Where To Download The (Gorgeous) KDE Plasma 5.9 Wallpaper

Today’s release of Plasma 5.9, the latest stable release of the Linux desktop environment created by KDE, brings with a bunch of welcome changes and new features. Among them is a shiny new wallpaper — and a few readers have been asking where they can get it. Well, you don’t have to upend desktop environment or […]

This post, Where To Download The (Gorgeous) KDE Plasma 5.9 Wallpaper, was written by Joey Sneddon and first appeared on OMG! Ubuntu!.

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Fedora 26 Linux to Ship with GNOME 3.24 Desktop, Support Creation of LVM RAID

The last day of January 2017 was an important date for Fedora 26 Linux's development cycle as it meant the deadline for submitting proposals for system-wide changes was reached.

So we can't help but notice that multiple such system-wide change proposals for the upcoming Fedora 26 operating system appeared on the Fedora Project mailing list, informing us about some of the most excinting new features coming this summer to Fedora Linux users.

The first one is the implementation of the forthcoming GNOME 3.24 desktop environment, due for release on March 22, 2017, which will be used, as usual, by default for the Fedora Workstation edition. All new Fedora releases are shipping with the latest GNOME desktop version, so this shouldn't take anyone by surprise.

But it's good to know that we'll be able to enjoy the GNOME 3.24 desktop environment on Fedora 26, and it looks its new features include tag editing and ... (read more)

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Canonical Releases Snapcraft 2.26 Snap Creator Tool for Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, 16.10

Canonical's Sergio Schvezov published today, February 1, 2017, a new stable update of the Snapcraft utility that Open Source application developers can use to package their apps as Snaps.

Snappy is Canonical's application sandboxing and distribution framework and Snap is a universal binary format designed to allow devs to distribute their apps across multiple Linux-based operating systems without having to create a special package for each distro. Snapcraft is the tool to build the Snap packages.

The latest version, Snapcraft 2.26 comes approximately two weeks after the release of version 2.25 and promises to introduce a bunch of new features, such as support for GUI (Graphical User Interface) in Snaps, a new plugin directory location, support for snapcraft.yaml in a Snap directory, as well as support for go-packages.... (read more)

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Latest Shotwell Releases Enable HTTPS Encryption, Change Your Passwords Now

Shotwell maintainer Jens Georg announced earlier the availability of two new maintenance versions of the open-source Shotwell image viewer and organizer application for GNU/Linux operating systems.

Shotwell 0.24.5 and 0.25.4 are now available for download, and it looks like the only change is the use of consistent HTTPS (Secure HTTP) encryption for all the included publishing plugins. This will make sure that your connections to various publishing services supported by the application are kept secure at all time and no one will be able to intercept it and stole your credentials.

"I have just released Shotwell 0.24.5 and 0.25.4 which turn on HTTPS encryption all over the publishing plugins," said Jens Georg in the mailing list announcement, where the developer strongly advises those who use Shotwell's Tumblr or Yandex.Fotki publishing features to immediately change their pas... (read more)

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Canonical Releases Important OpenSSL Updates for Ubuntu to Fix 6 Vulnerabilities

Canonical's Marc Deslauriers announced earlier the availability of updated OpenSSL packages for all supported Ubuntu Linux operating systems, which address several vulnerabilities discovered recently.

According to to Ubuntu Security Notice USN-3181-1,  it would appear that a total of six security issues were fixed by various developers in the OpenSSL packages included in Ubuntu. These packages provide the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) cryptographic library and tools needed by various applications.

Discovered by Guido Vranken, the first OpenSSL security flaw (CVE-2016-2177) could allow a remote attacker to exploit an undefined behavior when performing pointer arithmetic to cause a denial of service by crashing OpenSSL. This vulnerability is only affecting the Ubuntu 12.04 LTS and Ubuntu 14.04 LTS rele... (read more)

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System76 Launches Ubuntu-Based Ibex Pro GPU Server with Up to 40K CUDA Cores

System76, the Colorado-based computer manufacturer specializing in delivering state-of-the-art desktop, notebook, server machines with Linux-based operating systems pre-installed on them, it today announcing the launch of the Ibex Pro GPU server.

The company, which many of you know for their powerful Ubuntu-based computers, is kicking off the new year with a brand-new GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) server dubbed Ibex Pro. The focus has been on creating an innovative and extremely powerful server that would help scientists and engineers achieve their research productivity goals on advancing machine learning algorithms, rendering 3D graphics, or simulating complex systems.

"The Ibex Pro GPU server enables our customers to drive advancements in cutting-edge pursuits like machine vision, personalized medicine, artificial intelligence, and countless other areas where deep learn... (read more)

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KDE Plasma 5.10 Desktop to Add Spring-Loading Functionality in Folder View, More

With KDE Plasma 5.9 out the door, the KDE development team can now concentrate on adding new features or improving existing ones for the next major version of the KDE desktop environment.

We all know how much work was done during the short development cycle of the KDE Plasma 5.9 desktop, but KDE developer Eike Hein reports today on some of the hottest new features coming to the next KDE Plasma iteration.

Spring-loading in Folder View is one of them, and will allow KDE Plasma users to navigate folders just by hovering with the mouse cursor above them during drag and drop. Check out the image and video attached below to see the functionality in action.

"This is supported in all three modes (desktop layout, desktop widget, panel widget), and pretty damn convenient. It's a well-known feature from Dolphin, of course, and no... (read more)

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Vivaldi 1.7 Is Just Around the Corner, Let You Share Things More Efficiently

The development cycle of the Vivaldi 1.7 web browser is nearing completion, and Ruarí Ødegaard is today informing us about the availability of a new snapshot that addresses several regressions and implements a couple of new features.

The Vivaldi developer working on the Linux port of the Chromium-based web browser is reporting that the team is closing in on the final Vivaldi 1.7, and Vivaldi Browser Snapshot 1.7.735.27 is here to focuses on addressing the most important and critical regressions to offer users a polished, stable, and reliable release.

These include better Chromecast support, support for the Capture page to work on macOS platforms using its native menu, as well as the ability to turn off the search functionality in the address field. It also looks like users will be able to delete typed history in the private data.

As for the new feat... (read more)

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Ubuntu 16.04.2 LTS Delayed Until February 9 Due to Serious Boot Regression

If you were expecting to upgrade to the second point release of the Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) operating system on February 2, you'd have to wait one more week because Canonical has just delayed its launch for another week.

Ubuntu kernel manager Leann Ogasawara is reporting today, January 31, 2017, that her team recently identified a serious boot regression on AArch64 (ARM64) hardware, and it could take a few more days for the developers to patch the issue, which will require them to push new versions of the Linux kernel and other related packages.

As such, they've requested an extension for Ubuntu 16.04.2's release, and Canonical's Adam Conrad was quick to inform the community about the delay. This would be the second time Canonical is delaying the launch of Ubuntu 16.04.2 LTS (Xenial Xerus), and users should now expect to download the new ISOs or upgrade existing installa... (read more)

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Oh My Giraffe! (a cute endless runner game) is Now Available on Ubuntu

Oh My Giraffe is a twee endless runner game where you chase a high score. Better yet, the game is available to install for free from the Ubuntu Snap Store.

This post, Oh My Giraffe! (a cute endless runner game) is Now Available on Ubuntu, was written by Joey Sneddon and first appeared on OMG! Ubuntu!.

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6 Best Linux Tools For Digital Artists

Brief: Linux has no dearth of graphic design software. In this list, we’ll see the best Linux graphic design software.

It is not true that Linux does not offer tools for digital artists. Of course, there’s something for everyone which makes Linux better than Windows.

There are plenty of Linux graphic applications which help digital artists enhance their work or build something interesting from scratch. Well, maybe, the applications that do exist with Linux are not commercially popular, but they do offer powerful features to act as a perfect companion for a digital artist.

In this article, we would be specifically concentrating our focus on the tools that deal with digital drawings/sketches and image editors.

Best Graphic Design Software for Linux

Now, let us move on to check out 6 of the best Linux tools for digital artists.

1. GIMP

GIMP stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program. GIMP is one of the best free tools for a digital artist to have installed on Ubuntu or any other Linux distributions.

It is a completely free Linux tool for a digital artist irrelevant to the level of expertise. It is meant for everyone. Even if you are an expert, you can make use of it, or if you are a novice, you can utilize it well. GIMP has a lot to offer than just editing a photo or redesigning it. Several plugins and extensions make GIMP a fortune to have on one’s system. Moreover, without spending a penny, you get to do all the basic designing or editing stuff and some of the complex image manipulation tasks as well.

If you are running on Ubuntu, you can find it listed on Ubuntu Software Center. You can directly install it from there and if you are on a different Linux distribution, you can head to their installation help page for further information.

2. Krita

Yet another impressive Linux tool for digital artists. Krita was meant as an add-on with KOffice to facilitate image editing within the suite of office tools. However, it turned out to have a lot more potential to be an independent desktop application competing with programs like GIMP.

To our surprise, it still is not like GIMP. However, more focused for use by illustrators, cartoonists, and concept drawing artists. It definitely offers a range of features and is constantly developing as we talk. Also, you could argue that Krita provides a better user interface compared to GIMP.

Recently, it introduced render animation capability, full support for OSX, enhanced color picker and more. It is similarly extensible with the use of plugins or extensions. It brings in a good collection of filters to choose from and also provides the ability to control layers in an image just like Adobe Photoshop. It can import a lot of files, but it has discontinued support for PSD files.

Features and usability are the strong point of Krita. No wonder this French university dumped Adobe Photoshop for Krita.

You can grab the snap from Ubuntu’s software center, or you could download an AppImage and make it executable to install further. For more info, you can try heading to Krita’s download page.

3. Inkscape

It is an open source vector graphics editor. You can have it installed on your Linux system as an alternative to Adobe Illustrator. The user interface offered here may not be much of attraction, but it is simply darn good with the powerful features and tools offered.

It is obviously one of the best Linux tools for digital artists around that are actively developed. If you find it easier to work with but still you prefer Adobe Illustrator, then you can easily export your file in Illustrator file format and import it on Illustrator later. You can export to SVG format, SVGZ, LaTeX, and POV-Ray file format as well. There are extensions which let you save files as PDFs, EPS, and so on.

Inkscape may not be the one if you are a leading expert because it lacks certain features available on popular commercial vector graphics editor. However, if you are an artist who prefers a free and an easy-to-use tool over an expensive one, you can definitely make use of it. You can get this directly from Ubuntu Software Center. In either case, if you are running a different Linux distribution, you can try installing it through the terminal by entering the following command:

sudo apt-get install inkscape

4. Karbon

An open source vector drawing program. Karbon is also recognized as Karbon 14, Kontour, and KIllustrator. It lets you edit and create vector drawings. It is one of the most suitable Linux tools for digital artists who deal with vector graphics. It does include gradient tool, path shape tool, pencil tool, calligraphy tool, and so on.

It brings in support for shapes as well as texts. You can import SVG images and edit it with great ease. Karbon provides a great user interface which is customizable. In addition, it offers advanced path editing tool. Also, it is extensible for a variety of use by utilizing the plugins compatible with it.

You can directly install it from Ubuntu’s Software center. In either case, you can type in the following command in the terminal to install it:

sudo apt-get install karbon

5. Pinta

Just like any other image editing software utilities, Pinta came out of nowhere to become one of the favorite Linux tools for digital artists. It is an open source software utility that brings in a lot of features.

If you previously used Paint.Net software, it is pretty much the same. In other words, you can keep it as an alternative to Paint.Net for Linux/Ubuntu. You will find a variety of drawing tools that include – paintbrush, freehand drawing tool, pencil, shapes, and so on. It is not just an ordinary paint tool but also brings in support to let you control the layers of an image. Also, you get the ability to add extensions for experimental abilities.

In addition, it offers a lot of filters and effects (motion blur, red-eye removal, glow, warp) to help enhance the image. You can easily adjust the toolbar to the required position (Either as a floating window or as a docked toolbar). It incorporates a dock-style adjustment feature, with which you can configure various pads to dock or undock according to your work style. It does come with support for file formats such as OpenRaster and others.

6. MyPaint

Yet another open source Linux tool for digital artists. MyPaint focuses on drawing sketches. If you have a touchscreen enabled display, you will be able to make the most out of it. The user interface is quite simple and easy to use.

It is definitely a better replacement to MS Paint with more advanced features. It brings in a basic layer support and unlimited canvas. You do not have to resize the canvas again (or tweak it). You get extensive brush options which you can try on a scratch pad attached to the dock.

If you are an artist, you can digitally make anything out of something using this tool. I would even call it the best Linux drawing software.

If you want to install it, you can find it on the Ubuntu Software Center. In either case, you can install it using the commands mentioned below:

sudo apt-get install mypaint

Wrapping Up

Finally, you came to know about 6 of the best Linux tools for digital artists. Of course, the list we compiled contained only the popular and loved choices for almost everyone using Linux/Ubuntu.

Well, there are a lot of special Linux tools for digital artists that are not considered here because of its limited users (only people with the need for that – really focused category of digital artists), or it is just out of date. Some of the honorable mentions would be Radiance, Lux Renderer, Dia, and Wings 3D.

Apart from that, did we miss any of your favorite Linux tools tailored for digital artists? Also, if you are a digital artist, which one of the above would be willing to choose as the best for your use?

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Linux leadership stands against Trump immigration ban

Linux and open-source leaders oppose the President's immigration policy.

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Systemd vs SysV vs Upstart — Linux Service Management Throwdown

Short Bytes: The world of Linux is in a perpetual flame-war, the latest longstanding controversy is the topic of system service management. We needed a modern system service manager and systemd set a bar that nothing else could meet. Now with systemd being the default, many people are up in arms about it claiming that […]

The post Systemd vs SysV vs Upstart — Linux Service Management Throwdown appeared first on Fossbytes.

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Epic Fail: Linux Encryption App, Cryptkeeper, Has Universal Password “p”

Short Bytes: Cryptkeeper is a popular Linux encryption application that’s used to encrypt your valuable data. But, it’s not as safe as you think. A bug has was recently discovered  that allows universal decryption using a single letter password “p.” Debian developer Simon McVittie has advised the dev team to take it out of Debian altogether. ncryption apps […]

The post Epic Fail: Linux Encryption App, Cryptkeeper, Has Universal Password “p” appeared first on Fossbytes.

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KDE Plasma 5.9 Desktop Launches with Global Menus, Better Wayland Support

Today, January 30, 2017, KDE had the great pleasure of announcing the release and general availability of the KDE Plasma 5.9 desktop environment for GNU/Linux operating systems.

The development cycle of KDE Plasma 5.9 took only a few months, but considering the fact that it's not a long-term supported (LTS) version like KDE Plasma 5.8, which is the recommended version right now for all users, we think that it's a pretty hefty update adding quite a bunch of new features and improves Wayland support.

Probably the most important one, which will make many KDE users upgrade from KDE Plasma 5.8 LTS or previous versions, is the return of Global Menus, a feature that was available in the KDE 4 series of the desktop environment. Only now, after numerous request from users, the KDE developers managed to implement Global Menus again in KDE Plasma 5.9.

"Global Menus have returned. KDE's pioneering feature to separate the menu bar from the application window allows for new use... (read more)

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Stacer is a System Optimizer App for Ubuntu

Stacer is an open-source system optimizer for Ubuntu, built using everybody’s favourite development framework¹ Electron. The all-in-one app  lets you monitor system resource usage — no jokes about how the RAM will spike with an Electron app open, please ;) — clear app caches, uninstall unwanted apps, and even stop and start system processes that run in the […]

This post, Stacer is a System Optimizer App for Ubuntu, was written by Joey Sneddon and first appeared on OMG! Ubuntu!.

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KDE Plasma 5.9 Released, This Is What’s New

KDE has announced the release of Plasma 5.9, the latest version of its modern desktop environment.  “Plasma 5.9 brings many exciting new features to your desktop”, project lead Jonathan Riddell says. But precisely what? Let’s take a look. Global Menus As we reported on last year, Plasma 5.9 brings global menus back to the KDE desktop experience. […]

This post, KDE Plasma 5.9 Released, This Is What’s New, was written by Joey Sneddon and first appeared on OMG! Ubuntu!.

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Non-Linux FOSS: Control Web-Based Music!

I like Pandora. I like it because it doesn't require me to know anything other than whether I like the current song. I'm sure other music services offer more features or a larger catalog, but Pandora is simple. So am I. more>>

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