Linux Action News 199

We share the facts about a recent systemd vulnerability, the new details we've learned this week about the Steam Deck, and then dig into the reviews of the Framework Laptop.

Plus, how hard is it to port Linux software to Fucshia? We get the answer from Google's Adam Barth.

• Denial of Service in systemd — The Qualys Research Team has discovered a stack exhaustion denial-of-service vulnerability in systemd, a near-ubiquitous utility available on major Linux operating systems. Any unprivileged user can exploit this vulnerability to crash systemd and hence the entire operating system (a kernel panic).
• Nasty Linux systemd security bug revealed — It works by enabling attackers to misuse the alloca() function in a way that would result in memory corruption. This, in turn, allows a hacker to crash systemd and hence the entire operating system.
• Debian 11.0 “Bullseye” Gets An August Release Date — Debian developers are aiming to release Debian 11.0 "Bullseye" on Saturday, August 14th, 2021.
• Audacity publishes updated Privacy Policy and an Apology — The update addresses the main points of criticism leveled against the previous version of the privacy policy.
• Apologetic Audacity rewrites privacy policy after ‘significant lapse in communication’ — Open-source audio editor Audacity this week posted an apology on GitHub in response to the entirely predictable furore over the platform's privacy policy.
• Valve corrects the RAM specs for the Steam Deck — Yang also confirmed on Twitter that when docked you can run Steam Deck games off of an external SSD.
• Faster Zombies to Steam Deck: The History of Valve and Linux Gaming — Well, Valve and Linux Gaming together have come a very long way since the early blogs posts about getting Left 4 Dead 2 running fast on Linux to the new Steam Deck. But just how far have they come? Let's do a little reminiscing.
• The Framework Laptop is now shipping, and press reviews — We’re excited to see the first press reviews go live for the Framework Laptop and the first orders land on your doorsteps today! With the FTC unanimously voting to enforce the Right to Repair just yesterday, our timing couldn’t be better for delivering a great, high performance, easy to repair product.
• Framework Laptop pre-orders are now open
• Two Googlers offer a tour & demo of Fuchsia OS — Rubber Duck Engineering, a weekly web show hosted by Fuchsia software engineer Adam Barth and Flutter engineer Eric Seidel, was able to record a dedicated episode teaching about the current state of Fuchsia OS.
• [Video] Rubber Duck Engineering Episode #57 — A Tour of the Fuchsia Operating System