Purism's Future Plans for PureOS, Malicious Docker Images, Samsung's New Chromebook Plus 2-in-1 Convertible Laptop and More
News briefs for June 15, 2018.
Purism detailed some of its future plans for PureOS in a blog post this morning. The team is looking into Librem 5 specific-image builds, and besides the ARM64 architecture, they also are "researching usage of OSTree, Flatpak, and a couple of other new technologies to use by default in PureOS on the desktop and/or the phone". In addition, "PureOS is planning to host its own Flathub instance (dedicated to Freedom, of course) so upstream developers can just package their app and submit it to PureOS's flathub if they don't want to trouble themselves with system-wide dependencies." Also, part of Purism's plans for handling apps includes developing "an ethical app store that will provide users with an option to donate, 'pay what you want', or 'subscribe' (support as a patron) the apps you use".
Ars Technica reported this week that "a single person or group may have made as much as $90,000 over 10 months by spreading 17 malicious images that were downloaded more than 5 million times from Docker Hub." A user first complained of the backdoor in September, but nothing was done, and 14 more malicious images were submitted. See Kromtech's report for more details on the cryptojacking. And note that "despite the images being pulled from Docker Hub, many servers that installed the images may still be infected."
Samsung yesterday announced its new Chromebook Plus 2-in-1 convertible laptop, running the Linux-based ChromeOS. The Chromebook Plus "is equipped with a built-in pen and offers a light, thin and stylish design that delivers versatility, portability and a premium experience at a competitive price point". It will be available starting June 24 from Best Buy for $499.99.
Fedora 29 will fully support the FreeDesktop.org Boot Loader Specification, Phoronix reports. With this change Fedora hopes to "simplify the kernel installation process significantly and make it more consistent across the different architectures. This will also make it easier for automation tools to manage the bootloader menu options since it will just be a matter of adding, removing or editing individual BLS entry files in a directory."
Google released its Annual Diversity Report yesterday. See also The Verge's rundown of the numbers.
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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