Intel Reworks Microcode Security Fix License after Backlash, Intel's FSP Binaries Also Re-licensed, Valve Releases Beta of Steam Play for Linux, Chromebooks Running Linux 3.4 or Older Won't Get Linux App Support and Windows 95 Now an App
News briefs for August 24, 2018.
Intel has now reworked the license for its microcode security fix after outcry from the community. The Register quotes Imad Sousou, corporate VP and general manager of Intel Open Source Technology Center, "We have simplified the Intel license to make it easier to distribute CPU microcode updates and posted the new version here. As an active member of the open source community, we continue to welcome all feedback and thank the community."
Intel also has re-licensed its FSP binaries, which are used by Coreboot, LinuxBoot and Facebook's Open Compute Project, so that they are under the same license as the CPU microcode files. According to the Phoronix post, "The short and unofficial summary of that license text is it allows for redistribution (and benchmarking, if so desired) of the binaries and the restricts essentially come down to no reverse-engineering/disassembly of the binaries and respecting the copyright."
Valve announced this week that it's releasing the Beta of a new and improved Steam Play version to Linux. The new version includes "a modified distribution of Wine, called Proton, to provide compatibility with Windows game titles." Other improvements include DirectX 11 and 12 implementations are now based on Vulkan, full-screen support has been improved, game controller support has been improved, and "Windows games with no Linux version currently available can now be installed and run directly from the Linux Steam client, complete with native Steamworks and OpenVR support".
Linux app support will be available soon for many Chromebooks, but a post on the Chromium Gerrit indicates that devices running Linux 3.14 or older will not be included. See this beta news article for a full list of the Chromebooks that won't be able to run Linux apps.
Windows 95 is now an app you can run on Linux, macOS and Windows thanks to Slack developer Felix Rieseberg who created the electron app. See The Verge for more details. The source code and app installers are available on GitHub.
Jill Franklin is an editorial professional with more than 17 years experience in technical and scientific publishing, both print and digital. As Executive Editor of Linux Journal, she wrangles writers, develops content, manages projects, meets deadlines and makes sentences sparkle. She also was Managing Editor for TUX and Embedded Linux Journal, and the book Linux in the Workplace. Before entering the Linux and open-source realm, she was Managing Editor of several scientific and scholarly journals, including Veterinary Pathology, The Journal of Mammalogy, Toxicologic Pathology and The Journal of Scientific Exploration. In a previous life, she taught English literature and composition, managed a bookstore and tended bar. When she’s not bugging writers about deadlines or editing copy, she throws pots, gardens and reads.
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