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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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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