Plus how PipeWire will improve day-to-day desktop life, Google's push for more kernel investments, and a lot more.

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• Google Calls On Companies To Devote More Engineers To Upstream Linux, Toolchains — The post notes that stable Linux kernel releases see close to 100 new fixes each week, but given that rate of change vendors are not always picking up the latest fixes or in some cases just trying to cherry-pick the "important" fixes. Besides acknowledging the need for more upstream kernel developers, the post also encourages vendors to go the route of chasing the latest Linux stable or LTS kernel releases in order to incorporate all fixes.
• Google Online Security Blog: Linux Kernel Security Done Right
• It’s time to improve Linux’s security | ZDNet
• Google slams Linux kernel, says it needs major security investment | TechRadar
• Bug in Lynx’ SSL certificate validation
• Intel Proposes Linux Kernel Driver Allow/Deny Filtering — Given the VMM is an untrusted entity and the VMM presents emulated hardware to the guest, a threat vector similar to Thunderclap [1] is present. Also, for ease of deployment, it is useful to be able to use the same kernel binary on host and guest, but that presents a wide attack surface given the range of hardware supported in typical builds.
• [PATCH v1] driver: base: Add driver filter support
• PipeWire 0.3.33 Released — Bluetooth can now automatically switch between headset and audio profile
• 0.3.33 · PipeWire / pipewire · GitLab
• Samsung's In-Kernel SMB3 Server Gets Closer to Real — Samsung has been developing "KSMBD" (formerly also known as CIFSD) as an in-kernel SMB3 file sharing server.
• I tried Steam Deck early and it’s AWESOME! - YouTube — It's my lucky day! Valve let me try the Steam Deck early - And it destroyed my expectations. Just how good is it? Let me explain...
• I Have MORE to Say About Steam Deck - WAN Show August 6, 2021 - YouTube
• A major bug fix week over at the KDE project — We are really trying to improve the stability of our software now that it’s starting to be used in more 3rd-party products like the Steam Deck.
• Lutris 0.5.9 Beta Released With Epic Games Store Support — The Lutris 0.5.9 beta delivers on initial support for the Epic Games Store, support for DXVK-NVAPI and DLSS, FidelityFX Super Resolution is now an exposed option for compatible Wine versions, Valve's Gamescope Wayland game compositor is now an option, Esync usage is now enabled by default, the Dolphin emulator is now available as a game source, improved process monitoring, and other enhancements. It's quite a hearty update for this game manager.
• Many Interesting Talks On Deck For The X.Org Developers Conference 2021 - Phoronix
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Plus Google's new Linux hardware, Flatpaks have met their critic, and more.

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• Ubuntu Touch OTA 5 released — While many have already joined the community on 16.04 with OTA-4, in addition to the long-term support of upstream Ubuntu development, OTA-5 will include a more stable experience, new tweaks, and new features to show off this next stage of Ubuntu Touch development.
• Plasma 5.14 released — A lot of work has gone into improving Discover, Plasma's software manager, and, among other things, we have added a Firmware Update feature and many subtle user interface improvements to give it a smoother feel. We have also rewritten many effects in our window manager KWin and improved it for slicker animations in your work day. Other improvements we have made include a new Display Configuration widget which is useful when giving presentations.
• User Error Episode 50: Understand The Hype — It seems to be all about Plasma these days so we want to know if the hype is justified.
• Website criticises Flatpaks — To make matters worse, the users are misled to believe the apps run sandboxed. For all these apps flatpak shows a reassuring "sandbox" icon when installing the app
• Redis modules forked — Redis put some of the program's code under the anti-open-source Common Clause license. Now, developers are counterattacking by forking the code.
• Microsoft joins OIN — Joining OIN reflects Microsoft’s patent practice evolving in lock-step with the company’s views on Linux and open source more generally.
• ChromeOS tablet launched — The Pixel Slate is a Chrome OS tablet with a detachable keyboard cover that turns it into something very closely resembling a laptop.
• Restyling apps at scale

Plus Debian's call for help, and more.

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• KDE Plasma 5.13 released
• An opportunity to invest in Mycroft
• Dockerhub malware
• 5% of Monero has been mined with malware
• Vulnerable devices shipped with ADB enabled
• Debian seeking artwork for the 10.0 release
• Rebble Auth Sign Up

Plus fail0verflow gets Linux on the Nintendo Switch, and our favorite new features of VLC 3.0.

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• MATE 1.20 — The theme for this release has been stabilising the MATE Desktop by replacing deprecated code and modernising large sections of the code base. We’ve also improved our window manager (Marco) and added support for HiDPI. Along the way we’ve fixed hundreds of bugs. Squished ‘em dead!
• Plasma 5.12 — Speed and memory improvements are the focus of this long-term release. The new Plasma LTS uses less CPU and less memory than previous versions. The process of starting the Plasma desktop is now significantly faster.
• VLC 3.0 — Network browsing for distant filesystems (SMB, FTP, SFTP, NFS...)
• Nextcloud 13 — This release brings improvements to the core File Sync and Share like easier moving of files and a tech preview of our end-to-end encryption for the ultimate protection of your data. It also introduces collaboration and communication capabilities, like auto-complete of comments and integrated real-time chat and video communication.
• Android x86 7.1 — It’s a full port of Android, instead of being more of an application player like other solutions.
• Bliss-x86 Oreo 8.x
• Changes coming to elementary OS AppCenter — One of the primary goals of developing AppCenter Dashboard was to build a sustainable app ecosystem. I don’t think it’s a surprise to anyone that although the AppCenter ecosystem is growing, nobody can make a living on it yet. That’s what we mean when we say “sustainable”. Writing apps is a real, hard, full-time job. If we want to see more high-quality, Open Source apps then we need to prioritize getting third-party app developers paid.
• Elementary OS Juno will be version 5.0, not 0.5 — Among them a small yet appreciable bump to the version number. Yes elementary OS 0.5 Juno will actually be elementary OS 5.0.
• Announcing “Project Things” — We kicked off “Project Things”, with the goal of building a decentralized ‘Internet of Things’ that is focused on security, privacy, and interoperability.
• Nintendo Switch runs Linux — According to fail0verflow, there’s a flaw in the boot ROM in Nvidia’s Tegra X1 system-on-a-chip. when your console starts, it reads and executes a piece of code stored in a read-only memory (hence the name ROM). This code contains instructions about the booting process.

This is is an episode about playing to your strengths, and taking over markets.

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• Plasma 5.10 Released — Simple by default, powerful when needed.
• Xfce 4.14 edges closer (along with GTK 3) — Xfce 4.14 is a transitionnal release, where the main goal is to port all components to GTK+3.
• Fedora 26 delayed — This latest delay pushes Fedora 26 final out to 11 July, assuming no further delays this release cycle.
• Coreboot joins Conservancy — "By joining Conservancy, coreboot benefits from their project and community organization skills,"
• Toyota to use Linux in its cars — The Linux Foundation's Automotive Grade Linux project is celebrating its first big-name user, after Toyota said it will employ the OS in the 2018 Camry model it will sell in the United States.
• ChrisLAS: "@autogradelinux Is it possible for car manufactures to use AGL and also offer Android Auto or Apple CarPlay on top?"
• 2017 CES Demonstrator - [Automotive Linux Wiki] — Hardware spec for AGL demo machine at CES 2017.
• Essential’s Ambient OS will be open source — Playground CEO Andy Rubin, whose new company Essential unveiled a new premium Android smartphone and Amazon Echo competitor today, says his company’s Ambient OS smart home platform will be open source.
• Essential faces trademark dispute over name — Spigen, Inc. successfully registered the trademark (Reg. No. 5014095) as early as August 2016. It's an International Class. 9 mark, the category which relates to computers and scientific devices, including smartphones and accessories.