Linux.com Login Temporarily Frozen for New Site Launch

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April 1, 2016

new Linux.com preview A message for our registered users: We have temporarily disabled user accounts on Linux.com while we migrate content to a new website. Next week a new Linux.com will launch with exciting new features and a cleaner design, at which time all registered users can resume posting new blogs, forum posts, questions or answers. Thank you for your patience and stay tuned for the new, improved Linux.com!

Linux at 25: Q&A With Linus Torvalds

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The Linux Foundation

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March 29, 2016

The creator of the Linux open-source operating system talks about its past, present, and future.

Linus Torvalds created the original core of the Linux operating system in 1991 as a computer science student at the University of Helsinki in Finland. Linux rapidly grew into a full-featured operating system that can now be found running smartphones, servers, and all kinds of gadgets. In this e-mail interview, Torvalds reflects on the last quarter century and what the next 25 years might bring.

Stephen Cass: Youâ€™re a much more experienced programmer now versus 25 years ago. Whatâ€™s one thing you know now that you wish your younger self knew?

Run your own cloud: Installing OwnCloud 9 on Debian 8

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Falko Timme

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March 29, 2016

OwnCloud offers you the ability to run a cloud storage service that you administer and control yourself. The latest version, ownCloud 9.0, was released on March 8. Let’s look at the process of installing ownCloud 9.0 on a system running Debian Jessie.

NetApp Updates its SANtricity OS, Targets Analytics Workloads

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ZDNet

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March 29, 2016

NetApp on Tuesday said it has released a new version of its SANtricity storage operating system with the aim of speeding up analytics workloads. The release of SANtricity, which powers the storage vendor’s EF Series all-flash and E-Series storage arrays, is designed to improve performance of Splunk, Hadoop and NoSQL workloads.

Storage vendors are increasingly pitching all-flash arrays with the aim of garnering big data workloads. NetApp’s move highlights how storage vendors are trying to ride the analytics wave be speeding up performance. NetApp said it is using proactive monitoring, automation and configurations for high-throughput apps to boost performance.

Hadoop Project ODP Regroups Under Linux Foundation’s Umbrella

By

InfoWorld

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March 29, 2016

The Open Data Platform’s reorg aims to assuage criticism about untoward vendor control over the initiative to create a consistent baseline Hadoop distribution.

After major criticism within the Hadoop community about its nature and aims, Open Data Platform — an initiative to create a reference-standard Hadoop distribution for others to build from — announced Monday it will now be hosted at the Linux Foundation as a Collaborative Project. The goal with this new organizational structure is to ameliorate the perception that the ODP Initiative is vendor-owned and -controlled, rather than just participated in by Hadoop vendors among many others.

New DDoS Defense Turns Servers Into “Moving Targets”

By

The Linux Foundation

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March 29, 2016

The distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack is the classic cheap hack. It requires virtually nothing of those who wield it beyond the ability to download something from the internet, yet a DDoS offers unusually public consequences (most real security breaches happen in the dark). It is also difficult to defend against, in some part because it doesn’t involve actually breaching a network at all—just flooding it with more innocuous-seeming traffic than it can handle.

As described in the current issue of IEEE Computer, security researchers from George Mason University have developed a new defensive strategy that they claim can thwart DDoS attacks through a process of client-server connection “shuffling.”

Git 2.8 Officially Released

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Softpedia

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March 29, 2016

Git 2.8 has just been released today, March 28, 2016, and we have to admit that it comes as a huge surprise to us all here at Softpedia, especially because of the fact that the project’s website has not yet been updated to reflect this.

We’ve spotted the Git 2.8 release with the help of our friends from unixstickers, and we’ve decided to write an article and tell you all about the new features that have been implemented. But if you don’t have the time to read, you can download the Git 2.8 sources right now…

Raspberry Pi: Amazon Releases Recipe for Baking a Low-Cost Alexa Voice Assistant

By

ZDNet

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March 29, 2016

alexa-on-raspberry-pi Alexa is mostly restricted to the US, but Amazon has posted a step-by-step guide on how to build your own companion anywhere in the world.

Amazon has released a step-by-step guide on how to turn the $35 Raspberry Pi into a voice-controlled assistant. The instructions demonstrate how to set up the single board computer to use Amazon’s Alexa Voice Service to create a low-cost alternative to the Echo, Amazon’s $180 smart speaker.

Like other online assistants, Amazon’s Alexa responds to voice commands and can set reminders, play music and answer simple questions.

OpenShot 2.0 Beta 4 Released

By

Phoronix

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March 29, 2016

While OpenShot 2.0 is long overdue, things are finally looking up for this open-source non-linear video editor with going into beta this past January and today marking the release of the fourth beta.

The announcement says: “As you will see, lots of great progress has been made since the previous beta. Improved stability, especially for OS X and Windows, better performance, new features, and critical improvements to the OpenShot infrastructure…”

Google Offers Rare Glimpse at Its Data Center Security Measures

By

eWeek

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March 29, 2016

290x195googledatacenter5 Laser beam intrusion detection systems, iris scanners and customized access cards are just some of the controls that Google uses to protect its data centers.

Other measures include dual authentication systems, vehicle-access barriers, high-resolution cameras, metal detectors, perimeter fencing and so-called circle-lock portals to prevent tailgaters from entering protected areas by following too closely behind someone with a valid access card. Access to the actual data center floors itself is often only possible through a security corridor featuring multifactor authentication systems.