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Monthly Archive:: November 2014

Jolla teases new device

Jolla, the company behind Sailfish and the, uh, Jolla, today unveiled a teaser of an upcoming device - at least, that's what it looks like. The tagline is 'Something BIG is about to begin', indicating we're either looking at a tablet or a much larger phone. The countdown counts down to 19 November, so we don't have to wait long to find out what it's all about.

Meanwhile, my own Jolla collects dust in a drawer as it's simply not a very useful device without any proper 3rd party development activity going on. A few days ago, development on one of the few, proper Sailfish applications was halted, which really isn't helping.

I'm always interested in new hardware, but sadly, it will solve none of the deeper, harder problems that Sailfish faces.

FreeNAS tries on a new interface

The FreeNAS project, a network attached storage solution based on FreeBSD, is getting a new interface and some handy new features. The latest FreeNAS beta features a streamlined interface where tasks have been reorganized to make common functions easier to find.

A key feature of the FreeNAS 9.3 BETA release is its revamped user interface. It has been redesigned to place only the most common configuration options first in ‘Standard’ menus, moving the more esoteric options to ‘Advanced’ options, and this design pattern as has been used throughout the UI so everything is essentially more streamlined and less cluttered for novice users who essentially just want to use the defaults.

The system update utility has also gained improvements and it will be possible to roll back faulty upgrades. This will make is easier to recover from problems caused by package upgrades.

Microsoft’s Android, iOS focus leaves Windows users in the cold

Microsoft is sending a clear message that it wants to reach consumers on popular mobile platforms. That's an understandable move, but with a lack of a true Windows Phone flagship this holiday and hints that unique features like Cortana will make their way to Android and iOS, it leaves Windows Phone in an odd spot. If all of Microsoft's core apps and services work better on Android and iOS, it makes Windows Phone a lot less appealing. If Microsoft can’t even make good apps for Windows, there's not a lot of hope left for third-party app developers to build for Microsoft's mobile platform. Couple that with the Windows tablet and phone app gap, and the future looks increasingly bleak. Appealing to Android and iOS users might be Microsoft's goal, but there's only so long Windows users will remain loyal.

While Microsoft has shifted focus back on traditional desktop Windows, Windows' Metro environment and Windows Phone seem to be on a path towards irrelevance. Microsoft's own applications for these platforms suck, third party applications generally suck or do not exist at all, while Microsoft's applications on iOS and Android are thriving and well-received.

It's easy to read too much into this - but it's also very hard not to.

AnandTech’s Nexus 6 review

Update: Ars Technica's comprehensive Lollipop review is a great companion to the Nexus 6 review.

Nexus 6 reviews are hitting the web all over the place, but as a general rule of thumb, the only one that matters comes from AnandTech. They conclude:

Overall, I think that Google and Motorola have built a solid device. It isn't without its issues, but there's a lot to like, even if you're someone who has never used a phablet before. I had always been somewhat of a skeptic regarding massive phones; I didn't understand the appeal. But after using one, I can see how having a massive display to view all your content can be really beneficial by enabling forms of productivity that simply can't be done comfortably on smaller devices, and by making activities like viewing photos and watching videos significantly more engrossing. Not only did it change my mind about the appeal of phablets, it also changed my mind about Google's ability to compete in the premium device segment of the market. The Nexus 6 holds its own against all the other high end devices that we've seen released this year, although the Galaxy Note 4 with its more phablet oriented software features and hardware advantages might be a better device overall. But those who want a large device and value having software support directly from Google won't be disappointed by the Nexus 6.

It's too big for my tastes - I prefer the 4.5"-5.0" mark - but even so, it's a little sad Google didn't try to make better use of the large display through software tricks. I had hoped that such a large Nexus phone, paired with the new Nexus 9, would finally urge Google to add proper multiwindow to Android (just copy Windows 8's Metro multiwindow. Microsoft got it right), but alas, they did not.

OpenBSD gets USB 3.0 support

The OpenBSD operating system, famous for its proactive approach to security, has gained support for USB 3.0 devices. A brief announcement was made on November 10th, letting OpenBSD users know USB 3.0 support had arrived.

The post said legacy USB 1.x devices would continue to work on USB 3.0 ports.

For those of you who'd been looking forward to using those blue USB ports of yours, now's the time to plug in as many 3.0 devices as you can find! Of course, just about the time we publish this story, USB1.x devices are now supported on a USB 3.x controller.

Google releases Android 5.0 Lollipop for Nexus devices

Rejoice! Google has started pushing the over-the-air updates to Android 5.0 Lollipop out to Nexus devices, so over the coming days you can expect an update notification on your phone or tablet. In case you don't want to wait, you can grab the system images straight from Google and update manually.

I just updated my Nexus 5 to Lollipop manually, and everything went okay. It's smooth, and the new Material Design is a breath of fresh air. Not much to report after an hour, of course, but it does feel like an entirely new phone.

Mageia’s next release delayed by RPM

Members of the Mageia Linux community have been waiting for a few weeks now for a beta release of Mageia 5. Several delays have held back the Mageia 5 beta and the project's developers have posted an update explaining why. It seems the problems started when Mageia updated its copy of the RPM package manager.

The new RPM version introduced changes that were significant enough to break a lot of core packages during the mass rebuild, and lots of packages failed to build in a chain reaction.

Problems continued when another software update, this time the GNU C library, caused the distribution's system installer to stop functioning properly.

You may know that a Linux distribution release is basically an installer together with a set of packages. The latter were now starting to behave properly, but we were then faced with some issues in the installer regarding glibc (the GNU C library) and RPM. This delayed the beta for another week or so.

All show stopping bugs have been fixed and Mageiia has finally pushed out their beta release for people to test. The upcoming launch of Mageia 5 is expected to take place at the end of January.

Microsoft is open sourcing .NET framework

Microsoft has just announced they open sourced .NET," including ASP.NET, the .NET compiler, the .NET Core Runtime, Framework and Libraries, enabling developers to build with .NET across Windows, Mac or Linux." They're including a patent promise. Miguel de Icaza reports that the Mono project will be "replacing chunks of Mono code that was either incomplete, buggy, or not as fully featured as it should be with Microsoft's code," and he also notes that "Microsoft has stated that they do not currently plan on taking patches back or engaging into a full open source community style development of this code base, as the requirements for backwards compatibility on Windows are very high." Nevertheless, this is a very interesting development that demonstrates that Microsoft is serious about remaining relevant.

Microsoft ends unlocking of Windows Phone 7.x December 31

Microsoft is sending out emails to Windows Phone app developers informing them that they will no longer be able to unlock any Windows Phone 7.x devices, like the Lumia 900, for app testing after December 31.

Microsoft recommends that app developers who want to unlock those phones do so before the deadline so they can continued to be used for app testing for another 24 months.

I'm guessing very few people are on Windows Phone 7.x at this point, so this kind of makes sense. The move to WP8 is nearing full completion.

iOS 8 Jailbreak Report

Over the weekend, Pangu released their iOS jailbreak for the Mac, which is the capstone on a weeks-long journey of incremental releases that brought the wonders of non-Apple-approved software to iDevice users bit by bit according to their level of tinkering devotion. Last week, after an aborted attempt, I managed to jailbreak my iPhone 5S, and though I'm still dealing with some of my favorite tweaks not having been updated to work with the new OS, I'm pretty happy with the update, and I can recommend it for most users. Read more, for the rest.

GNOME defending trademark against Groupon

Recently Groupon announced a product with the same product name as GNOME. Groupon's product is a tablet based point of sale "operating system for merchants to run their entire operation." The GNOME community was shocked that Groupon would use our mark for a product so closely related to the GNOME desktop and technology. It was almost inconceivable to us that Groupon, with over $2.5 billion in annual revenue, a full legal team and a huge engineering staff would not have heard of the GNOME project, found our trademark registration using a casual search, or even found our website, but we nevertheless got in touch with them and asked them to pick another name. Not only did Groupon refuse, but it has now filed even more trademark applications (the full list of applications they filed can be found here, here and here). To use the GNOME name for a proprietary software product that is antithetical to the fundamental ideas of the GNOME community, the free software community and the GNU project is outrageous. Please help us fight this huge company as they try to trade on our goodwill and hard earned reputation.

Groupon acting scummy. Say it ain't so.

Update: Groupon has decided to abandon the trademark applications. Situation resolved!

PC-BSD introduces roles

The PC-BSD project has announced a new plan to introduce desktop and server roles into the installation process. A role is essentially a group of pre-defined packages which will be included in a new installation of the operating system.

Roles would be a installation experience for PC-BSD that would allow more flexibility and a more focused package installation based on what you need or want for your role. If you are a web developer maybe you need an IDE or packages specifically focused on that. If you are wanting the best desktop workstation experience maybe you would get an installation with LibreOffice and some other productivity apps.

Roles are not just for desktop users, server administrators will be able to select roles too, enabling web server and ownCloud confiigurations out of the box. People who have suggestions for pre-defined roles or who would like to ask questions about th new feature can join the discussion on the PC-BSD forums.

Half a decade with Go

Five years ago we launched the Go project. It seems like only yesterday that we were preparing the initial public release: our website was a lovely shade of yellow, we were calling Go a "systems language", and you had to terminate statements with a semicolon and write Makefiles to build your code. We had no idea how Go would be received. Would people share our vision and goals? Would people find Go useful?

Congratulations to the Go community and team.

DenyHost adds support for PF firewall

One common method attackers use when attempting to compromise a server is brute forcing login credentials. Given enough time, automated tools can guess a person's username and password, granting the attacker access to an unprotected server. To counter these sorts of attacks, where passwords are guessed by trial and error, several tools have been created. Utilities such as Fail2Ban and DenyHost monitor login attempts and automatically block the computers performing these types of attacks.

Last week the DenyHost project added a feature which allows the utility to block attacks by using the PF firewall. PF is typically used on the OpenBSD and FreeBSD operating systems to block or forward network traffic. The project's website reports:

DenyHost 2.9 adds one new feature, the ability to work with the PF packet filter, popular on BSD systems such as FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, PC-BSD and TrueOS. The DenyHost daemon will now work with existing PF tables in real time, allowing administrators to block incoming secure shell connections at the firewall level. Examples of how to set up the appropriate PF rules and enable DenyHost to work with PF are available in the DenyHost configuration file (denyhosts.conf).

AnandTech’s Apple iPad Air 2 review

AnandTech on the new iPad Air 2:

Overall, the iPad Air 2 is likely to be one of the only tablets worth buying on the market today. While iOS isn't perfect, it's definitely delivering the best tablet experience as its app support is second to none. While other OEMs may have more features, iOS manages to hold on by virtue of its superior polish and integration with Apple hardware. While I'd like to see Apple push the envelope further with the iPad line, it's hard to argue this when other OEMs seem to be content with the status quo. While it's likely that Apple will be able to hold on to its tablet lead, it remains to be seen if Google's Nexus 9 can prove to be a viable competitor to the iPad Air 2.

Still the best tablet you can buy.

Obama says FCC should reclassify internet as a utility

President Obama has come out in support of reclassifying internet service as a utility, a move that would allow the Federal Communications Commission to enforce more robust regulations and protect net neutrality. "To put these protections in place, I'm asking the FCC to reclassifying internet service under Title II of a law known as the Telecommunications Act," Obama says in a statement this morning. "In plain English, I'm asking to recognize that for most Americans, the internet has become an essential part of everyday communication and everyday life."

Good news, but for now, these are nothing more than mere words - which politicians have in abundance - and not an actual law or policy. The FCC is free to make its own decisions, and could just as easily toss all this aside. With the pendulum of American politics currently firmly in the Republican camp, it just seems unlikely that this will actually become policy.

Motorola, Sony, Samsung gearing up for Android 5.0 updates

Update: LG will begin updating its G3 phone to Android 5.0 starting next week. It's pretty clear by now that things have changed with regards to Android updates. Very good.

In the last few years, we've gotten used to OEMs either delaying updates for seemingly an eternity or not delivering them at all. This time, I sense a disturbance in the force lately - and I'm not referring to platform/external/jarjar in the actual Android source code. Vendors are now seemingly trying to compete which each other to see which will release Lollipop first.

Sony, Motorola (already releasing Lollipop for select Moto X models!), and Samsung all seem to be quite far along in updating to Lollipop. Great news for consumers.

Scientists ask Supreme Court to rule APIs can’t be copyrighted

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed a brief with the Supreme Court of the United States today, arguing on behalf of 77 computer scientists that the justices should review a disastrous appellate court decision finding that application programming interfaces (APIs) are copyrightable. That decision, handed down by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in May, up-ended decades of settled legal precedent and industry practice.

Signatories to the brief include five Turing Award winners, four National Medal of Technology winners, and numerous fellows of the Association for Computing Machinery, IEEE, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The list also includes designers of computer systems and programming languages such as AppleScript, AWK, C++, Haskell, IBM S/360, Java, JavaScript, Lotus 1-2-3, MS-DOS, Python, Scala, SmallTalk, TCP/IP, Unix, and Wiki.

You can always count on the EFF to do the right thing.