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Submission + - The Role of a Nonprofit in Open Source Development (linux.com)

Submitted by jrepin
jrepin writes: KDE is among the biggest open source projects which continues to innovate and evolve with the changing times. Often we have seen this particular community create technologies ahead of its time which were later adopted by other projects. The Linux Foundation talked to Lydia Pintscher, the president of the KDE e.V., the nonprofit organization that oversees the legal and financial aspects of the KDE project, to understand the relationship between the community and the organization. We also discussed the challenge of recruiting more women to open source projects and women in the KDE community.

Submission + - Court overturns Dutch data retention law, privacy more important (dutchnews.nl) 1

Submitted by wabrandsma
wabrandsma writes: DutchNews.nl writes:
Internet providers no longer have to keep their clients phone, internet and email details because privacy is more important, a Dutch court ruled on Wednesday.

Digital Rights organisation Bits of Freedom writes in a Blog:
The law’s underlying European directive was meant as a tool in the fight against serious crimes. The Dutch law, however, is much more expansive, including everything from terrorism to bike theft. During the hearing, the state’s attorneys avowed that the Public Prosecution does not take the law lightly, and would not call on the law to request data in case of a bicycle theft. The judge’s response: it doesn’t matter if you exploit the possibility or not, the fact that the possibility exists is already reason enough to conclude that the current safeguards are unsatisfactory.

Submission + - Steam On Linux Has More Than One Thousand Games (phoronix.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: This week the Steam Linux client has crossed the threshold of having more than 1,000 native Linux games available while Steam in total has just under 5,000 games. This news comes while the reported Steam Linux market-share is just about 1.0% but Valve continues brewing big plans for Linux gaming. Is 2015 the year of the Linux gaming system?

Submission + - Why We Need Free Digital Hardware Designs (wired.com)

Submitted by jrepin
jrepin writes: Free software is a matter of freedom, not price; broadly speaking, it means that users are free to use the software and to copy and redistribute the software, with or without changes. Applying the same concept directly to hardware, free hardware means hardware that you are free to use and to copy and redistribute with or without changes. But, since there are no copiers for hardware, is the concept of free hardware even possible? The concept we really need is that of a free hardware design. That’s simple: it means a design that permits users to use the design (i.e., fabricate hardware from it) and to copy and redistribute it, with or without changes. The design must provide the same four freedoms that define free software. Then “free hardware” means hardware with an available free design.

Submission + - Is open-source hardware gaining critical mass? (computerworld.com.au)

Submitted by angry tapir
angry tapir writes: The Open Compute Project, which wants to open up hardware the same way Linux opened up software, is starting to tackle its forklift problem. You can't download boxes or racks, so open-source hardware needs a supply chain, said OCP President and Chairman Frank Frankovsky, kicking off the Open Compute Project Summit in San Jose.

Submission + - Red Hat Diversifies Product Portfolio with RHEL 7.1 Release (thevarguy.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Red Hat has introduced enhanced containerization features and better integration with Microsoft Windows services, among other features, with the release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.1.

Submission + - Linux kernel adopts code of conduct (theregister.co.uk)

Submitted by Motor
Motor writes: In a move aimed a solving a non-problem, the Linux kernel mailing list has adopted a code of conduct. The Linux kernel is one of the most successful pieces of software ever. It's built on a process that deals with a staggering number of changes to a stable product on a daily basis. Despite this huge achievement — based on the simple idea of being honest and direct — they have had to give in to the pressure from serial complainers and introduce a complaints procedure.

What will this mean for the Kernel? In my experience once this kind of HR gets hold, it's used by those who have little or nothing to contribute in order to raise their profile and/or get revenge on anyone who proves them wrong. Right now, all you need to contribute to the Linux kernel is a PC, talent and the will to do it. Once this gets hold you'll be signing agreements and consent forms, attending sensitivity training and disciplinary meetings because someone was 'triggered'.

But... maybe you have more positive experiences?

Submission + - Wikimedia Foundation files suit against NSA and DOJ (wikimedia.org)

Submitted by jrepin
jrepin writes: Today, the Wikimedia Foundation is filing suit against the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) of the United States [1]. The lawsuit challenges the NSA’s mass surveillance program, and specifically its large-scale search and seizure of internet communications — frequently referred to as “upstream” surveillance. Our aim in filing this suit is to end this mass surveillance program in order to protect the rights of our users around the world. We are joined by eight other organizations [2] and represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

Submission + - Petition for Linux Clients from Blizzard reaches 2,500. (change.org)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A petition for Blizzard to produce Linux Clients for their games has reached a moderate milestone of over 2500 signatures on change.org. A Blizzard representative has promised that it "will be read by our developers." Perhaps with a little help from the Slashdot Effect, this petition can reach even higher!

Submission + - Google unwraps a new Lollipop -- Android 5.1 (betanews.com)

Submitted by Mark Wilson
Mark Wilson writes: Many people may still be waiting for Android 5.0 Lollipop to make its way to their smartphone, but today Google released Android 5.1. This may have been a day dominated by the Apple Watch and new MacBook, but by launching an updated version of Lollipop on the same day, Google managed to avoid too much attention.

Was this done on purpose because of the small number of handsets that will be in line to receive Android 5.1? Or could it be because there are few stand out features to get excited about? There may be little new, but the performance and stability improvements will be welcomed by those eligible for the upgrade.

Submission + - Google Announces Android 5.1 (blogspot.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Google has officially announced Android Lollipop 5.1. This is a small update to the mobile operating system. The main features include support for multiple SIM cards, high definition voice calls on supported devices, and the ability to joining Wi-Fi networks and managed Bluetooth pairings through Quick Settings. The biggest features is "Device Protection." They say, "With Device Protection, your lost or stolen device will remain locked until you sign in with your Google account — even if someone resets your device to factory settings. This feature will be available on most Android phones and tablets shipped with Android 5.1 in addition to Nexus 6 and Nexus 9."

Submission + - Kali Linux on a Raspberry Pi (A/B+/2) with LUKS Disk (offensive-security.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: With the advent of smaller, faster ARM hardware such as the new Raspberry Pi 2 (which now has a Kali image built for it), we’ve been seeing more and more use of these small devices as “throw-away computers“. While this might be a new and novel technology, there’s one major drawback to this concept – and that is the confidentiality of the data stored on the device itself. Most of the setups do little to protect the sensitive information saved on the SD cards of these little computers.

Submission + - Kansas Linux Fest 2015 Talks Announced March 21st-22nd, 2015 (kansaslinuxfest.us)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Press Release Feb 2015 For Immediate Release

Kansas Linux Fest 2015 Talks Announced March 21st-22nd, 2015

http://www.kansaslinuxfest.us/

Over 200 attendees are set to meet at the 1st annual Kansas Linux Fest for a weekend-long program of training, talks and workshops from the 21st to 22nd of March at the Lawrence Public Library in Lawrence, Kansas. The conferences is free and open to all people, being run by the non profit Free/Libre Open Source and Open Knowledge Association of Kansas and the Lawrence Linux User group. There is also no need to pay or preregister for the conference, but tickets are available and seating preferences will be given to those who have registered. Donations are accepted via online ticket sales, or at the door.

There will be over twenty presenters giving technical presentations and hands-on workshops throughout the conference. Presenters include Dave Lester, Twitter's open source advocate, Frank Wiles, Revolution Systems, and Hal Gottfried, Open Hardware Group Kansas City CCCKC. Alan Robertson of Assimilation Systems will be presenting on an open source network security system. Oracle's MySQL community manager, Dave Stokes, will be presenting two technical talks on MySQL, a popular relational database. Researchers from KU and K-State and Wichita State University will be presenting as well as Linux User Groups in Wichita and Omaha. Presentations on mobile phone security and open source phone hardware as well as system and cloud security are planned.

The conference will run from 9 am to 6pm on Saturday and from 12am to 6 pm on Sunday with a breakfast event in planning from 9 to 12 and to be announced. The full schedule and speakers directory can be found at the website http://www.kansaslinuxfest.us/... and http://www.kansaslinuxfest.us/.... Sponsors and still welcome and if you would be interested in supporting the event please find the contact details on website http://www.kansaslinuxfest.us/....

To find out more about the conference and to register, visit http://kansaslinuxfest.us./

Media logos and posters can be found on the website. http://www.kansaslinuxfest.us/...

What is GNU/Linux? Linux is part of a powerful computer operating system that is distributed at no cost as an alternative to Windows or Apple OSX. Many devices from Internet servers to cable boxes to mission critical systems run Linux. Linux is developed collaboratively worldwide by companies and individual volunteers. Linux was started by Linus Torvalds in 1991. The GNU Project was started in 1984 by Richard Stallman, and replaces commercial UNIX software with all free and open source software.

What is Free/Libre open source software? Free and open source software is software whose source code is open and available to anyone who wishes to improve it, study it, modify it, and share the original and the modifications with others.

Submission + - Google Chrome Requires TSYNC Support Under Linux 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: It has been found out that Google's Chrome/Chromium web browser does not support slightly older versions of the Linux kernel anymore. It seems that Linux 3.17 is now the minimum requirement. In Debian mailing list it turns out that a kernel feature called TSYNC is what makes the difference. When a backported patch for Debian 8 kernel was asked for, one was met with hostile replies of not wanting to support "Google spyware".

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