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News
In the news: Lenovo now offering Fedora Linux as an option; System76 launches new high-end kaptop; Mozilla lays off staff, receives more cash; VirtualBox now supports Linux Kernel 5.8; three major threats to Linux discovered; and Linux Kernel 5.8 is now available.
Lenovo Now Offering Fedora Linux Option
Lenovo kicked off the Summer of 2020 by claiming it would certify both their ThinkPad and ThinkStation hardware lines for Linux. The hardware giant is making good on that promise and is now offering a laptop preloaded with Fedora Linux.
At the moment, there's only one device offered with Fedora. Said device is the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 8 (https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpad-x1/X1-Carbon-Gen-8-/p/20U9CTO1WWENUS2/customize). The base price of this laptop is $2,145, but with the coupon THINKPROMO that price is cut to $1,287. The base model includes a 10th Generation Intel Core i5-10210U CPU (1.60GHz) with 4 Cores, 8 Threads, and a 6MB cache, 8GB of LPDDR3 RAM, 256GB PCIe SSD, 14.0-inch FHD (1920x1080) IPS anti-glare display, a 720p HD camera, Intel Wi-Fi 6, and a fingerprint reader. Of course, you can configure up to a 10th Generation Intel Core i7, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB PCIe SSD, and a 4K UHD (3840x2160) IPS display for a total of $3,451 (using the THINKPROMO coupon drops that price to $2,070.60).
One very exciting feature about the X1 Carbon is that it promises a massive 19.5 hours of battery life and offers Rapid Charge of up to 80% in an hour.
Lenovo is using a Fedora Workstation image with zero customizations, so it will include the GNOME Desktop Environment.
System76 Launches New High-End Laptop
System76 is not one to rest on reputation. Instead of being content with an already impressive lineup, they're always looking to up their game. With the release of the Bonobo WS (https://system76.com/laptops/bonobo), the Denver, Colorado company has done just that.
The new Bonobo WS is centered around Intel's 10th Generation Comet Lake CPU and is matched with an NVidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super Desktop GPU. You can spec the Bonobo WS with up to 128GB of RAM and up to 24TB of NVMe storage. As far as display, the Bonobo WS offers a 17-inch matte display with either 1080p or 4K.
As you can probably guess, this isn't your average laptop. It's also a thick beast of a machine weighing in at approximately 8.3 pounds, so the Bonobo WS isn't going to be the laptop you grab when you're jetting about and need the ability to browse the Internet or send an email or two. This machine is all about one thing – power – and it delivers.
The base price for the Bonobo WS is $2,300, which includes a Core i5 10600K CPU, NVidia RTX 2060 GPU, 17.3-inch 1080p display, 16GB of RAM, and 240GB of NVMe internal storage. If you really want to go crazy, you can spec the Bonobo WS all the way out to $11,210 (which includes an i9-10900K CPU, massive amounts of RAM, storage, and a 4K display).
Configure and purchase your System76 Bonobo WS now (https://system76.com/laptops/bonw14/configure).
Mozilla Lays Off Staff, Receives More Cash
Mozilla isn't a stranger to struggle. Be it market share or financial issues, the foundation that delivers the most popular open source browser and email client to the Linux platform has always had to fight to keep its head above water.
So it should come as no surprise that last week the foundation laid off almost a quarter of its staff. To this issue, Mitchell Baker (Mozilla CEO) said:
"This will strengthen our ability to build and invest in products and services that will give people alternatives to conventional Big Tech."
Of course, the news doesn't end there. On the same day Mozilla released those employees, they inked a new deal with Google. Said deal is rumored to be worth nine figures (landing them $400 to $450 million a year between now and 2023) and ensures Google is the default search engine on the open source browser.
This deal is sure to turn heads, given the timing. However, Mozilla is repositioning themselves such that they won't have to rely so much on Google. The goal is to be more self-sufficient. This means Mozilla will look toward new services and technology to bolster their bottom line.
For more information about the announcement, check out Baker's official statement (https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2020/08/11/changing-world-changing-mozilla/).