OpenSUSE/SUSE: 2018-2019 Elections Underway, SUSE Linux Enterprise 12 Service Pack 4, and 'Making the Selection' (Storage)

• 2018-2019 Elections Underway with Calls for Candidates and New Members

  Earlier this week, on Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018, the Elections Committee posted the Schedule for the 2018-2019 openSUSE Board Elections, along with the announcement of a Membership Drive and a call for nominations and applications for Candidates to fill three vacant seats on the openSUSE Board. The annual Board Elections are normally expected to run in November and December, with ballots cast and results published in time for the newly-elected Board Members to take their seats on the Board at the beginning of January. However, some additional work needed to be completed for this election, and the elections were delayed in part to accommodate the additional work.

• SUSE Linux Enterprise 12 Service Pack 4 is Generally Available

  SUSE Linux Enterprise 12 Service Pack 4 is now generally available. Service Pack 4 marks the fourth generation of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12, a major code stream and product foundation with a lifecycle from 2014 to 2024 plus Long Term Support (10+3 years). This release consolidates all fixes and updates introduced since SUSE Linux Enterprise 12 Service Pack 3.

• Making the Selection

  You’ve likely read or heard a lot about today’s data explosion and how it’s affecting enterprises. After combing through all the overexcited rhetoric about how quickly data is multiplying or how many petabytes you’ll soon have to handle, one thing remains clear: You need to find a new way to store and manage your data or you’ll get left behind. While that mandate puts pressure on your organization to act quickly, it’s also the catalyst to a whole new world of exciting opportunities. More data can mean deeper, more accurate insights into your operations and customer needs, which empowers you to streamline processes and personalize experiences like never before. More data can also lead to greater innovation and new sources of revenue.

Programming/Development: mental illness, newt, and more

• One developer's road: Programming and mental illness

  The next year, I went to college and learned about SUSE Linux 6.1 and the Java SE 1.2 programming language. Another student introduced me to free software and the GNU GPL License and helped me install SuSE 7.1 on my new Compaq Evo N160c notebook. There was no more Microsoft software on my computer. The GNU/Linux operating system was exactly what I wanted, offering editors, compilers, and a command line that did auto-completion. Six months later, I installed Debian GNU/Linux. Since YaST2 was just a front end to configuration files, I had to use Debian Potato. My bootloader of choice was LILO, and the Second Extended File System was reliable—not buggy, like ReiserFS. In spring 2002, I read a book about the C programming language. I wanted to learn to do UIs like javax.swing, and a friend recommended Gtk+ 2.0, which was about to be released. At this point, I stopped using the KDE Desktop Environment. Gnome 2 was different and provided anti-aliased fonts with hinting. I used it to play Chromium B.S.U., and KNOPPIX did the magic.

• newt

  I've been helping teach robotics programming to students in grades 5 and 6 for a number of years. The class uses Lego models for the mechanical bits, and a variety of development environments, including Robolab and Lego Logo on both Apple ][ and older Macintosh systems. Those environments are quite good, but when the Apple ][ equipment died, I decided to try exposing the students to an Arduino environment so that they could get another view of programming languages. The Arduino environment has produced mixed results. The general nature of a full C++ compiler and the standard Arduino libraries means that building even simple robots requires a considerable typing, including a lot of punctuation and upper case letters. Further, the edit/compile/test process is quite long making fixing errors slow. On the positive side, many of the students have gone on to use Arduinos in science research projects for middle and upper school (grades 7-12). In other environments, I've seen Python used as an effective teaching language; the direct interactive nature invites exploration and provides rapid feedback for the students. It seems like a pretty good language to consider for early education -- "real" enough to be useful in other projects, but simpler than C++/Arduino has been. However, I haven't found a version of Python that seems suitable for the smaller microcontrollers I'm comfortable building hardware with.

• Preventing "Revenge of the Ancillaries" in DevOps

• Wing Python IDE Version 7 Early Access

• What's the future of the pandas library?

Manjaro 18.0 Released – What’s New in Manjaro Illyria?

Manjaro is an Arch Linux-based Operating System developed in Austria, Germany, and France with a focus on providing a beautiful user-friendly OS with the full power of Arch Linux to beginner computer users and experts at the same time. If you are not already familiar with Manjaro Linux then the developers have recently given more reasons for you to by dropping its latest release, Manjaro 18.0, codenamed “Illyria“. This update brings both major and minor updates to the OS and makes its overall experience more pleasant. It is fulfilling to see how well an OS that began as a hobby project has come this far with several UI scripts, support for NVIDIA’s Optimus technology, etc. right out of the box – features that come together to enhance its user experience. For an overview of its features, check out the 10 Reasons to Use Manjaro Linux.

Audiocasts: Kubecon, The Linux Link Tech Show and FLOSS Weekly With YottaDB

• Keeping up with Kubernetes | TechSNAP 392

  A security vulnerability in Kubernetes causes a big stir, but we’ll break it all down and explain what went wrong. Plus the biggest stories out of Kubecon, and serverless gets serious.

• The Linux Link Tech Show Episode 787

• FLOSS Weekly 510: YottaDB

  A lifelong hacker and geek, K.S. Bhaskar has been programming for almost half a century, and as a consequence of the technology gap between India and the US when he was an undergraduate, has programmed computers designed in the 1950s. He spent many years in the electronic test and measurement, and scientific computing worlds before moving to databases and the predecessor of YottaDB. He led GT.M, the predecessor of YottaDB from 1995 to 2017, before founding YottaDB in 2017 to take that code base – which by then felt to him like one of his children – to new markets and applications. Christopher is a true geek, and from a young start always wondered how the world works. He knew from a young age the computer field is where he was going to wind up working due to the infinite ways they could be used and cool things they could be made to do. Christopher has spent time in the healthcare industry working with YottaDB/GT.M/M and applying modern software development techniques to it. He also is a maker with more Raspberry Pis, Arduinos, other development boards, along with a 3d printer to keep himself busy.