Free Software: Ring, LibreOffice, Nylas, Tilda and Stellarium

• Ring is a Privacy-Focused, Open-Source Skype Alternative

  If you’re sick of Skype for Linux’s lack of progress, or rankled by the imminent retirement of the older (but superior) Qt Skype client, there’s a GNU alternative in town called Ring. GNU Ring is a cross-platform, privacy-minded communication app that is fast gaining a following in FOSS and security-conscious circles.

• LibreOffice Automatic Updater Available to Test on Linux

  Open-source office suite LibreOffice is inching closer to providing automatic updates in-app. Daily builds of LibreOffice for Linux with a new automatic updater built-in are available for testing, LibreOffice developer Markus Mohrhard announced today.

• Nylas Mail Is Dead, Jim [Ed: But it's just another Electron 'app']

  Nylas Mail was (I guess still is, but I can’t be bothered keeping track of tenses in this heatwave) a cross-platform desktop email client built using the world’s most popular application development framework, Electron. Thanks to a fairly decent set of smarts the app could handle multiple accounts, do unified inboxes, mail snoozing, undo send, and a bunch other stuff.

• Tilda – A Highly Configurable GTK Based Drop Down Terminal For Unix-like Systems

  Tilda is a free, open source, highly customizable and configurable GTK based drop down Terminal emulator for Unix-like operating systems. Unlike other traditional Terminals like gnome-terminal (Gnome), Konsole (KDE), MATE Terminal (MATE), xterm and many others, Tilda has no border window and is hidden until a key or keys pressed. Its design was inspired from the classical Terminals used in first person shooter games, Quake, Doom and Half-Life to name a few. It doesn’t has border window, menu bar, title bar, and minimize or maximize buttons. It can be pulled up and down when a key is pressed. Tilda is popular among developers and those who are using Terminal mostly to perform all tasks.

• Stellarium 0.16 Adds RemoteSync Plugin to Allow Running Multiple Instances, More

  Alexander Wolf released today Stellarium 0.16.0, a new major update of the open-source and cross-platform planetarium software for GNU/Linux, Android, macOS, and Windows platforms. Stellarium 0.16.0 is a stable version that introduces some exciting new features, such as a RemoteSync plugin that lets users run multiple instances of the application, supports non-spherical models for solar system objects like small moons and asteroids, and new Skycultures, including Belarusian and Hawaiian Star Lines.

Upcoming Events: Linux Foundation Open Source Summit North America and All Systems Go! 2017

• Session Lineup Announced for The Linux Foundation Open Source Summit North America

  The Linux Foundation Open Source Summit is the premier open source technical conference in North America, gathering 2,000 developers, operators and community leadership professionals to collaborate, share information and learn about the latest in open technologies, including Linux, containers, cloud computing and more.

• All Systems Go! 2017 CfP Open

  All Systems Go! is an Open Source community conference focused on the projects and technologies at the foundation of modern Linux systems — specifically low-level user-space technologies. Its goal is to provide a friendly and collaborative gathering place for individuals and communities working to push these technologies forward.

Development: PHP 7.2 Alpha, Python Community, and More

• PHP 7.2 Alpha 2 Released

  The second alpha release of the upcoming PHP 7.2 is now available for testing. PHP 7.2 Alpha 2 contains a number of fixes, updated SQLite3, SQLite3 support for writing to blobs, some compatibility improvements, and other work as outlined via the NEWS file. This second alpha comes just a few weeks after the first PHP 7.2 alpha.

• Updates on my Python community work: 16-17

  At FOSSASIA, we had many professionals attending the talks, and the kids were having their own workshops. There were various other Python talks in different tracks as well.

• Do you have what it takes to be a software developer?

  The language that finds itself on the top of the mountain is Java. Being around open source software for over 15 years, this was not always the case. Early on, we did not see a lot of interest in Java developers, but boy has that changed. It is the definitive leader in the application space currently. While the numbers have not grown in the last six quarters, the sheer overall number is impressive. On average, companies are asking for Java skills in over 1 in 3 job postings focused on FLOSS. Quite a feat for a language that did not register on the radar years ago. And, based on its heavy use with Android, it would not be a surprise to see this number increase in the future. Another language that is used prominently in the application space is C++. While its numbers can't quite compete with that of Java, it still commands a large marketshare in this arena. Whereas Java is asked for in 1 of 3 postings, C++ is required in 1 of 4. Much like that of Java, its numbers have remained relatively stable over the last six quarters. C++ has always been heavily utilized, and even though Java has superseded it, it remains a highly relevant language.

• RcppCCTZ 0.2.3 (and 0.2.2)

  A new minor version 0.2.3 of RcppCCTZ is now on CRAN.

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