Linux

Linux is a free and open source operating system. Linux is hidden away inside billions of consumer devices — everything from Android phones to smart toasters — and most servers run it, but it’s also a desktop operating system you can use for any kind of computer task. We cover the big news about major distros like Ubuntu and Mint, computers that run Linux out of the box, hacker boards like Raspberry Pi, and the latest moves by Microsoft to integrate Ubuntu into Windows 10.

Wes DavisMar 31, 2024

An “urgent” Linux backdoor was discovered entirely by accident this week.

Red Hat urgently warned this week that recent beta versions of Fedora operating systems contained malicious code for backdoor access. Debian issued a similar warning.

A blog post from security firm Deepfactor points out that Microsoft developer Andres Freund notified the Linux security Openwall Project after stumbling on the exploit. On Mastodon, Freund said discovering it “really required a lot of coincidences,” starting with him probing curiously high CPU usage by an SSH process.

Update March 7th, 11PM ET: We have more details on the XZ Utils backdoor attempt right here.

A screenshot of Andres Freund’s post detailing what led him to investigate.

Thank goodness for Freund’s memory.

Screenshot: Wes Davis / The Verge

The horror and allure of the diagonal monitor

Wes DavisJan 7, 2024

Linux is getting its own Blue Screen of Death

Tom WarrenDec 7, 2023

Sean HollisterAug 22, 2023

Linux could (but probably won’t) be a surprise beneficiary of the Microsoft-Activision deal.

According to the CMA:

Ubisoft will also be able, for a fee, to require Microsoft to adapt Activision’s titles to operating systems other than Windows, such as Linux, if it decides to use or license out the cloud streaming rights to Activision’s titles to a cloud gaming service that runs a non-Windows operating system.

This would have been a bigger deal when the Linux-based Google Stadia still existed and Ubisoft wanted it to succeed. Still, could be relevant someday!

Microsoft to sell off Activision cloud gaming rights to Ubisoft in bid for UK approval

Tom Warren

Aug 22

Wes DavisAug 8, 2023

Bram Moolenaar, the open source developer who created Vim, has passed away at 62.

Moolenaar’s family announced his August 3rd passing from a quickly-progressing medical condition in a Google Groups post.

In 1991, Moolenaar created Vim, an open-source code editor. It was based on Bill Joy’s vi editor, and quickly became popular with Linux users. Moolenaar actively contributed to Vim until just a few weeks ago, according to Ars Technica.

Rest in peace Bram Moolenaar, author of Vim and hero of many developers

[Ars Technica]

Sean HollisterMay 18, 2023

Imagine never formatting a flash drive to make it bootable again.

Today I learned about Ventoy, which makes an entire USB drive bootable — then, you just drag and drop ISOs to it!

I now have Win 11, Win 10, Arch Linux and HoloISO on a single stick, which shows up as a single drive with plenty of space for regular files, too. I might never use the dependable Rufus again.