Tails Security Update, Companies Team Up to Cure Open Source License Noncompliance, LG Expanding webOS and More

on March 19, 2018

News briefs for March 19, 2018.

Tails 3.6.1 is out, and the release fixes many security holes in 3.6. Update now.

According to a Red Hat press release this morning: "six additional companies have joined efforts to promote greater predictability in open source licensing. These marquee technology companies—CA Technologies, Cisco, HPE, Microsoft, SAP, and SUSE—have committed to extending additional rights to cure open source license noncompliance. This will lead to greater cooperation with distributors of open source software to correct errors and increased participation in open source software development."

LG announced today that "As part of a broader effort to make webOS even more accessible to today's consumers and industries", it is partnering with the National IT Industry Promotion Agency, a governing body within South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT, "to more actively advance its philosophy of open platform, open partnership and open connectivity". As part of its global expansion goal, "LG developed an open source version of its platform, webOS Open Source Edition, now available to the public at https://webosose.org.

Stack Overflow's 2018 Developer Survey results are in, and this year, 48.3% of developers said they use Linux as a platform over 35.4% using Windows. Linux also was voted "Most Loved Platform" at 76.5%. Other interesting results include Python winning for "Most Wanted Language" at 25.1%.

Linux 4.16-rc6 was released yesterday, the changes were minimal, and things are on track. Linus says "Go test, things are stable and there's no reason to worry, but all the usual reasons to just do a quick build and verification that everything works for everybody. Ok?"

Jill Franklin is an editorial professional with more than 17 years experience in technical and scientific publishing, both print and digital. As Executive Editor of Linux Journal, she wrangles writers, develops content, manages projects, meets deadlines and makes sentences sparkle. She also was Managing Editor for TUX and Embedded Linux Journal, and the book Linux in the Workplace. Before entering the Linux and open-source realm, she was Managing Editor of several scientific and scholarly journals, including Veterinary Pathology, The Journal of Mammalogy, Toxicologic Pathology and The Journal of Scientific Exploration. In a previous life, she taught English literature and composition, managed a bookstore and tended bar. When she’s not bugging writers about deadlines or editing copy, she throws pots, gardens and reads. You can contact Jill via e-mail, ljeditor@linuxjournal.com.