According to The Information, Instagram has suffered a serious security leak of its own that could’ve exposed user’s passwords. While Facebook recently had a much more serious problem linked to its “View As” tool that was being actively exploited by… someone, the Instagram issue is linked to its tool that allows users to download a copy of their data. Facebook notified affected Instagram users that when they utilized the feature, it sent their password in plaintext in the URL. For some reason, these passwords were also stored on Facebook’s servers, however the notification said that data has been deleted and the tool was updated so it won’t happen now.
Microsoft slips ads into Windows 10 Mail client – then U-turns so hard, it warps fabric of reality • The Register
We never meant to make that widely public which is why we made a public FAQ for it
Microsoft was, and maybe still is, considering injecting targeted adverts into the Windows 10 Mail app.
The ads would appear at the top of inboxes of folks using the client without a paid-for Office 365 subscription, and the advertising would be tailored to their interests. Revenues from the banners were hoped to help keep Microsoft afloat, which banked just $16bn in profit in its latest financial year.
According to Aggiornamenti Lumia on Friday, folks using Windows Insider fast-track builds of Mail and Calendar, specifically version 11605.11029.20059.0, may have seen the ads in among their messages, depending on their location. Users in Brazil, Canada, Australia, and India were chosen as guinea pigs for this experiment.
Bad news: Mail for #Windows10 is getting ads for non-office 365 subscribers! https://t.co/xDELzAClJq pic.twitter.com/gXkQXab5Wr
— Aggiornamenti Lumia (@ALumia_Italia) November 16, 2018
A now-deleted FAQ on the Office.com website about the “feature” explained the advertising space would be sold off to help Microsoft “provide, support, and improve some of our products,” just like Gmail and Yahoo! Mail display ads.
Also, the advertising is targeted, by monitoring what you get up to with apps and web browsing, and using demographic information you disclose:
You can also close an ad banner by clicking on its trash can icon, or get rid of them completely by coughing up cash:
Here’s where reality is thrown into a spin, literally. Microsoft PR supremo Frank Shaw said a few hours ago, after the ads were spotted:
This was an experimental feature that was never intended to be tested broadly and it is being turned off.
Never intended to be tested broadly, and was shut down immediately, yet until it was clocked, had an official FAQ for it on Office.com, which was also hastily nuked from orbit, and was rolled out in highly populated nations. Talk about hand caught in the cookie jar.
And there’s no denying they will ever come back; just that they’re going away for now at least from Mail and Calendar. It may be that the ads appeared outside the intended sandbox of Brazil, India, etc, or even outside the Windows Insider program, forcing Microsoft to pull the plug.
Still, it sounds to us as though it was intended to be tested relatively broadly.
In any case, Redmond is or was mulling extracting revenue from people one way or another, either via Office subs or advertising, which is to be expected. It should be no surprise, just like knowing Facebook puts its own interests and profits ahead of its addicts should be no great shock. Redmond has been squeezing little adverts into its operating system for a few years now.
Injecting adverts into a desktop email client may be a little too much for Microsoft’s traditional users and loyalists to swallow, though. ®
Linux: Ubuntu 18.04 LTS will be supported for a full decade
Mark Shuttleworth has announced that Ubuntu 18.04 will be supported for ten years. Long Term Support releases of Ubuntu usually enjoy just five years of support, so this doubling is highly significant.
Shuttleworth — the founder of Canonical and Ubuntu — made the announcement at the OpenStack Summit in Berlin, and the change is a tactical maneuver that will help Ubuntu better compete against the likes of Red Hat/IBM. It is also an acknowledgement that many industries are working on projects that will not see the light of day for many years, and they need the reassurance of ongoing support from their Linux distro. Ubuntu can now offer this.
See also:
- deepin 15.8 Linux distribution available for download — replace Windows 10 now!
- Linux on DeX Beta can turn your Samsung Galaxy smartphone or tablet into an Ubuntu desktop
- Microsoft is porting Sysinternals utilities to Linux, starting with ProcDump
Ubuntu 18.04 was released in April of this year, and the new announcement means that it will be supported until 2028. It is a significant and important change for developers working in various fields including hardware, IoT and the cloud, but it is not known whether a similar support cycle will be adopted for future LTS releases.
As reported by ZDNet, Mark Shuttleworth said:
I’m delighted to announce that Ubuntu 18.04 will be supported for a full 10 years. In part because of the very long time horizons in some of industries like financial services and telecommunications but also from IoT where manufacturing lines for example are being deployed that will be in production for at least a decade.
While the support cycle for future releases is not yet known, Shuttleworth said that support for Ubuntu 16.04 — which was due to come to an end in April of 2021 — will also be extended.
Download Rygel Linux 0.37.0
Rygel is an open source project that provides users with both a command-line and graphical application that implements a lightweight UPnP media server. It has been tailored for users of the GNOME desktop environment.
Features at a glance
It allows Linux users to easily share video, picture and music files to any UPnP compatible device, locally or remote. For example, you can access the files from your PC or laptop with another computer, smart TV, gaming console, tablet, smartphone or media center devices.
In other words, with Rygel you will be able to browse and play media stored on a computer through a PlayStation or Xbox console, easily search and play media using a laptop, phone or smart TV, as well as to redirect sound output to DLNA speakers.
Command-line options
On the other hand, the command-line, which is the most important part of the program, empowers users to disable media transcoding, disallow upload and deletion of files, set a specific network interface and port, and set the path of a certain engine or plugin.
Additionally, it can be used to disable a certain plugin, set plugin titles and options, disable UPnP for a streaming-only operation, force the program to use a specific configuration file instead of the default user configuration, shutdown remote Rygel reference, and use comma-separated list of domain:level pairs for logging.
Under the hood
Being written in the Vala programming language, the application provides users with a GTK+ graphical user interface, accessible with the rygel-preferences command, that allows them to share media through the DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) protocol, add or remove dedicated media folders, and add or remove network interfaces.
The application is based on the GUPnP framework and supports pluggable media providers. It is the most lightweight and easy to use UPnP media server for Linux-based operating systems. But if you want more, you should try XBMC or Plex Media Server.
How To Install and Configure Nagios on Ubuntu 18.04
Nagios is one of the most popular open source monitoring system. Nagios keeps an inventory of your entire IT infrastructure and ensures your networks, servers, applications, services, and processes are up and running.
In case of failure or suboptimal performance Nagios will send notification alerts via various methods.
This tutorial will guide you through the steps required to install and configure the latest version of Nagios Core on Ubuntu 18.04.
An older version of Nagios (version 3) is available in the Ubuntu software repository and can be easily installed with apt install nagios3.
Prerequisites
Before continuing with this tutorial, make sure you are logged in as a user with sudo privileges.
Update your Ubuntu system and install the following packages which are necessary to download and compile the Nagios main application and Nagios plugins:
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
sudo apt install autoconf gcc libc6 make wget unzip apache2 php libapache2-mod-php7.2 libgd-dev
sudo apt install libmcrypt-dev libssl-dev bc gawk dc build-essential libnet-snmp-perl gettext
Installing Nagios on Ubuntu
The following steps describes how to install the latest version of Nagios Core from source.
1. Downloading Nagios
We are going to download Nagios source in the /usr/src directory which is the common location to place source files, change to the directory with:
Download the latest version of Nagios from the project Github repository using the following wget command:
sudo wget https://github.com/NagiosEnterprises/nagioscore/archive/nagios-4.4.2.tar.gz
When the download is complete extract the tar file with:
sudo tar zxf nagios-*.tar.gz
Before continuing with the next steps, make sure you change to the Nagios source directory by typing:
2. Compiling Nagios
To start the build process run the configure script which will perform a number of checks to make sure all of the dependencies on your system are present:
sudo ./configure –with-httpd-conf=/etc/apache2/sites-enabled
Upon successful completion, the following message will be printed on your screen:
*** Configuration summary for nagios 4.4.2 2018-08-16 ***:
General Options:
————————-
Nagios executable: nagios
Nagios user/group: nagios,nagios
Command user/group: nagios,nagios
Event Broker: yes
Install $: /usr/local/nagios
Install $: /usr/local/nagios/include/nagios
Lock file: /run/nagios.lock
Check result directory: /usr/local/nagios/var/spool/checkresults
Init directory: /lib/systemd/system
Apache conf.d directory: /etc/apache2/sites-enabled
Mail program: /bin/mail
Host OS: linux-gnu
IOBroker Method: epoll
Web Interface Options:
————————
HTML URL: http://localhost/nagios/
CGI URL: http://localhost/nagios/cgi-bin/
Traceroute (used by WAP):
Review the options above for accuracy. If they look okay,
type ‘make all’ to compile the main program and CGIs.
You can now start the compilation process using the make command:
The compilation may take some time, depending on your system. Once the build process is completed, you will be presented with the following message:
3. Creating Nagios User And Group
The following command will create a new system nagios user and group:
sudo make install-groups-users
Add the Apache www-data user to the nagios group:
sudo usermod -a -G nagios www-data
4. Install Nagios Binaries
Perform the following command to install Nagios binary files, CGIs, and HTML files:
You should see the following output:
*** Main program, CGIs and HTML files installed ***
5. Creating External Command Directory
Nagios can process commands from external applications. Create the external command directory and set the proper permissions by typing:
sudo make install-commandmode*** External command directory configured ***
6. Install Nagios Configuration Files
Install the sample Nagios configuration files with:
*** Config files installed ***
Remember, these are *SAMPLE* config files. You’ll need to read
the documentation for more information on how to actually define
services, hosts, etc. to fit your particular needs.
7. Install Apache Configuration Files
The command below will install the Apache web server configuration files:
sudo make install-webconf*** Nagios/Apache conf file installed ***
Make sure Apache rewrite and cgi modules are enabled:
sudo a2enmod rewrite
sudo a2enmod cgi
8. Creating User Account
To be able to access the Nagios web interface you’ll need to create an admin user called nagiosadmin
Using the following htpasswd command to create a user called nagiosadmin
sudo htpasswd -c /usr/local/nagios/etc/htpasswd.users nagiosadmin
You will be prompted to enter and confirm the user’s password.
New password:
Re-type new password:
Adding password for user nagiosadmin
Restart the Apache service for changes to take effect:
sudo systemctl restart apache2
9. Configuring Firewall
The firewall will secure your server against unwanted traffic.
If you don’t have a firewall configured on your server, you can check our guide about how to setup a firewall with ufw on ubuntu
Open the Apache ports by typing run:
Installing Nagios Plugins
Switch back to the /usr/src directory and ownload the latest version of the Nagios Plugins from the project Github repository:
cd /usr/src/
sudo wget -O nagios-plugins.tar.gz https://github.com/nagios-plugins/nagios-plugins/archive/release-2.2.1.tar.gz
Once the download is complete extract the tar file by typing:
sudo tar zxf nagios-plugins.tar.gz
Change to the plugins source directory and compile by typing:
cd nagios-plugins-release-2.2.1
Run the following commands one by one to compile and install the Nagions plugins:
sudo ./tools/setup
sudo ./configure
sudo make
sudo make install
Starting Nagios
Now that both Nagios and its plugins are installed, start the Nagios service with the following command:
sudo systemctl start nagios
To verify that Nagios is running, check the service status with the following command:
sudo systemctl status nagios
The output should look something like bellow indicating that Nagios service is active and running.
* nagios.service – Nagios Core 4.4.2
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/nagios.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: active (running) since Fri 2018-11-16 14:54:21 PST; 1s ago
Docs: https://www.nagios.org/documentation
Process: 18294 ExecStopPost=/bin/rm -f /usr/local/nagios/var/rw/nagios.cmd (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Process: 18293 ExecStop=/bin/kill -s TERM $ (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Process: 18315 ExecStart=/usr/local/nagios/bin/nagios -d /usr/local/nagios/etc/nagios.cfg (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Process: 18313 ExecStartPre=/usr/local/nagios/bin/nagios -v /usr/local/nagios/etc/nagios.cfg (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Main PID: 18325 (nagios)
Tasks: 6 (limit: 2319)
CGroup: /system.slice/nagios.service
Accessing the Nagios Web Interface
To access the Nagios web interface open your favorite browser and type your server’s domain name or public IP address followed by /nagios:
http(s)://your_domain_or_ip_address/nagios
Enter the nagiosadmin user login credentials and you will be redirected to the default Nagios home page as shown on the image below:
Conclusion
You have successfully installed the latest Nagios version from source on your Ubuntu system.
You should now check the Nagios Documentation and learn more about how to configure and use Nagios.
If you hit a problem or have a feedback, leave a comment below.
Ubuntu Change Login Screen Background
Whenever you login into your computer, you’re presented with a screen asking your credential to verify that it’s you. After you enter the password, you’re in your world. Each time you log in, you have to go through this process again and again. Doesn’t it feel boring to look at the face of that same, plain screen? I bet you’re pretty tired of the system’s default login screen. Well, let’s add a splash of color! Having an awesome background would really rejuvenate your desktop experience, don’t you agree? Ubuntu is the most popular Linux distro for general users, no doubt. However, over the course of its lifetime, there’s that same, BORING login screen appearing. It’s time to change that.
Ubuntu shifted from Unity to GNOME desktop environment and GDM as login agent. By default, Ubuntu allows you to modify your desktop wallpaper and lock screen background. However, there’s no direct option available for changing the login screen background. We’ll have to dig our way through various system tweaks.
At first, make sure that you have your background image ready.
Now, fire up a terminal and run the following commands –
sudo cp ~/Desktop/mybackground.png /usr/share/backgrounds
Or, you can also use the file manager to do the task.
xhost +local: && sudo nautilus /usr/share/backgrounds/
Now, you have to edit the CSS file that defines the login background.
Xhost +local: && sudo gedit /etc/alternatives/gdm3.css
Now, find out the following section –
Change the “background” entry –
#lockDialogGroup {
background: url(file:///usr/share/backgrounds/mybackground.png);
background-repeat: no-repeat;
background-size: cover;
background-position: center; }
Save the file.
Enjoying the effect
After everything is complete, restart your system.
Voila! Enjoy the most amazing login screen backgrounds of your entire life!
Download Gedit Linux 3.31.2
Gedit is an open source text editor application for Linux-based operating systems. It is mostly used under the GNOME desktop environment, but you can also install it on other open source window managers.
It is more than a simple text editor, as it can be used by developers as a programmers’ editor. The software provides users with an uncluttered user interface that can be used by novices and expert users alike.
Recognizes numerous programming languages
Gedit features full support for internationalized text (UTF-8), configurable syntax highlighting for various languages, such as C, C++, Java, XML, HTML, Python, Perl, undo and redo functions, as well as the ability to load files from remote locations.
Talking about supported programming languages, the application automatically detects the syntax of a certain file, but it also allows users to choose one from the statusbar or the Highlights Mode entry of the View menu.
Features at a glance
Its main features include spell checking support with automatic highlighting of misspelled words, advanced document statistic functionality that displays the total number of lines, words, bytes, as well as characters, with or without spaces, in the entire document or the current selection.
Among other features we can mention file reverting, print and print preview support, clipboard support (cut, copy, paste), search and replace, go to specific line, auto indentation, text wrapping, line numbers, right margin, current line highlighting, bracket matching, file backup, and configurable colors and fonts.
Supported OSes and availability
While the application is distributed only as a source archive that can be configured, compiled and installed on any Linux flavor, users can find and install Gedit straight from the default software repositories of their distribution.
With a complete online user manual, Gedit can be easily used by programmers to successfully write and edit code. Besides Linux, the application also supports the Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows operating systems.
More Than Memory Sticks: Sharing Data Between Systems Without The Internet
Nowadays, you don’t have to put much effort into accessing your data. Whenever you create a file on your phone, laptop, or any other device, you can easily save it somewhere which all of your devices have access to. This makes it possible to access your important documents wherever you are, and this is something which people are getting far too used to. In fact, for some, moving data without the help of the internet sounds like witchcraft, especially when there isn’t a memory stick involved. To show you just how easy this is, this post will be exploring the three main operating systems, Linux, Mac OS, and Windows, giving you an idea of what to expect from their peer-to-peer data transfer systems.
Linux
Starting with the easiest option, Linux makes it very simple to move data between machines, as long as you’re used to using the OS in the first place. You’ll need to use
for this, enabling you to send and receive files using the command prompt. When this is setup properly, you will have access to all of the unrestricted files on the machine which you’re connected to. Unfortunately, thanks to this method requiring a server, the files will only be able to move one way without a switch each time you want to swap them around. This can be achieved without a single cable, as long as your machines are connected in some way.
Mac OS
True to their usual form, Apple make this process easier than anyone else. Using the normal iCloud app which is already installed on your machine, you can start transferring files to any other Mac which is logged into the same account. If you’d prefer to remain on seperate accounts, though, a tool called Forklift can be downloaded for free. You have been able to sync files between Macs without cloud for a long time. Only recently, though, have people been using systems like this as a replacement for sharing online.
Windows
Surprisingly, Windows makes this process a little harder than its alternatives. Instead of giving you a fancy tool to use out of the box, you have to configure your machines to use the same subnet and IP address range if you
. Along with this, they will also need to be on the same network, and the best results will be found if you use wired connections. There is a UI to help you with this, and it can be found in the Homegroup settings within Control Panel. Of course, though, even with a little bit of help, most inexperienced users will find this route impossible to follow without the right help.
Hopefully, this post will inspire you to start looking at new ways to share data between the machines you use. Even if you don’t have any issues with the Internet, this sort of system can be far more secure than relying on the cloud, making it perfect for those who need to share sensitive information around.
Ubuntu Change Password | Linux Hint
In terms of security, Linux is definitely one of the tightest. The password system is one of the most important parts. Without the password, you’re not able to access a secure system and do anything. If you allow system access without a password, it is not secure. No password, no nothing, in terms of security. However, you may also need to change your password at any point. Let’s have a look at changing the password of your system.
Changing the password
This is the password that you have to enter when you’re logging into your account. This password isn’t the “root” password. Let’s fire up a terminal and run the following command –
This will prompt you to enter your current password. Then, you have to type your new password 2 times.
Changing the “root” password
The “root” is the ultimate user account for any Linux system that offers the most control over the system, even allowing access to sensitive system files and other files. For changing the “root” password, run the following command –
# OR
Then, restart your system.
Changing password without the current “root” access
In cases, you may not be able to access to your system because you forgot the “root” password. It’s also possible to change the password without having access to the system. Restart your system.
Keep holding “Shift” to access the GRUB menu.
Press “E” for editing the startup command.
Get to the line “linux /boot”.
At the end of “ro”, type the following text –
Press “Ctrl + X” to boot with the modified startup command. Run the following commands –
mount -o remount,rw /
passwd
Enter your new password. After password changing is successful, run the following command for restarting your system –
Voila! Your password is changed successfully!
Download VTE Linux 0.55.0
VTE (Virtual Terminal Emulator) is an open source and totally free library software that has been designed from the ground up to act as a terminal emulator widget for the GTK+ 2.0 (or higher) toolkit. It can be used by GNOME developers to inject terminal capability strings inside a tree of tables.
It is used by GNOME Terminal
VTE is a terminal widget used by the GNOME Terminal application, but it can also be used to embed a console/terminal in editors, IDEs, games, etc. VTE includes libvte, a library that implements a terminal emulator widget for GTK+, and the vte program, a sample application that wraps that widget in a GTK window.
Application options
The application features several options, such as the ability to disable the use of anti-aliasing, specify a background image, monitor /dev/console, highlight URLs inside a terminal emulator, disable rewrapping on resize, execute commands in the terminal, as well as to disable double-buffering.
Additionally, users will be able to disable spawning of a shell inside the terminal emulator, enable the use of a transparent background, use visible and audible alerts, enable the use of various debugging checks, set the position and size of the terminal and enable a distinct highlight color for selections.
The GNOME virtual terminal editor
Being associated with the GNOME project, VTE is also known as a virtual terminal editor program for the controversial GNOME graphical desktop environment, as well as for the powerful GTK+ toolkit.
Under the hood and availability
The software is written entirely in the C programming language and it’s distributed along with the GNOME project. It can be downloaded from its official website or via Softpedia as a universal tarball, which can be installed in any GNU/Linux distribution. VTE is also available on the default software repositories of many Linux distributions.