The Microsoft Store bans copycat open-source apps from being sold, Chrome OS Flex is ready for testing, Kernel 5.19 RC1 adds support for LoongArch CPUs, and transforming a Raspberry Pi into a laptop on the cheap.
Listen:
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
04:45 Minecraft bucks for using Edge
06:11 Microsoft Store bans copycat open-source apps from being sold
10:31 Improving Snap performance part 2
14:01 Kernel 5.19 RC1
24:46 Early access to ChromeOS Flex
34:11 Crow Pi laptop kit
MS copycat
- First things first, was this allowed?
- This new and innovative change prohibits publishers from charging fees for software that is open source or generally available for free.
- I know this was an issue in the past with OBS.
- Yeh, this was a travesty.
- Third parties taking advantage of Windows users who unknowingly pay for free and open source products.
Firefox Snap update (RTheren)
https://ubuntu.com//blog/how-are-we-improving-firefox-snap-performance-part-2
- Hardware acceleration is still hit-or-miss.
- The Firefox snap and flatpak are currently unable to interact with network shares.
- So in the beginning of June, we had talked about an Ubuntu article about the Firefox snap slow performance when launching, and how they are going to fix it.
- Well this is Part 2 of their investigation into Firefox snap performance and their progress.
- The large number of language packs during Firefox’s first start contributes to it not launching quickly on the first start.
- Mozilla intends to mirror a change in the snap that they made on the Windows version of Firefox, that will add the ability to only load one locale at a time based on the system.
- Thank you RTheren for posting this in Discord.
Linux Kernel 5.19 RC1
https://www.debugpoint.com/2022/06/linux-kernel-5-19-rc1/
- Linux Torvalds just released Linux Kernel 5.19 RC1, and it brings a lot of changes, including new hardware support, and updates across CPU, GPU, networking, storage and core modules.
- The Linux Kernel 5.19 begins initial support for the LoongArch CPU family that is developed by the Chinese company Loongson.
- LoongArch CPUs are the general-purpose MIPS architecture-compatible microprocessors.
- The new Intel IFS driver lands in this version which helps to detect hardware issues before deployment and after.
- It will help detect CPU faults at the circuit level at an early stage.
- And the mainline Linux Kernel can now support multiple ARM platforms, which started with Linux 3.7, and spanned more than a decade of work and patches.
- Support for the Apple M1 NVMe controller.
Chrome Flex
https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/chrome-enterprise/chrome-os-flex
- You get a chrome book, you get a chromebook, and you get a chrometop?
- Chromestation?
- What should we call Chrome OS Flex running on a standard PC?
- Anyway, Chrome OS Flex is ready for testing and images are available.
- All you need is a copy of Windows or MacOS.
- Nope, not even kidding, it requires the Chrome Chromebook Recovery Utility to make the USB image.
- You can use the Google Admin console to manage updates and configure device policies remotely.
- This is great for schools, because they can use their existing infrastructure, computer labs, and it saves them money from buying more Chromebooks.
- As long as the computers are 64 bit and have at least 4 Gigs of RAM.
- I just realized that this is odd, because there are many Chromebooks that only have 2 Gigs of RAM.
Slice of Pi
As the CrowPis …
- This CrowPi L kit transforms a Raspberry Pi into a laptop, with only a little assembly required.
- It has a display, keyboard, battery and all the other components needed.
- Specs:
- 11.6 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel IPS LCD display
- Built-in keyboard, touchpad, mic, 2MP camera, stereo speakers, and 3.5mm audio jack
- 5,000 mAh battery (for up to 3 hours of run time)
- Fan for active cooling
- We had talked about earlier models before, but this one you can pre-order now from the Elecrow website for just over $200, and you don’t need to back a crowdfunding campaign.
- The previous models required some assembly in order to connect everything, but in this one everything is assembled.
- All you need is to install a RasPi 4 Model B.
- And the CrowPi L laptop shell is shipping June 30, 2022.
- It is not compatible with a Raspberry Pi 3, like the previous models.
