• Android backups to Google Drive have been disabled on many phones for months — no proper fix in sight

• MIUI 11 lands on the Xiaomi Redmi 8, but remains on Android 9.0 Pie

• Top 10 Flagship/ Midrange Android Phones on AnTuTu in November 2019 [List]

• Chrome 79 for Android rolling out: Maskable PWA icons, reordering bookmarks

• The Pixel 4's enhanced RAM management will come to other Android phones, eventually

Andes unveiled a Linux-ready, RISC-V-based “AndesCore 27-series” CPU core that features a VPU for AI applications. In other RISC-V on Linux news, Microchip opened early access to its FPGA-enabled PolarFire SoC and Hex Five announced MultiZone Security for Linux.

In conjunction with the RISC-V Summit in San Jose this week, Andes Technology announced a Linux-focused RISC-V core design that it says is the first to include a vector processing unit (VPU). Meanwhile, Microchip announced an early access program for its previously announced, Linux-friendly PolarFire SoC, and there’s a new MultiZone Security for Linux application for RISC-V chips from Hex Five Security that will initially run on the PolarFire SoC (see farther below).

• Galaxy S9 and S9+ get second Android 10 beta update

• BREAKING: Nokia 7.1 Android 10 update rolls out globally

• The Android 10 update is now rolling out for the Nokia 7.1

• Nokia 7.1 is going up to Android 10, the 7.2 will follow it next month

• Galaxy A30 with Android 10 receives Wi-Fi certification

• Samsung Galaxy S10e also starts receiving stable Android 10 with One UI 2

• Nokia 7.1 begins receiving stable Android 10 update

• Stable Android 10 Coming Soon For Galaxy Note 10, No Beta For Galaxy Fold

• Automatic Call Screening is coming to all Pixel phones on Android 10 'over the coming weeks'

• How to upload files to Google Drive from android: A complete guide

• How to sign or fill out a PDF document on Android

• How to clear suggested searches on Instagram on your Android device

• How to stream Disney Plus on an Android Smart TV

• The secret way to speed up your Android smartphone revealed

• There's a secret way to speed up Android phones

• Antutu: top 10 most powerful Android smartphones for November 2019

• Best car gifts in 2019: Android Auto, Apple CarPlay and dashcams

• Huawei Mate 30 Pro: Reviewers slam Android-free phone for lack of apps

• Fitbit Versa 2 review: The 'Apple Watch' for Android users

• You Can Finally Move Events Between Google Calendars on Android

• QSR Automations and Kitchen Armor Team Up to Offer Android All-in-Ones

• Carrier Services update enables RCS on Verizon, more Android phones

• 9to5Google Daily 354: RCS is rolling out to more Android phones right now

Are you a fan of the Cinnamon Desktop used in Linux Mint, but prefer more recent software and the familiarity of the Ubuntu ecosystem? If so, there’s a brand new spin of Ubuntu 19.10 that may interest you. Say hello to Ubuntu Cinnamon (or, as Michael Tunnell from This Week in Linux cleverly dubbed it, “CinnaBuntu”).

Ubuntu Cinnamon is a brand new “remix” project that incorporates the Cinnamon Desktop Environment into Ubuntu. It’s not an official “flavor” of Ubuntu, but the developers are hoping that — like Ubuntu Budgie and Ubuntu MATE before it — it’s welcomed by both the community and Canonical to eventually join the ranks of the official Ubuntu family.

Chrome 79 has been in development since earlier this fall and entered beta testing at the end of October, when Google gave us a glimpse of the new features and improvements to come. And now, users can now enjoy all of them if they update their Chrome web browser to version 79.0.3945.79, which is rolling out now to Linux, Windows, and Mac desktop platforms.

With Chrome 79, Google brings VR (Virtual Reality) support to the Web with a new API called WebXR Device API, which allows developers to create immersive experiences for smartphones, as well as head-mounted displays. This also paves the way for the development of many other similar emerging technologies, among which we can mention AR (Augmented Reality).

Direct:Stable Channel Update for Desktop

For those of you who may not be familiar with the subject, Google’s Chrome OS that powers millions of Chromebooks is built on the Linux kernel. I’ll save you the long-winded explanation of what the Linux kernel is and how it works for two reasons. One, it would take all day. Two, I’m not a developer and I would likely confuse myself and you in the process. Apart from numerous Linux distributions and Chrome OS, the Linux kernel is at the heart of the Android operating system as well as various embedded devices and products such as smart TVs and webcams.

Qt for MCUs enables creation of fluid graphical user interfaces (GUI) with a low memory footprint on displays powered by microcontrollers (MCU). It is a complete graphics toolkit with everything needed to design, develop, and deploy GUIs on MCUs. It enables a unified technology approach for an entire product line to create a consistent and branded end user experience. Watch the Qt for MCUs video showcasing different use cases.

Qt for MCUs 1.0 has already been adopted by lead customers in Japan, Europe and the US, who have started developing their next generation product. This release has been tested on microcontrollers from NXP, Renesas and STMicroelectronics. The software release contains Platform Adaptations for NXP i.MX RT1050 and STM32F769i as the default Deployment Platforms. Platform Adaptations for several other NXP and STM32 microcontrollers as well as the Renesas RH850 microcontroller are available as separate Deployment Platform Packages. On request, Qt Professional Services can provide new Platform Adaptions for additional microcontrollers.

Mobile devices such as phones and tablets are becoming an increasingly important part in our computing, hence they are particularly subject to freedom and security concerns. These devices aren't simply "phones" or "tablets." They are full computers with powerful hardware, running complete operating systems that allow for updates, software changes, and installable applications. This makes it feasible to run free software on them. Thus, it is possible to choose a device that runs a free bootloader and free mobile operating system -- Replicant -- as well as fully free apps for the user. You can read more about privacy and security on mobile phones and the solutions that Replicant offers, as well as learn some valuable lessons on how better to protect your freedom on mobile devices on the Replicant Web site.

Replicant is currently steered by a team of three people: Fil Bergamo, Joonas Kylmälä (Putti), and myself. At the beginning of this year, we successfully applied for funding from a program from the European Union called Next Generation Internet. We also received a sizeable donation from Handshake, which allowed us to make some significant investments.

• How to download and install WoeUSB on Ubuntu or a Debian Linux distro

• How to Set Up Cron Job on CentOS 8

• How To Install YetiForce on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS

• How To Install MongoDB on Debian 10 Buster

• Disable Installing Updates During Shutdown in Ubuntu 19.10

• How to install the Photoflow photo editor on Linux

• How to open System Settings from the terminal in Ubuntu 18.04?

Would you like to enhance your Linux security? Do you wonder what factors should be considered when evaluating your open source security from both – the infrastructure and the application perspectives? Are you keen to learn the Ubuntu security team approach? I’ve learned that CVE patching is indeed an important puzzle, but without a structured approach, professional tools and well-defined processes in place, your Linux environment will not be secure.

What do Linux security experts say?

I got inspired by all these questions during the Open Source Security Summit, which was followed by the Linux Security Summit. I really enjoyed a week full of keynotes, workshops and meaningful conversations. So much so that, in my notebook, I noted down some really good quotes about the Linux security. For instance, Kelly Hammond from Intel opened her keynote by saying that “security is like doing the laundry or the dishes – it’s never done”.

Linux security is more complicated than fixing CVEs

Fixing CVEs is a continuous job that all Linux security teams focus on. In his keynote, Greg Kroah-Hartman from the Linux Foundation looked at this problem from the kernel perspective. In his exact words “CVEs mean nothing for the kernel” because very few CVEs are ever going to be assigned for the kernel. A stable Linux kernel receives 22-25 patches every day without any CVE process involved. So Greg’s position on the Linux security comes down to always using the latest stable kernel and not worrying about CVEs.

Also: Security updates for Tuesday

GNU/Linux developer Arne Exton has released today a new version of his Debian-based DebEX Linux distribution, which promises to bring back to life older 32-bit computers.
Based on the Debian GNU/Linux 10 "Buster" operating system series, DebEX Linux uses LXQt as default desktop environment, which is known to be very resource-friendly and efficient on older computers from 15 or 20 years ago.

The new DebEX Linux version comes with only a minimum set of packages installed in the live and installable ISO image, which makes it just under 1GB in size. Under the hood, DebEX Linux uses the latest and greatest Linux kernel, Linux 5.4.2, for out-of-the-box hardware support.

"I've made a new DebEX system for older computers. It uses LXQt as desktop environment. I could run and install DebEX LXQt without problems on my oldest computer, an Acer Aspire 5102WLMi from the year 2006," said Arne Exton.

The Debian-based SparkyLinux operating system recently received a new community edition that you can run and use directly from a USB stick without installing anything on your personal computer.
While many of today's GNU/Linux distributions come as a live medium that lets users test drive it without installing the actual OS on their computers, it would appear that some users are still interested in the type of systems that lives in a USB flash drive, running completely from there with persistence.

So today's we'd like to introduce you Sparky Bonsai, a portable edition of the Debian-based SparkyLinux operating system that works in the same way famous portable distros like Slax, Puppy Linux, Porteus, and DebianDog work. It features the JWM (Joe's Window Manager) stacking window manager for X11.

Mozilla's latest Firefox 71 web browser is now finally available for installation from the software repositories of all supported Ubuntu Linux releases.
Officially announced by Mozilla last week, the Firefox 71 web browser introduces native MP3 decoding, a much-improved built-in password manager that can now recognize subdomains and automatically fill domain logins or warn users with screen readers about breaches from Firefox Monitor, and a new kiosk mode that allows the use of Firefox in kiosk terminals by running it exclusively in full-screen.

Firefox 71 also comes with a redesigned internal configuration page (about:config) rewritten in HTML, an improved Enhanced Tracking Protection feature to offer users more information about the actions it takes by displaying notifications when Firefox blocks cryptominers, and new locales for Catalan (Valencian) (ca-valencia), Tagalog (tl), and Triqui (trs).

• Microsoft Teams is now available on Linux [Ed: Microsoft is googlebombing "Linux" again to push proprietary software that spies on people]

  Available in public preview, Microsoft just added Linux support for their unified communication and collaboration platform Microsoft Teams.

• Microsoft Teams for Linux now available in public preview [Ed: The fours stages of Microsoft googlebombing "Linux": 1) Microsoft might bring proprietary software/spyware to Linux. 2) Microsoft will definitely bring it. 3) There's a "public preview"! 4) It's coming, it's coming! Get ready for spying!]

• Microsoft Teams for Linux Officially Released, Available to Download Now

• Microsoft Teams Is Now Available For Linux In Public Preview Form

• Microsoft’s first Office app arrives on Linux

• Microsoft Teams is coming to the Linux operating system

• Microsoft announces public preview of Microsoft Teams for Linux

• Microsoft Teams is the first Office app for Linux

• Microsoft launches Teams for Linux in preview

• Linux users get an early Christmas gift -- Microsoft Teams [Ed: Christmas gift? How many GNU/Linux users even asked for it? Unwanted gift.]

• Microsoft Teams launches on Linux in public preview

• Microsoft Just Released Its First Native Office App For The Linux Desktop

• Microsoft Teams for Linux is Now Available in Preview

• Kalypso Media form new studio to work on next-gen Commandos games

  Now that Kalypso Media own the rights to the Commandos franchise, along with a remaster of Commandos 2 coming to Linux next year, they're now planning more.

  Announced today, Kalypso Media have formed their third internal development studio to be based in Germany's Greater Frankfurt. They have announced that industry veteran Jürgen Reußwig will be the Studio Director, with the new as-yet-unnamed studio's explicit task being the creation of a next-generation entry in the Commandos strategy series.

• Physics-based escape room puzzler Area 86 delayed, wins Best Game Design award

  SimDevs have announced their amusing physics-based escape room puzzle game, Area 86, is now going to release in Q1 2020.

  Area 86 is a game I tried out and gave a few early thoughts on back in September, coming away very impressed at the idea. A clumsy physics-based puzzle game, where you need to solve multiple different puzzles to escape each level.

• Insurgency: Sandstorm no longer getting Linux/Mac support or a campaign mode

  New World Interactive have released a news post going over the state of Insurgency: Sandstorm, along with announcing a bunch of features no longer being made.

• The Humble Paradox Management Bundle just launched, great deal for Linux gamers

  The Humble Paradox Management Bundle just launched and it's a really great selection of games that's available for Linux.

• Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter Issue 608

  Welcome to the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, Issue 608 for the week of December 1 – 7, 2019. The full version of this issue is available here.

• Developers shouldn't distribute their own software

  Thankfully, each distro includes its own set of volunteers dedicated to this specific job: packaging software for the distribution and making sure it conforms to the norms of the target environment. This model also adds a set of checks and balances to the system, in which the distro maintainers can audit each other’s work for bugs and examine the software being packaged for anti-features like telemetry or advertisements, patching it out as necessary. These systems keep malware out of the repositories, handle distribution of updates, cryptographically verifying signatures, scaling the distribution out across many mirrors - it’s a robust system with decades of refinement.

• attention please: host's IP stack behavior got changed slightly

  Your laptops, desktops and servers now check packet destination address with IP address bound to interface, where such packet is received on. If there will be mismatch the packet will be discarded and 'wrongif' counter will be bumped. You can use 'netstat -s|grep wrongif' to display the counter value.

• Trusted Recursive Resolvers – Protecting Your Privacy with Policy and Technology

  In keeping with a longstanding commitment to privacy and online security, this year Mozilla has launched products and features that ensure privacy is respected and is the default. We recognize that technology alone isn’t enough to protect your privacy. To build a product that truly protects people, you need strong data policies.

  An example of our work here is the U.S. deployment of DNS over HTTPS (DoH), a new protocol to keep people’s browsing activity safe from being intercepted or tampered with, and our Trusted Recursive Resolver program (TRR). Connecting the right technology with strict operational requirements will make it harder for malicious actors to spy on or tamper with users’ browsing activity, and will protect users from DNS providers, including internet service providers (ISPs), that can abuse their data.

  DoH’s ability to encrypt DNS data addresses only half the problem we are trying to solve. The second half is requiring that companies with the ability to see and store your browsing history change their data handling practices. This is what the TRR program is for. With these two initiatives, we’re helping close data leaks that have been part of the Internet since the DNS was created 35 years ago.

• Mozilla Privacy Blog: Mozilla comments on CCPA regulations

  Around the globe, Mozilla has been a supporter of data privacy laws that empower people – including the California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA). For the last few weeks, we’ve been considering the draft regulations, released in October, from Attorney General Becerra. Today, we submitted comments to help California effectively and meaningfully implement CCPA.

  We all know that people deserve more control over their online data. And we take care to provide people protection and control by baking privacy and the same principles we want to see in legislation into the Firefox browser.

• Linux is junk, but GPL is for ever

  Once in a while people used to say that the lovely programs they used becomes obsolete. Then talk about its nostalgia.

  What will be the status of linux kernel after 100 years? Lets say 50 years? Will it be there supporting the new technologies of that time? I don’t think so.

  Linux like all other technologies may not able to adapt to those new environments.

  Where as GPL is eternal. As far as there is software, the rules of GPL will be valid.

• AGL Announces CES 2020 Demos by 18 Members

  Automotive Grade Linux (AGL), a cross-industry effort developing an open source platform for all connected car technologies, will be at CES 2020 demonstrating open source infotainment and instrument cluster applications along with 20+ connected car demonstrations developed by AGL members.

  The AGL Booth in the Westgate Hotel Pavilion #1815 will feature a 2020 Toyota RAV4 with an AGL-based multimedia system that is currently in production, a 2020 Mazda CX-30 showcasing a proof of concept (POC) demo using new AGL reference hardware, and automotive technology demonstrations by: AISIN AW, DENSO, DENSO TEN, Igalia, IoT.bzh, LG Electronics, Mazda, Microchip, NTT DATA MSE, OpenSynergy, Panasonic, Renesas, SafeRide Technologies, Suzuki, SYSGO, Tuxera and VNC Automotive. The booth will be open to the public during CES show hours from January 7-10, 2020.

  “Instrument Cluster has been a big focus over the past year, and we look forward to demonstrating the amazing work being done by our members to optimize the AGL platform for use in lower performance processors and low-cost vehicles, including motorcycles,” said Dan Cauchy, Executive Director of Automotive Grade Linux at the Linux Foundation. “We are proud to be showing vehicles from Toyota and Mazda and we will also have 20+ open source demos in our booth, a small sampling of some of the AGL-based products and services that automakers and suppliers continue to bring to market.”

                   

• You can now email your emails in Gmail [iophk: they begin to close the protocol]

                       
  

                         

  Fervent emailers can attach as many emails, which will appear as an .eml file, as they like. Users who love to have multiple tabs open may also be pleased to hear that the attachment will open in a new window.

                   

• More than half of NHS devices are still running Windows 7 [iophk: Why is Canonical not spinning this into gold?]

                       
  

                         

  As per the FoI, 52 per cent of the total 447,000+ devices being used in the NHS, including desktops, laptops, and tablets, are still running Windows 7, which reaches end-of-life status on 14 January 2020.

                         

  That's despite the fact that the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) last year announced a £150m plan to upgrade all NHS systems to Windows 10 by the time that Windows 7 reaches the digital graveyard. However, it's worth noting that the NHS is an E5 licence holder, which means it'll get an extra year of Windows 7 support for free.

• LHS Episode #316: GridTracker Deep Dive Part 2

  Welcome to the 316th installment of Linux in the Ham Shack. In this episode, we have Stephen "Tag" Loomis, N0TTL, back for a second episode on GridTracker. In this episode, the hosts discuss updates, additions and bug fixes to the application since the last time and then dive into its most complex and powerful feature, the Callable Roster. Then there is information about the myriad updates to statistical analysis that will be available in the next release. Thank you for listening and we hope you enjoy this episode and your time using GridTracker.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Ubuntu are easily two of the most popular Linux distributions used in the enterprise. Even so, there are some key differences between these two Linux flavors. Features, user experience, licensing and documentation are the key components to evaluate when comparing Linux distributions.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) can support nearly any application server or infrastructure role. In its latest version, Red Hat seems to focus heavily on security and compliance. The company has introduced systemwide cryptographic policies, advanced auditing capabilities and updated protocols. These include Transport Layer Security, IPsec, Domain Name System Security Extensions and Kerberos.

Red Hat has also reduced the complexity of RHEL's latest version. RHEL 8 is designed to provide a consistent user experience by using the same administrative tools, regardless of whether the server is running in the cloud, in a VM or on a bare-metal server

Optimism about the future of open source is high among software developers worldwide. However, a growing number of devs worry that a lack of funding and corporate support threatens its sustainability.

That is one of the key takeaways from DigitalOcean's second annual open source survey, published in its "Currents, Open Source 2019," seasonal report last week.

The online survey provides a snapshot of the state of open source, as well as a gauge of the inclusivity and friendliness of contributors. More than 5,800 developers from around the world participated.

Because developers may work as individuals or in small teams, the survey was not sent to specific companies. Respondents self-identified and shared the size of the company/team they worked with, said Eddie Zaneski, manager of developer relations at DigitalOcean. The company reached out to the developer community primarily through social media and email campaigns from late August to early October.

• SiFive Learn Inventor is a Wireless RISC-V Development Kit Inspired by BBC Micro:bit

  SiFive Learn Inventor is a RISC-V educational board partially inspired by BBC Micro:bit board with the same crocodile clip-friendly edge connector, and an LED matrix.

• Hex Five Announces General Availability of MultiZone Security for Linux - The First Commercial Enclave for RISC-V processors

  Hardware consolidation requirements in automotive, aerospace & defense, and industrial automation are forcing embedded systems designers to merge safety-critical functionality with untrusted applications and operating systems. The resulting monolithic systems present vastly larger code base, greater attack surface, and increased system vulnerability. In response, Hex Five Security Inc. announces the general availability of MultiZone™ Security for Linux, the industry-first enclave specifically designed to bring security through separation to embedded systems. MultiZone™ Security is available immediately for the Microchip PolarFire® system-on-chip, the world’s first hardened real-time, Linux capable, RISC-V-based microprocessor subsystem. Support for additional RISC-V processors to be announced later in 2020.

• Celebrate the Raspberry Pi’s 8th birthday at a Raspberry Jam

  On 29 February 2020, the Raspberry Pi Foundation will celebrate the eighth birthday of the Raspberry Pi computer (or its second birthday, depending on how strict you are about counting leap years).

• Excellent Free Tutorials to Learn JavaScript

  JavaScript is possibly one of the easiest language to get up and running with. But to truly master the language requires a firm foundation of its intricacies.

  JavaScript is an interpreted, prototype-based, scripting computer programming language. It came to popular attention as a simple client-side scripting tool, interacting with the user using forms and controlling the web browser, and remains a front-end language for web applications.

  JavaScript features dynamic types, it’s weakly typed, supports the structured programming syntax from C, uses prototypes instead of classes for inheritance, and copies many names and naming conventions from Java. It also borrows design principles from Scheme and Self, as well as concepts and syntax idioms such as C-style procedural roots.

• Lessons learned from programming in Go

  When you are working with complex distributed systems, you will likely come across the need for concurrent processing. At Mode.net, we deal daily with real-time, fast and resilient software. Building a global private network that dynamically routes packets at the millisecond scale wouldn’t be possible without a highly concurrent system. This dynamic routing is based on the state of the network and, while there are many parameters to consider here, our focus is on link metrics. In our context, link metrics can be anything related to the status or current properties of a network link (e.g.: link latency).

                   

• Add address of FreeBSD iocage jails to PF table

                       
  

                         

  I started mucking about with PF, but that’s not my department … and so the jails table remained empty which meant the jail could not access anything beyond the host.

                         

  After a bit of searching I found iocage supports most jail(8) parameters, so I did this: [...]

                   

     

• 2019.49 Almost Starring

         
  

           

  Patrick Spek has made the first release candidate of Rakudo Star 2019.11 available for download. If you are working with Raku from Rakudo Star distributions, then this is the moment to test the distribution so that you can be sure that nothing was missed! So please, download and test it! Which of course you can also do if you’re not generally a user of Rakudo Star

• Python 3.8.1rc1

  The Python 3.8 series is the newest major release of the Python programming language, and it contains many new features and optimizations.

• Python 3.8.1rc1 is now available for testing

  Python 3.8.1rc1 is the release candidate of the first maintenance release of Python 3.8.

  The Python 3.8 series is the newest feature release of the Python language, and it contains many new features and optimizations. You can find Python 3.8.1rc1 here:
  https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-381rc1/

  Assuming no critical problems are found prior to 2019-12-16, the scheduled release date for 3.8.1 as well as Ned Deily's birthday, no code changes are planned between this release candidate and the final release.

  That being said, please keep in mind that this is a pre-release of 3.8.1 and as such its main purpose is testing.

  See the “What’s New in Python 3.8” document for more information about features included in the 3.8 series. Detailed information about all changes made in 3.8.0 can be found in its change log.

  Maintenance releases for the 3.8 series will continue at regular bi-monthly intervals, with 3.8.2 planned for February 2020.

• Python Docstrings

  In this tutorial, we will learn about Python docstrings. More specifically, we will learn how and why docstrings are used with the help of examples.
  Python docstrings (documentation strings) are the string literals that appear right after the definition of a function, method, class, or module. Let's take an example.

• Python Comments

  Comments are descriptions that help programmers better understand the intent and functionality of the program.

  They are completely ignored by the Python interpreter.

• 3 easy steps to update your apps to Python 3

  The 2.x series of Python is officially over, but converting code to Python 3 is easier than you think. Over the weekend, I spent an evening converting the frontend code of a 3D renderer (and its corresponding PySide version) to Python 3, and it was surprisingly simple in retrospect, although it seemed relatively hopeless during the refactoring process.