Free Republic

Part 1 Some Linux veterans are irritated by some of the new tech: Snap, Flatpak, Btrfs, ZFS, and so forth. Doesn't the old stuff work? Well, yes, it does – but not well enough. Why is Canonical pushing Snap so hard? Does Red Hat really need all these different versions of Fedora? Why are some distros experimenting with ZFS if its licence is incompatible with the GPL? Is the already bewildering array of packaging tools and file systems not enough?No, they aren't. There are good justifications for all these efforts, and the reasons are simple and fairly clear. The snag...

The Global Disinformation Index (GDI), a foreign think tank headquartered in the United Kingdom, released an assessment of American online media designed to blacklist conservative media outlets and choke off their advertising revenue. The information is kept on what GDI calls its “Dynamic Exclusion List.” Ad networks — including most prominently Xandr — which is owned by Microsoft — are now using this list to refuse to allow advertising on conservative media websites.

Are you curious about the world of Linux but don't know where to start or how long it will take to master it? Look no further! In this article, we'll delve into the realistic timeline for learning Linux and provide you with a clear roadmap to success. From understanding your current skillset and familiarizing yourself with Linux concepts, to getting hands-on experience and building a strong foundation in the command line, we've got you covered.Understanding Your Current Skillset and GoalsBefore embarking on your journey to learn Linux, it's important to understand your current skillset and set realistic goals for what...

Linux is undoubtedly the best open-source operating system, and is arguably the most secure OS by design. Most computers these days are Linux-based. Android OS, which is the most commonly used mobile operating system, is also Linux-based. The same goes for Chromebooks and a variety of tablets. As amazing as Linux is, the chances of it getting compromised are also increasing due to its growing popularity. Although many tech enthusiasts believe that Linux is immune to viruses and malware, and doesn't require any anti-malware or anti-virus solutions, this isn't entirely true. What you need to understand is that no operating...

What Is Linux?Linux is an open-source, community-developed operating system with the kernel at its core, alongside other tools, applications, and services.Like any other operating system like Windows or MAC, it manages the hardware resources of a system such as CPU, RAM, and storage. The kernel interfaces the operating system and the underlying hardware and facilitates communication between the two.What is a Linux Command Line?A command line is an interface that allows you to type and run Linux commands which instruct the operating system on what actions to carry out. A command-line interface is provided by a terminal or terminal emulator...

Businesses are likely to sweat device assets for longer this year as they spend conservatively in a weakening economy, and this along with shrinking demand from consumers is leaving manufacturers in a tight spot. Gartner forecasts a perfect storm with fortunes declining for shipments of PCs, tablets and mobile phones 4.4 percent year-on-year in 2023 to 1.74 billion units. If accurate, that's just slightly more than 287 million computers, down 6.8 percent, some 2.9 percent fewer tablets to almost 133 million and 1.339 billion phones, down 4 percent. This is against a backdrop of a 36 percent revenue decline for...

It's the end of an era. As The Reg covered last week, IBM has transferred development of AIX to India. Why should IBM pay for an expensive US-based team to maintain its own proprietary flavor of official Unix when it paid 34 billion bucks for its own FOSS flavor in Red Hat? Here at The Reg FOSS desk, we've felt this was coming ever since we reported that Big Blue was launching new POWER servers which didn't support AIX – already nearly eight years ago. Even if it was visibly coming over the horizon, this is a significant event: AIX...

Key Points 8GB and 16GB make a big difference in performance. The key difference is the volume of RAM and how much stress you need to put on your PC. 16GB is the clear winner for any PC. 8GB and 16GB of RAM isn’t the usual comparison. Obviously, more RAM would be better, so we’re going to look at the comparison from a few different angles. We’re going to look at what 16GB can do that 8GB can’t. When does 8GB stop being enough? What are the differences in performance and available features? We’ll look at what we can and...

Has anyone used a mini-PC. I'm looking at Mini PC Beelink BT3-X 4/64GB Intel J3355the specs are:Procesor: Intel Celeron J3355 RAM: 4 GB DDR4 Dysk: 64 GB eMMC graphic card: Intel HD Graphics 500 OS Windows 10 Home or the Beelink GKmini 8/128 GB Any experience with these or other mini-PCs?

THE vast majority of the public does not understand that “Linux Foundation” has very little to do with Linux (a very minuscule portion of its budget is in fact devoted to Linux). Put another way, Linux Foundation just exploits the powerful Linux brand to sell its openwashing (PR) services. The Linux Foundation is hardly new to us. We’ve been covering it since its birth in 2007 (not 2000 as Wikipedia erroneously claims) and wrote about 500 articles about it. In more recent years things got a lot worse. The Foundation was actively helping Microsoft against Linux and against activists for...

There are economic good times and economic bad times. When times get tough and money's tight, it's good to have Linux on your PC. 1. The OS and Apps Are Free 2. Your Current PC Will Run for Longer Running Linux means you can expect to use the computer for as long as you want. Rather than running into the artificial limitation of a company declaring your machine end of life and unsupported, you know you will receive free updates until your computer physically falls apart or becomes too underpowered to do what you need it to do. This makes...

Can someone help? Tried Ubuntu, which was going fine until it decided to disable all its networking functions, all of its own. Ubuntu community seems to know about this feature but just deals with it... I need suggestions as to which distros meet the following: Will run on a kinda upgraded old lenovo desktop that has upgraded ram and a SSD. Bootable from a USB device (SSD has no other OS installed on it, so no partition, etc. Dedicated Linux machine.) One is much disinclined from Ubuntu or RedHat/IBM/Fedora. Interested in a serviceable, low-overhead, easy to use user interface to...

Frequently Asked QuestionsList of Best Hard Disk Cloning SoftwareComparison of Hard Drive Cloning Tools#1) AOMEI Backupper Standard#2) O&O Disk Image#3) MiniTool Partition Wizard#4) Macrium Reflect#5) EaseUS Todo Backup#6) Acronis True Image 2020#7) Clonezilla#8) Paragon Software Hard Disk ManagerConclusionRecommended Reading

Vietnam's Lê Thành, the self-proclaimed 'King of VGA,' is having some fun on Facebook(opens in new tab) (via I_Leak_VN(opens in new tab)). In photos and videos shared on the social media site, it looks like the store has started to use street trader tactics to grab passersby and sell them GPUs by the kilo. Lê Thành shared pictures of dozens of used GPUs stacked up on the curbside in a clear parody of a Vietnamese street food stall. There is also a video with the vendor patiently waving away flies with a net, awaiting passersby. Then, a scooter stops, and...

Ubuntu has once again sparked debate among Linux users by implementing a very controversial approach – using the most often used shell command, notably the software update tool, to advertise its service.But first, let me explain what this is all about.Ubuntu Pro Ad in Command ShellCanonical has recently launched a fantastic initiative – a free personal Ubuntu Pro subscription for up to five machines. In other words, they opened up its previously paid-for Ubuntu Pro update service free of charge.So far, so good. The news flooded the Internet, well received by all users. And everything would have been perfect if...

U.S. Senators Gary Peters (D-MI) and Rob Portman (R-OH), Chairman and Ranking Member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, have introduced bipartisan legislation to help protect federal and critical infrastructure systems by strengthening the security of open source software. The legislation comes after a hearing convened by Peters and Portman on the Log4j incident earlier this year, and would direct the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to help ensure that open source software is used safely and securely by the federal government, critical infrastructure, and others. A vulnerability discovered in Log4j – which is widely used open...

Today is August 25th in many parts of the world, which means that Linux is turning 31 years old, so join me in celebrating Linux’s 31st birthday with a glass of good champagne and a delicious cake!While some don’t recognize August 25th as Linux’s birthday, I do. It was on August 25th, 1991, when 21-year-old Finnish student Linus Benedict Torvalds made his now-famous announcement on the comp.os.minix newsgroup that he’s working on a free operating system for 386(486) AT clones, just as a “hobby.”Hello everybody out there using minix –I’m doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won’t be...

Linux is a far cry from the esoteric bundles of code it once was, and the number of polished distros offering variants for Windows, OS X and Ubuntu, is testament to that.Also read:What is Void Linux and How to Install ItCustomization: Arch LinuxArch Linux has grown to become one of the leading Linux distros since its launch in 2002. The distro is very minimal in its default state but offers an unbridled level of customization for the more experienced user.There’s no default desktop environment, so you can choose and install one that’s best suited to your personal tastes and the...

There are five most famous and usable operating systems – Microsoft Windows, Linux, Apple macOS, Android, and Apple’s iOS. However, no matter what OS was chosen, more users started to think about their safety. Safety for everybody includes different parameters such as anonymity, no tracking by Third Parties, no leaking of personal data, no danger of virus/worms catching, no harmful advertisements, and no eavesdropping. Some advice for protection includes two-factor authentication, usage of high-quality long, not repeated passwords, usage of antivirus programs, and avoidance of phishing emails and links. But there are also existing other smart protection methods using special...

DogWalk, a security flaw in Windows first discovered in January 2020, has finally been addressed, the company has confirmed.The remote code execution flaw, existing due to a path traversal weakness in the Windows Support Diagnostic Tool (MSDT), is being patched as part of the August 2022 Patch Tuesday, Microsoft has said.