Porteus KIOSK 4.3.0 released with Linux Kernel 4.9.14 and Google Chrome 55.0.x

Mr Tomasz Jokiel, leading developer at Porteus project has announced release of Porteusk 4.3.0, latest updated snapshot of lightweight GNU/Linux distribution specially designed for embedded systems. This release includes numerous updated packages and improvements to make the system more resistant to attacks and to make it more convenient for users.

Major updated packages shipped with Porteus KIOSK 4.3.0 includes Linux Kernel 4.9.14, Xorg Server 1.19.2, Mozilla Firefox 45.8.0 ESR, Adobe Flash 24.0.0.221 and Google Chrome 55.0.2883.87. Even though the release features both google chrome and firefox, users can configure the system to boot into either of the browsers. Also, other packages has been updated as per 20170311 snapshot in userland repository.

Official release announcement for Porteus Kiosk 4.3.0 summarizes significant highlights in this release.

• Configuration paramter 'client_id=automatic' will automatically asign client ID to the kiosk - no need for manual configuration per device. This parameter makes client installation easier and faster especially for large deployments.

  Serial backend for the CUPS printing service has been enabled by default. Some usb printers still require it for direct usb connection.

  If system installation fails then debug info will be displayed in order to help identifying the problem, e.g. I/O errors on target device.

  OpenDNS is used as a secondary DNS server in the installation wizard for static IP configurations.

  Added backup and restore utilities to Porteus Kiosk Server which allows to create and restore system snapshots.

  Administration Panel of the server allows to hide offline clients or filter them by specific string: hostname, browser, kernel version, etc.

  Client logs are displayed on the top of the monitoring window rather than bottom.

  Archived (rotated) client logs can be viewed directly from the Administration Panel.

  Other bugfixes and improvements.

For more information, you can see complete change log in projects website.

What would you like to see most in minix? 25 year old messge of Linus Torvalds

It was on 25st August 1991, Mr Linus Torvalds appeared first time on public, sharing his hobby of developing a free operating system. The operating system was mostly inspired by minix operating system and some tools from GNU project were already ported to this. Linus was trying to collect some opinion on his project also wanted to know the features that user's would like to have. That was the beginning of Linux Kernel project that we see today.

25 years has passed since the first message sent by Linus. Over the years Linux has become a full featured Kernel that support a wide range platforms, and give life to most of the facilities that we use today. Its application ranges from small embedded systems to high speed servers that support critical research activities. All these are made possible by the power of so called open source. Thousands of developers across the world has contributed towards this mission and still they continue to contribute.

Linus Benedict Torvalds was a college student when he started developing the Kernel. Even after 25 years, he is a main contributer and maintainer of this project. It is his ultimate authority to decide, what should be included in this project and what should not.

When Linux Kernel celebrates it's 25th birthday, it would be interesting to go through the message shared by Torvalds on telnet.

Hello everybody out there using minix -

I'm doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won't be big and
professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones.  This has been brewing
since april, and is starting to get ready.  I'd like any feedback on
things people like/dislike in minix, as my OS resembles it somewhat
(same physical layout of the file-system (due to practical reasons)
among other things).

I've currently ported bash(1.08) and gcc(1.40), and things seem to work.

This implies that I'll get something practical within a few months, and
I'd like to know what features most people would want.  Any suggestions are welcome, but I won't promise I'll implement them :-)
               
Linus (torv...@kruuna.helsinki.fi)

PS.  Yes - it's free of any minix code, and it has a multi-threaded fs.
It is NOT protable (uses 386 task switching etc), and it probably never
will support anything other than AT-harddisks, as that's all I have :-(.

 You can continue reading this chat thread in a google group named comp.os.minix.

Linux 4.2 may be the biggest Linux Release So far : Linus Torvalds

The founding leader of Linux Kernel Development team, Linus Torvalds, thinks that Linux 4.2 may the biggest linux release so far, in terms of number of commits. Linus Torvalds shared this fact in his google plus status. Later he updated his status to say that, he won't be able to beat Linux 4.1 today.

According to google plus status of Linus Torvalds:

"Not even halfway through the merge window, but I suspect that by the end of day today I will have merged more commits for 4.2 than we had during all of the 4.1 release.

4.0 was pretty small (by our modern standards, which is to say it was still a lot of changes), 4.1 was about average, and it looks like 4.2 may end up being the biggest release (in number of commits, at least) we've ever had.

So much for the summer slowdown (and no, it's not the Aussies and other southern hemisphere people picking up the slack).

[ Update: I don't think I'll beat the 4.1 numbers today. Partly because Greg's pull requests were smaller than I expected, but partly because I'm slowing down my merges because I think I just hit a jbd2 bug introduced in this merge window ]"

Linux Kernel 3.10.81 LTS Released with Btrfs and IPv4 Issues fixed

It's still June 22 in America, so Greg Kroah-Hartman announced the immediate availability for download of three new maintenance releases of the Linux 4.0, 3.14, and 3.10 kernel series.

Looking at the appended shortlog, Linux Kernel 3.10.81 LTS is a small release that brings mostly updated drivers, especially for things like iiO, DRM (Intel i915), ATA, input, networking, staging, and USB. It also patches a couple of issues with the Btrfs file system, especially related to incorrect handling for the return of fiemap_fill_next_extent.

It also repairs various networking problems related to the IPv4 and IPv4 protocols, adds a fix for an issue with the mic volume for Logitech Quickcam Fusion, fixes parsing of MLDv2 reports, adds a patch for another Acer Aspire 9420 issue with the Realtek HDA driver, and introduces support for the Motion Tracker development board.

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Future of Linux without Linux Torvalds

The Linux Kernel project, one of the largest open source project in world, was initially started by Linus Torvalds as a time pass. Then people across the globe started contributing to Linux Kernel. And thus it has grown into a large project as we today. Even today, Linux Torvalds is responsible for making final decisions on Linux Project.

An article written by Ashlee Vance, published in bloomberg.com looks into future of Linux Kernel, without Linux Torvalds.

The conversation, combined with Linus Torvalds’s aggression behind the wheel, makes this sunny afternoon drive suddenly feel all too serious. Torvalds—the grand ruler of all geeks—does not drive like a geek. He plasters his foot to the pedal of a yellow Mercedes convertible with its “DAD OF 3” license plate as we rip around a corner on a Portland, Ore., freeway. My body smears across the passenger door. “There is no concrete plan of action if I die,” Torvalds yells to me over the wind and the traffic. “But that would have been a bigger deal 10 or 15 years ago. People would have panicked. Now I think they’d work everything out in a couple of months.”

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How to start your life as a Linux Admin

A linux job is dream of many people. Some prefer to have a linux job for money and for some it is a passion. There are several job opportunities in Linux World. One of the shining job in Linux field is being a Linux System Admin. 

An article published in linux.com lists 7 Steps to start your career as a Linux System Admin. These steps includes, install linux in your system, learn fundamentals by joining some courses, practice yourself, do some certification, start contributing to linux project ..etc

Linux is hot right now. Everybody is looking for Linux talent. Recruiters are knocking down the doors of anybody with Linux experience, and there are tens of thousands of jobs waiting to be filled. But what if you want to take advantage of this trend and you’re new to Linux? How do you get started?
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