The 2018 Open Source Job Report is now available from The Linux Foundation and Dice. Some key findings include: "Linux is back on top as the most in-demand open source skill category, making it required knowledge for most entry-level open source careers" and "Containers are rapidly growing in popularity and importance, with 57% of hiring managers seeking that expertise, up from only 27% last year."
Ubuntu started collecting user data with version 18.04 (users can opt out during the install), and the first report is now available. According to the report, 67% of users opt in, installation takes 18 minutes, most people are installing from scratch instead of upgrading and having a single CPU is most common. In addition, the report reveals that although the US has the highest concentration of users, Brazil, India, China and Russia also are big Ubuntu users.
Oracle has started charging for Java SE and support. According to The Register, the cost for the "Java subscription" is "$25 per processor per month, and $2.50 per user per month on the desktop, or less if you buy lots for a long time." The article notes that "If you like your current Java licences, Oracle will let you keep them." But also that "come January 2019 Java SE 8 on the desktop won't be updated any more...unless you buy a sub."
The EFF announced the launch of STARTTLS Everywhere, "EFF's initiative to improve the security of the email ecosystem". The goal with STARTTLS is "to do for email what we've done for web browsing: make it simple and easy for everyone to help ensure their communications aren't vulnerable to mass surveillance." You can find out how secure your current email provider is at https://www.starttls-everywhere.org, and for a more technical deep dive into STARTTLS Everywhere, go here.
GitLab announced that it is moving from Azure to Google Cloud. GitLab claims the decision to switch to Google Cloud is "because of our desire to run GitLab on Kubernetes. Google invented Kubernetes, and GKE has the most robust and mature Kubernetes support." The migration is planned for Saturday, July 28, 2018, and GitLab will utilize its Geo product for the migration.
Mercedes-Benz Vans has adopted the Automotive Grade Linux open platform, automotiveIT reports. The company plans to use the OS in its upcoming commercial vehicles, the first of which will be seen in prototype later this year. Thomas Wurdig, head of onboard system architecture and IoT, Mercedes-Benz Vans, stated "Using a standardized, open operating system like AGL enables us to rapidly develop new commercial vehicle use cases such as robotic delivery, data analytics, and prediction and automation technologies."
Python 3.7.0 has been released. This is a major release of the Python language, containing many new features, including new syntax features, backwards-incompatible syntax changes, new library modules, significant improvements to the standard library and much more. See the release highlights for all the updates, and go here to download.
Red Hat OpenStack Platform 13 is now available. This is a "long-life release", which comes with up to three years of standard support, and optional two years of extended life-cycle support. This release has many new features, including "fast forward upgrades", and it now supports containerization of all OpenStack services. OpenStack Platform 13 also delivers several new integrations with Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform, and it has many new hardened security services. See the Red Hat blog post for more information.
Eighteen Chromebooks from Acer, Asus, Lenovo and Dell—all based on Intel Apollo Lake—to receive Linux app support. According to xda Developers, "as the change has only just landed, Canary and Developer channels will see this first in the coming days and weeks. Stable or Beta channel users will have to wait until Chrome OS version 69."
SUSE is being acquired by EQT. SUSE.com notes that with this partnership "SUSE expects to be equipped to further exploit the excellent market opportunity both in the Linux operating system area as well as in emerging product groups in the open source space." SUSE CEO Nils Brauckmann will continue to lead SUSE, and "the SUSE business expects staffing, customer relationships, partnerships, product and service offering, commitment to open source leadership and support for the key open source communities to remain unchanged."
The Linux Foundation recently announced that Google has become a Platinum Member of the foundation. From the press release: "'Google is one of the biggest contributors to and supporters of open source in the world, and we are thrilled that they have decided to increase their involvement in The Linux Foundation,' said Jim Zemlin, executive director, The Linux Foundation. 'We are honored that Sarah Novotny, one of the leading figures in the open source community, will join our board—she will be a tremendous asset.'"
The Dell Precision 7530 and 7730 Mobile Workstation Developer Editions are now available via Dell's online store with Ubuntu Linux preinstalled, Softpedia News reports. The Mobile Workstations are powered by the latest Intel Core or Xeon processors, and "feature blazing-fast RAM, professional AMD or Nvidia graphics cards, and are certified for the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.5 operating system". Prices for the "world's most powerful 15" and 17" laptops with Ubuntu pre-installed" begin at $1,091.14 for the 7530 and $1,371.37 for the 7730.
Canonical released its new Minimal Ubuntu. According to the Ubuntu blog, Minimal Ubuntu is "optimized for automated use at scale, with a tiny package set and minimal security cross-section. Speed, performance and stability are primary concerns for cloud developers and ops." The images are 50% smaller than the standard Ubuntu server images and they boot up to 40% faster. Minimal Ubuntu also is fully compatible with standard Ubuntu operations. You can download it here.
The Xen Hypervisor 4.11 was released. In this release "PVH Dom0 support is now available as experimental feature and support for running unmodified PV guests in a PVH Container has been added. In addition, significant chunks of the ARM port have been rewritten." Xen 4.11 also contains mitigations for Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities. For detailed download and build instructions, go here.
There's a new text-based browser called Browsh, Phoronix reports. Browsh can render anything a modern browser can, and you can use it from a terminal or within a normal browser to reduce bandwidth and increase browser speed. For more info and to download, see the Browsh project website.
Sirin Labs to launch the $1,000 Finney cryptocurrency smartphone this fall, Engadget reports. The Finney (named after Bitcoin pioneer Hal Finney) is a "state of the art mobile device for the blockchain era" and runs on a forked version of Android. It has a slider on the back where "you'll find a secondary display, called the Safe Screen, that's only used for crypto transactions....The slider also activates the cold storage wallet that is designed to hold a significant number of different cryptocurrencies."
freenode has a new job board. jobs.freenode.net "aims to connect those looking to hire with the immense talent that can be found within the wider freenode communities". The job board is free to use, but companies that use it successfully are encouraged to make a donation to help support the freenode network, jobs.freenode.net and the annual freenode #live conference.
Python's Benevolent Dictator For Life (BDFL) Guido van Rossum announced he's stepping down from the role. On the Python mailing list, van Rossum said, "I would like to remove myself entirely from the decision process. I'll still be there for a while as an ordinary core dev, and I'll still be available to mentor people—possibly more available. But I'm basically giving myself a permanent vacation from being BDFL, and you all will be on your own." He credits his decision to step down as partly due to his experience with the turmoil over PEP 572: "Now that PEP 572 is done, I don't ever want to have to fight so hard for a PEP and find that so many people despise my decisions." van Rossum says he will not appoint a successor and leaves that to the development team to decide upon. For old-time's sake, see Linux Journal's interview with Guido van Rossum from 1998.