The popular Ubuntu Linux gets two new versions a year, with one coming in April, and the other in October. Its version numbering scheme is based on year (YY), a period, and the month (MM). For instance, the most recent stable version was released this past April and it is numbered as 20.04. In addition, Canonical (the operating system's owner) assigns names -- sequentially and alphabetically. The alphanumeric code name is always based on two words starting with the same sequential letter -- an adjective followed by an animal name. The aforementioned 20.04 is named "Focal Fossa."

Obviously, the next version of Ubuntu will be numbered 20.10, and it will be given a two-word code name based on the letter "G." This time, the operating system will be called "Groovy Gorilla." Thankfully, development of the operating system seems to be on schedule, as it recently received a feature freeze. What does this mean? Essentially, moving forward, Ubuntu 20.10 should only receive bug fixes -- no more features will be introduced unless by exception. It also signals that the upcoming Beta release should be released on schedule as expected.

Continue reading →

Some people think you need expensive hardware to have fun playing video games, but the truth is, you don't. Believe it or not, there are plenty of free games that can run well on a fairly meager PC. No, I am not just talking about emulating classic video games (piracy is bad, mmkay). Actually, there are some really fun PC games that you can legally download at no charge.

One such popular game is SuperTuxKart. This open source Mario Kart clone is totally FREE on Windows, Mac, and Linux. It can even be had on Android too. Rather than use Nintendo mascots, the racers in SuperTuxKart are based on open source projects -- it is quite cute. The game even has network support these days, so you can have a multiplayer experience over the internet. SuperTuxKart recently reached version 1.2, and the new version is chock full of improvements. The developers are also sharing their plans for the future of the game.

Continue reading →

Software development today usually involves the use of third-party APIs, libraries or frameworks that are complex, rapidly evolving, and sometimes poorly documented.

Security testing solutions company GrammaTech is launching its new Swap Detector, an open-source checker that detects application programming interface (API) usage errors.

Continue reading →

We’ve covered Spydish on BetaNews before. The tool is great if you want to boost your privacy and security in Windows 10.

Today Belim, the program’s developer, announces that Spydish has undergone a name change, becoming Privatezilla, and that’s not all. The program is also becoming open source. In order to achieve this, some important changes have been made, which includes replacing certain features.

Continue reading →

The Linux Foundation is today announcing the formation of the FinOps Foundation to promote the discipline of cloud financial management through best practices, education, and standards

With support from founding members Apptio, Cloudeasier, Cloudsoft, CloudWize, Contino, Kubecost, Neos, Opsani, ProsperOps, Timspirit and VMware, the foundation is set to increase awareness and offer education for professionals in the emerging discipline of FinOps.

Continue reading →

There are many great things about Linux-based operating systems. Not only are they often lightweight and good for older hardware, but they can be customized too thanks to the various available desktop environments. Unlike Windows, which only has one user interface, Linux distros can have several. Of course, one of the biggest benefits of Linux is that it is free. There are countless great operating systems based on the open source kernel that cost nothing, such as Ubuntu and Fedora.

The thing is, Linux-based operating systems don't have to be free. In fact, just because the Linux kernel is open source, that does not mean that a Linux distribution can't incorporate closed source code. This brings us to Linspire -- one of the rare Linux-based operating systems that costs actual money. Believe it or not, it isn't even cheaper than Windows 10 Pro! Version 9.0 was recently released, but you probably shouldn't buy it.

Continue reading →

The highest performing developers put out releases 15 times more often and are 26 times times faster to detect and fix open source vulnerabilities than their low performing counterparts, according to a new study.

The report from Sonatype is based on analysis of over 1.5 trillion open source download requests, 24,000 open source projects, and 5,600 enterprise development teams.

Continue reading →

Development of Mageia 8 seems to be progressing nicely, which is good news for fans of the Linux-based operating system. Last month, we shared that the first Alpha of the distribution was available for testing, and now today, the first Beta arrives.

As with the Alpha, the Beta is available with your choice of three desktop environments --  KDE Plasma, GNOME, and Xfce. All three are available in 64-bit Live ISO images, but the 32-bit variant of the operating system is limited to Xfce only. This makes sense, as 32-bit-only computers in 2020 are quite ancient and under-powered, while Xfce is the most lightweight DE of the bunch.

Continue reading →

Have I Been Pwned is unquestionably the best way to discover if your email address has been leaked in a data breach. The site can also check any passwords you use to see if they appear on the web and it can be fun entering some common choices to reveal how often they’ve been leaked. "Password", for example, has appeared in data breaches 3.7 million times, while "123456" crops up a whopping 23.5 million times.

The service is used in numerous third-party tools too, including Spybot Identity Monitor and 1Password. Have I Been Pwned is the work of Troy Hunt, and after failing to sell it earlier in the year, he has decided to take the step of opening source the code base in a quest for a more sustainable future.

Continue reading →

Open source software has become commonplace in all sorts of environments. But its very nature means that those responsible for their users' or organization's security need to be able to understand and verify its security.

Today The Linux Foundation is announcing the formation of the Open Source Security Foundation (OpenSSF). This is a cross-industry collaboration that brings together leaders to improve the security of open source software by building a broader community with targeted initiatives and best practices.

Continue reading →

Whenever I call Microsoft an open source champion or leader, the Linux fanboys come out in droves to tell me I am wrong. Unfortunately for them, I am extremely correct on the subject. Look, I get it, Microsoft was hostile towards both the open source and Linux communities years ago, but things change. The Windows-maker contributes to countless open source projects while also providing Linux programs, such as Procman. It is time for the open source and Linux communities to soften their stance on the company -- Microsoft is not your enemy!

Today, Microsoft proves once again that it is a friend of the open source community. You see, the storied company has become a Corporate Gold member of the Blender Development Fund. What does that mean? Essentially, Microsoft has handed over some of its money to help the development of popular open source program Blender -- free software for 3D creators.

Continue reading →

Developers frequently make use of open source components in order to speed up projects and save them having to reinvent tasks. But this can lead to the introduction of hidden security risks.

Now though open source marketplace xs:code is launching a new, free Chrome extension, xs:code Insights, which provides users with intuitive, in-depth analytics on open source repositories, including repository score, security analysis, maintenance and activity status, reviews, ratings and more.

Continue reading →

Using complex cloud applications built with microservices and APIs can often expose business logic that threat actors use to infiltrate applications and private data.

A new application security company Traceable is launching today with a platform that traces end-to-end application activity from the user and session all the way through the application code. Traceable's TraceAI machine learning and distributed tracing technology analyzes data to learn normal application behavior and detect any activity that deviates from the norm.

Continue reading →

We recently told you that the thin and light Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition has finally started shipping with Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. While that is certainly cool, the reality is, Linux-focused companies like System76 were shipping out computers with the newest Ubuntu LTS  pre-installed way before that. In fact, System76 even offers the option of its own operating system that is based on Ubuntu 20.04. Called "Pop!_OS," the Linux distribution adds many beneficial tweaks and enhancements to improve the overall user experience.

Today, System76 refreshes its popular Oryx Pro laptop, and you can choose between Ubuntu 20.04 and Pop!_OS 20.04 (I would recommend the latter). The powerful notebook (with 15.6-inch or 17.3-inch display options) now comes with a cutting-edge 10th Gen Intel Core i7-10875H CPU which offers an impressive 8 cores and 16 threads. You also get an NVIDIA RTX 20-series GPU which can work in conjunction with the Intel graphics thanks to the smart graphic-switching capabilities baked into Pop!_OS.

Continue reading →

Open source components are now at the core of many applications and a good deal of infrastructure. But what implications does this have for security?

The Information Security Forum has released a new paper, Deploying Open Source Software: Challenges and Rewards, to help security professionals recognize the benefits and perceived challenges of using open source and set up a program of protective measures to effectively manage it.

Continue reading →