Sommaire pour September 2021 de Linux Magazine

Dear Reader, It is always illuminating to witness the mashup that occurs when staid and analytical software development spills out onto the psychedelic landscape of our popular culture. The weirdest news this month was that World Wide Web creator Tim Berners-Lee sold a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) [1] depicting the original web source code at Sotheby’s auction house for an unbelievable US$5.4 million [2]. The bidding started at a mere $1,000 – Sir Tim and the auctioneers apparently had no idea what they would get for the item. Then several bidders pushed the price up into the millions until one anonymous buyer with $5.4 million stood alone with a checkbook. The popular press has added much confusion to this strange tale with their headlines proclaiming “Source code for original web browser…

This Open 3D Foundation is launching with over 20 corporate members including representatives from Adobe, AWS, Huawei, Niantic, and Red Hat. The goal is simple: To accelerate developer collaboration on 3D engine development for AAA games and high-fidelity simulations. Right out of the gate, Amazon Web Services is open-sourcing a new version of the Amazon Lumberyard game engine to the new foundation (under the Apache 2.0 license) as the Open 3D Engine (O3DE). This new engine will enable developers and content creators to build exciting 3D experiences and provide support and infrastructure through forums, code repositories, and developer events. But O3DE will not be limited to developing for games and will include the likes of content authoring tools, animation, physics systems, and asset processing. In fact, creators will be able…

Linux Magazine www.linux-magazine.com ADMIN HPC http://www.admin-magazine.com/HPC/ Prolog and Epilog Scripts • Jeff Layton HPC systems can benefit from administratordefined prolog and epilog scripts. Run One Program at any Scale with Legate • Jeff Layton Run Python NumPy code on distributed heterogeneous systems without changing a single line of code. ADMIN Online http://www.admin-magazine.com/ Finding Your Way Around a GPU-Accelerated Cloud Environment • Federico Lucifredi We look at the tools needed to discover, configure, and monitor an accelerated cloud instance, employing the simplest possible tool to get the job done. Pattern Matching Dispute in Python 3.10 • Veit Schiele A controversial change is taking place in Python v3.10 known mainly from functional languages: pattern matching. Advanced MySQL Security Tips (a Complete Guide) • Usama Rasheed Security safeguards protect data on MySQL servers.…

Trusting Trusted Computing There’s a fundamental conflict between user and vendor in the commercial world. For example, if the vendor had full control over your system, they’d be able to offer streaming video services without the risk of you copying the stream and sharing the file. On the flip side, that level of control would also allow the vendor to control unrelated ways you wanted to use your system. The Linux development philosophy – and open source philosophy in general – believes the user should have full control over their system. If a “feature” can’t be implemented without taking that control away, then according to that philosophy, the feature simply shouldn’t be implemented. Not surprisingly, this is a controversial topic and a source of tension between Linux developers and commercial…

Modern hardware, with its enhanced support for multithreading and multiple CPUs, requires a new approach to scheduling. Linux is currently undergoing a transition to a new generation of multiqueuing schedulers. Consequently, some of the old schedulers that were popular in the past are gradually becoming deprecated. Ubuntu [1], for instance, has enabled multiqueue I/O scheduling by default in Ubuntu 19.10 onward and supports the following schedulers: • bfq (Budget Fair Queueing) – optimized for interactive response, especially with slow I/O devices• kyber – a simple algorithm supporting both synchronous and asynchronous requests; intended for “fast multiqueue devices”• none – does not reorder requests, thus consuming minimal overhead (multiqueue version of the old noop scheduler)• mq-deadline – multiqueue version of the old deadline scheduler Older schedulers, such as cfq (Completely Fair…

No discussion of Linux is complete without a look at the sprawling yet wonderfully efficient operation at the center of it all: the kernel development project. For an inside look, we chased down one of the leading insiders: Greg Kroah-Hartman is a Linux Foundation fellow and the maintainer of the kernel stable branch. He also created the udev device manager, founded the Linux Driver project, and worked on many other drivers and subsystems in the Linux space. We asked Greg how he got started – and how an aspiring kernel hacker who is new in the field could take their first steps. Linux Magazine: For readers who don’t know you, how long have you been working on the Linux kernel, what are you working on, and how does that influence your…

The sniffing described in this article occurs at the MAC layer, which is a sublayer of the Link layer. The MAC layer in IEEE 802.11 performs several functions related to the radio access service provided by the PHY layer. First, the MAC layer orchestrates access to the medium through the carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) protocol. Second, the MAC layer defines an addressing scheme, wherein each terminal uses a unique identifier to send and receive datagrams. MAC addresses are made up of 6 bytes and represented by 12 hexadecimal digits. The MAC address of an access point (AP) is also the BSSID of a basic service set (BSS). The BSSID is completely different from the service set ID (SSID): It cannot be customized, it is used only…

Three decades of Linux Thirty years! The Linux Pro Magazine editorial staff told me that the focus of this issue was celebrating the 30th anniversary of Linus Torvald’s message to the world that he was going to start his “little project,” suggesting that I write something about it. Of course, for me, 30 years is only three-fifths of my work career. I was very lucky to start in programming when computer systems were a lot simpler. Often they did not have an operating system. The device drivers were linked into your program, even on a mainframe machine that cost several million dollars, and had 1MB of memory. I started at a time when computer security was locking the door at night (and of course you turned the computer off), networking…

This month, Graham and his Late Night Linux cohosts migrated their annual live pub show to YouTube – just search for FOSSTalk Live 2021. Universal PC LED controller OpenRGB Even if flashy PC hardware with multicolor lights isn’t your thing, it’s now difficult to buy something that doesn’t want to glow or flash in some way. RAM modules, mainboards, cooling systems, CPU fans, power supply units, and even USB ports often sport complex arrays of LEDs and displays that can be used to indicate everything from temperature to their owner’s lack of taste. Of course, all of this can typically be turned off or tuned to the same color, but only if you have each manufacturer’s custom executable for each brand and product branch. Oh, and you’ll need a copy…

Users, developers, and vendors meet at Linux events around the world. We at Linux Magazine are proud to sponsor the Featured Events shown here. For other events near you, check our extensive events calendar online at https://www.linux-magazine.com/events. If you know of another Linux event you would like us to add to our calendar, please send a message with all the details to events@linux-magazine.com. NOTICE Be sure to check the event website before booking any travel, as many events are being canceled or converted to virtual events due to the effects of COVID-19. Practical Open Source Information (POSI) Date: September 16, 2021 Location: Virtual Event Website: https://eventyay.com/e/e7dfbfc4 POSI is a forum for open source practitioners to discuss all the details of implementing open source. Sessions will focus on "nuts and bolts" knowledge…

We are always looking for good articles on Linux and the tools of the Linux environment. Although we will consider any topic, the following themes are of special interest: • System administration• Useful tips and tools• Security, both news and techniques• Product reviews, especially from real-world experience• Community news and projects If you have an idea, send a proposal with an outline, an estimate of the length, a description of your background, and contact information to edit@linux-magazine.com. The technical level of the article should be consistent with what you normally read in Linux Magazine. Remember that Linux Magazine is read in many countries, and your article may be translated into one of our sister publications. Therefore, it is best to avoid using slang and idioms that might not be understood…

Preview Newsletter The Linux Magazine Preview is a monthly email newsletter that gives you a sneak peek at the next issue, including links to articles posted online. Sign up at: https://bit.ly/Linux-Update Approximate UK/Europe Sep 04 USA/Canada Oct 01 Australia Nov 01 On Sale Date Please note: On sale dates are approximate and may be delayed because of logistical issues.…

In a race to be first, Nitrux Linux has won the prize as the first Linux distribution to ship with the latest kernel release 5.13. The one caveat to this is that the distribution doesn’t default to the newest kernel, but rather the latest Long Term Support (LTS) kernel, which is 5.4.128. Users who want to, after initial installation, upgrade to the 5.13 kernel can do so with the built-in package manager and install the linux-image-mainline-current kernel. Users can also opt to install the Liquorix, XanMod, XanMod CacULE, Libre LTS, or Libre Current kernels. Nitrux also ships with KDE Plasma 5.22 along with the KDE Gear 21.04.2 and KDE Frameworks 5.83 software suites. Other additions to the newly released iteration of Nitrux include updated Latte Dock layouts (which includes the…

The KDE Plasma developers have been incredibly busy this cycle, refactoring code, fixing bugs, and adding new features, all of which come together to bring even more performance to the desktop environment. The developers are so proud of this release (and the work they’ve achieved) that they created a showcase site (https://kde.org/announcements/plasma/5/5.22.0/) to highlight everything found in KDE Plasma 5.22. The latest release is all about general eye candy and usability. And it shows. One of the most exciting new features to be found in KDE Plasma is called Adaptive Transparency, which will transition between translucent to opaque, depending on if there are any maximized windows. So when an app window is maximized, the panel will be opaque. If there are no maximized windows, the panel will be translucent. Of…

New distributions appear all the time. Many are specialized or remain small. A notable exception is AlmaLinux [1]. Emerging out of the troubled relationship between Red Hat and the CentOS distribution, AlmaLinux has become one of the major replacements for CentOS in less than half a year. This month, Jack Aboutboul, AlmaLinux’s community manager, discusses the distribution’s seemingly overnight success. Linux Magazine: Although Red Hat acquired CentOS in January 2014, in many ways, CentOS continued development much as before for seven years [2]. Then in early 2021, Red Hat announced the discontinuation of CentOS, except for a development ground for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) called CentOS Stream [3]. How did these events lead to the creation of AlmaLinux? Jack Aboutboul: CentOS, prior to Red Hat’s announcement, was always a…

Golang: Harder than scripting, but easier than programming in C In 2012, Unix and C veterans Robert Griesemer, Rob Pike, and Ken Thompson released the system-oriented programming language Go under the aegis of Google. For a long time it eked out a niche existence, before eventually becoming the industry standard for system-oriented programming. Today, observers of the Unix scene are rubbing their eyes in disbelief over the number of tools developed in Go. To name a programming language after an everyday word such as Go seems like a pretty crazy idea from the viewpoint of a search engine operator. After all, search engines actually remove filler words such as “go” from incoming queries. So, when looking for Go programming tips, the recommendation is to search for “Golang” instead, which has…

You probably have folders full of scripts for post-install customizations for things like installing or removing packages; setting customized defaults, fonts, themes, and wallpapers; or copying files, folders, or settings from local storage. In larger organizations, these postinstall customizations can include standard practices for IP address assignment, network interface specifics, network share preferences, boot config arguments, and more. When it comes to installing the vanilla Ubuntu ISO [1] (desktop or server), your organization most likely performs these post-install customizations on dozens or even hundreds of devices, over and over again. While minor customizations based on an individual machine's or a particular machine’s intended purpose are inevitable, the overarching changes to the default image are ripe for incorporating into a new custom image. With Cubic [2], you can create a customized…

There is hardly any need to extol the benefits of having your own server. From storing and sharing your data to self-hosting useful web applications, a server is a versatile platform that can make your computing life easier. Opting for a network-attached storage (NAS) appliance that comes with pretty much everything you need and requires very little tinkering seems like a no-brainer. But running your own server on a local network is not without drawbacks. To access the server from the outside world, you need to punch a hole in your network, which leads to a whole new set of problems you have to deal with. Plus, your Internet connection may or may not be up to scratch in terms of reliability and speed. If you are only interested in…

Linux Mint 20.2 (Uma) is now available, and it makes a strong case for the best desktop experience on the market. Although the feature list doesn’t include anything that will blow users away at first blush, the performance gains and polish added make this release one of the finest on the market. One of the most impressive features the developers have pulled off lies in the Cinnamon desktop spin and comes in the form of a Memory Limit option. Users can enable this feature and then set a memory limit. If Cinnamon reaches that limit the desktop will automatically restart (without you losing either session or windows). This will ensure you don’t wind up with a desktop that bogs down because of memory leaks or other issues. Another outstanding addition…

Slimbook offers several Linux-powered machines for all types of users. Recently, the company released the Slimbook Titan (https://slimbook.es/en/titan-en), which was an all-out powerhouse for gamers (including an AMD Ryzen 5000 series CPU and NVidia RTX 30 Series GPU). The new laptop, the Slimbook Executive (https://slimbook.es/en/executive-en), turns its focus on professional users with more than enough power to be productive and a display that should be brilliant enough to stand up against the competition. The Executive is a 14 inch, 1Kg laptop that includes an Intel Core i7-1165G7 CPU and Iris X 1.30 GHz GPU that can power up to four displays. But the built-in display is pretty special. The Slimbook Executive includes a 14-inch display running at 3K resolutions, a 90Hz refresh rate with a 400 nits max brightness, 99…

Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux, has made the latest kernel available after what was one of the smoothest development processes in recent memory. Torvalds wrote in his weekly “State of the Kernel” post (http://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/2106.3/02627.html), “So we had quite the calm week since rc7, and I see no reason to delay 5.13.” Torvalds continued to say, “if the last week was small and calm, 5.13 overall is actually fairly large. In fact, it’s one of the bigger 5.x releases, with over 16k commits (over 17k if you count merges), from over 2k developers.” What can you expect in the 5.13 kernel? Some of the features that saw the most commits include Apple M1 support, early support for Wireless Wide Area Networks, Microsoft’s Azure Network Adapter, Advanced Configuration and Power Interface…

Sniffing WiFi with an ESP8266 microcontroller Listener In recent years, Arduino has gained fame as the quintessential beginner’s board, but other boards with different characteristics might be more appropriate for certain projects. The ESP8266 is a system-on-chip (SoC), similar to the ATMEGA microcontrollers found on Arduino boards, but with a wireless communications module embedded within the same package. The main advantages of the ESP8266 are its extremely low price, low energy consumption, and relatively high performance. Apart from these advantages, the availability of a platform support package for the Arduino IDE makes it extremely accessible to beginners. Although ESP8266 modules can be used as independent microcontrollers, they are often used as WiFi modems for Arduino projects because the default firmware implements an AT modem. The ESP8266 microcontroller can be found…

The content management system (CMS) is an amazing invention. Writers and editors can manage their own websites – without the intervention of a web developer or IT specialist. Your CMS will run smoothly, once you get it all set up, but the setup is often the biggest challenge. You’ll need to configure a database, as well as a scripting language, before you even get started with designing the site. And the complexity of the CMS leads to complex security, because an intruder has lots of places to slip in. If you don’t have the time to set up and secure a full-blown CMS, a static website generator might be your best option. We explore some leading static website generators in this month’s Linux Voice. Also inside: We create a custom…

#249/August 2021 Turn Your Android into a Linux PC UserLAnd lets you run Linux applications on your Android phone – all without replacing Android OS. On the DVD: openSUSE Leap 15.3 and Kubuntu 21.04 Desktop #248/July 2021 Brain Tools Sometimes you want the computer to think for you, and sometimes you want the computer to make you think. This month we present a selection of free Linux tools for learning and thinking. On the DVD: Ubuntu 21.04 and Fedora 34 Workstation #247/June 2021 Post-Quantum Encryption Quantum computers are still at the experimental stage, but mathematicians have already discovered some quantum-based algorithms that will demolish the best of our current encryption methods. What better time to look for quantum encryption alternatives? On the DVD: Knoppix 9.1 and ZORIN OS 15.3 Core…