Open-source News

Intel SGX2 Support Coming With Linux 6.0  Phoronix

Vulkan 1.3.224 was released earlier today and with this spec update comes VK_EXT_attachment_feedback_loop_layout as another extension started by Valve developers and will help their Steam Play (Proton) efforts...

It took longer than expected but NVIDIA's CUDA is out with an update providing official support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.0...

How to install Pgadmin 4 on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Linux  Linux Shout

Inexpensive, Snapdragon 410-based “4G LTE WiFi Modem” made to run Debian 11  CNX Software

Windows Subsystem for Linux version 0.65.1 is available to all Insiders  WindowsReport.com

Slax Linux Re-Introduces a Slackware Variant With Slax 15 Release  It's FOSS News

The Linux Foundation Announces Keynote Speakers for Open Source Summit Europe 2022  PR Newswire

The Linux Foundation Announces Keynote Speakers for Open Source Summit Europe 2022  Benzinga

The Linux Foundation Announces Keynote Speakers for Open Source Summit Europe 2022  Kilgore News Herald

3 ways to take screenshots on Linux Jim Hall Thu, 08/04/2022 - 03:00 Register or Login to like Register or Login to like

When writing about open source software, I prefer to show a few screenshots to help demonstrate what I'm talking about. As the old saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. If you can show a thing, that's often better than merely trying to describe it.

There are a few ways you can take screenshots in Linux. Here are three methods I use to capture screenshots on Linux:

1. GNOME

GNOME has a great built-in screenshot tool. Just hit the PrtScr key on your keyboard, and GNOME displays a screenshot dialog:

Image by:

(Jim Hall, CC BY-SA 40)

The default action is to grab a screenshot of a region. This is an incredibly useful way to crop a screenshot as you make it. Just move the highlight box to where you need it, and use the "grab" corners to change the size. Or select one of the other icons to take a screenshot of the entire screen, or just a single window on your system. Click the circle icon to take the screenshot, similar to the "take photo" button on mobile phones. The GNOME screenshot tool saves screenshots in a Screenshots folder inside your Pictures folder.

2. GIMP

If you need more options for screenshots, you can grab a screenshot using GIMP, the popular image editor. To take a screenshot, go to File and choose the Create submenu, and then choose Screenshot.

Image by:

(Jim Hall, CC BY-SA 40)

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The dialog allows you to take a screenshot of a single window, the entire screen, or just a region. I like that this tool lets you set a delay: how long until you select the window, and how long after that to take the screenshot. I use this feature a lot when I want to grab a screenshot of a menu action, so I have enough time to go to the window and open the menu.

GIMP opens the screenshot as a new image, which you can edit and save to your preferred location.

3. Firefox

If you need to take a screenshot of a website, try Firefox's built-in screenshot utility. Right-click anywhere in the web page body, and select Take Screenshot from the menu:

Image by:

(Jim Hall, CC BY-SA 40)

​

Firefox switches to a modal display and prompts you to click or drag on the page to select a region, or use one of the icons to save a copy of the full page or just what's visible in the browser:

Image by:

(Jim Hall, CC BY-SA 40)

As you move your mouse around the screen, you may notice that Firefox highlights certain areas. These are block elements on the page, such as a  or another block element. Click on the element to take a screenshot of it. Firefox saves the screenshot to your Downloads folder, or wherever you have set as your "download" location.

If you're trying to document a process, a screenshot can save you a lot of time. Try using one of these methods to take a screenshot on Linux.

Save time by taking screenshots on Linux with one of my favorite tools.

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Lengthen the life of your hardware with Linux Don Watkins Thu, 08/04/2022 - 03:00 Register or Login to like Register or Login to like

Sustainability is an increasingly important problem when it comes to computing. Reduce, reuse, recycle is a popular motto for environmentally responsible consumption, but applying that to your computer hardware can be challenging.

Many proprietary operating systems essentially force a hardware upgrade upon you long before your old hardware is used up. If you own a computer with Windows, you've probably needed to purchase a new one to upgrade because your old one didn't meet the hardware requirements of the latest OS. Apple doesn't do any better, either. A MacBook Air I owned was essentially rendered obsolete by an upgrade to macOS Mojave in 2019.

By contrast, I run Linux on my three-and-a-half-year-old laptop, and it still runs like new. Because the Linux kernel is more efficient with resources than either Windows or macOS, it can run successfully on older hardware. I've never been forced to purchase new hardware in order to upgrade Linux.

The advantage of Linux is that it is free and open source. With a few notable exceptions, most Linux distributions are available free of charge, and they are not the product of a large technology company with profit in mind. Even businesses that offer Linux products know that profitability doesn't lie in selling software and forcing updates but in stellar support of what their customers are trying to do with that software.

Simply put, Linux is the best bet for a sustainable operating system.

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There was a time when Linux users were required to be more technologically savvy than the average computer user, but those days are a thing of the past. Most Linux distributions are as plug-and-play as their proprietary counterparts. Better yet, computers that are 10 or more years old can easily run any of the popular Linux distributions without modification. Instead of defining a computer's lifespan with the arbitrary benchmark of operating system support, you can measure it instead by the life of the hardware itself. That's how it should be. Hardware, like everything else, eventually fails, but software we can control.

This improved sustainability doesn't impede my workflow, either. I have access to a wide range of free and open source software and cloud-based systems that afford me ample opportunities to be creative while keeping my aging hardware out of the landfill.

Reuse hardware, reduce electronic waste

When deciding to refurbish an older computer, first determine how it will be used. You don't need lots of processing power if you are just surfing the web and writing with a word processor. But if you are working from home and using your computer for video conferencing with Jitsi or one of the proprietary solutions, you will need more RAM and processing power. In that case, I suggest (based on what's available in 2022) looking for an Intel i5 or AMD Ryzen 5 with at least 8 GB of RAM.

I put this concept to the test with that old MacBook Air I mentioned earlier. That system was given new life when I installed Linux in January 2020.

Hardware purchases

If you're not refurbishing and just need a computer, using Linux frees you from purchasing the latest hardware. It's easy to find serviceable laptops and desktops on FreeGeek and elsewhere that provide good hosts for Linux distributions. If you buy a computer from FreeGeek, it comes with Linux preinstalled and tested, and you're contributing to a community whose mission is "to sustainably reuse technology, enable digital access, and provide education to create a community that empowers people to realize their potential."

However you get to Linux, it's well worth learning and supporting. It's a sustainable OS that puts you in control of your data, your purchases, and the way you affect the environment.

Keep hardware out of landfills by using an operating system that stretches the usable life of your devices.

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Linux Hardware What to read next Restore an old MacBook with Linux How I gave my old laptop new life with the Linux Xfce desktop This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International License. Register or Login to post a comment.

Slax Linux Re-Introduces a Slackware Variant With Slax 15 Release  It's FOSS News

The annual Red Hat Australia and New Zealand Partner Awards recognise our dedicated partners in the region for their ongoing commitment to delivering end-to-end customer solutions and expertise using Red Hat’s open source technology portfolio. 

MGLRU & Maple Tree Miss Out On Linux 6.0 But Will Aim For Linux 6.1  Phoronix

A lot of great features are landing for Linux 6.0 but two more are now confirmed to partake in this next major kernel version: Multi-Gen LRU (MGLRU) and the Maple Leaf data structure...

In addition to continuing to ramp up their Steam Deck production to fulfill existing pre-order reservations this calendar year thanks to addressing supply chain bottlenecks, Valve announced today that in partnership with Komodo they are bringing this Linux-powered gaming console to Asian markets...

Simpler Solution  MacRumors

After a few week delay to allow additional features to land, feature development on Mesa 22.2 has ended with Mesa 22.2-rc1 now being available ahead of its stable release in the coming weeks...

Peppermint OS Now Offers Devuan-Based ISOs for Software Freedom Lovers  9to5Linux