News briefs for October 18, 2018.
Ubuntu 18.10 “Cosmic Cuttlefish” expected to be released today. According to Phoronix, the
biggest change for users will be the revised default theme for the GNOME
Shell experience, now known as “Yaru”. Ubuntu 18.10 will also have the Linux
4.18 kernel, “which means better hardware support, various performance
improvements, and other optimizations compared to Ubuntu 18.04’s Linux 4.15”.
Arm launches the IoT-focused Mbed Linux OS and also extends Pelion IoT
Platform services. According to Linux.com,
Mbed Linux “combines the Linux kernel with tools and recipes from the
Intel-backed Yocto Project. The distro also integrates security and IoT
connectivity code from its open source Mbed RTOS”. In addition, the Pelion
IoT Platform “will align
with Intel’s Secure Device Onboard (SDO) provisioning technology to make
it easier for IoT vendors and customers to onboard both x86 and Arm-based
devices using a common Pelion platform. Arm also announced Pelion related
partnerships with myDevices and Arduino.”
GitHub updated its platform this week, which included many developer-centric
changes and security features, but the most notable change is the
“expansion of the Security Alerts feature, which also now supports Java and
.NET projects, on top of the original JavaScript, Ruby and Python”, ZDNet
reports.
MongoDB
recently announced it will be released under the new Server Side
Public License: “The SSPL clarifies the conditions for making MongoDB
publicly available as a service, to ensure we can continue to invest in
building MongoDB for our users rather than in costly litigation over
enforcing the AGPL. All subsequent versions and patch releases to prior
versions of MongoDB made after October 16th, 2018 will be issued under the
new SSPL.”
Google plans to charge smartphone makers to pre-install apps like Gmail
and YouTube on Android handsets sold in Europe. The
Verge quotes Android leader Hiroshi Lockheimer, “Since the
pre-installation of Google Search and Chrome together with our other apps
helped us fund the development and free distribution of Android, we will
introduce a new paid licensing agreement for smartphones and tablets shipped
into the [European Economic Area].”