Hello, and welcome to Linux This Month. In this  episode, we'll talk about the 2022 White House   Open Security Summit. The Mars 15  Linux-powered laptop for gamers,   Linux kernel 5.17, a new Raspberry Pi release,  and Nitrux 2.0. So let's jump right into our top   stories. If you don’t want to miss out on more  Linux news, subscribe to our YouTube channel. Public and private sector stakeholders attended  an Open Source Security Summit at the White House   on January 13th to discuss initiatives to secure  open-source software and how new collaboration   may drive improvements. Open-source software is  not only used by the national security community,  

but also the foundation of many of the products  and services that most Americans use every day.   A statement released by Red Hat stated "A key  theme of the meeting was the recognition that   open-source software has accelerated the  pace of technological innovation, provides   tremendous societal and economic benefits,  and can contribute greatly to enhancing trust   and cybersecurity." This discussion focused  on three key areas of software security:   Preventing security defects  and vulnerabilities in code   and open-source packages; improving the  process or finding defects and fixing them;   and shortening the response time for distributing  and implementing fixes. The goal is to advance   open-source security while collaborating with,  and supporting, the open-source community. Some of the ideas discussed include integrating  security features into development tools,   securing infrastructure, and improving digital  identities and code signing. President Biden  

has prioritized software security. And so the  President's Executive Order and the software   Bills of Materials were also discussed. This  means that only companies that meet specific   federal security guide and developmental lifecycle  practices will be able to sell their software   to government agencies. This is a huge shift for  the open-source community, which has historically   designed and maintained software by the community  in open collaboration. It can be a pro and a con   for developers and consumers as it's the first  time that we're using the financial influence   of the Federal Government to drive changes  in the open-source software supply chain.  

But it also guarantees that we know what's in  the software that we purchase and use. Also,   it could affect the Linux open-source community  in unknown ways and prevent some code improvements   from being rolled into the upstream kernel if  they don't meet the new security requirements. All   those interested are encouraged to use your voice  and weigh-in on these decisions. These discussions   will continue over the coming weeks and are open  to all interested public and private stakeholders. Last month, Juno Computers, a  Linux-based hardware vendor,   released the Mars 15 gaming laptop. If  you haven't heard of Juno Computers,  

they're a Linux-based company founded in 2017.  Their focus is creating an alternative computing   solution to Windows and Apple while integrating  Linux and non-Linux users on a more user-friendly   system. The Mars 15 is the latest in gaming  laptops, and it ships with Ubuntu 20.04 LTS,   which is supported until April of 2025. It  includes AMD Ryzen CPUs and NVIDIA RTX GPUs, and   up to 64GB 3,200Mhz of RAM with up to 4TB of SSD  storage. It can be configured with the AMD Ryzen   7 5800X CPU with 8 cores and 16 threads, or the  AMD Ryzen 9 5900X with 12 cores and 24 threads.

It also includes the NVIDIA GeForce TRX 3060  graphics card with 6GB GDDR6 VRAM, or the NVIDIA   GeForce RTX 3070 with 8GB of VRAM. Other features  include a backlit keyboard, a 6-in-1 card reader,   a 720p HD webcam, and a full HD 15.6 matte display  with a 240Hz refresh rate. And this is an awesome   feature for you Linux gamers. Juno Computers  is also committed to maintaining popular ports   so that you still see all of your favorites on  the laptop itself without needing an adaptor.   This is an amazing laptop that is fast and full of  top-notch hardware and features that gamers love,   especially with the improved graphics and  CPU. This laptop can be ordered from Juno  

Computers online store and starts at  $2,150 for the basic configuration.   You can find more information and the full  list of specifications at Junocomputers.com. If you’re curious about cloud, we have a free  plan option that gives you access to different   ACG courses and quizzes each month, plus  learning paths and original series content.   And you don’t need a credit card to sign up.  You could try out our free course - Python   3 Scripting for System Administrators,  or our always free Linux course - Linux   Operating System Fundamentals. I’ve  included the links to these below.

The Linux 5.7 kernel release will include a new  feature - firmware updates without downtime.   The Intel driver patch, pfr_update was designed  for patching critical bugs and security issues.   Previously firmware was updated  by downloading the software   and flashing the BIOS or UEFI on the motherboard  during reboot. But a new API specification,   Platform Firmware Runtime Update and Telemetry,  or PFRUT, now enables firmware updates without   a reboot. An admin's biggest dream is to  apply system updates to servers without   any downtime. And this new feature brings  at least part of that dream into reality.

Nitrux 2.0 was released in January and  was released with Linux kernel 5.16.   Nitrux is a Debian-based distribution built  around the KDE Plasma desktop environment and   is on a monthly release cycle.  Version 2.0 ships with kernel 5.16.   That includes better hardware support  and additional firmware for AMD GPUs. It also includes the latest  Mesa 21.3.5 graphic stack,   which doesn't include any new features,  but does include numerous bug fixes.  

Visual changes were made to the KDE Plasma-based  NX Desktop graphical environment that makes this   desktop look more modern and user friendly.  The top panel now includes window controls,   global menu, and the system tray. You can  check out these changes and more at nxos.org. The latest Raspberry Pi OS was released  on January 28. This new release adds more   options to its configuration tool, as well as  many bug fixes. Improvements were made to the   raspi-config command-line tool, which allows you  to configure settings. More options were added to  

the tool to allow users to switch to composite  video, switch to legacy camera mode, including   legacy camera applications and libraries, and  also set the resolution for headless connections.   The rc_gui GTK graphical user interface, no  longer ships with a camera interface switch. Instead it now displays a combo box to allow users  to set the resolution for VNC connections. LXPanel   now reads current mouse acceleration directly  from xinput, uses device IDs instead of names,   and comes with improved open box configuration  file for better window management. I love that   this update helps with device changes during  reboots and overall a more user-friendly design.  

That's it for this month's Linux This Month. If  you like the show, be sure to give this episode a   big thumbs up. Have a question? Add it into the  comments. May your source remain open and your   code compile. See you next time, subscribe to stay  up to date, and keep being awesome Cloud Gurus.