Linux Action News 17

An Ubuntu developer event is happening soon, 17.10 Beta 1 has dropped for most of the flavours, Reddit closes its source while Phoenix OS opens theirs, Google getting serious about kernel updates in Android, Essential need to up their game, Blockchain is serious business and Linux desktop marketshare hits a new high.

• Ubuntu Rally in NYC — The Ubuntu Rally, taking place in New York City September 25th-29th, is a forward-thinking five day software hackathon attended by major software vendors, Ubuntu developers working at every level of the stack, and community contributors.
• 17.10 Beta 1 of Ubuntu flavours released — The first beta is available today for the Ubuntu 17.10 "Artful Aardvark" release for the flavors opting in to participate in this development milestone ahead of the official launch in October.
• Reddit closes its source — Open-source makes it hard for us to develop some features "in the clear" (like our recent video launch) without leaking our plans too far in advance. As Reddit is now a larger player on the web, it is hard for us to be strategic in our planning when everyone can see what code we are committing.
• Phoenix OS urged to open source their kernel — So a dedicated fan of the platform, Karol Putra, has created a Change.org petition in hopes that it will change their minds.
• Petition update · Victory! — It's most likely really the Phoenix OS kernel as it carries slight unique modifications in comparison to Android-x86 and it's forks
• Google mandates 4.4+ kernel for Oreo — Starting this year with smartphones which ship with Android Oreo, Google is requiring that all SoCs productized in 2017 must launch with kernel 4.4 or newer.
• Essential underdelivers — Essential – a device, marketing team, and CEO that seem to blur the lines between fact and fiction and possible and impossible
• Then Essential royally screws up — Dozens of customers replied with their personal information, but those emails didn’t just go to Essential. Instead, they went out to everybody who had received the original email.
• Blockchain is big in big business — Hundreds of projects have collectively raised more than a billion dollars through “initial coin offerings” (ICOs). There are now tokens funding every conceivable endeavor
• Linux creeps above 3% browser marketshare — According to Net Applications' Netmarketshare, the Linux market share on the desktop as judged by browser interactions may now be above 3%.