors can often be very loud, but not necessarily large in numbers. Not to mention, you can't please everyone, so being indecisive or "wishy-washy" in an effort to quash negativity can make you look weak. And Canonical looks very weak today.

When the company announced it was planning to essentially stop supporting 32-bit packages beginning with the upcoming Ubuntu 19.10, I was quite impressed. Look, folks, it is 2019 -- 64-bit processors have been commonplace for a long time. It's time to pull the damn 32-bit band-aid off and get on with things. Of course, there was some negativity surrounding the decision -- as is common with everything in the world today. In particular, developers of WINE were upset, since their Windows compatibility layer depends on 32-bit, apparently. True Linux users would never bother with WINE, but I digress.

If you want a computer with a Linux-based operating system pre-installed, you can never go wrong with System76 or Dell. Of course, those two companies are hardly the only ones selling Linux-powered computers. For instance, the UK-based Star Labs also sells machines with Ubuntu and Linux Mint -- two very good operating systems.

Well, Star Labs has seemingly gotten the memo on how great Zorin OS is, as the computer seller is now offering laptops with that operating system pre-installed. Zorin OS is an operating system that is ideal for those that want to switch from Windows, so having it pre-installed gives a new option for those not prepared to install a Linux-based OS on their own.

It is only a few days since Canonical announced that it was dropping support for 32-bit packages as of Ubuntu 19.10. The fall out from this is now being felt.

While there were many developers who were not happy with the decision, Linux-based gamers are now likely to be more than slightly annoyed. Steam has announced that "Ubuntu 19.10 and future releases will not be officially supported by Steam or recommended to our users".

As of version 19.10, Ubuntu will no longer support i386. With the arrival of Eoan Ermine, Ubuntu is severing 32-bit ties, and some developers are concerned.

The move is not entirely unexpected. The Ubuntu developers had previously said it would make an i386 decision in the middle of 2019. That time having rolled around, the Ubuntu engineering team says that it "has reviewed the facts before us and concluded that we should not continue to carry i386 forward as an architecture". WINE developers are among those unhappy with the decision.

Offensive Security, the team behind the security-focused, Debian-based, penetration testing Linux distro Kali Linux. has set out the roadmap for the operating system for the months ahead.

This is the first time such a roadmap has been shared for Kali Linux, and it gives us a good idea of what to expect between now and 2020. The team says: "normally, we only really announce things when they are ready to go public, but a number of these changes are going to impact users pretty extensively so we wanted to share them early".

If you're using an old computer in your small business, the likelihood is that you don't have a great deal of money to splash on powerful hardware.

You might therefore be tempted to look for extra performance by using Linux -- and save on the cost of buying the OS into the bargain. But is there really that much of an advantage? James Mawson of Australian site DXM Tech Support has conducted a series of tests to find out.

A month ago, at its Build 2019 developer conference, Microsoft announced Windows Subsystem for Linux 2, an updated version of its compatibility layer which ships with an actual Linux kernel, meaning full system call compatibility.

Last week, the software giant rolled out Windows 10 20H1 Build 18917 with Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 (WSL 2). Here’s how to install it.

A number of Linux and FreeBSD servers and systems are vulnerable to a denial of service vulnerability dubbed SACK Panic, as well as other forms of attack.

A total of three security flaws were discovered by Jonathan Looney of Netflix Information Security. A series of malicious packets sent to vulnerable system is all it takes to crash or slow them down -- a remotely-triggered kernel panic. Patches and workaround have been released to help plug the holes.

Microsoft has issued a warning to Azure customers using Linux Exim email servers running Exim version 4.87 to 4.91.

The company explains that these versions of Exim are vulnerable to a critical Remote Code Execution (RCE) security flaw and need to be updated to prevent the spread of a worm.

Today, there is some great news for the Linux community -- OpenMandriva Lx 4.0 is now available! This KDE-focused distribution should have you very excited.

The default web browser browser has been changed in 4.0 -- it is now the Chromium-based Falkon, which promises better KDE integration. Don't worry, you can install Firefox or Chrome if needed.

Not so long ago, the idea of Microsoft releasing an internet browser for Linux would seem to be out of the question. But in recent years, Microsoft's love of Linux has grown exponentially.

Now, having not only started to embrace the Chromium engine for Microsoft Edge, the company is also not ruling out releasing Edge for Linux. It could be argued that Edge on Linux is something that no one -- or at least very few people -- yearn for, but the Microsoft Edge development team has revealed that releasing a Linux-friendly version is something that it would "like to do".

Windows Insiders are currently testing builds from the 20H1 branch due out a year from now.

The latest new flight, Build 18917, introduces download throttling and Windows Subsystem for Linux 2, as well as a whole host of other improvements.

When it comes to Linux, I prefer my distributions to be no-nonsense -- Fedora is my favorite distro, for instance. Is Fedora boring? Yes, I suppose. But that is sort of why I like it. Look, I just want the damn operating system to take a backseat to my actual work. Fedora with GNOME allows me to focus on my tasks without getting in the way.

Understandably though, some Linux users like to "distro hop" where they are constantly moving between distributions, always wondering if the grass is greener on the other side. And yeah, I get that -- new is fun. People want excitement.

While I’m a Linux fan and advocate, I'm not delusional. Switching from Windows to an operating system based on the Linux kernel is not for everyone. For some folks, Microsoft's desktop operating system is more appropriate, and for others, maybe Apple's macOS is better. Ultimately, people should pick whatever tool they enjoy. After all, a computer is a tool, not a religion.

With all of that said, Windows 10 has many detractors. In other words, it is not an operating system that is beloved by many. Even the people that don't necessarily hate it, probably tolerate it more than truly enjoy it. And that's sad. Thankfully, for those that want a way out of Microsoft's Windows, there are many alternatives. If you want to try Linux, there is a new version of a great distribution you should try -- the Ubuntu-based Zorin OS 15.

We recently learned that most Windows 10 users aren't even keeping the operating system up to date, choosing to forgo the often buggy feature releases. Yes, the majority of Windows 10 users are ruining a version that is over a year old! That is shocking stuff folks, and it truly speaks volumes about the negative public perception of Microsoft's operating system. When you factor in the people still on Windows 7 (and Vista and XP), things aren't looking too good for Windows.

Thankfully, Linux is picking up the slack, offering an alternative to the much-maligned Windows 10. Amongst Ubuntu, Fedora, Chrome OS, and other distributions, computer users have no shortage of great operating systems these days. One very good, albeit less popular, Linux-based operating system is Mageia. It has a very strong community of knowledgeable users, making it a good choice for both Linux expert and beginners. Today, Mageia 7, the upcoming version of the OS, reaches a major milestone -- release candidate status.