KStars v3.5.2 is released

KStars v3.5.2 is is released on March 1st, 2021 for Windows, MacOS, and Linux. This release incorporates significant improvements to Ekos Polar Alignment Tool in addition to supporting manual rotations in the Alignment Module. Brodrick Bassham added a manual rotation dialog to the Alignment module in Ekos for Load & Slew. Now users without motorized rotators can adjust their camera manually in order to achieve the desired frame orientation. Check the video below for a demonstration of this feature.

Software: Release Roundup, Fail2ban, and SysMonTask:

• Release Roundup: X11 Gestures, Ventoy 1.0.36, Clight 4.3, Flameshot 0.9, SimpleNote 2.7.0 And Quod Libet 4.4.0

  Quite a few applications were updated recently, and this article covers the changes in these new releases. There's also a brand-new GNOME Shell extension for multi-touch gestures on X11. Read on to find out more! X11 Gestures (GNOME Shell extension for multi-touch gestures on X11) X11 Gestures is a brand-new GNOME Shell extension for multi-touch gestures on X11, created by the Touchegg developer. The extension requires having Touchegg installed (this is an application that runs in the background and transforms touchpad or touchscreen gestures into actions for your desktop). This extension enables 1:1 gestures that are available on GNOME in the Wayland session, to those using the X11 session. It requires GNOME 3.36 or newer but, according to the developer, it's GNOME 40 where it really shines.

• Excellent System Utilities: Fail2ban - ban hosts that cause multiple authentication errors - LinuxLinks

  Essential System Utilities is a series of articles highlighting essential system tools. These are small utilities, useful for system administrators as well as regular users of Linux based systems. The series examines both graphical and text based open source utilities. For details of all tools in this series, please check the table at the bottom. This article looks at Fail2ban, a daemon to ban hosts that cause multiple authentication errors. Fail2ban is free and open source software.

• Meet SysMonTask: A Windows Task Manager Lookalike for Linux [Ed: Copying a farce of an OS (with back doors) using Microsoft GitHub account (proprietary software) as if this is what GNU/Linux needs (it has vastly better tools for this)]

  Thanks to the desktop environments, almost all Linux distributions come with a task manager application. In addition to that, there are several other system monitoring applications for Linux that have additional features. But recently I came across a task manager created for Linux that looks like … wait for it … the task manager of Windows.

Flameshot 0.9 Release Brings in Global Shortcut Menu, Latest Uploads, JPEG Support, and More

Flameshot is one of my daily drivers that I utilize to take screenshots. You can also find my guide to use Flameshot on Linux if you want to get it installed and configure it to use it. Now, with the new 0.9 release for Flameshot, it is better than ever before! Unlike Shutter and Ksnip, which received some major updates recently, Flameshot 0.9 does not include big changes but some useful ones. Let me highlight the key changes with this release. [...] Before the update, when you upload a screenshot, the Imgur link was automatically copied to your clipboard. But, if you upload another screenshot, then you lose the previous link unless you have a clipboard manager like CopyQ. Now, with the Latest Uploads section, you get to see all your recent uploads and find the links to them as well. Pretty useful, I think! Not just limited to these two useful feature additions, you can finally change the image format of your screenshot to JPEG instead of PNG if you want save disk space and don’t mind the potential quality loss (especially when trying to scale the images).

KDE’s Plasma Mobile Gets Improved Homescreen and Settings, Lots of App Updates

In February 2021, Plasma Mobile received an improved homescreen to make the drawer behave as an applications list, an initial implementation of horizontal pages for widgets and apps, as well as support for those who want to create new custom launchers. The revamped homescreen is pretty neat and you can check it out in action on PINE64’s PinePhone Linux phone in the video below, courtesy of Plasma Mobile developer Marco Martin who did all the awesome work.