Issue November 2023 - Linux Format (2024)

Home//Linux Format/November 2023

Linux Format is your complete guide to the world of Linux. Whether you've just discovered Linux, or you're a full-time guru, Linux Format has everything you need to make the most of your OS. The editorial formula is a mix of features, reviews and practical tutorials that tackle topics as far ranging as installing software to socket programming and network management. Thought-provoking features and interviews also provide a focus on key technologies, trends and issues in the fast-paced world of Free and Open Source software.

in this issue

WELCOMEMEET THE TEAMMatthew Holder A friend convinced me to install Slackware on a spare PC to learn about Linux. I then decided to share the pain of dial-up internet across multiple devices – imagine the speed shared between three machines! I haven’t looked back or stopped learning since the year 2000. Les Pounder A magazine coverdisc in the late ’90s. Not sure of the exact distro but it was RPM-based. It got me interested enough in Linux to download Corel Linux, then Mandrake. I later switched to SUSE, then distro hopped for a while before settling with Ubuntu. Mayank Sharma I first installed Linux back when installing Linux was a project in itself. My dad read about the Halloween Documents and ordered the official Slackware CD set. To install Linux back then…1 min

WELCOMEAt your serviceI recently expanded my home server’s RAID to 20TB, adding a fifth 4TB drive. It’s an ongoing upgrade process that’s probably been going on for a decade in one form or another, and running Linux ensures it’s always supersmooth. The only recent hiccup was that the Nvidia GPU driver started causing suspend issues out of the blue. So, I fell back to using the AMD Athlon 200G APU, which was surprisingly capable at transcoding even 4K video. This was my original ‘in’ to Linux: setting up a home file and media server. Back when Microsoft was getting draconian with licences, it just seemed simpler dealing with a Linux distro that you can install where, when and however you like, without bundled bloat and extra hurdles involved. So, if you’re picking…1 min

REGULARS AT A GLANCEFree Software Foundation celebrates GNU at 40Newsdesk THIS ISSUE: GNU turns 40 Gnome hits 45 OpenTofu looks tasty LibreOffice downloads soar Kernel embraces AV1 Remember those annoying people who tell you it’s not called Linux, but GNU/ Linux? This dates back to May 1983 when Richard Stallman used the Stanford bulletin board to announce plans to develop a free Unix-like operating system called GNU. The name itself is a recursive acronym for “GNU’s not Unix”. Stallman’s philosophy of free software scored a very deep line in the sand between visionaries like himself and private companies producing proprietary programs. In 1985, Richard founded the non-profit Free Software Foundation (FSF) to support the free software movement. It continued existing GNU projects and also hired developers to produce more free software programs. The FSF also pioneered the concept of…2 min

REGULARS AT A GLANCETOFU FOR ALL!“You can read about HashiCorp’s licence rug-pull below-left. The community, after a few warning shots, forked Terraform as OpenTF. At the Open Source Summit Europe, the Linux Foundation (LF) validated and endorsed the project by putting it under the foundation’s umbrella as OpenTofu. This is important for two reasons. First, OpenTF would probably have succeeded without the LF’s backing. But endorsing the project and providing a foundation home (under a name less likely to be a trademark issue) all but guaranteed its success. This is important, since the LF’s member base and many projects under the LF’s Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) depend on and were designed with Terraform in mind. This allows the ecosystem to move forward, on a technical level, with minimal disruption. Secondly, this is a political…1 min

REGULARS AT A GLANCEFrom Terraform to OpenTofuBack in August, HashiCorp, the vendor of deployment-automation tool Terraform, changed its software licence from MPL (Mozilla Public Licence) to BUSL (Business Source Licence). This means it is technically no longer FOSS. Crucially, the new licence forbids users from using source code to develop competing products. Shortly after, a splinter group announced that it was launching the OpenTF Project and released the official open source fork of Terraform, OpenTF. In September, the group renewed its commitment to FOSS by placing the project under the oversight of the Linux Foundation as OpenTofu – the fork’s new official name. The project members have also announced that the project will soon be submitted for entry into the CNCF (Cloud Native Computing Foundation). Yevgeniy (Jim) Brikman, a key member of the OpenTofu team, says…1 min

REGULARS AT A GLANCEGnome 45 is comingOn 20th September, the Gnome Project was proud to announce the longawaited release of Gnome 45, code-named Rīga in honour of the organisers of this year’s Gnome community conference. We were treated to a preview of all Gnome 45 has to offer while testing daily builds of Ubuntu 23.10 (see review, p.24). The biggest change to the desktop is that the Activities button is no more – instead there’s a small workspace indicator. Handily, it’s dynamic in that it indicates which workspace you’re currently using. The search feature has also been overhauled. Not only are searches faster and less resourceintensive, but the Nautilus file manager now enables users to run global searches, not just within their home folder. The searches themselves can now be ordered in a more useful way,…1 min

Issue November 2023 - Linux Format (2024)

you may also like

References