NEWS

Linus Torvalds Confirms Date of the First Linux Release

Linus Torvalds, the creator of the Linux kernel, has finally discovered the date of its first release: September 17, 1991. Twenty-five years later, to the day, Torvalds posted this message on his Google+ page:

Today is the 25th anniversary of the Linux-0.01 release, I do believe.

Normally the Linux anniversary is counted from the announcement email, which was August 25, because that was the actual public statement of intent. The 0.01 code drop happened a couple of weeks later and wasn't publicly announced.

Earlier during an interview with Linux Pro magazine, Torvalds said he was not sure about the actual Linux anniversary day, because there was possibly more than one date. Although August 25 is the date he announced the project he was working on, Torvalds said he never announced the first release publicly and simply uploaded it to an FTP server and emailed those who were interested in it.

Since then, he said, he lost all those email communications, so he didn't remember exactly when the first version of Linux was released. The only way to find out, he said, was to look at the timestamp on the first release. That's exactly what he seems to have done: The makefile of the first release is stamped September 17, 1991.

However, that doesn't change the official birthday of Linux. Torvalds settled that matter during a keynote discussion at LinuxCon North America (Toronto) when he said August 25 is the official date to use as a birthday.

It's Official: No Headphone Jacks in New iPhones

Apple has announced two new iPhones. The iPhone 7 features a 4.7-inch display, whereas the iPhone 7 Plus features a 5.5-inch display and comes with two 12MP wide-angle and telephoto cameras.

The most notable feature of the iPhone 7 family is the absence of a 3.5mm headphone jack. The only port on iPhone 7 is Apple's proprietary Lightning port. Apple is bundling a Lightning-to-3.5mm headphone jack adapter with each device so users can still use their existing headphones.

Users will not be able to use the wired headphone and charge the phone at the same time because the device only has a single Lightning port. That could be challenging to a lot of enterprise users who need to plug their phones into power outlets while making long phone calls.

Third-party vendors like Belkin are coming out with solutions like Lightning Audio + Charge RockStar, an adapter that comes with two Lightning ports so users can charge their phone while using wired headphones.

By killing the 3.5mm jack, Apple is moving to new wireless technologies for headphones. Although you can still use good old Bluetooth to pair wireless headphones, Apple has introduced AirPods, their new wireless headphones that use proprietary wireless technology to pair with iOS devices automatically. These AirPods are extremely smart and detect whether or not you are wearing them. Music will pause when you take them off and start again when you put them on. They also switch from stereo to mono when you take off one AirPod. AirPod's built-in microphone allows you to interact with Siri with a tap, without having to take your iPhone out of your pocket.

iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will be available in stores on September 16, 2016.

Opera's Password Sync Service Compromised

Opera Software has reported a security breach that compromised Opera Sync Service, the password manager for the Opera web browser. Opera has more than 350 million users and approximate 1.7 million people are using Opera Sync Service.

To its credit, Opera Software acted swiftly and notified its users of the breach by email. The company said in the blog post, "although we only store encrypted (for synchronized passwords) or hashed and salted (for authentication) passwords in this system, we have reset all the Opera Sync account passwords as a precaution."

Opera Sync users are also advised to change the passwords of third-party services, such as email, that they used on the browser, because this information might have been stored on the Opera cloud and therefore could have been compromised.

Password managers are used by web browsers to make it easy for users to store usernames, account information, and passwords on the cloud. All major browsers, including Google Chrome, Firefox, and Apple Safari offer such features. However, unlike Chrome and Safari, Opera Sync doesn't offer the additional security of two-factor authentication.

More Online

Linux Magazine

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Off the Beat * Bruce Byfield

Criticizing Less Than Free Hardware

With a boost from crowdfunding, efforts at free hardware are becoming a reality. Inevitably, though, most of these efforts are criticized as not being free enough, usually because of proprietary firmware.

The pi-top Revisited

Publication schedules mean that reviews are rarely the result of more than a few days of testing. Should the product develop long-term problems, they remain undocumented. Such is the case with the pi-top, the do-it-yourself laptop powered by the Raspberry Pi.

Paw Prints * Jon "maddog" Hall

True Love...and Microsoft Love

Over the past year I have heard with increasing volume about how much Microsoft loves Linux. However, I would like to substitute another word for "love," then tell you why I feel that way.

ADMIN HPC

http://hpc.admin-magazine.com/

NVDIMM and the Linux Kernel *Markus Feilner and Johannes Thumshirn

Non-volatile dual in-line memory modules will provide storage as fast as RAM and keep its content through a reboot. The Linux kernel is already geared to handle the new technology and can even serve the modules up as block devices.

ADMIN Online

http://www.admin-magazine.com/

What's New in SQL Server 2016 * Thomas Joos

The focus in SQL Server 2016 is on mobility, cloud usage, and speed, with improvements to in-memory processing and security.

Technology Drivers for the IT industry *Udo Steinegger

The Internet of Everything, a fully networked and analyzed society, seeks to enhance the quality of life of all people and drive new technologies, products, services, and markets. But where are developments headed, and what are the driving factors, fields of application, and challenges?

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