Ubuntu contributor Didier Roche shared today the last blog article for the development cycle of the Ubuntu 17.10 (Artful Aardvark) operating system, which is expected to launch tomorrow, October 19.

Also: Ubuntu 17.10 is back on track with GNOME: Here's why that's a good thing

Now that the KDE Applications 17.08 software suite got its second point release, it's time for the KDE developers to concentrate their efforts on the next major update, KDE Applications 17.12.

All good things must come to an end, however, in that particular case, it’s rather a beginning! We are indeed almost done in our road to Artful, which means that 17.10 is just around the corner: official Ubuntu 17.10 release is due tomorrow. Of course, it doesn’t mean we stop right away working on it: you will have bug fixes and security updates for 9 months of support! It’s thus time to close this series on Artful, and for this, we are going to tackle one topic we didn’t get to yet, which is quite important approaching the release: upgrading from a previous Ubuntu release! For more background on our current transition to GNOME Shell in artful, you can refer back to our decisions regarding our default session experience as discussed in my blog post.

Besides Ubuntu 17.10 "Artful Aardvark" launching tomorrow, System76 is also expected to issue their first official release of the Ubuntu-derived Pop!_OS operating system they plan to begin shipping on their laptops/desktops. Curious about their modifications to Ubuntu 17.10, I decided to give the latest snapshot of it a ride.

For those that missed the earlier news this summer, back in June is when System76 announced Pop!_OS as the Linux distribution to be shipped on their future PCs/laptops. System76 had been shipping stock Ubuntu installations on their systems since its founding in 2005, but with Ubuntu shifting from Unity back to GNOME Shell and other changes, System76 found it time to give their own take on a Linux desktop OS.

MYIR has launched a $239, HMI touch panel with a 7-inch resistive screen that runs Linux on a TI AM335x, and offers -10 to 70°C support and a 4G LTE module.

MYIR’s Linux-based “MY-EVC5100S-HMI” touch-panel computer is designed for HMI systems in industrial control, manufacturing, vending, food and beverage, automation, and utilities applications. MYIR has already used the platform to develop a billing display application for electric vehicle charging pile stations.

The Parrot Project began work on a new version of their Linux-based ethical hacking and penetration testing operating system, Parrot Security OS 3.9, and they recently put out a call for testing.

The development cycle of the GNOME 3.28 desktop environment kicked off with a bunch of updates for various of the core components and apps, including Mutter and GNOME Shell.

Also: GNOME 3.28 Desktop Will Add Google Safe Browsing Support to Epiphany Web Browser

Sir Tim Berners-Lee is a famous computer scientist and academic who invented the World Wide Web in 1989—so when he talks about new technologies it’s worth paying attention.

Today, one of the topics on his mind is blockchain, a revolutionary way of creating permanent, tamper-proof records across a disparate network of computers.

Blockchain is most famously associated with the digital currency bitcoin but the technology is increasingly being used for record keeping by banks and retailers. It will also come to be used by more ordinary citizens in the near future, says Berners-Lee.

In a recent conversation on the Apache Legal mailing list, a participant opined that “any license can be Open Source. OSI doesn’t ‘own’ the term.” He went on to explain “I could clone the Apache License and call it ‘Greg’s License’ and it would be an open source license.”

As long as the only people involved in the conversation are the speaker and people who defer to his authority, this might be OK. But as soon as there are others involved, it’s not. For the vast majority of people, the term “open source license” is not a personal conclusion resulting from considered evaluation, but rather a term of art applied to the consensus of the community. Individuals are obviously free to use words however they wish, just like Humpty Dumpty. But the power of the open source movement over two decades has arisen from a different approach.

The world before open source left every developer to make their own decision about whether software was under a license that delivers the liberty to use, improve and share code without seeking the permission of a rights holder. Inevitably that meant either uncertainty or seeking advice from a lawyer about the presence of software freedom. The introduction of the open source concept around the turn of the millennium solved that using the crystalisation of consensus to empower developers.

By holding a public discussion of each license around the Open Source Definition, a consensus emerged that could then by crystalised by the OSI Board. Once crystalised into “OSI Approval”, the community then has no need to revisit the discussion and the individual developer has no need to guess (or to buy advice) on the compatibility of a given license with software freedom. That in turn means proceeding with innovation or deployment without delay.

All the developers out there love Sublime Text. It has been emerging as a great text editor for learners and advanced. It is available on Linux, Mac OS and Windows. Sublime text offers features like macros, recognition of a wide variety of languages, split view etc. The editor can also be customized using different themes. Some of these themes are already popular through Notepad++.

For many people, using a word processor is the fastest, easiest, and most familiar way to write and publish an e-book. But firing up your word processor and typing away isn't enough—you need to follow a format.

That's where a template comes in. A template ensures that your book has a consistent look and feel. Luckily, creating a template is quick and easy, and the time and effort you spend on it will give you a better-looking book.

In this article, I'll walk you through how to create a simple template for writing individual chapters of an e-book using LibreOffice Writer. You can use this template for both PDF and EPUB books and modify it to suit your needs.

The year of Linux desktop was a running joke. The concept of Linux being ready for the mainstream with users confidently running it on their desktops, sadly, never happened.

Some bravely pushed the idea: the latest being Canonical with a more macOS-like desktop, easier to configure and use than the standard Linux distro. It came with an app-store concept too.

• Docker Accelerates App Migration to Containers with IBM Partnership

  At the DockerCon EU conference here on Oct. 18 Docker outlined multiple successes it has had with its Modernize Traditional Applications (MTA) program that was first announced at the DockerCon 17 conference in Austin, Texas in April.

  The MTA program is a bundle of Docker products and services from partners which at launch included Avanade, Cisco, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Microsoft. At DockerCon EU, IBM announced that it too is now joining the MTA program.

  "We have found that successful modernization journeys start with existing skills, infrastructure, processes and applications, then figuring out how to apply those existing things to new technologies to solve problems for your business," Docker Chief Operating Officer Scott Johnston said during a keynote address.

• Docker to Bring Kubernetes to Its Flagship Enterprise Platform

• What's New in Docker 17.09?

• InfluxData Container Images Now on Red Hat OpenShift Platform

  InfluxData Brings Time Series Data to Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform with Red Hat Certified Containers -- InfluxData Now Published in Red Hat Container Catalog, Enabling Simpler Deployment for Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform Users

• InfluxData Brings Time Series Data to Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform with Red Hat Certified Containers

• Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC Has $3.89 Million Holdings in Red Hat, Inc. (RHT)

• Argent Capital Management LLC Sells 12,410 Shares of Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE:RHT)

• Chrome OS Gets Material Design for "Do Not Disturb," Android-Like Screenshots

  Chromium evangelist François Beaufort is sharing today information on a new Material Design refresh for Google's Chrome OS' "Do Not Disturb" mode, which landed in the latest Chrome Canary channel.

  According to the developer, the Material Design refresh for the "Do Not Disturb" mode will make the Notification Center look nicer, but also consistent with the Android user experience. Those using the Chrome Canary experimental channel can give it a try right now.

• System76 'Lemur' and 'Galago Pro' Ubuntu Linux laptops get 8th gen Intel Core CPUs

  The famed Linux-laptop seller also says, "The Lemur you know and love is now even better with the Intel 8th Gen Coffee Lake CPU with 4 cores and 8 threads, allowing you to multitask up to 40-percent faster. The slim, 3.6 lb laptop with impressive 14.1-inch 1080p IPS display is still your perfect travel companion; easy to carry from meeting to meeting or across campus."

  New processors aside, these laptops should be pretty much identical to prior generations -- which is a very good thing. If you want to configure a Lemur with a Coffee Lake chip, you can build your own here. A Galago Pro with an 8th Gen Intel Core processor can be configured here.

• Watch Keila Banks, Mitchell Hashimoto, and Jan Kizska Live at Open Source Summit Europe

  Join 2000 technologists and community members next week as they convene at Open Source Summit Europe and Embedded Linux Conference Europe in Prague. If you can’t be there in person, you can still take part, as The Linux Foundation is pleased to offer free live video streaming of all keynote sessions on Monday, Oct. 23 through Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2017. So, you can watch the event keynotes presented by Google, Intel, and VMware, among others.

• GUIX Project news: Coming events

• We want you to submit a LibrePlanet talk -- here's how to get help

• FSF Events: LibrePlanet 2018 CFS Office Hours

  The LibrePlanet call for sessions closes November 2nd--only two weeks away--and we want to hear from you!

  Speaking at a conference, and even submitting a proposal, can be intimidating or hard. Luckily, some great, experienced speakers are volunteering their time by holding CFS Office Hours.

• Eclipse Public License version 2.0 added to license list

  We recently updated our list of various licenses and comments about them to include the Eclipse Public License version 2.0 (EPL).

  In terms of GPL compatibility, the Eclipse Public License version 2.0 is essentially equivalent to version 1.0. The only change is that it explicitly offers the option of designating the GNU GPL version 2 or later as a "secondary license" for a certain piece of code.

• Linux kernel community tries to castrate GPL copyright troll

  Linux kernel maintainer Greg Kroah-Hartman and several other senior Linux figures have published a “Linux Kernel Community Enforcement Statement” to be included in future Linux documentation, in order to ensure contributions to the kernel don't fall foul of copyright claims that have already seen a single developer win "at least a few million Euros.”

  In a post released on Monday, October 16th, Kroah-Hartman explained the Statement's needed because not everyone who contributes to the kernel understands the obligations the GNU Public Licence 2.0 (GPL 2.0), and the licence has “ambiguities … that no one in our community has ever considered part of compliance.”

• Fiduciary License Agreement 2.0

  After many years of working on it, it is with immense pleasure to see the FLA-2.0 – the full rewrite of the Fiduciary License Agreement – officially launch.

• ACME Support in Apache HTTP Server Project

  We’re excited that support for getting and managing TLS certificates via the ACME protocol is coming to the Apache HTTP Server Project (httpd). ACME is the protocol used by Let’s Encrypt, and hopefully other Certificate Authorities in the future. We anticipate this feature will significantly aid the adoption of HTTPS for new and existing websites.

  We created Let’s Encrypt in order to make getting and managing TLS certificates as simple as possible. For Let’s Encrypt subscribers, this usually means obtaining an ACME client and executing some simple commands. Ultimately though, we’d like for most Let’s Encrypt subscribers to have ACME clients built in to their server software so that obtaining an additional piece of software is not necessary. The less work people have to do to deploy HTTPS the better!

• Security updates for Tuesday

• Google now offers special security program for high-risk users

• Chrome 62 rolling out to Mac, Windows, and Linux w/ increased ‘Not secure’ HTTP warnings

  Chrome 62 is now rolling out to desktops in the stable channel with a number of new features for developers, as well as some changed security behaviors as Google continues to encourage HTTPS adoption.

• DHS orders federal agencies to bolster cybersecurity with HTTPS, email authentication

  The US Department of Homeland Security will require federal agencies to use web and email encryption practices to enhance their security posture.

• Adobe warns that hackers are exploiting its Flash software

  Adobe Systems Inc (ADBE.O) warned on Monday that hackers are exploiting vulnerabilities in its Flash multimedia software platform in web browsers, and the company urged users to quickly patch their systems to prevent such attacks.

• Coming up on Friday: first Bug Hunting Session for LibreOffice 6.0 Alpha 1

  The LibreOffice community has returned from a great conference in Rome (more on that later this week), and we’re now working eagerly on LibreOffice 6.0, which is due to be released at the end of January 2018. This version will include a large number of new features – and those already implemented are summarised on the release notes page.

• LibreOffice Is Getting New Look for KDE's Plasma Desktop Thanks to LiMux Project

  During the LibreOffice Conference 2017 event that took place in Rome, Italy, from October 10 to October 13, there were talks about the status the Qt 5 port of LibreOffice's VCL plugin for KDE Plasma.

  Every year, The Document Foundation plans and organizes a LibreOffice Conference event where developers, contributors, sponsors, users, and other members of the LibreOffice community can gather to talk about the future of the Open Souce office suite.

  And this year they planned the new features of the next major release of the cross-platform office suite, LibreOffice 6.0, which will arrive in late January 2018 with a new look for the KDE Plasma desktop environment, work that will be sponsored by the LiMux project.

• KDE still makes Qt

  A couple of years ago, I made a blog post, KDE makes Qt, with data about which percentage of Qt contributions came from people starting in KDE. Basically, how many Qt contributions are made by people who used KDE as a “gateway” drug into it.

• Krita 3.3.1 Best Alternative To Photoshop for Ubuntu/Linux Mint

  Krita is a KDE program for sketching and painting, although it has image processing capabilities, offering an end–to–end solution for creating digital painting files from scratch by masters. Fields of painting that Krita explicitly supports are concept art, creation of comics and textures for rendering. Modelled on existing real-world painting materials and workflows, Krita supports creative working by getting out of the way and with a snappy response.

Today marks the final freeze for Fedora 27 with hopes of shipping the official release soon.

Only being permitted to land in the F27 repository until the official release will be accepted blocker bug fixes and feature freeze exceptions.

• How to Install SuiteCRM with Nginx on CentOS 7

• The Advantages of VPS Hosting

• How to implement cloud-native computing with Kubernetes

• 5 SSH alias examples in Linux

• How to Install Linux Mint

• Linux for Developers