Linux Market Share as a Desktop OS Jumps to 3%
For the second month in a row, Linux as a desktop operating system is on the rise. This is the first time we see Linux reach the 3% mark, bringing it to 1/3 of where Mac OS is – not bad at all! Makes you wonder if the sudden increase has to do with the pandemic with many working from home. It’s quite possible many people forced to use a Windows PC at their office desk actually run a Linux desktop at home. I guess we won’t know until we have a vaccine of sorts.
Happy Birthday Phoronix!
Phoronix is now 16 years old! One of the best resources on the internet for everything Linux, both software and hardware related. Also, their renowned Test Suite is now 12 years old. Bravo Phoronix, enjoy your 16-bit cake, byte by byte!
Linux Kernel 5.7 Released
Out of the various geeky enhancements, of note is the added support for various ARM based SoC’s. That includes support for the PineBook Pro, the PineTab and the PinePhone.
Latest batch of PineBook Pros arriving to users
twitter is a buzz with tweets of happy users receiving their PineBook Pros. They seem to be quite pleased with their purchase. The latest batch comes with an custom developed edition of Manjaro KDE for ARM. The 14 inch laptop features a non-touch IPS screen, 4GB of Ram and 64GB of eMMC storage. It is powered by a Rockchip RK3399 SoC with a Mali T860 MP4 GPU. It sells for a friendly $199, a price at which they apparently make no profit. Pine64 therefore asks potential buyers to be forgiving if they encounter small issues with their devices.
Linux Mint drops Ubuntu Snaps
According to news from ZDnet, Linux Mint will not include any Snap support in it’s upcoming Mint 20 version, based on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. The quibble seems to arise from how Canonical is trying to manage or rather control the Snap Ecosystem. Specifically the way the Chromium app is handled in the Ubuntu Store. It installs as an APT, like any Debian app, but is actually just an empty shell that proceeds to install a Snap version of Chromium instead – Unknowingly to the user. An interesting debate will follow for sure!
elemenatry OS updated to 5.1.5
Apart from various smaller fixes and updates, Version 5.1.5 features some quality of life improvements to the ditsro’s AppCenter and Files, the file manager: User authentication is no longer required to update apps, making the experience more fluid. Since the original install was already authenticated, it is argued a repeat authentication for updates is no longer needed. Files now allows to paste files directly into apps and web apps. So now you can directly paste an image into an app, speeding up workflow. Current users receive the updates through normal channels but for fresh installs, there is a new 5.1.5 ISO for download on the homepage. As always, to download you are prompted to donate to the development effort but you can also enter 0 in the box and download for free.
Lenovo expands Linux adoption
Lenovo is moving to certify all models of it’s Workstation portfolio to be compatible with both Ubuntu and Red Hat Linux. They will work on device drivers and upstream them to the Linux kernel. That is good news indeed! Previously this year, Lenovo had already announced it will be offering Fedora Linux out of the box on some Thinkpad models.
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