linux

This is definitely not your grandfather's Microsoft. Not too long ago, then-CEO Steve Ballmer called Linux a cancer. Today, Microsoft proclaims it loves Linux and open source, two things the company set out to destroy using whatever means necessary (and some argue it's still doing behind the scenes). From the acquisition of GitHub to its Windows Subsystem for Linux, Microsoft has been increasing its efforts to woo Linux and open source developers and it has just made one of its biggest and most important announcements on that matter.

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A new Thunderbolt vulnerability could allow hackers to bypass a laptop's security and access its files - regardless of your password - in a matter of minutes, researchers have announced. Dubbed Thunderspy, the exploit can be used on computers with encrypted drives, though it requires physical access to the notebook and Intel says that recent OSes, including Windows, macOS, and Linux, have been patched against the hack.

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The Linux (or GNU/Linux) operating system has always been promoted not only as a free (of monetary costs) alternative to the likes of Windows or macOS, it is also praised for its security, privacy, and adaptability to all kinds of devices and use cases. Despite those strengths, it retains an almost fractional slice of the consumer desktop market for various reasons. One of the most cited reason is having no access to the most popular PC games in the market. Almost two years ago, Valve released its Proton tool for Steam and it has had a tremendous though mostly unpublicized effect on the Linux gaming market.

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There's a new Microsoft Surface Go 2 in the making, and some of the first major details about the device just leaked. Leaked benchmarks and a few details about hardware make for a leak collection that portend a release this Spring, 2020. The Microsoft Surface Go 2 is rumored to be revealed and/or released as early as May 2020.

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Linux phones like the PINE64 PinePhone and Purism Librem 5 may be the hot topic in the free and open source community but they are hardly the first to take a stab at that dream. Just a few years back, Canonical, makes of the popular Ubuntu Linux distribution, decided to take a whack at creating a mobile Linux platform, Ubuntu Touch. It failed but the open source community took over the helm, paving the way for a new partnership that has now resulted in the PinePhone UBports Community Edition.

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It seems that we have gotten past the obsession with dongles that gave rise to small HDMI PC sticks. Thanks to the popularity of set-top and smart TV boxes as well as the revival of the Mac Mini, we're back to being fascinated with small boxes that act as full-blown desktops, sans the discrete graphics card. Comparing Purism's latest product to the Apple Mac Mini probably isn't too far-fetched but the Librem Mini does have the advantage not only in power but in the promise of control, security, and privacy.

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There has been a recent uptick in interest in Linux-based smartphones but the newest breed of such devices is targeted at early testers and developers. For those who simply want a usable and polished Linux mobile device, the choices are extremely slim. A few years ago, Planet Computers launched two communicator-style Android PDAs that promised to support other operating systems, including Linux. Now the UK-based company is making good on that and is releasing multi-boot support for Linux as well as a rooted Android image.

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Today Microsoft Defender ATP for Linux was made available for public preview, and a version for iOS (for iPhone and iPad) and Android were announced. The Android and iOS versions of Microsoft Defender ATP will be released later this year. Today's preview of the Linux version was first shown at Ignite 2019 running on Ubuntu.

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Some sad news is coming around the bend today for those who play Rocket League on macOS or Linux, as developer Psyonix has revealed that it will be ending support for both of those operating systems. Support won't be happening right away, but rather in March, giving macOS and Linux users a little bit of time to figure out what they want to do in regards to Rocket League.

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Game streaming might be one of the buzzwords in the gaming industry today but the idea of accessing computers hosted elsewhere has long existed even before "streaming" itself became a thing. Remote desktop access isn't exactly new but Canonical, the company behind one of the most popular Linux distributions on the planet, is putting a unique twist to that idea by delivering not Windows or even Linux but Android on a cloud.

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The dream of a truly free as in speech, open source smartphone running Linux has never truly died. It just took on various forms and suffered numerous setbacks along the way. Last year, however, it seemed that the dream is finally close to becoming reality, with both the Purism Librem 5 and the PINE64 PinePhone declaring shipping dates. The Librem 5 had a rocky head start and now it's the PinePhone BraveHeart edition's turn to try convincing the world that a Linux phone for consumers is not such a bad idea after all.

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Computing and manufacturing have changed so much that things that were almost impossible to do unless you were a giant corporation are now something hobbyists accomplish in their spare time. That apparently includes making computers the size of business cards. No, this is far from being a Raspberry Pi clone that is the size of a hundred business cards stacked on top of each other. This computer that runs Linux is really a business card, the type that you give out for free to impress people and impressed they probably will be.

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