Linux Format

who we are

This issue we asked our experts: We’re wondering where open source could be heading over the next decade – and if it’ll be consumed by corporate interests… Jonni Bidwell Some open source projects might benefit from being ‘consumed’ if it helps them profit – everyone has to eat, after all. But I think the corporatisation of Linux (and free software in general) is a legitimate concern too. I write this from the comfort of a Linux Foundation conference, where generous corporate backing provides me with infinite snacks. Neil Bothwick Commercial influence on Linux is nothing new – many developers on major projects are paid by big companies. Smaller projects generally have more freedom, and can develop into larger ones if they prove popular. Then big money moves in and the cycle continues. Les Pounder Open source projects…

adieu, 32

The tenth month of the year arrives and so does a new Ubuntu 19.10 (Eoan Ermine) update. Is it a portent that this is the 31st release of Ubuntu and with the 32nd release next year, 32-bit x86 Ubuntu builds will end? It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. It’s been discussed for literally years, and access to x86 builds has been slowly decreasing; the net build was still an option for 19.xx, but with 20.04, x86 builds will be 64-bit only. Sure, Arm still has 32-bit builds for those vital embedded devices. The more worrying concern was support for 32-bit software: hardware eventually dies, but software lives on for as long as it can be stored. Thankfully, the community outcry made Canonical see sense here and 32-bit library support…

gnome fights back against patent claim

Last issue we reported on how the GNOME Foundation was being targeted by Rothschild Patent Imaging, a well-known patent pursuer, over claims that Shotwell, GNOME’s open source photo manager, infringes on a “wireless image distribution system and method” patent taken out by Leigh M. Rothschild. Rothschild Patent Imaging offered to allow the GNOME Foundation to settle for a “high five figure amount” in order to continue to develop Shotwell. It seems the company was hoping that the GNOME Foundation would not only have that kind of money, but would feel pressured to pay the amount in full to avoid a potentially costly lawsuit. However, it looks like the Foundation won’t be cowed, and in a news post (http://bit. ly/LXF257GNOMEPatent), it announced that while settling “would have caused less work, cost less…

samsung kills ‘linux on dex’

Samsung has ended its Linux on DeX beta trial, and it will no longer provide support on future operating systems. The DeX feature of certain Samsung smartphones enables users to plug their handset into a monitor or dock and use it as a PC, with mouse and keyboard support, as well as a desktop-like operating system, based on Android. The project (www.linuxondex.com) allowed people to run a full version of Linux on top of DeX, effectively turning smartphones into powerful portable PCs. However, despite its promising premise, Samsung has sent an email to beta users saying that “Unfortunately, we are announcing the end of our beta program, and will no longer provide support on future OS and device releases.” It looks like the forthcoming release of Android 10 has hastened Samsung’s…

ps4 game streaming comes to linux

One of the best features of Sony’s PlayStation 4 console is the ability to stream games from the console to PCs and laptops. However, only Windows and macOS are officially supported. The good news is that there’s now a way for Linux users to stream their PS4 games to their PCs, with the release of Chiaki, a free and open source PS4 Remote Play client for Linux (and also macOS and Windows). It comes with pretty much all the features that the official client has, including congestion control to ensure the best possible streaming quality and experience depending on network conditions, bitrate control, Touchpad support for the DualShock 4 controller, configurable key bindings and remote wakeup of the console. So far, it’s been getting very positive word of mouth from people…

back in the game

“Well, I’m told the last couple of months’ payment anomalies have been resolved, so perhaps by Samhain I’ll be able to eat again. Meanwhile, it seems I was remiss in my distro selections for LXF256. Off went the disc to the replicators, and then a couple of weeks later CodeLinSoft announced that the Condres OS project was shutting up shop. Even if we had time, there’s no way the higher-ups would authorise the costs of making a replacement disc, so we had no choice but to run with it. It’s hard work maintaining a Linux distro, and this sort of thing happens a lot with ‘one-person distros’, but we really thought Condres had a future. “Beware of that which claims to make Arch easy” is the moral of the story. If you’ve…