Linux Magazine August 2021

Dear Reader, The NeuroRights Initiative has been in the news recently, and it seems like a good time for a shout out and a sincere thanks for their work. The initiative, which is hosted at Columbia University and headed by Columbia Neuroscience Professor Rafael Yuste, is a collection of scientists with the mission to raise awareness about human rights issues that could arise from the evolution of technologies targeting the human brain. According to the NeuroRights Initiative website, “Neurotechnology, especially when paired with artificial intelligence, has the potential to foundationally alter society. In the coming years, it will be possible to decode thought from neural activity or enhance cognitive ability by linking the brain directly to digital networks. Such innovations could challenge the very notion of what it means to…

openSUSE Leap 15.3 64-bit OpenSUSE Leap 15.3 includes increased build consistency and seamless migration to the commercial SUSE Linux Enterprise Server and the latest array of openSUSE’s developing set of artificial intelligence packages. Those working with containers may also want to check out Podman, a daemonless container engine for developing, managing, and running OCI Containers, and kubeadm, a tool for creating minimal, best-practices Kubernetes clusters. For everyday users, Leap 15.3 features the usual desktop environments. For KDE users, it includes the long-term support Plasma 5.18, whose new features include a builtin emoji picker, strong GTK support for those who like to mix their desktops and applications, and better support for public WiFi. Also supported is Gnome 3.34, which includes visual makeovers for icons, login, and the overview screen; sandboxed browsing;…

DLSS stands for Deep Learning Super Sampling and is a temporal image upscaling technology developed by NVidia for NVidia graphics cards. This technology makes it possible to upscale lower-resolution images into higher-resolution images so they can be better displayed on higher-resolution displays. This technology would greatly enhance the Linux gaming experience but isn’t available yet for the open source platform. Both NVidia and Valve are working to change that. By using Tensor Cores on RTX GPUs to accelerate performance for supported games, NVidia is making an effort to bring DLSS to Steam Proton on Linux. This means games such as Call of Duty, Cyberpunk 2077, Fortnite, and Rainbow Six Siege could soon be playable on Linux, via Steam. This technology will require supported graphics cards, such as the GeForce RTX…

If you’re a fan of Linux and security, you’ll be glad to know the developers of Kali Linux have released a new version of the fan-favorite distribution. Kali Linux 2021.2, created by Offensive Security, includes a new collection of themes and plenty of features to attract cybersecurity pros, ethical hackers, and anyone else interested in a user-friendly penetration testing platform. One of the most anticipated additions to Kali Linux is Kabox, which is a tool for packaging tricky applications in Docker containers to be used in the distribution. These apps are normally a challenge to package because of dependencies, legacy libraries and programs, and applications that require isolation to run. Another new addition to Kali Linux is Kali-Tweaks, which is an automation tool aimed at helping users easily customize the…

Are you on the lookout for a Linux-powered laptop that can go the distance and exceed your needs for power, size, and battery life? If that sounds like the perfect machine to fill your dance card, and you’re not looking for the most brilliant display on the market, Entroware has the laptop for you. The Proteus 15.6-inch is a redesign of the original mobile workstation and includes something few other Linux laptops can match – a 73 Wh battery that can be charged via USB Type-C cable (so you don’t have to carry around so many cables). The original Proteus included a 62.16 Wh battery, so this is a good jump in battery life. Although there is no claim about battery life to be found on the Proteus page (https://www.entroware.com/store/proteus),…

System76 loves to push every envelope possible. They’ve created one of the finest desktop computers on the market, have an outstanding lineup of laptops, and their servers are all top-notch. Soon, users will also be able to purchase an open source keyboard called Launch. The Launch keyboard is a highly customizable piece of hardware with firmware based on QMK. The keyboard even includes a space bar that’s been split into two keys so that you can customize one of them to serve a different purpose. Speaking of keys, the Launch is lit with RGB lights that can also be customized. The Launch is milled out of a single piece of aluminum and features a high-speed USB hub, easy key swapping, personalized application shortcuts, tenkeyless (TKL) layout (for a smaller footprint),…