Tainted Love

Why we sometimes go too far with our Linux advocacy, and a few humble strategies to switch people to Linux.

Plus an update to the most important text editor in the world, the new distro causing controversy, and what is a tainted kernel.

• Could ‘alcosynth’ provide all the joy of booze – without the dangers? — David Nutt has long been developing a holy grail of molecules – also referred to as “alcarelle” – that will provide the relaxing and socially lubricating qualities of alcohol, but without the hangovers, health issues and the risk of getting paralytic.
• Happy 21st, curl — We estimate that there are now roughly 6 billion curl installations world-wide. In phones, computers, TVs, cars, video games etc. With 4 billion internet users, that’s like 1.5 curl installation per Internet connected human on earth.
• nano 4.0 has been released — An overlong line is no longer automatically hard-wrapped, smooth scrolling (one line at a time) has become the default, and more!
• Hackers Hijacked ASUS Software Updates to Install Backdoors on Thousands of Computers - Motherboard — The researchers estimate half a million Windows machines received the malicious backdoor through the ASUS update server, although the attackers appear to have been targeting only about 600 of those systems.
• Malicious updates for ASUS laptops — The trojanized utility was signed with a legitimate certificate and was hosted on the official ASUS server dedicated to updates, and that allowed it to stay undetected for a long time. The criminals even made sure the file size of the malicious utility stayed the same as that of the original one.
• Shadow Hammer APT MAC Check — Check if your device has been targeted by the ShadowHammer cyberattack
• SigintOS: A Linux Distro for Signal Intelligence — SigintOS is an Ubuntu based distribution with a number of built in signal intelligence applications for software defined radios such as RTL-SDRs and other TX capable SDRs like the HackRF, bladeRF and USRP radios.
• SigintOS — SigintOS; as the name suggests, SIGINT is an improved Linux distribution for Signal Intelligence. This distribution is based on Ubuntu Linux. It has its own software called SigintOS. With this software, many SIGINT operations can be performed via a single graphical interface.
• Careers – Linux Academy — Ruby on Rails Dev? Maybe some angular love or willing to learn? Linux Academy is hiring RIGHT NOW
• LFNW: T-shirt preorder closes on 3/31 — While we will have some for sale on site during LFNW2019, the only way to guarantee that you get a shirt is to register for the event, and buy an Individual Sponsorship.
• Virtual Linux Ansible Fundamentals Study Group | Meetup — Join us before Linux Unplugged for an introduction to Ansible.
• Call for Proposals - DebConf19 — The DebConf Content team would like to call for proposals in the DebConf 19 conference, which will take place in Curitiba, Brazil, between July 21th and 28th.
• Fedora 29 Wifi Warning Bug
• Tainted kernels — The Linux Kernel documentation — The primary reason for the ‘Tainted: ‘ string is to tell kernel debuggers if this is a clean kernel or if anything unusual has occurred.
• What is a tainted kernel in Linux? — The feature is intended to identify conditions which may make it difficult to properly troubleshoot a kernel problem. For example, the loading of a proprietary module can make kernel debug output unreliable because kernel developers don't have access to the module's source code and therefore cannot determine what the module may have done to the kernel. Likewise, if the kernel had previously experienced an error condition or if a serious hardware error had occurred, the debug information generated by the kernel may not be reliable.
• Install Fests - Free Software Foundation — My new idea is that the install fest could allow the devil to hang around, off in a corner of the hall, or the next room. (Actually, a human being wearing sign saying “The Devil,” and maybe a toy mask or horns.) The devil would offer to install nonfree drivers in the user's machine to make more parts of the computer function, explaining to the user that the cost of this is using a nonfree (unjust) program.
• NexDock 2 by Nex Computer — Kickstarter — Turn your Smartphone or Pi into a laptop.