Issue #210 / May 2018

We all loved it when Microsoft finally embraced Linux after a history of attacking it. Some of those outrageous sound bites like “Linux is a cancer…” got played back in triumphant retrospective as we all marked the passing of an era and remarked on the how far we’d come.

Kali Linux and KaOS

OpenStack Queens released, Kali Linux comes to Windows, Ubuntu to start collecting data with Ubuntu 18.04, CNCF illuminates serverless vision, Red Hat Decision Manager 7 released, and topological superconductor could lead to quantum computing with weird fermions. 

Zack Brown reports on improving a hashing function, constant values adjustable at boot time, and dealing with an Intel design flaw. 

Libreboot is a project dedicated to making firmware free as in freedom.

Several collaborative office suite providers are now competing for customers who are looking for the seamless exchange of office documents within an enterprise. These cloud or on-premise solutions are designed for teamwork.

GitHub's Electron project brings the benefits of web programming to the realm of desktop applications.

In Star Trek, the Borg adds individuals to its collective consciousness, an apt metaphor for any backup application that stores individual files in an archive. BorgBackup creates folder repositories for multiple archives, making it an especially befitting description of assimilation.

Financial wizard Mike Schilli is annoyed that some web services have discontinued serving up real-time stock market data. To keep an eye on his investment dollars, Mike taps into a little known interface for stock prices.

Blogging usually implies WordPress, but Ghost presents a serious challenge.