Back in October, we told you that Linux Mint 20.1 would be named "Ulyssa." There was excitement about this version of the operating system, especially since the developers planned to release it around Christmas. Unfortunately, there was controversy and drama surrounding Ulyssa too, as we learned the Linux Mint developers were foolishly wasting resources on an IPTV player named "Hypnotix."

So here we are -- Christmas is fast approaching, and today, the Ubuntu-based Linux Mint 20.1 'Ulyssa' BETA finally becomes available for download. The pre-release operating system can be had with your choice of three excellent desktop environments -- Cinnamon, MATE, and Xfce.

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Cybersecurity company Sophos is announcing four new open artificial intelligence developments with the aim of improving defenses and making the use of AI in cybersecurity more transparent.

Although in other industries it's become common to share AI methodologies and findings, cybersecurity has lagged which doesn't help understanding of how AI can protect against cyberthreats.

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Development of Mageia 8 seems to be moving along nicely, which is great news for users of that Linux-based operating system. Back in August, we shared that the first Beta of the distribution was available for testing, and now today, the second Beta arrives. As with the first Beta, the second is available with your choice of three desktop environments --  KDE Plasma, GNOME, and Xfce.

"We are happy to announce the release of Mageia 8 Beta 2. After a long time since the beta 1, we look forward to hearing your feedback and thoughts so that we can continue to get Mageia 8 ready for release. As we said in a previous post, a lot of work had to be done for the base system upgrade, java, kernel, and the graphical stack. These upgrades are now in a state that allows for the Beta 2 ISOs to be built and tested," explains The Mageia Development Team.

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There's a battle playing out in the enterprise open source arena right now, but it's one you probably haven't heard about.

It's a clash between pure open source and commercialized open source (or 'open core') versions. While this may be below the radar for anyone not directly involved it has important long-term implications for the industry.

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Verifying digital identity is fundamental to building trust in online security and conducting commercial and personal transactions safely. But it can also prove a performance headache for businesses.

Non-profit organization, The Linux Foundation, is today announcing the launch of the Janssen Project, a cloud native identity and access management software platform that prioritizes security and performance.

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The latest FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) contributor survey from the Open Source Security Foundation (OpenSSF) and the Laboratory for Innovation Science at Harvard shows respondents spend on average, just 2.27 percent of their total time on security and express little desire to increase that time.

The survey of almost 1,200 respondents working on FOSS software shows the majority of respondents (74.87 percent) are already employed full-time and more than half (51.65 percent) are specifically paid to develop FOSS.

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Is LibreOffice better than Microsoft Office? No, and it's not even close. Say what you want about Microsoft, but Office is in a league of its own -- the best productivity software on the market.

Why would anyone not use Microsoft Office? Well, for one, it costs money -- potentially hundreds of dollars. Secondly, it is not available on all operating systems. Linux users, for instance, simply can't use Microsoft Office (except the web version). Not to mention, Microsoft Office is closed-source software, and some folks only want to use open source options.

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A good deal of software development now relies on open source images, but it can be hard for businesses to know if they're introducing security flaws by using them.

Canonical -- the company behind Ubuntu Linux -- is addressing this by publishing the LTS (Long Term Support) Docker Image Portfolio, a curated set of secure container application images, on Docker Hub.

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IBM is using this week's KubeCon to announce an initiative enabling clients to take better advantage of public cloud services in any environment they choose.

From today the company will open source Kubeflow Pipelines on Tekton to provide a standardized solution for creating and deploying machine learning models in production and to make machine learning models portable across hybrid cloud environments.

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Last month, we told you about Fedora 33 Beta. This Linux distribution is significant for several reasons, including the fact that Linus Torvalds himself uses it. Yes, the father of Linux uses Fedora, and that is saying a lot. In fact, many expert-level Linux users choose Fedora because of its focus on truly free software.

While it may not be ideal for all beginners, even those new to Linux may find Fedora to be a pleasing experience. I personally use it as my distro of choice, but I must confess that System76's Pop!_OS keeps enticing me more and more nowadays. Despite my distro-hopping activities, Fedora remains the rock that I can always count on.

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Microsoft is no longer an enemy of the Linux or Open Source communities. Believe it or not, the Windows-maker is an ally these days. Shocking, I know, but totally true. Linux is now built into Windows thanks to WSL, and Microsoft has several apps available for Linux.

The company has even made some of its apps open source as well. For instance, back in 2019, Microsoft released the source for Windows Calculator on GitHub. And now, that calculator app has been ported to Linux by Uno Platform. Best of all, its insanely easy to install as it is packaged in Snap format.

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There are many great Linux-based desktop operating systems nowadays. There are arguably too many Linux distros, but I digress. For instance, if you are an experienced Linux user, you can opt for something like Debian or Fedora, while novices are better served by Ubuntu or Linux Lite.

One of the best operating systems for beginners and Windows-switchers, however, is Linux Mint. This is a no-nonsense Linux distro that looks good, is very stable, and ultimately "just works" for many users. New versions of the operating system are named after women, and today, we learn what Linux Mint 20.1 will be called.

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Fedora 33 Beta was scheduled to be released during September, and on the eve of the final day of that month, the pre-release operating system is finally here! Yes, if you love Fedora and want to give an early version of 33 a try, today is your lucky day.

As you can imagine, Fedora 33 Beta comes with the excellent GNOME 3.38, which was only released a couple of weeks ago. The biggest change, however, is BTRFS being made the default filesystem -- ext4 is no longer the standard. Wow. Also significant? The new default editor is nano.

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Manjaro is one of the most popular Linux-based operating systems these days, and it isn't hard to see why. It is based on the rock-solid Arch, but unlike that distro, Manjaro is very easy to install and use. In other words, it has all the benefits of Arch, but without the hassles and headaches. This makes it a great choice for both Linux experts and beginners.

Manjaro 20 "Lysia" was released back in April, and it was very well received by the Linux community. Today, the first point update, Manjaro 20.1 "Mikah," becomes available for download with a trio of desktop environment options -- Xfce (4.14), GNOME (3.36), and KDE Plasma (5.19). All three DEs are excellent, but Xfce is what the developers consider the "flagship." The Xfce variant comes with an all-new theme called "Matcha." All versions of Manjaro 20.1 come with Linux kernel 5.8, Pamac 9.5.9, and ZFS installation support.

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Back in April, we told you about the deepin 20 Beta. That Linux distribution is very special because of just how beautiful it is. No, the operating system is not only about appearance (it is excellent overall), but it shows that Linux can be just as pretty as macOS and Windows 10. Hell, it is arguably more attractive than Microsoft's and Apple's desktop operating systems.

And now, the stable version of deepin 20 is finally here! This version of the operating system is based on Debian 10.5 and is loaded with new features and bug fixes. For instance, it has enhanced biometric support, allowing you to use your fingerprint -- a fairly rare thing in the Linux world. The new installer should be easier than ever, and if you have an NVIDIA GPU, you can opt to install closed-source drivers. Best of all, the app manager is simplified further, improving the discovery and installation of apps.

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