An app released this week allows running Linux on any Android device without the need for root. This app is absolutely super simple to use and requires little to no technical knowledge to get off the ground running. The app goes by the name UserLand and it's entirely free to download and use - and it's also completely open source.
Google has recently celebrated the tenth anniversary of its Chrome browser. That web browser has certainly grown up to the extent that it has become the base for an entire operating system. While Chrome OS doesn’t have anything fancy to celebrate the birthday, release version 69 is still a monumental one. In addition to bringing the UI up to the latest Material Design 2.0, it also marks the long-awaited stable release of a feature that truly extends Chrome OS beyond a mere browser-based OS: Linux support.
Very few crowdfunded projects have ever shipped on time. That’s especially true for ones that promise to create a device that has never existed yet so far. So it’s not exactly surprising when Purism, after a long status report, revealed they were now looking at an April 2019 launch date for the Librem 5. Despite that unforeseen setback, the company is confident that it’s still on track to deliver what will be the industry’s first non-Android, fully Linux, fully free and open source software, privacy and security respecting user-friendly smartphone.
If you’ve been holding on to your three- or four-year-old Chromebook hoping to give it a new lease on life with exciting new features, you might not want to hold your breath anymore. Support for Linux software, one of the biggest things to happen for Chrome OS next to Android app support, is coming soon but it won’t be coming to all Chromebooks, mostly those launched in 2015. It won’t even come to Google’s first high-end device, the Chromebook Pixel.
There were whispers about it just last week but now it’s totally official. Steam Play, which was originally intended as a single-purchase system for buying games that run on Windows, Mac, and Linux, is taking cross-platform compatibility to the next level. Yes, Valve is now testing running Windows games on Steam on Linux. And, much to the satisfaction of Linux and open source advocates, it’s doing it the right way by building on and supporting initiatives that will benefit not just Steam but the entire Linux ecosystem as well.
Valve took quite a risk with its Steam Machines which, for the most part, are meant to run the Linux-based SteamOS. While highly praised by Linux gamers, the dearth of notable titles on the platform was almost like a death sentence to the PC-turned-console product. Valve, however, refused to throw in the towel and assured believers that it is still working on improving the situation. It turns out that its solution might involve finding a way to run Windows games on Linux Steam Machines.
Samsung recently presented the Galaxy Tab S4 as the ultimate productivity portable device but initial reviews have been rather scathing. Thanks to its timing, Samsung’s premium tablet is being compared to the likes of the cheaper iPad, the cheaper Surface Go, and, closer to home, Chromebooks. The latter, especially, is getting more and more talented and the latest experimental feature nearly turns it into that ultimate productivity OS. That is if you live and breathe Linux.
Once belittled as a glorified browser masquerading as a desktop, Google’s Chrome OS is arguably more exciting now than Android. Save for a phone, it now runs on different form factors, including detachable 2-in-1s and standalone tablets. It can run Android apps and, soon, Linux apps as well, both command line and graphical. Chrome OS is definitely now in a better position to take on even the likes of Apple’s iPads, but it will not be enough to simply have Chrome OS tablets or convertibles. Fortunately, Google might already have all that it needs to take it to the next level.
Since the moment Stardew Valley launched back in 2016, multiplayer has been one of the most anticipated additions to the games. After a period of beta testing, it's nearly ready to roll out on PC, Mac, and Linux. While it probably isn't going to look a lot different from the beta that's currently available, this is exciting news for more reasons than one.
Popular Linux distribution Gentoo has been hacked, with the company warning that its GitHub repository should be "considered compromised." Unknown hackers took control of the GitHub account earlier this week, on June 28, and modified both pages and the OS data there.
If you thought Chrome OS was just a boring glorified web browser turned OS, then your impressions are woefully outdated. Next to still unofficial, or even unconfirmed, platforms like Google Fuchsia or Microsoft Andromeda, Chrome OS is shaping up to be one of the most exciting operating systems of late. That is, if you owned a Google Pixelbook or one of the more recent, more powerful, more expensive recent Chromebooks. Worry not because Google has just recently flipped the switch that will give even the cheaper and older ones some powerful features, namely Linux app support.
What do Planet Computers’ Gemini PDA and Jolla’s Sailfish OS have in common? They’re both remnants of a past once thought very, very dead but have now come back to life. It is almost fitting, then, that the two have joined forces to bring a new kind of hardware and software experience never seen before: a smartphone-centric Sailfish OS running on a PDA phone.