Linux / Unix / MacOS / ChromeOS

When GNOME 47 is released later this year it may come with a new desktop font. Well, not new new, so don’t get too excited. We’re talking new to GNOME, not new to the world. GNOME’s design team is exploring a switch to Inter, a popular open-source sans-serif typeface first published in 2017 by Swedish programmer Rasmus Andersson. Inter pitches itself as a “carefully crafted & designed” font for computer screens. Yet its use has extended well beyond that. Inter’s legibility, variability, and adaptability, multiple weights, OpenType features, and glyph coverage across 147 languages have seen it used on everything from website text, and brand logos, to NA…

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1stop replied January 5Jan 5

[HEADING=1]Introduction[/HEADING] In the ever-evolving world of cloud computing, maximizing performance and efficiency is crucial for businesses leveraging virtual machines (VMs) on platforms like Microsoft Azure, especially for high I/O workloads like SAP on Azure or database applications. One significant upgrade that can yield substantial performance improvements is converting your Azure VM from a SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) disk setup to NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express) using Azure Boost. This blog post will guide you through the process of making this conversion and explore the numerous advantages of NVMe over SCSI. [HEADING=1]Advantages of Azu…

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1stop replied January 5Jan 5

Looking for a sweet new Linux distro to try? Vanilla OS 2 ‘Orchid’ has been released. Compared to the first first release of Vanilla OS in 2023 a lot has changed. Vanilla OS 2 is now built atop Debian (Sid). The distro announced its switch from Ubuntu last year to enable it to provide a more ‘vanilla’ GNOME experience, skip snap-related package swap snafus, and not be bound to Ubuntu’s release schedule. This foundational shift paired with a “complete rewrite” of the OS result in scores of new features, integrations, and security improvements. Vanilla OS 2 remains an immutable Linux distribution, underpinned by its home-grown ABRoot utility. This provides ‘…

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1stop replied January 5Jan 5

Process Monitor v4.0 This update to Process Monitor, a utility for observing real-time file system, Registry, and process or thread activity, adds user interface improvements, enhances search, filtering and event counting performance, and introduces a new event column for the process start timestamp. The new column, Process Start, can be used to filter processes by their start times - for example to hide all processes that were running when this Process Monitor session started, or to only show those processes. In the Process Monitor Filter dialog, this column will have the timestamp of the current time as a pre-filled value in the drop-down. Copying and pasting a …

Want to be able to access your Raspberry Pi from a different computer via a web browser, potentially from anywhere in the world? Using the new Raspberry Pi Connect tool you can. Announced by the Raspberry Pi Foundation today, the Raspberry Pi Connect tool gives you secure, remote GUI access to your Raspberry Pi (if it’s running the latest Raspberry Pi OS) from any modern web browser. The tech doesn’t rely VNC or make use of remote desktop features built in to the X display sever (redundant now that Raspberry Pi OS uses Wayland by default). Instead, this “just works” as Raspberry Pi Connect uses peer-to-peer WebRTC to deliver a remotely-accessible graphica…

If you love podcasts and you love the look of GTK4/libadwaita apps then you’ll be pleased to hear a new version of the GNOME Podcasts app has been released. If you’ve never heard of it, Podcasts is a capable, no-fuss podcast app for Linux. It offers a streamlined set of features in a clean, user-friendly user-interface. No pushy algorithms, AI suggestions, or “trending” fluff in sight. GNOME Podcasts 7.0 was released this weekend. It’s been in development for a while (I covered the 6.0 release last July) and it delivers a number of backend improvements, GTK fixes, integrations buffs, and improved app performance. New user-facing features/changes are also incl…

A new version of the open-source BitTorrent client Fragments is available to download. Fragments 3.0 sees the file-sharing fulfil a long-standing feature request from users, namely the ability to choose which files to download within a torrent, before the download starts if preferred. Earlier versions of this Linux torrent client didn’t support this meaning users couldn’t selectively download only specific files within a torrent, only download them all. For single-file torrents, or torrents where the user needs every file, that isn’t an issue. But it did mean users needing a particular file(s) within large, multi-gigabyte torrents — lots of archival ones are …

The openSUSE project is currently undertaking a brand refresh aimed at establishing a distinct identity from its parent company, SUSE. Community designers were invited to submit designs for an updated openSUSE logo, and a public vote launched to help the project narrow down the shortlist to potential winners (the ultimate victor will be decided by the project). With the finish line for the vote set for December 12th, the clock’s ticking if you want to cast your vote in helping shape the future brand appeal of this iconic Linux distribution. Subtle evolution: openSUSE’s logo hasn’t changed much in years Why does openSUSE want a new logo? As said, the pro…

Thinking about venturing into the world of Arch-based Linux distributions? Be sure to check out EndeavourOS’s latest release, ‘Galileo’. Like Arch Linux, EndeavourOS uses a rolling release model, issuing a constant stream of updates. You install it once, and then update forever. Like other rolling release Linux distributions, EndeavourOS releases updated installers semi-regularly. These help save on the number of post-install updates required, make install-time changes, and take advantage of new installer tech. EndeavourOS ‘Galileo’ is the latest refresh, and it makes a number of major changes. EndeavourOS Galileo now uses KDE Plasma by default The new I…

A new version of Raspberry Pi OS is available to download — and it boasts big changes. Raspberry Pi OS “Bookworm” is based on the recent Debian 12 “Bookworm” release. This brings an updated set of software, packages, and tooling to users of Raspberry Pi OS. But that’s not all. “We have been working on some major architectural changes to the Raspberry Pi Desktop, and these are launched for the first time in the Bookworm release. And this is where you might notice some differences,” explains Pi’s Simon Long. Raspberry Pi OS now uses Wayland (instead of X11) with Wayfire (instead of Mutter) by default on Raspberry Pi 4 and Raspberry Pi 5. This switch improves…

With GNOME 45 released (though point releases will continue) development attention now turns to its follow-up, namely GNOME 46. And the GNOME 46 release schedule is out, giving us a good idea (dates are always subject to change, remember) of when the next release will appear. Drum roll … Tension builds… Hands shake in anticipation… Da-dum: GNOME 46 is due for release on March 20, 2024. Obviously this date isn’t much of a surprise. GNOME releases typically emerge at 6 month intervals, one in March and one in September. Even so, this is the date to jot down in your calendar app of choice. GNOME 46 will likely ship as the default desktop envir…

Managing app permissions isn’t a sexy task (if such things exist) but it’s a task we sometimes have to do – and for Flatpak app there’s no better tool than Flatseal. Today a new version of Flatseal was released. Flatseal 2.1.0 offers “refined visuals, improved performance, support for a new permission, quality of life additions, and fixes”, according to developer Martín Abente Lahaye. And since he works on the app, he knows what he’s talking about. Unlike me. I only just installed the update. Since this is not an app I use on the regular some nuance in the latest uplift might be lost on me. But visually I can say: it looks banging thanks to libadwaita…

Struggle staying on task when with multiple app windows open and in view? I came across a GNOME extension today that could help you keep focus on the app you’re working in – even when a smorgasbord of other apps are open, visible, and demanding attention from behind it! All it does is dim background windows. That’s it. Unfocused windows dim, focused window bright When enabled, the window in ‘focus’ (technical focus; the window you’re able to interact with using your keyboard or mouse without needing to click on it again) sits in full brightness – thus obvious and drawing in your attention. Every other visible window sits in the dark. When you s…

Ticketbooth is a neat Linux app with one purpose: to help you keep track of the Movies and TV shows you want to watch. The few streaming services I use offer a “watchlist” feature. This lets me ‘bookmark’ content I come across for later viewing. That sort of helps, but most recommendations I encounter are in blog post or via social media, and the suggestions not always available to stream. Which Ticketbooth quite literally just the ticket for me! Ticketbooth lets you track your TV series and movies Using it is easy: click the “+” icon to access a search dialog, punch in a TV show or movie title, select a match from the results returned to add it to your li…

A new version of the Tuba Mastodon app for Linux is rolling out on Flathub. Tuba 0.5 features an array of UI changes, many the result of the new widgets and adaptive capabilities provided by libadwaita 1.4. Naturally this includes the ‘full-height’ sidebar and split-toolbars “made famous” in GNOME 45: Tuba 0.5.0’s new look thanks to libadwaita 1.4 The new widgets affect the navigation of the app somewhat. The top toolbar is gone (in wide mode) so Tuba’s sidebar is home to “Home”, “Notifications”, and “Conversations” filters, along with a labelled “Search” entry. “Preferences”, “Keyboard shortcuts” and “About” move from the sidebar to the sidebar hamburger me…

A new version of Polari, a terrific looking IRC client for Linux desktops, is out. Much of the improvement comes by way of the latest libadwaita, with Polari v45 adding support for (among other features) those natty new full-height sidebars featured heavily in GNOME 45 core apps. Confession time: I don’t use IRC often – but I know many folks, especially developers and those active in Linux communities, do. IRC remains a delightfully deft communication protocol because it’s (largely) text-based and community-based. No GIFs, no memes, no reactions, no trends. In an age of social media immediacy IRC feels refreshingly slow, where conversations play out over hour…

Purism has announced its first foray into tablet computing with the Librem 11 tablet. The 11-inch slate uses the company’s secure, privacy-focused PureBoot technology as standard, and ships with the their Debian-based PureOS by default. The Purism Librem 11 specs also look decent enough, offering a balance of performance and power efficiency (important in portable devices): 11.5-inch AMOLED (2560×1600 @ 60Hz) Intel N5100 CPU (Quad-Core @ 1.1GHz) Intel UHD Graphics 8 GB LPDDR4 (soldered) 1TB NVMe storage Ports wise there’s everything you’d expect, including a pair of USB 3.1 Type-C inputs (with power delivery, and support for charging), plus …

KDE Plasma 6.0 will be released in February 2024. KDE developer Nate Graham revealed the release date in a blog post giving a top-level overview of Plasma 6 development to date, writing: Graham says he feels ‘confident that the release will be in excellent shape by then’, and adds that another 5 months of development will offer ‘enough of a runway for a solid final release’. Exciting stuff. Development on KDE Plasma 6 kicked off (heh) earlier this year. The desktop side is now built using Qt 6 technologies. This unlock support for new features, capabilities (including enhancements to ‘convergence’ implementations), and further future-proofing. Ea…

The latest point release of Thunderbird 115 – aka the new version you’ve no-doubt heard people raving about — features a flurry of fixes. For one, Thunderbird 115.2 makes the size, unread, and total columns right-aligned by default which, to my eyes, gives the client a more balanced presentation — but I appreciate that could just be me! Sticking with visual improvements for a comment, Thunderbird’s message compose window was not correctly applying theme colors to menus in the last version – so that’s also been addressed by this update. Thunderbird 115.2 with newly right-aligned size and unread columns Creating tags from unified toolbar sometimes failed, and…

Speech Note is an offline, AI-powered app able to transcribe your speech into text in a variety of different languages. A reader got in touch to point me towards the app — thanks, David! — and given that it sounds pretty cool I figured I’d give it a spotlight on the site. Speech Note use OpenAI’s Whisper and a stack of other open-source libraries, voice engines, and other doohickeys to perform its transliterative magic. It supports Speech to Text (i.e you speak, it types), Text to Speech (i.e. you type, it speaks), and machine translation to translate text/speech from one language to another. Speech Note (image: Flathub) “Text and voice processing take p…

Hi, firstly I apologize , I am not technically minded. Recently my Mac desk top refuses to open my mail account , it just says “retry” ignore” “ report to apple” none of which has helped, I have email, & gmail. Can anyone guide me as to what to do please ?

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Tony D replied February 1, 20231 yr

With 12 months to go before Microsoft ceases its support of Windows 7, I thought it time to consider what I would do as I've no intention of using Windows 10. Some have advised that setting up a dual boot arrangement is risky but I thought that, if I did do it, the advantage would be that I could keep Windows 7 for those peripherals that weren't compatible with Linux, disable the internet in Windows 7 and have a Linux system that could utilize the internet. I was somewhat apprehensive about the undertaking but believed that, if I created an image backup of the complete HDD first, should anything go wrong, I would be able to restore back to the situation I was in before. …

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Kick replied April 2, 20195 yr