Install Firefox in a Snap on Linux

Linux desktop has an app fragmentation problem. Each distribution has its own application distribution mechanism, which ends up duplicating maintainer resources and is almost always a bottleneck when it comes to delivering updates to apps.

Linux desktop communities are trying to solve that problem with solutions like AppImage, Flatpack, and Snaps. While Flatpack is backed by Red Hat/Fedora developers, Snaps is backed by Canonical. AppImage is relatively independent. Once again there is fragmentation, meaning either app developers "waste" developer resources and create a package for all three formats or choose one. Eventually the Linux world may settle down on one, but for now we have to deal with all three.

Mozilla has officially picked Snap to offer Firefox browser for Linux. According to Canonical, by launching as it a snap, the Firefox Quantum browser is available to an increased number of Linux users with the snap working natively on Ubuntu, Arch, Linux Mint, Fedora, Solus, Debian, and other Linux distributions that support snaps.

"Mozilla has long been a leader in the open source space," said Jamie Bennett, VP of Engineering, Devices, and IoT at Canonical. "As such, we are very happy to announce that they are joining the community of applications already available as snaps. Through their unique format, snaps can help bring some of the world's most popular apps to almost any Linux desktop, server, device or cloud machine, allowing users to select the right distro for them without having to worry about updates, security or compatibility issues further down the line."

There are a lot of advantages of using a Snap-like mechanism over the traditional method as you get updates as soon as they are released; there is no need to add third-party repositories or wait for weeks for official packages to land in official repositories.

If you want to grab a snap of Firefox, visit this link: https://snapcraft.io/store.

Arduino Adds Rasp Pi and BeagleBone to the Arduino Create Platform

At the Embedded Linux Conference & OpenIoT Summit, Arduino has announced support for new architectures for its Arduino Create platform for the development of IoT applications.

In an interview, Massimo Banzi, the cofounder of Arduino told me that they are looking at IoT as one of the most potential use cases and want to help the community in building projects targeting IoT. Arduino has also built a cloud, using Kubernetes and AWS to enable developers to leverage the device and cloud sides of the IoT spectrum. This announcement fits perfectly with that strategy.

Thanks to the Arduino Create platform, Arduino users can manage and program a wide range of popular Linux single-board computers like the AAEON UP board, Raspberry Pi, and BeagleBone as regular Arduino boards.

"With this release, Arduino extends its reach into edge computing, enabling anybody with Arduino programming experience to manage and develop complex multi-architecture IoT applications on gateways," said Banzi. "This is an important step forward in democratizing access to the professional Internet of Things."

In a blog post, the project said that multiple Arduino programs could run simultaneously on a Linux-based board and interact and communicate with each other, leveraging the capabilities provided by the new Arduino Connector. Moreover, IoT devices can be managed and updated remotely, independently from where they are located.

Source: https://blog.arduino.cc/2018/03/13/you-can-now-use-arduino-to-program-linux-iot-devices/

IBM Launches a New Data Science Platform

IBM has announced the launch of a new data science and machine learning platform. The new IBM Cloud Private for Data is an "integrated data science, data engineering, and app building platform." The purpose of the new platform is to let users "…build and exploit event-driven applications capable of analyzing the torrents of data from things like IoT sensors, online commerce, mobile devices, etc."

According to IBM, Cloud Private for Data is an application that operates above the Kubernetes container system, which means a user could deploy it in minutes. The solution, which includes key capabilities from IBM's Data Science Experience and Information Analyzer, is designed to help clients discover insights from their core business data.