Meet KDE Plasma 5.2, the Beautiful Future of the KDE Project

The KDE Community announced that Plasma, the desktop for the KDE project, is now at version 5.2 and the developers have made a number of important changes and improvements.

The KDE project now has a different face. The Plasma component is actually the desktop that greets the users and it's the most easily recognizable piece of software. Sure, some of the other KDE components might be more important and complex, but the vast majority will care about the improvements made to the desktop.

The one thing that you will definitely notice is the facelift, which will probably divide the community into users who like it and users who don't. The impact of the newly released Plasma desktop can't be quantified yet because there are very few distros that actually adopted it. KaOS is one of them and Arch Linux users have access to it from the repositories. Kubuntu, which is the most used operating system with this desktop, will get the next update in April.

KDE Plasma 5.2 is impressive

Even if it's possible that some of the users won't like the new direction, it's hard not to observe the hard work poured into the project and we're not talking only about the artwork and some of the more obvious changes. The fact is that you really need to run it and see for yourself, you can't really get the right impression from screenshots.

Some of the biggest improvements are the addition of new apps and functionalities, like SDDM, which is the new login manager, Muon to install and manage packages, a tool for multiple monitor support called KScreen, a new library, KDecoration, that makes it easier to build themes, and a new module lets you configure theming of applications from GNOME. And all of these are just scratching the surface.

The new KDE Plasma update will take a while to land in repositories, but Arch Linux and Kubuntu (the Plasma 5 edition) should be among the first to get the new desktop. You can also download the latest KDE Plasma 5.2.0 source packages from Softpedia or you can tryKubuntu 15.0 Alpha 2 as a Live CD, if you want to see what the fuss is all about.

Via http://news.softpedia.com/

Ubuntu Touch Spotted Running on Former Windows 8.1 Tablet Lenovo ThinkPad 8

Ubuntu Touch is a new operating system made by Canonical for mobile devices like phones and tablets. The only supported platforms are Nexus 4 and Nexus 7, but it looks like developers now have an easier time to make it work on other platforms, such as the Lenovo ThinkPad 8 with Intel processor.

The Lenovo ThinkPad 8 is powered by an Intel Atom Z3770 processor (Bay Trail) shipped with Window 8.1 by default, but it looks like someone has managed to port Ubuntu Touch on it, although there is no information about the porting process or if the developer is considering to further support this device.

There are not too many tablets out there with Windows as the main operating system. There are far more Android-powered ones and they are usually the main target for this kind of ports, but they don't provide the same challenge.

Ubuntu Touch has been ported many times

It's important to know that Ubuntu Touch has been made to work with various devices already, although many of them were phones. In fact, the community has already taken care of Nexus 5, for example, and there were some working ports for devices like Samsung Galaxy S4 or S5.

"check it out... from someone in our community, Simon Raffeiner. Unity8 on a Baytrail Intel. Nice to see Unity8 & Mir quite easily brought up on other hardware.," wrote Canonical's Kevin Gunn on Google+.

The number of devices that have been made to work with Ubuntu Touch has been decreasing in the past year, but it's probably because the developers are waiting for a more stable iteration of the operating system. 

For now, if you want to see Ubuntu Touch in action, you can check our report on the latest update for this operating system. Also, the first devices powered by this Linux distro that can be found in stores are expected to arrive very soon, in the coming months.


via http://news.softpedia.com/

Exiv2 Vulnerability Closed in Ubuntu 14.10

Canonical has published details in a security notice about an Exiv2 vulnerability in Ubuntu 14.10 (Utopic Unicorn) that has been found and corrected. This is not a major issue, but users should upgrade nonetheless.

A number of problems were corrected in the past week or so and this latest Exiv2 problem is just one of them. From the looks of it, Exiv2 (EXIF/IPTC metadata manipulation tool) could have been made to crash under certain conditions.

"It was discovered that Exiv2 incorrectly handled certain tag values in video files. If a user or automated system were tricked into opening a specially-crafted video file, a remote attacker could cause Exiv2 to crash, resulting in a denial of service," reads the security notice.

For a more detailed description of the problems, you can see Canonical's securitynotification. The problem can be corrected if you upgrade your system(s) to the latest libexiv2-13 package. To apply the patch, you can simply run the Update Manager application, but you can also use the terminal if you don't like the provided GUI interface. Open a terminal and enter the following commands (you will need to be root):



Via http://linux.softpedia.com/

Firefox 35 Lands in Ubuntu 14.10, Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, and Ubuntu 12.04 LTS

Canonical has updated the Firefox packages for Ubuntu 14.10, Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, and Ubuntu 12.04 LTS operating systems. If you have this application already installed, you only need to update your system.

The Ubuntu maintainers for the Firefox package have been very quick and they've pushed the new Firefox 35 release very fast. All the supported Ubuntu OSes now have access to the new release and users will find them available in the repos.

"Bobby Holley discovered that some DOM objects with certain properties can bypass XrayWrappers in some circumstances. If a user were tricked into opening a specially crafted website, an attacker could potentially exploit this to bypass security restrictions" reads the security notice from Canonical.

This is just one of the many security issues that have been corrected and there are many more where that came from. If also want to see the new features landed in Firefox 35, you should check our initial report.

Ubuntu 12.04 LTS and Ubuntu 14.04 LTS users will get the latest Firefox version by updating their system via the Software Update or through a terminal. It's also possible to download the binary Firefox 35 package and run it without having to install it.



Via http://linux.softpedia.com/

Canonical Reveals the Hardware Specs of the Ubuntu Aquarius E4.5 Phone

Canonical has revealed the specs for the Aquarius E4.5 phone that will launch with Ubuntu Touch, although they were not exactly a state secret.

Information about the launch of the Ubuntu-powered Bq Aquarius E4.5 phone in Februarywas made public only a month ago, so it's not really a secret what phones will be used by the Spanish partners at Canonical. Meizu, the partners from China, have been much more secretive and it's likely that they will wait until the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona scheduled to start on March 2.

In the meantime, even if Meizu was the first company to confirm the release of an Ubuntu phone, it looks like Bq beat them to the punch, although they are aiming at different users. The specs detailed by Canonical show that Aquarius E4.5 is an affordable device with medium hardware specs. It doesn't seem like much, but it's addressed at people who don't want to spend too much on a high-end phone, but still want to own a smartphone.

Aquarius E4.5 specs are not a secret

The phone was revealed a few months back and the hardware specs were also made available. Nonetheless, Canonical felt that users need to hear the information from an official source and they have also released details about Aquarius E4.5.

"A strong innovative brand who operates in Europe with over 600 staff. With mobile, in 2013 bq shipped almost 1.5 million devices and in less than a year has become Spain’s second biggest seller of unlocked smartphones. The Aquarius E4.5 Ubuntu edition will be available in Europe and can be purchased soon via the bq site," wrote Canonical onfullcirclemagazine.org.

Aquarius E4.5 is a rather small device, judging by today's standards, with a 4.5-inch screen and a 960×540 resolution. It also comes with a 13MP capable camera, a 2150mAh battery, and a Quad A7 processor at 1.3GHz.

The exact date for the launch of the Ubuntu edition for this phone hasn't been pinpointed yet and the announcement only mentions soon. The previously announced launch date was late February, and there is no reason to think that it won't happen then.


Via http://news.softpedia.com/

Situs Berniaga.com Resmi Ditutup

Situs iklan baris Berniaga.com akhirnya resmi berhenti beroperasi. Kini, semua layanan yang ada di situs tersebut sudah dialihkan ke situs jual beli Olx Indonesia.

Saat dicek  situs Berniaga.com memang sudah tidak bisa diakses lagi. Pengguna akan diarahkan secara otomatis ke situs milik Olx Indonesia yang beralamatkan di www.olx.co.id.

Sebelumnya, menyusul kerjasama induk perusahaan masing-masing, kedua layanan tersebut memang memutuskan untuk bergabung dalam satu wadah yang sama. Kedua layanan itu beroperasi di bawah satu nama, yakni olx.co.id.

Proses penyatuan layanan ini sendiri sudah dimulai dari pertengahan Januari 2015. Meski masih bisa mengakses situs Berniaga, pengguna layanan tersebut disarankan untuk berpindah ke Olx. 

Kala itu, pengguna memang sudah tidak bisa memasang iklan baris di berniaga.com. Akan tetapi, pengguna masih bisa melihat iklan baris yang telah dipasang sebelumnya.

Menjelang akhir 2014, induk perusahaan Olx dan Berniaga, yaitu Naspers dan 701 Search, menyatakan akan bergabung untuk membuat platform iklan dan jual beli online di negara Brazil, Indonesia, Thailand, dan Bangladesh.

Naspers dan 701 Search sendiri merupakan gabungan tiga perusahaan jual beli online, yaitu Schibsted, Telenor, dan Singapore Press Holdings.

Di Indonesia sendiri model kerja sama kepemilikan antara Naspers dn 701 Search akan memiliki komposisi 64 persen Naspers dan 36 persen 701 Search.

Di Indonesia, Naspers telah mengakuisisi OLX (dahulu Tokobagus.com) pada November 2012. Naspers pada saat itu mengakuisisi 65 persen saham Tokobagus.com.

Sementara untuk Berniaga.com, situs jual beli tersebut telah diluncurkan oleh 701 Search semenjak Desember 2009.

Nasib iklan dan pengguna Berniaga?

Semua iklan aktif yang ada di Berniaga.com setelah tanggal 11 November 2014 akan ditampilkan secara otomatis di situs Olx. Sementara, bagi iklan yang di-posting sebelum tanggal tersebut, pihak Olx menyarankan untuk memasang ulang iklannya di situs Olx.

Selain iklan, akun milik Berniaga.com juga akan dimigrasikan ke layanan milik Olx. Bagi pemilik akun Berniaga.com yang login ke situs tersebut tanpa melalui Facebook, pihak Olx berjanji untuk segera mengirimkan password standar melalui e-mail pengguna. 

Jika sebelumnya bergabung ke Berniaga dengan menggunakan akun Facebook, pengguna tidak perlu mendaftar ulang. Mereka bisa langsung login dengan menggunakan akun Facebook tersebut.

VIA Tekno.Kompas