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In yet another sign that Microsoft is a very different animal these days, the company has released PowerShell DSC (desired state configuration) for Linux. PowerShell DSC is a server configuration tool that has hitherto driven Windows Server boxen. But Microsoft's now decided it has a “commitment to common management of heterogeneous assets in your datacenter or the public cloud”, so has added Linux-wrangling features to the tool. The new code can cope with CentOS, Debian GNU/Linux, Oracle Linux, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, and Ubuntu Server. Once you get it up and running you can enjoy the...

With the sizes slimming down, it is certainly not a huge surprise that we have a Chip sized computer amidst us. What is really astonishing is the fact that this chip sized computer costs only $9 and can do literally everything for you. The Chip as it has been named runs on Linux and includes Wi-Fi and Bluetooth as well.In fact, CHIP from Next Thing Co. also offers a VGA or an HDMI post for monitors, adding immense versatility to it. To be true, this is certainly one invention that all of us might just have been looking forward to.CHIP has...

Last November, Microsoft said that it would bring some of the core features of its .NET platform — which has traditionally been Windows-only — to Linux and Mac. Today, at its Build developer conference, the company announced its first full preview of the .NET Core runtime for Linux and Mac OS X.In addition, Microsoft is making the release candidate of the full .NET framework for Windows available to developers today [April 29, 2015]. The highlight here, though, is obviously the release of .NET Core for platforms other than Windows. As Microsoft VP of its developer division S. “Soma” Somasegar told...

As sales of tablets and phones continue to outstrip demand for PCs, the technology industry is preparing for a shift in how people use computers. In this transition, phones and tablets are expected to begin to be used as desktop PCs, a change that will force a fundamental redesign of software. Instead of operating systems and applications having a single interface, apps will alter their look and controls to reflect how they are being used. For example, a UI that favours large, easily-tappable buttons on a touchscreen tablet might switch to tightly-packed icons when the tablet is used with a...

For over 5 years, and perhaps even longer, servers around the world running Linux and BSD operating systems have been targeted by an individual or group that compromised them via a backdoor Trojan, then made them send out spam, ESET researchers have found. What's more, it seems that the spammers are connected with a software company called Yellsoft, which sells DirectMailer, a "system for automated e-mail distribution" that allows users to send out anonymous email. This operation succeeded in remaining hidden for so long thanks to several factors: the sophistication of the malware used, its stealth and persistence, the fact...

Today the folks at Parallels have unveiled Parallels 2X Remote Application Server, the first RDP Client for Raspberry Pi. This system will enable Raspberry Pi users to access Windows virtual applications and Remote Desktops alike. With Parallels 2X RAS, as they also call it, users will have the ability to deliver applications to any device - Chromebooks, Windows PCs, Mac computers, Android, iOS, Windows Phone, Linux workstations, HTML5 browsers and of course, strangest and most awesome of all, the device family known as Raspberry Pi...

CoreOS and Joyent's SmartOS/Triton have worked to redefine, in radically different ways, what an OS needs to be to run applications at scale in the cloud.Now another candidate is set to join the ranks of maverick cloud OSes: OSv, open source, hypervisor-optimized, and "designed to run an application stack without getting in the way.">OSv runs existing Linux applications, but is not itself Linux; it's entirely new and written from the ground up in C/C++. It can run on a slew of hypervisors and virtual machine systems, or in cloud environments like Amazon EC2 or Google Compute Engine. The company claims significant...

As Linux version 4.0 was released on 15 April, one of the most discussed new features to be included in this release is "no reboot" kernel patching. With the major distros committing to support the 4.0 kernel and its features (including "no reboot" patching) at some point this year, it's a good time to take a look at what this feature actually does and what difference it will make for you. First of all, what does it actually mean? Well, for once, this is a feature with a name that describes what it does pretty well. With versions of Linux...

Version 4.0.0 of Mono, the FOSS implementation of the .NET Framework, has been released. This is the first release of Mono that replaces various components of Mono with code that was released by Microsoft under the MIT license. Microsoft itself is working towards .NET Core: a redistributable and re-imagined version of .NET, which has two code drops: CoreFX and CoreCLR. Mono at this point continues to provide an API that tracks the .NET desktop/server version. This means that most of the Mono code that has been integrated from Microsoft comes from the ReferenceSource code drop. ...

Every now and then, it's nice to break out of your bubble, to really get outside your comfort zone and see how things are "on the other side of the fence."I love Chinese food. Could eat Chinese food every day of the week. But, once in a while, it's a good idea to mix things up. You know. And order a pizza. This is that time for me. Only instead of Chinese food, it's Linux. Instead of pizza, Windows 10 (Technical Preview). That's right. I'm a full time Linux user, and I just spent a few days trying to live...

Remember the most talked about story of 2014? It was Microsoft loves Linux. It looks like Microsoft’s love for Linux is more like Mark Wahlberg’s love for Reese Witherspoon as we saw in the movie Fear.If reports are to be trusted Microsoft’s survival mechanism may kick in again, with the new release of Windows. The legacy software maker may resort to ‘secure boot’ to block alternative operating systems on Windows PCs.At Microsoft’s hardware conference WinHEC, new slides were shown which could mean bad news for Linux users. Machines shipping with Windows 10 may see OEMs enforcing Secure Boot without an option...

The long reigning king of the desktop OS is in trouble. Microsoft’s CEO, Satya Nadella, is rapidly steering the company into the back office and service spaces, while their nascent mobile and desktop platforms are crumbling around them. Microsoft is putting on a brave face continuing to heavily advertise the 2-in-1 Surface debacle, but Nadella is only buying time, as he must surely know that Apple and Google is the two-headed beast that Microsoft can not stop. In less than a decade, Microsoft will be associated with IBM or Oracle, not Apple or Google. Apple’s iOS is poised for...

I grew up in rural West Virginia, and I don't remember learning how to shoot. All I know is I was certainly shooting well before the time I was 8. I grew up in a gun culture, with many relatives in the military, and I went to school at West Virginia University, which won its 16th NCAA Rifle Championship in 2014. In short, I know guns and I know just how hard it is to shoot accurately at extreme ranges such as 1,000 yards. Even at my best, I was never able to do it reliably. (Image: TrackingPoint) Or rather,...

The perfect desktop is undoubtedly the one you would design yourself. However, lacking the necessary time and expertise, many users hop instead from desktop to desktop desktop with the same enthusiasm as others hop between distros, hoping to find the ideal distribution.In many cases, they never find their ideal, and for good reason -- even the simplest Linux desktop is a mixture of advantages and disadvantages.Here, for example, are some core reasons for both accepting and rejecting the seven leading desktops of today:Cinnamon Leading Advantage: Like MATE, Linux Mint's other desktop, Cinnamon is a classic desktop for GNOME-based applications. However,...

Don’t Let the Grinch Steal Christmas December 16, 2014 Posted by: Stephen Coty, Chief Security EvangelistLeave a comment Blog Contributions by Tyler Borland, Sr. Security Researcher and Stephen Coty, Chief Security Evangelist, Alert Logic Since we are in the thick of the holiday season, we are analyzing which operating systems support the needs of e-commerce and brick and mortar retail shops. Due to the lower cost of ownership and efficiencies such as a non-resource heavy operating system that allow for applications to run more smoothly, we found that Linux is dominating when it comes to e-commerce site deployment. According...

The latest monthly report from internet security specialist Doctor Web shows that whilst Windows and Android users have no cause for complacency, November saw substantial numbers of malicious programs aimed at Mac OS X and Linux platforms. Trojans remain the most popular form of attack making up 8.7 percent of all malware detected. Trojan.InstallCore.12, which installs different adware, toolbars and browser extensions, ranks first. BackDoor.Andromeda.404, which downloads other malicious programs into an infected system when commanded to do so by intruders, ranks second. In November BackDoor.Andromeda.404 was distributed in large quantities by email thanks to a mass spam campaign. It...

Microsoft is planning to open source the full server-side .NET core stack and to take that open-sourced .NET core to Linux and Mac OS X, alongside Windows.Microsoft officials announced the company's latest .NET programming-model plans on the opening day of the Connect(); developer-focused event on November 12.In April 2014, Microsoft announced plans to open source a number of its developer technologies, including ASP.NET, the Roslyn .NET compiler platform, the .NET Micro Framework, .NET Rx and the VB and C# programming languages. Microsoft officials said they planned to make these technologies available via a newly created .Net Foundation.Today, the company is adding...

Image by :  Opensource.com Maybe you’ve heard about Linux and are intrigued by it. So intrigued that you want to give it a try. But you might not know where to begin.You’ve probably done a bit of research online and have run across terms like dual booting and virtualization. Those terms might mean nothing to you, and you’re definitely not ready to sacrifice the operating system that you’re currently using to give Linux a try. So what can you do? If you have a USB flash drive lying around, you can test drive Linux by creating a live USB....

Gone are the days when Linux was considered just “a cancer” by Microsoft’s big honchos, as the new CEO of the Redmond-based company says the open-source platform is quickly gaining ground on its Azure platform. Speaking at a cloud event in San Francisco, Nadella has suggested that “Microsoft loves Linux,” pointing out that the company is working to offer support for more Linux distributions through its Azure cloud service. Nearly 20 percent of Azure is Linux-friendly, he revealed, adding that starting this week, CoreOS is also supported. CentOS, Oracle Linux, Suse, and Ubuntu were already working on Azure. What’s...

Since its inception, there has always been a base level of friction within the Linux community.For the most part, this friction has led to new ideas that have provided ease of use and in some instances, improved functionality. Distros such as Ubuntu best showcase this example, despite the grief it gets from parts of the Linux community. Digging deeper beyond the surface, however, some of this friction has proven to be more divisive than productive.Extreme views from software titans One of the most divisive situations I've seen in the Linux space is how proprietary code within the Linux space is...