Category Archives: Open Source Software

Linaro announces MediaTek as member

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Linaro announces MediaTek as member

Press release; Rodney Chan, DIGITIMES[Monday 17 March 2014]

Linaro, the not-for-profit engineering organization developing open source software for the ARM architecture, has announced that MediaTek has joined Linaro as a member.

MediaTek is a designer of systems on chips (SOCs) for mobile and home entertainment products. ARM-based processors are widely used in MediaTek platforms, including the company's new 64-bit octa-core MT6752 with LTE.

Linaro membership will allow MediaTek to further accelerate the time-to-market for its technology partners. MediaTek brings a wealth of experience to Linaro, both from its long history of developing highly integrated SOCs for a range of applications as well as its expertise in cross-platform solutions, Linaro said.

"MediaTek is an innovative and exciting company in the ARM ecosystem" said George Grey, Linaro CEO. "We are very pleased that MediaTek has decided to join Linaro, and we look forward to working closely with them on accelerating open source support for new ARM technologies, such as the 64-bit ARMv8 processor architecture."

"MediaTek has been a long-time partner of ARM and is supportive of open source communities like Linaro. We're delighted to have this opportunity to collaborate with other industry leaders to drive open source innovations," said Kevin Jou, MediaTek's chief technology officer.

MediaTek engineers fully participated last week in Linaro Connect Asia 2014 (LCA14) in Macau. This event, held twice each year, brings together Linaro members and community engineers from around the world to discuss, define and agree on Linaro's roadmaps across its work in core ARM enablement, as well as on the software ecosystem for mobile, networking and server market segments.

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Linaro announces MediaTek as member

$2,400 “Introduction to Linux” course will be free and online this summer

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$2,400 “Introduction to Linux” course will be free and online this summer
The Linux Foundation is putting its training materials up on edX's platform.

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/03/2400-introduction-to-linux-course-will-be-free-and-online-this-summer/

Linux!

Earlier this week, The Linux Foundation announced that it would be working with edX, a non-profit online learning site governed by Harvard and MIT, to make its “Introduction to Linux” course free and open to all.

The Linux Foundation has long offered a wide variety of training courses through its website, but those can generally cost upwards of $2,000. This introductory class, which usually costs $2,400, will be the first from the Linux Foundation to run as a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). There is no limit on enrollment through edX's platform.

The course will be held this summer, although an official start date has not been posted yet. Jennifer Cloer, Director of Communications for the Linux Foundation, said that over 2,500 people signed up for the course within the first 24 hours of it being posted. There are no prerequisites, and a note on the course's information page says that most users will find the course takes between 40 and 60 hours to complete.

Students can either audit the course, which means they'd get access to all the course materials but not have to commit to completing the tests and assignments, or they can take the course for a certificate of completion, which will be offered for free. (On some edX classes, "verified certificates of achievement" cost a fee.)

If all goes smoothly, the Linux Foundation may consider making more courses available on edX in the future.

In the press release from the Linux Foundation, Executive Director Jim Zemlin wrote, “Our mission is to advance Linux, and that includes ensuring we have a talent pool of Linux professionals. To widen that talent pool and give more people access to the opportunities in the Linux community and IT industry, we are making our training program more accessible to users worldwide.”

Direct link to Course:
https://www.edx.org/course/linuxfoundationx/linuxfoundationx-lfs101x-introduction-1621

MailPile is now in Alpha

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MailPile is now in Alpha

https://www.mailpile.is/

MailPile

A modern, fast web-mail client with user-friendly encryption and privacy features.

  • 100% Free & Open Source Software
  • Search: Powerful search & tagging makes your pile of mail managable, whether you have just a few messages, thousands or even millions.
  • Speed: Mailpile is designed to be fast and responsive, outperforming "the cloud" even on slow computers.
  • Privacy: Store your mail on devices you control, your search index is encrypted so if your computer gets stolen, your mail stays secure.
  • Encryption: OpenPGP signatures and encryption are part of Mailpile's core design, not an afterthought or plugin.
  • No Ads: It's ironic that most web-mail solutions filter out spam, only to replace it with their own advertisements.
  • Self Hosted: Host your install of mailpile on your laptop, desktop, Raspberry PI, server in the cloud, or put it on a USB stick and carry it in your pocket.

    • Tor is building an anonymous instant messenger

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    Tor is building an anonymous instant messenger

    Forget the $16 billion romance between Facebook and WhatsApp. There’s a new messaging tool worth watching.

    Tor, the team behind the world’s leading online anonymity service, is developing a new anonymous instant messenger client, according to documents produced at the Tor 2014 Winter Developers Meeting in Reykjavík, Iceland.

    The Tor Instant Messaging Bundle (TIMB) is set to work with the open-source InstantBird messenger client in experimental builds released to the public by March 31, 2014. The developers aim to build in encrypted off-the-record chatting and then bundle the client with the general Tor Launcher in the following months.

    Pidgin, an older and more popular open-source chat client, was originally considered to be the foundation of the TIMB but was thrown out in favor of InstantBird. However, Tor still plans to hire independent security contractors to audit the new software and test its mettle so that “people in countries where communication for the purpose of activism is met with intimidation, violence, and prosecution will be able to avoid the scrutiny of criminal cartels, corrupt officials, and authoritarian governments.”

    Over the long term, TIMB will likely become the messenger of choice for Tor users. Software such as TorChat and BitMessage already have significant userbases and smart advocates, but with the full weight of the Tor Launcher and team behind it, there’s little reason to imagine TIMB won’t succeed.

    The creation of the TIMB is yet another step in what has been a years-long improvement in Tor software. A decade ago, the anonymity program was available only to tech-savvy users who knew enough to dive into their operating system’s command line.

    Now, the Tor user interface has progressed to the point that almost anyone can anonymously surf the Web with just a few clicks. If TIMB follows in those footsteps, it will be another powerful anonymity tool at the fingertips of of both the tech literate and humanity at large.

    The Tor Project, a $2 million per year nonprofit consisting of 30 developers spread out over 12 countries, is pushing forward on TIMB as part of an overall initiative to make Tor even easier to use for the average person. Also in the pipeline are more localized support staff as well as “point-click-publish Hidden Services,” to make it extremely easy for anyone to create a Deep Web site.

    When it comes to the sort of security that Tor provides, ease of use is of paramount importance. Many users can’t or won’t take the time to learn about encryption programs like Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), leaving themselves open to surveillance.

    Even many patrons of the Deep Web black market Silk Road don’t bother with the simplest encryption tools.

    “I post my PGP key everywhere and beg my customers to use it but the majority don't..... including for some pretty big orders!,” popular Silk Road ecstasy vendor DrMDA wrote late last year.

    “Something like 80 percent of SR users don't use PGP,” wrote astor, another longtime Silk Roader.

    Many people need encryption served up to them on silver platter to even consider it. TIMB is the waiter that plans to deliver.

    CyanogenMod receiving Linux New Media Award 2014 (Best Open Source Software App for Android) – Video

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    CyanogenMod receiving Linux New Media Award 2014 (Best Open Source Software App for Android)
    On 13.03.2014 CyanogenMod received the Linux New Media Award 2014 for "Best Open Source Software App for Android" Representing the CyanogenMod Team were Abhi...

    By: Andre Schlter

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    CyanogenMod receiving Linux New Media Award 2014 (Best Open Source Software App for Android) - Video

    Is Open Source Software The Answer to Oregon’s IT Problems?

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    Contributed By:

    Dave Miller

    OPB | March 11, 2014 12:06 p.m. | Updated: March 11, 2014 1:39 p.m.

    When Oregons new Chief Information Officer, Alex Pettit,was on our show recently, we asked him what stood out from his move from Oklahoma to the northwest. He said there were some expected cultural differences, but that in terms of IT he was caught bysurprise:

    I was surprised that things like open source wasnt as bigin government as it is in the East Coast, or in Oklahoma, where I was. I was surprised that transparency wasnt a bigger issue. Its certainly a big issue in Oklahoma, and its less sohere.

    This was striking because Oregon is known for its open source community at Oregon States Open Source Lab, at the annual OSCON Conference, and among many programmers. And his comments came right before an Oregonian op-ed argued that open source software could have prevented the Cover Oregonfiasco.

    So weve decided to follow up on Pettits comments. Well be joined by an outspoken proponent of public sector open sourcesoftware.

    Whats your experience with the open source world? And what could it do forgovernment?

    GUEST:

    Rose E. Tucker Charitable Trust

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    Is Open Source Software The Answer to Oregon's IT Problems?

    Google embraces open source for 10th year of Summer of Code

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    For many, open source is believed to be the future. If you aren't familiar, in basic terms, open source is software that is accompanied by free to distribute source code. By having the source code, users can see the guts of the program they are using. This is in contrast to closed source software, like most of Microsoft's, where the code is hidden to retain intellectual property and make a profit.

    Neither school of thought is wrong -- you can't fault a company for trying to make money by going closed source. Bill Gates would not have become the richest man in the world if Microsoft's software portfolio was open. However, not everyone lives for money. Open source allows even the poorest people to potentially access quality software at no charge. Today, Google announces it is looking for college students to work on open source projects for its 10th year of Summer of Code.

    What exactly is Summer of Code? Google gives the following description:

    Google Summer of Code is a global program that offers post-secondary student developers ages 18 and older stipends to write code for various open source software projects. We have worked with open source, free software, and technology-related groups to identify and fund projects over a three month period. Since its inception in 2005, the program has brought together over 7,500 successful student participants and over 7,000 mentors from over 100 countries worldwide to produce over 50 million lines of code. Through Google Summer of Code, accepted student applicants are paired with a mentor or mentors from the participating projects, thus gaining exposure to real-world software development scenarios and the opportunity for employment in areas related to their academic pursuits. In turn, the participating projects are able to more easily identify and bring in new developers. Best of all, more source code is created and released for the use and benefit of all.

    "If you're a university student looking to earn real-world experience this summer, we hope youll consider coding for a cool open source project with Google Summer of Code. We're celebrating the 10th year of the program in 2014, and wed love to see more student applicants than ever before. In 2013 we accepted almost 1,200 students and were planning to accept 10 percent more this year", says Carol Smith, Google Open Source team.

    Smith further says, "you can submit proposals on our website starting now through Friday, March 21 at 12:00pm PDT. Get started by reviewing the ideas pages of the 190 open source projects in this year's program, and decide which projects you're interested in. There are a limited number of spots, and writing a great project proposal is essential to being selected to the program -- so be sure to check out the Student Manual for advice".

    Google has been using Linux in both Android and Chromebooks, so it is nice to see the search-giant giving back to the open source community. This gives college students an opportunity to make a name for themselves by creating or working on an epic piece of open source software. Even if the software doesn't light the world on fire, at least they tried and learned something.

    Are you a college student? Will you sign up? Tell me in the comments.

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    Google embraces open source for 10th year of Summer of Code